Datasheet

Visio stencils are categorized collections of shapes. To continue the house analogy, a Visio stencil is
like a catalog of cedar logs and connecting brackets that are available from your local building sup-
ply store. To build your home, you order the components you need from the store and assemble
them according to your house design. In Visio, you assemble your drawings by dragging and drop-
ping shapes from stencils onto your drawing page.
What Makes Shapes Smart
The Visio philosophy is elegantly simple — you construct drawings primarily by dragging and
dropping predefined shapes onto drawing pages. Although working with Visio can seem like copy-
ing clip art into a document, Visio shapes are much more powerful. In fact, Visio calls them
SmartShapes because their built-in properties and behaviors make them seem, well, smart.
Shape behaviors help you position shapes and connect them appropriately to other shapes. For
example, when you place a door shape in a wall, the door lines up with the wall and creates an
opening into a room, as shown in Figure 1-1. That same door might contain shape data to config-
ure the shape or identify it, also shown in Figure 1-1. For example, one door property specifies
whether the door is centered in the wall. Other door properties can define a door’s dimensions, its
catalog number, or its associated room number, so you can produce a schedule of the doors you
need and where they belong in your building.
FIGURE 1-1
Shapes include behaviors and properties that make them seem smart.
Shape data configures and identifies shapes
Door shapes can create openings in walls
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Understanding Visio Fundamentals
Part I
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