How to get a good visual presentation of the SharePoint 2010 Visio Web Access web part.

June 3, 2010   17:27


visio_logoA great new feature of SharePoint 2010, is the online rendering of Visio forms. It allows you to visualize process status information and it also offers more advanced options for KPI visualization.

However, the default display behavior of the Visio Web Access part is a bit nasty, especially when you try to display information inline of the page. The content position of the Visio document is positioned completely wrong and the user has to correct the zoom or even has to drag the information. As you can see in the example below, my Visio information is shown incorrectly.

visio_display_problem

This problem can be fixed by modifying the XML configuration of the web part. Before you can modify the XML configuration, make sure you enable the checkbox of the web part option “Override the Web Drawing’s default initial view using the web part’s current page, pan and zoom”. Never turn off this option again, because it will completely reset the view settings in the xml.

visio_display_problem_webpart_settings

After you have saved the web part with the override setting, export it to your desktop and open it in an editor. Notepad will do fine. Search inside the XML for a property called “ViewSettings”.

<property name=”HelpUrl” type=”string” />
<property name=”ExportMode” type=”exportmode”>All</property>

<property name=”ViewSettings” type=”string”>{”pageIndex”:0,”viewBounds”:{”x”:120,”y”:0,”width”:489, “height”:175},”zoomValue”:90}</property>

<property name=”OverrideViewSettings” type=”bool”>True</property>
<property name=”AllowClose” type=”bool”>True</property>

This property allows you to alter the default display option of the web part, but only when the property “OverrideViewSettings” is set to true. Try to play around with the X and Y setting and perhaps the zoomValue. Save the web part file and import it again to your page. You might have to repeat the process a few times to get it right, but after a few tries the web part will show your information correctly. This way Visio is a great option to show KPI information.

visio_display_problem_corrected

Tags: , , , , , , , , .





Unleash extra power to SharePoint 2007 Workflows

April 4, 2010   14:06


unleash_power_to_sharepoint_workflowsI’m very enthusiastic about the Nintex Workflow product. With Nintex Workflow it is possible to build very advanced workflows. The downside of course, is that that Nintex is a 3rd party product and therefore it isn’t available in all my projects. In that case I will have to rely on the normal SharePoint Designer Workflows.

The problem with normal workflow actions is that they are designed to work inside a single web. It is not possible, for example, to create a new list item in a different web. Creating list items in different webs is a very powerful feature, because it allows us to interact with different site areas and we might also want to initiate new workflows over there.

To overcome the short come of these standard workflow actions, we can use the SharePoint web services. But there is one major problem: SharePoint Designer Workflows don’t have a workflow action that allows you to call SharePoint web services.

Luckily I found a project at CodePlex which allows us to do just that. The iLoveSharePoint project contains a subproject with the name SharePoint Designer Actions V1.0. Download this expansion for SharePoint Designer and install it at your SharePoint farm.

Below I will provide a few demonstration steps that will use the following new SharePoint Designer Actions from iLoveSharePoint:

  • Call a WebService
  • Query XML

The “Call a WebService” action will allow us to communicate with the Microsoft SharePoint web services and provides us with an almost unlimited range of extra development possibilities. The small downside is that these actions are advanced and that it takes some time to configure them.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , .









The content expressed in this blog are those of Edwin Vriethoff and do not represent his employer's view in anyway. The contents of this blog has been carefully put together, but Edwin Vriethoff is not responsible in any way for any direct or indirect harm caused by individuals or organizations using the content of this blog in any way.