| Microsoft Visio | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg) | |||||||||||
 Microsoft Visio 2021 Professional onWindows 10 | |||||||||||
| Original author | Visio Corporation | ||||||||||
| Developer | Microsoft | ||||||||||
| Initial release | 1992; 33 years ago (1992) | ||||||||||
| Stable release(s) | |||||||||||
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| Operating system | Microsoft Windows | ||||||||||
| Type | Diagramming software | ||||||||||
| License | Trialware | ||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||
Microsoft Visio (/ˈvɪz.i.oʊ/,VIZ-ee-oh), formerlyMicrosoft Office Visio, is a diagramming andvector graphics application and is part of theMicrosoft 365 Business. The product was first introduced in 1992 by former American software companyVisio Corporation, and its latest version is Visio 2024.Microsoft acquired the assets of Visio Corporation in 2000 and thus also inherited thelicensing agreements for the Visio application. A lightweight version of Visio is now included with all commercialSKU of Microsoft 365 and is known asVisio in Microsoft 365. It has two other subscription based SKUs.Visio Plan 1 includes the Visio web app whereasVisio Plan 2 provides access to both the web app and the Desktop application.
Microsoft Visio is used to create diagram types such asflowcharts,org charts,floor plans,network diagrams,UML diagrams,mind maps and more. It is also commonly used for scenarios such asProcess Mapping and Visual Collaboration. The latest version of Visio also hasdata visualization that allows users to create diagrams from Excel data and also embed Visio diagrams inPower BI dashboards.
Microsoft made Visio 2013 for Windows available in two editions: Standard and Professional. The Standard and Professional editions share the same interface, but the Professional edition has additional templates for more advanced diagrams and layouts, as well as capabilities intended to make it easy for users to connect their diagrams to data sources and to display their data graphically.[4][5] The Professional edition features three additional diagram types, as well as intelligent rules, validation, and subprocess (diagram breakdown).[6] Visio Professional is also offered as an additional component of anOffice365 subscription.[7]
On September 22, 2015, Visio 2016 was released alongsideMicrosoft Office 2016. A few new features were added, including one-step connectivity to Excel data, information-rights management (IRM) protection for Visio files, modernized shapes for office layout, detailed shapes for site plans, updated shapes for floor plans, modern shapes for home plans,IEEE-compliant shapes for electrical diagrams, new range of starter diagrams, and new themes for the Visio interface.[8]
Database modelling in Visio revolves around a Database Model Diagram (DMD).[9]
  Icons for .vsdx (left) and.vss (right) files | |
| VSD | Visio 2003-2010 Drawing |
|---|---|
| VSS | Stencil |
| VST | Template |
| VDW | Web drawing[10] |
| VDX | XML drawing (Discontinued[11]) |
| VSX | XML stencil (Discontinued[11]) |
| VTX | XML template (Discontinued[11]) |
| VSDX | OPC/XML drawing, Current Visio drawing[11][12] |
| VSDM | OPC/XML drawing, macro-enabled[11] |
| VSSX | OPC/XML stencil[11] |
| VSSM | OPC/XML stencil, macro-enabled[11] |
| VSTX | OPC/XML template[11] |
| VSTM | OPC/XML template, macro-enabled[11] |
| VSL | Add-on |
All of the previous versions of Visio used VSD, the proprietary binary-file format. Visio 2010 added support for the VDX file format, which is a well-documentedXML Schema-based ("DatadiagramML") format, but still uses VSD by default only.
Visio 2013 drops support for writing VDX files in favor of the new VSDX and VSDM file formats,[11] and uses them by default. Created based onOpen Packaging Conventions (OPC) standard (ISO 29500, Part 2), a VSDX or VSDM file consists of a group of XML files archived inside aZip file.[11] VSDX and VSDM files differ only in that VSDM files may containmacros.[11] Since these files are susceptible tomacro virus infection, the program enforces strict security on them.[13]
While VSD files useLZW-likelossless compression, VDX is not compressed. Hence, a VDX file typically takes up 3 to 5 times more storage.[citation needed] VSDX and VSDM files use the same compression as Zip files.
Visio also supports saving files inSVG files, other diagramming files and images. However, images cannot be opened by the program.
Visio began as a standalone product produced by Shapeware Corporation; version 1.0 shipped in 1992. A pre-release, Version 0.92, was distributed free on a floppy disk along with a Microsoft Windows systems readiness evaluation utility. In 1995, Shapeware Corporation changed their name toVisio Corporation to take advantage of market recognition and related product equity. Microsoft acquired Visio in 2000, re-branding it as a Microsoft Office application. LikeMicrosoft Project, however, it has never been officially included in any of the bundled Office suites. Microsoft included aVisio for Enterprise Architects edition with some editions ofVisual Studio .NET 2003 andVisual Studio 2005.[14]
Along with Microsoft Visio 2002 Professional, Microsoft introduced Visio Enterprise Network Tools and Visio Network Center. Visio Enterprise Network Tools was an add-on product that enabled automated network and directory services diagramming. Visio Network Center was a subscription-based website where users could locate the latestnetwork documentation content and exact-replica network equipment shapes from 500 leading manufacturers.[15] Visio Enterprise Network Tools was discontinued in July 2002.[16] The following year, Microsoft released a patch which gave Enterprise Network Tools users access to the network equipment shapes via Visio's built-in Find Shape feature.[17] Visio 2007 was released on November 30, 2006.
Microsoft Visio adoptedribbons in itsuser interface in Visio 2010.[18]Microsoft Word,Excel,PowerPoint,Access andOutlook (to some extents) had already adopted the ribbon with the release ofMicrosoft Office 2007.[19]
November 19, 2012:BPMN 2.0 was utilized within Microsoft Visio.[20]
There are no Visio versions 7, 8, or 9, because after Microsoft acquired and branded Visio as a Microsoft Office product, the Visio version numbers followed the Office version numbers. Version 13 was also skipped owing totriskaidekaphobia.[21]
Visio does not have amacOS version, which has led to the growth of several third-party applications which can open and edit Visio files on Mac.
On 7 May 2001, Microsoft introducedVisio Enterprise Network Tools (VENT), an add-on for Visio 2002 scheduled for release on 1 July 2001, andVisio Network Center, a subscription-based web service for IT professionals who use Microsoft Visio forcomputer network diagramming.[22] VENT was discontinued on 1 July 2002 because of very low customer demand.[23]
The cornerstone of the Visio Data POroject will be the Database Model Diagram (DMD). [...] The DMD is mainly an Entity Relationship (ER) diagram with project management capabilities.
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