[Sigia-l] Microsoft opens up Visio schemas

[Livia Labate]

Microsoft opens up Visio schemas
A goal is to enable more dynamic interaction with Visio diagrams
By Ed Scannell April 15, 2004

Microsoft on Thursday announced it has released documentation that allows
corporate and third-party developers to take full advantage of the XML-based
schemas, called DatadiagramML, in its Office Visio diagramming tool.

The move will make it significantly easier for users to access information
residing in their Visio diagrams and to share that information with
server-based CRM and ERP applications from companies such as SAP and
PeopleSoft. This makes it easier for corporate users to integrate that data
into their core business processes, company officials believe.

"We have always had support for user-defined schemas. But this will better
allow our partners who work with users to build solutions so that their
diagrams will no longer be static. It gives users and their partners a
starting place to begin reusing code to create repeatable solutions," said
Bobby Moore, Microsoft's product manager for Visio.

One example of making Visio diagrams more dynamic would be working with an
organizational chart within Visio and "lock it" into a backend database so
that any new information put into the database would in turn automatically
update the information in the diagram to reflect those changes, Moore said.

[note: think of what this can mean for IAs...]

Making the documentation freely available, which is under a royalty-free
license, can also improve users' ability to search for information in data
diagrams and e-mail files, according to Moore.

"When you can save something as XML, it allows you to build better index
queries and to get back better search results. It also makes it better in
terms of sharing files, but even more importantly it helps with making Visio
more of a smart client in terms of data visualization," Moore said.

Moore said a number of developers and solution providers are now beginning
to put together a range of solutions using Visio 2003, including HRW
Consulting and the Swiss Post Office, called Schweizerische Post AG. Post
Office officials claim the product's XML support has helped them to more
easily share information across its entire operation. One user, at least,
said he agreed.

"A great deal of the work we do involves a variety of people in different
parts of the organization. Being able to share information broadly has been
a boon to the overall business," said Dan Miller, in charge of resource
management at Schweizersche Post AG.

Microsoft has already made documentation available for XML schemas in three
other Office System applications including Word, Excel, and InfoPath.

Corporate and third-party developers who want the documentation on
DatadiagramML schema can download it as part of the company's royalty-free
licensing plan from the Microsoft Office Developer Center on MSDN. For more
information on Microsoft's licensing program for XML schemas, go to
http://www.microsoft.com/office/xml/default.mspx.


source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/04/15/HNvisioschema_1.html