In the previous section, you learned that Visio Services on SharePoint reads Visio 2013 files directly. As a result, publishing
a diagram to Visio Services can be accomplished by simply uploading the
file to SharePoint. From there, anyone with a web browser can click to
view the diagram.
However, in this exercise, you will use a different technique: you will save a diagram to SharePoint from within Visio
and will then view the diagram in your web browser. The diagram you
will work with was created using the Business Process Model and
Notation (BPMN) 2.0 template that is packaged with Visio Professional 2013.
Important
You need access to Visio Services on a SharePoint 2013 server to
complete this exercise. Visio Services are available with a SharePoint
Server 2013 Enterprise Client Access License (ECAL) or by using
SharePoint Online in Office 365. The screen shots in this section were
created using SharePoint Online.
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On the File tab, click Save As.
If you have previously configured a SharePoint server on your Save
As list, it will appear similar to Visio Step By Step in the preceding
graphic, and will display a list of recently used folders on the
server. You can select one of the recently used folders or you can
click the Browse button to navigate to any folder on the server.
If you have not already configured a SharePoint server, you have two options.
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For SharePoint Online, click Add a Place and then click Office 365 SharePoint.
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For either SharePoint Online or an in-house server, click Computer, and then click the Browse button. When the Save As dialog box appears, navigate to and select your SharePoint server.
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Either click the button for your SharePoint Server or use the Browse button to navigate to it.
Clicking the Options button in the Save As dialog box displays the Publish Settings dialog box.
In the Pages section on the left, you can select a subset of the
diagram’s pages if you don’t want to include all of them in your
web-published drawing.
If your diagram is linked to one or more data sources, you can use
the Data Sources section on the right to select which ones will refresh
their data to the browser.
Tip
Be sure to notice the comment at the top of the Publish Settings
dialog box: unchecking pages or data sources in this dialog box
eliminates them from the browser view of the drawing. However, the
unchecked pages and sources are still available to anyone who opens the
diagram in Visio.
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In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the folder in which you would like to save your diagram, and then click Save.
Tip
Often the easiest way to select the desired folder on the correct
SharePoint site is to navigate to it first in your web browser. After
locating the correct folder, copy and paste its URL into the address
bar at the top of the Save As dialog box.
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Start your web browser and navigate to the SharePoint folder in which you saved the Visio diagram.
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Click Theater Ticketing Diagram to open the drawing in the browser.
In the web drawing view, you can drag the diagram in any direction to change which portion of the page is visible.
Use the buttons in the upper-left browser window to adjust the view of your diagram.
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Click Open in Visio
to view and edit the diagram using the Visio desktop application instead of the web browser.
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Click Refresh to update the diagram from any connected data sources.
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Click Shape Info to toggle the appearance of the Shape Information
pane.
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Click Comments
to toggle the appearance of the Comments pane.
You can roll your mouse wheel to zoom in or out, or you can use the
controls in the lower-right corner of the browser window to change zoom
settings:
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Click the plus or minus signs to increase or decrease the zoom level.
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Use the zoom slider to change the zoom level.
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Click the displayed percentage and type a new percentage.
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Click the Zoom To Fit Page To View
button to view the entire Visio page in the browser window.
Use the page list in the upper-right corner to view a different page.
In the upcoming steps, you will apply data graphics and make other changes in Visio and then will view those changes in the published drawing.
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Return to Visio (do not close the web browser).
Important
You are no longer editing the Visio diagram you started with, but
you are editing the Visio drawing that is stored in SharePoint.
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Press Ctrl+A to select all shapes on the Main Process page. Then on the Data tab, in the Display Data group, click Data Graphics. In the Available Data Graphics section of the gallery, click Color by Status. Visio applies the color-by-value data graphic to the shapes on this page.
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Click the Print and Fulfill page name tab, select all shapes on that page, and then apply the same data graphic.
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On the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Save
button.
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Return to your open web browser and click the SharePoint Refresh button (do not click the browser refresh button). The browser view now reflects the current state of the Visio diagram.
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In the upper-left corner of the Visio diagram, click Shape Info to open the shape information pane, and then click the Fulfill ticket order sub-process shape.
The results of both steps 10 and 11 appear in the following graphic.
The color of the shapes reflects their current status and the Shape Data section of the information pane displays the shape data for the sub-process shape. Note also that the Hyperlinks section of the information pane reveals one hyperlink that connects the sub-process shape to the Print and Fulfill page.
Note
CLEAN UP Save your changes to the Theater Ticketing Diagram file, but leave it open if you are continuing with the next exercise.