Customer Reviews

Microsoft Office Visio 2003 Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is what used to be called a "manual" that came "free" after you spent a few hundred dollars on software. If you are looking for a manual, this is a good choice, but if you want to learn how to use the program with this, please don't. The examples it showed were not consistent within the chapter, so you could not follow along by trying to try out the concepts after reading easily.
I'll keep the book as a reference, but I'm a bit upset about spending money for it. I'll try the "Step by Step" book, but those are generally not very in-depth.

Here is the good: This book is a fast read. It contains lots of useful information and you should read it.
Here is the bad: It skims over a lot of information. So you get little nuggets throughout the book but not an in-depth review of how to do something. Basically, it will make you dangerous with Visio but not an expert. However, you will be able to do a lot more after reading the book than before. I've used Visio 2003 for about five years now and I learned two new things about Visio I didn't already know. Useful things. Thus, the four stars.
Here is the ugly: It doesn't tell you ANYTHING about how to work with the most important aspect of Visio - Visual Basic for Applications (or VBA for short). VBA is THE most important aspect of Visio because with VBA you can draw your own shapes, store those shapes for later use, and pull them out when you need them. It doesn't show you how to create a form using VBA. Just one step through example would have been enough for most people. But the book just glosses over this very, very important topic with "We aren't going to go into how to use VBA in this book." All of the various shapes they show you how to use in the book use VBA to do what they do. All of the connectors work using VBA. All of the color settings, all...all...all...ALL of what goes on inside of Visio is by VBA scripts running and telling it how to do everything. So VBA was the main reason I bought the book because it said the book covered VBA. When they said lightly - I thought they meant one chapter. Not one sentence. But there you have it.

So, if you are looking for information on many of the other aspects of Visio - this is a good book to buy, reading, and pass on to a friend. If you are looking for an in-depth look at each aspect of Visio - you might still want to buy this book. But if you are expecting it to get into the nitty-gritty of how to do something in Visio or how to write a single macro - forget it. Go look somewhere else for information on how to do that.

I do have to say that I have as of yet to look at the CD. It might have more. If so - I will edit this and add on to what I am saying now.

I am always satified with the Inside Out Series, this book is very helpful for every level.

good detail, nice glossary and defs. Easy to use and the quality of info is great.

Very good general reference. Met my expectations and meets my needs.