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Importing abbreviations lists in Visio for
Enterprise Architects from VisioModeler Models
Maintaining abbreviations lists
between ORM Source Models
Sorting abbreviations lists in ORM Source & VisioModeler Models
ER to ORM synchronization: keeping it from locking up (or taking forever)
Adjusting the number of
value-constraint values displayed on an ORM
Source diagram
Adjusting predicate
text in Visio for Enterprise Architects
Importing abbreviations lists in Visio for
Enterprise Architects from VisioModeler Models
In Microsoft®
Visio®
for Enterprise Architects, the abbreviation list
is not imported when you import a VisioModeler
.IMO file.
To manually import the abbreviation list:
- Open the IMO in VisioModeler, right click on the white space of any page and select "Document Options".
- Select the "Abbreviations" tab.
- Click on the upper left square to highlight the whole abbreviations grid and type CTRL+C (copy).
- In VSEA tool, select "Database | Options | Document..." and then the "Abbreviations" tab.
- Click on the upper left square to highlight the whole abbreviations grid and type CTRL+V (paste).
Maintaining abbreviations lists between ORM Source Models
Unlike it’s counterpart in InfoModeler/VisioModeler, in Visio for Enterprise Architects the abbreviation list is not pre-“seeded” with words from your conceptual model (I know, I hate that too). One way to overcome this problem is to save and maintain your abbreviation list in Excel and copy and paste it into the ORM Source model as described above.
Sorting abbreviations lists in ORM Source & VisioModeler Models
To sort the abbreviation list in Visio for Enterprise Architects or VisioModeler, copy and paste it the abbreviation list into Excel (see the above tip), use Excel to sort the list, and then copy and paste it back into Visio/VisioModeler.
ER to ORM synchronization: keeping it from
locking up (or taking forever)
In Visio for Enterprise
Architects, when editing a Database Diagram Model that is
based on an ORM Source Model, you are
occasionally prompted to “migrate” changes back
to the ORM Source Model. This migration
sometimes appears to lock up (but actually just
takes a very long time).
One way to avoid this is to never make any
structural model changes in the Database Diagram
Model. In other words, make any changes that
result in the addition/subtraction of columns,
tables, and entities in the ORM source model
first, and then re-build the Database Diagram
Model.
The only changes I make in the Database Diagram
model are usually aesthetic (e.g. laying out the
diagram, re-ordering columns) or renaming
columns and tables.
Even if you don’t make any structural changes in
the Database Model Diagram you may still be
prompted to migrate changes. In this case, it is
safe to click “No”. However, if you have
re-named any columns, those new column names
will often not be persisted the next time you
build the Database Model Diagram unless you have
updated the source models via “Database |
Project | Update Source Models...” Note that
this is not the same as “Migrating” changes and
often takes much less time.
A related tip is that performance is improved if
the ORM Source Models you are “updating” or
“migrating changes to” are already open before
the update/migration begins.
Adjusting the number of value-constraint values
displayed on an ORM Source diagram
In Visio for Enterprise Architects, when an ORM Object has a value constraint (a list of allowable object values) you can control the number of allowable values that appear on the diagram by right clicking on the object and selecting ãShape | Custom Properties...ä and specifying the maximum number of entries you wish to have displayed in the ãValue list sizeä text box.
Adjusting predicate text in Visio for Enterprise Architects
In Visio for Enterprise Architects, predicate orientation (e.g. reverse roles, flip orientation) is controlled by the Visio shape rotation options found in the "Shape | Rotate or Flip" menu options. Notice that the text orients correctly when you rotate a predicate and that if you flip a predicate, the direction you should read the sentence is indicated with a "<<" (i.e. to indicate that you should read from right to left).
Forward and inverse readings on predicates are displayed if the text is supplied and, unlike VisioModeler, you cannot choose to supply a reading but hide it from view.
You'll also notice that there are no options indicating if the predicate text should be inside, above, or below the predicate. However, all text external to any shape can be freely positioned anywhere on the page. To do this, highlight a shape (say, a predicate or a nested predicate) and see that there is a yellow "handle" in the text. If you click and drag that handle, the text moves with it.
Microsoft Visio is a
registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
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