Visio 2003 Bible

Rating:
Summary: Boy, this sure opened my eyes!
Review: I just had my eyes opened to all that Visio can do by reviewing the book Visio 2003 Bible by Bonnie Biafore (Wiley).

Chapter list: Getting Started with Visio; Getting Started with Drawings; Working with Visio Files; Working with Shapes; Connecting Shapes; Working with Text; Formatting Visio Elements; Inserting, Linking, and Embedding Objects; Importing, Exporting, and Publishing Visio Data to the Web; Linking Shapes with Data; Collaborating with Others; Building Block Diagrams; Constructing Charts and Graphs; Working with Organization Charts; Working with Flowcharts; Documenting Business Processes; Scheduling Projects with Visio; Documenting Brainstorming Sessions; Modeling and Documenting Databases; Building UML Models; Building Software Development Diagrams; Mapping Web Sites; Creating Network Diagrams; Working with Scaled Drawings; Creating Scaled Plan Drawings; Laying Out Architectural and Engineering Plans; Integrating CAD and Visio; Working with Engineering Drawings; Creating and Customizing Templates; Creating and Customizing Stencils; Creating and Customizing Shapes; Customizing Shapes Using ShapeSheets; Formatting with Styles; Customizing Toolbars and Menus; Automating Visio; Installing Visio 2003; Visio 2003 Help Resources; Additional Resources for Templates and Stencils; Keyboard Shortcuts; Template and Stencil Reference; Index

As you can tell, there's not much left to cover after Bonnie gets done. :-)

As an IT professional, I've used Visio for the basics. Someone wants a flowchart, I can fake my way through a decent looking diagram. And that was pretty much all I thought Visio could do... basic drawings. But going through this book was an eye-opener. I didn't know that you could output Visio output for the web. I didn't know you could hook shapes up to data sources. And I *really* didn't know that Visio could produce a site map of a web site! Guess what I'll be trying at work tomorrow...

The author does a great job of covering the material at a level that everyone can understand. Due to the comprehensive nature of the book, I think that all levels of users can get something from the book, too. Those who are new to Visio will get a good foundation in the basics. Those (like me) who haven't explored past the basics will discover all sorts of new toys. And experts may find a feature or two that they didn't know about.

Definitely a keeper that will end up on my bookshelf at work, and one that I'll have to guard against greedy fingers...