Visio® 2000 Bible [Paperback]

Mark H. Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0764534572 | ISBN-13: 978-0764534577 | Edition: 1

This authoritative, comprehensive guide is your bible to Visio(r) 2000. Written for people at all levels of technological know-how, it may be used as a reference book or a tutorial. You'll appreciate the step-by-step instructions and clear explanations enhanced by icons, charts, and hundreds of screenshots. The tips, insights, and shortcuts that appear in each chapter will help you to:
* Take charge of your layout with views, grids, and guidelines.
* Use Visio stencils to create flowcharts, maps, schedules, and more.
* Find the fastest ways to position, connect, format, and align shapes.
* Manipulate and customize shape behavior, properties, and groups.
* Make the most of Visio macros and database interactivity.
* Add text to your drawings, or embed drawings into Microsoft Office files.
* Handle advanced tasks, from working with AutoCAD to Web design.
Whether you're an IT analyst or an advertising consultant, you'll find the tools and techniques to create business diagrams, drawings, charts, and more. You'll see why the entire Bible series carries such an outstanding reputation when the Visio 2000 Bible goes the distance for you.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Very comprehensive. A must-read for anyone who wants to know the ins and outs of Visio 2000." --Dan Albertson, Program Manager of the Visio Division at Microsoft

"The Visio 2000 Bible provides a fabulous way to learn Visio and get the most out of it." --Brett Newman, CEO, Visimation Inc.
* Design professional-quality diagrams, charts, and graphics
* Master Visio tools, from drawing to stencils and beyond
* Harness the seamless Visio integration with Microsoft Office
If Visio 2000 can do it, you can do it too...
The Standard Edition of Visio 2000 gives you the power to create state-of-the-art business diagrams, drawings, charts, and more. This comprehensive reference shows you how to put Visio to work, from simple drawings to Microsoft Office integration, database interactivity, and Web design. Along the way, you'll find out how to master SmartShape, text functions, and more -- and to create attention-grabbing graphics that are sure to impress your clients and colleagues.

Inside, you'll find complete coverage of Visio 2000
* Take charge of your layout with views, grids, and guidelines
* Use Visio stencils to create flowcharts, maps, schedules, and more
* Find the fastest way to position, connect, format, and align shapes
* Manipulate and customize shape behavior, properties, and groups
* Make the most of Visio macros and database interactivity
* Add text to your drawings, or embed drawings into Microsoft Office files
* Handleb advanced tasks, from working with AutoCAD to Web design

About the Author

Mark H. Walker is a former naval officer and explosive ordinance disposal diver. He has been writing professionally since 1992. During that time he has written hundreds of magazine articles on computer technology, computer gaming, and auto racing fro major publications such as Visio Smart Pages, Autoweek, Alaska Airlines Magazine, Palyboy, Computer Games Strategy Plus, Sierra Interaction, Computer Gaming World, The Science Fiction Weekly, Civil War, and popular Websites such as Visio's, Gamecenter, The Daily Radar, Incite Games, and Gamepower. Additionally, he has authored 28 books, user manuals, and corporate studies including How to Use the Internet, and numerous major gaming guides.

Product Details

• Paperback: 687 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (May 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764534572
• ISBN-13: 978-0764534577
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,399,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good for the Standard Version But..., May 20, 2000

By 

Lawrence Schiller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visio® 2000 Bible (Paperback)

Visio 2000 Bible is a great book for users who want a better understanding of the basic features of Visio 2000. The book lacks is a covering of the features of Visio 2000 that are part of the Professional, Technical or Enterprise versions.

I was hoping that this book would cover features of the program that are included in the Professional and Enterprise editions.

I bought the book to learn of the features in the Enterprise edition, but not one mention of the features in the Enterprise edition was found.

The book coverage is meant more for people just learning about Visio than for people who are accomplished users of the Visio line of products

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Checklist Syndrome, April 16, 2003

By 

Isaac Rabinovitch (Portland, Or) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Visio® 2000 Bible (Paperback)

The job of the technical writer is to make life easier for the technical
reader. We get paid big bucks to express complicated concepts in the simplest
possible way. It's not an easy job, but what's the fun in an easy job?

Unfortunately, many writers of technical content have other priorities. If
their work is "comprehensive", if it describes all the things it's supposed to
describe, they feel they've done their job. Never mind if the result is a
confusing assemblage of seemingly random facts, hard to follow and hard to
place in context.

Mark Walker is a poster child for this syndrome. It's pretty obvious how he
wrote Visio 2000 Bible. He made a comprehensive list of Visio features and
wrote about them one by one. Every feature, regardless of importance, gets much
the same treatment. Only a few cross references show how related features work
together. Little effort is made to describe the features clearly or concisely.

Here's an example. "There are two ways to activate and set snap and glue.
First, you can use the Snap and Glue Toolbar buttons (as shown in Figure 10-8),
or you can select Tools -> Snap & Glue to adjust settings in the Snap & Glue
dialog box. The Snap & Glue Toolbar button and dialog box are interrelated, so
a change in one also is recorded in the other. The following exercise
demonstrates the relationship...:" Then there's a lengthy demonstration of how
toolbar and dialog work. Then there's a mini-essay on when you'd use the
toolbar and when you'd use the dialog. And *then*, there's a vague, confusing
description of what the toolbar and dialog box are *for*. The whole discussion
uses up a couple of pages, but boils down to four simple statements: (1)
there's a bunch of Visio options relating to the Snap feature or the Glue
feature; (2) Two of these options enable or disable the two features; (3) the
rest of the options control the way the two features work; (4) you can set
these options one at a time (with the Snap & Glue toolbar) or all at once (with
the Snap & Glue dialog).

The reader can be excused for asking, "Jeesh, why didn't he just *say* that?"
Well, boiling complicated details down to simple descriptions is hard work. I
sometimes have to attack a concept six different ways before I'm able to
describe it in a few brief sentences. Good technical prose can be pretty
exhausting to write. It also tends to be discouraged by bosses and publishers,
who too often judge writers by the quantity of their output, not its quality.

Still, a good writer can deal with these issues. You help people understand why
fewer words often means better content. You balance work quality against
personal limitations and unavoidable deadlines. It's not easy to do all this
and still make a decent living. That's especially true if you're working
independently. But is that an excuse for short-changing your readers?

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, July 9, 2001

By 

Michael G. Stout (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visio® 2000 Bible (Paperback)

This is a good book. It goes into detail in several areas. My main concern when looking for a book was to exploit the relationship between Visio and other Office applications like Access and Excel. I was also interested in the Wizards that come with Visio. This book was helpful to me in those areas. Since the last half of this book covers these advanced features I would say that its content takes the reader from elementary topics to the more advanced features of Visio. The next step after reading this book is the developers edition from Microsoft.

This book goes into detail that new users will be interested in as well. It explains the temples and shapes, how to edit them, how to set the properties for the page and other miscellaneous topics you need to get started. If you want to make a visual representation of some data that interacts with a spreadsheet or database, you can use this book for guidance and creative insite.