CAD Design for the Amateur

Author's Rating:

Pros: Greatly expanded stencil and shape selection; integrated fully into the MS Office suite.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: 
If you or your company needs an easy to use, but powerful business diagramming application look no further then Visio 2003 Professional.

Author's Review
Part of my responsibilities as a senior network engineer is to keep accurate records of the servers, tape backup units, desktops, and switches/routers throughout our expanding Network Operations Center (NOC). This includes precise mechanical drawings of the servers, routers and switches as well as server wiring & layout diagrams, router & switch paths, circuit flow, as well as desktop locations and cabling.

This type of work used to be completed in Microsoft Paint, that silly—and limited—little graphics program that ships with all Windows OS’s. Once the drawings were created I would then cut and paste them into Microsoft Word for further editing and final completion. About seven years ago however, I switched to Visio, then owned by Shapeware a stand-alone company, which as since been bought by Microsoft. Now is use Microsoft Visio Professional 2003, which ships as part of the Microsoft Office 2003 Professional suite.

Product Description (From Microsoft): Visio Professional the first Microsoft-developed version of Visio. Visio Professional 2003 provides diagramming solutions that help business and technical professionals document and communicate a broad range of ideas, information, and systems. Diagrams created in Visio Professional provide valuable insights into existing technical systems and help individuals and teams more effectively develop new ones. When used to augment text and numbers, Visio diagrams make a message more concise, help people remember main points, and transcend cultural and technical barriers.

Visio, first released by Shapeware, in November 1992, is a business diagramming application based on the green plastic drawing templates of the past. Visio is designed for those individuals without even the rudimentary drawing skills. Visio allows the user to select pre-drawn shapes from templates and drag them to the drawing. Microsoft purchased Visio in late 1990’s and has rolled the application into its Microsoft Office Suite (MOS) of products.

Visio 2003 Pro is designed for IT Professional, Software Developers, Drafters, and Engineers. It contains everything within Visio 2003 Standard edition, plus it can create the following via preinstalled templates:

• Block Diagram
• Building Plan Diagrams
• Network Diagrams
• Flowcharts
• Directory services diagrams
• Database diagrams
• Software & UML diagrams
• Website maps
• Space plans & facilities drawings
• Process plant designs
• Electrical schematics
• Building control schematics
• Mechanical engineering schematics.

There is much to love in the newest version of Visio 2003 Pro. In addition to the tighter integration with other MOS applications, the software package features sharper looking diagrams, expanded templates, stencils, and shapes, enhanced graphics, text, and color as well as new tools for importing and manipulating images from other sources. The raft of new and improved features in Visio 2003 Pro include:

• A Rack Diagram template; essential for drawing accurate representations of data center /Network Operations Centers;
• Updated network shapes; allows you to accurately represent newer equipment like SAN’s, fiber switches, tape library systems, etc.
• An improved Web site mapping solution;
• A Microsoft Windows XP user interface (UI) template;
• Improved support for incorporating data into building plans.
• Microsoft SharePoint site integration; allows you to share diagrams and collaborate using Document Workspaces;
• Tablet PC support; support for digital ink, pen input devices, and navigation;
• Microsoft Outlook integration; easily create, format, and share calendars from Outlook;
• Predefined reports; allows you to generate reports in Microsoft Excel, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), or Extensible Markup Language (XML) from shape properties;
• Microsoft .NET Framework support; access Primary Interop Assemblies (PIAs) for programming Visio on the .NET Framework;
• Microsoft ActiveX Controls technology; Embed Visio functionality in other programs.

Access to the latest Visio 2003 Pro shapes and updates are offered full time through Microsoft’s excellent web-based tools; you can go on-line from the application, pull down the shape of drawing you need and integrate it into the drawing. Visio 2003 Pro has been fully integrated into Microsoft Office 2003 with several of the Office features users come to expect including keyboard shortcuts, personalized menus, spell checking, clipboard and Task Pane. And like the rest of the Office 2003 suite, support for XML extended object models, and COM add-ins for creating custom applications with Visio 2003 Pro is greatly expanded over previous offerings.

Users of SharePoint portal services will find the increased inoperability between the two applications very useful. Our Visio drawing all reside with SharePoint for easy access, sharing, and collaboration.

Installation & Usage

Installation of Visio 2003 Pro was pretty straight forward; anyone familiar with the any Office application or suite will find the process painless. Installation of Visio 2003 Pro in full will require 285MB of hard drive space and will take up approximately 20 minutes to install completely. At the end of the installation procedure, product activation will be required.

Visio 2003 Pro opens to a view which displays the programs wide range of templates. Within each template layout users can choose from a number of stencil sub-templates, or groups, with easy to place stencils. For instance, under the Network template, the following stencil groups are offered: Active Directory, Basic Network, Novell Directory Services, Visio Network Equipment, Logical Network Diagram, and LDAP Directory.

After a user chooses a grouping; e.g. Active Directory, the program switches to the drawing view with the various stencils on the left and a drawing surface on the right. Simply drag and drop the desired stencils to the drawing surface, and through various tools link them together with various lines, label them, color them, apply backgrounds, and print them out.

To be sure there is a small learning curve in order to become accustomed to the way the program operates and how Visio 2003 Pro can best create your drawing. I was able to design a new network diagram which maps out my Integration Lab environment in one afternoon. Using the new Rack drawing and associated diagrams and shapes I was able to make a precise layout of each rack in the lab, detailing power supplies/UPS units, servers, routers, patch panels, keyboard trays, shelving, monitors, cable trays, spacers, cable runs, etc. All I need to do is drag and drop the item where I want it on the rack, and then resize it to fit the actual configuration; i.e. 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U, or bigger size. And as I drag the stencil into place, Visio 2003 Pro labels the piece of equipment in relation to its size, next to the rack. Not only does this make a great tool for diagramming, but for planning as well. This (Rack) is by far the most useful diagram and stencil set in Visio 2003 Pro from my perspective as a network engineer.

Within an hour I had the basic layout of the drawing complete. I was able to find all of the shapes I needed to complete the drawing. Another hour and I had the drawing fully customized and detailed and ready for printout. It was that simple. I then posted the new diagram on our SharePoint Portal site for the other members of the team to view, checkout, edit and re-save if necessary. In addition I can download more diagrams and stencils from the MS Office website. Visio 2003 Pro creates a directory under My Documents called My Shapes where additional shapes and or diagrams can be stored for easy retrieval.

Conclusion

Now that MOS is expanding to include tight integration with other Microsoft technologies such as SharePoint, .NET Framework, etc., as well as other technologies like Tablet PC’s, Visio 2003 Pro has been taken to a whole new level of functionality, one that allows seamless integration with the rest of the ever expanding MOS. Visio 2003 Pro is a powerful business-centric diagramming application that can help you draft detailed drawings without having to be a credentialed draftsman. Easy to learn and use Visio 2003 Pro further expands the MS Office Suite of applications and greatly enhances the appeal of the suite.

If you or your company needs an easy to use, but powerful business diagramming application look no further then Visio 2003 Professional.

Benefits & Features

• All diagrams in Visio Standard are supported.
• Comprehensive technical diagramming and drawing.
• Specialized diagram types for creating network, Web site, database, and software diagrams.
• Now includes facilities management diagrams and engineering schematics previously available in Visio Technical.
• Intelligent, precise diagrams and drawings.
• Diagrams incorporate detailed data and reflect accurate dimensions.
• Improved reporting capabilities enable flexible data export.
• Full XML file format facilitates customization and interoperability;
• Easy-to-use, integrated environment.
• Visio Professional integrates fully into the familiar Microsoft Office environment.
• Incorporates many Office 2003 features.

System Requirements

• Computer & Processor: PC with Pentium 233 MHz or higher processor; Pentium III recommended;
• Memory: 128MB of RAM or greater;
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or later, Windows XP or later.
• Hard Disk: 210MB of available hard-disk space (hard-disk usage will vary depending on configuration; custom installation choices may require more or less hard-disk space), including 75MB on the hard disk on which the operating system is installed; optional installation files cache (recommended) requires an additional 185MB of available hard-drive space;
• Installation Drive: CD-ROM or DVD drive.
• Display: Super VGA (800 x 600 or higher-resolution.