Knowledge Base

Visio5: What Is New in Service Release C and the Business Bonus Pack for Visio 5.0

Article ID: 254526

Article Last Modified on 7/20/2006

APPLIES TO

Visio 5.0 Standard
Visio 5.0 Professional
Visio 5.0 Technical
Visio 5.0 Enterprise

This article was previously published under Q254526

SUMMARY

Service Release C for U.S. or International English versions of Microsoft Visio 5.0 adds substantial new content and core functionality to your Visio environment. This article lists some of the improvements and new features, and introduces the exciting new Business Bonus Pack, included with the service release.

MORE INFORMATION

Business Bonus Pack

The new Business Bonus Pack makes it even easier to create and edit polished business diagrams that suit a broad range of visual communications needs. New content provides a more efficient way to create and edit ready-to-go organization charts, allows you to add colorful, detailed diagrams into Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and includes expanded support for creating traditional timelines, marketing diagrams, calendars, and cross-functional flowcharts.

The Business Bonus Pack also includes tools for the Rummler-Brache business process methodology and the Visio Introductory Tour.

Tools for the Rummler-Brache methodology

The Rummler-Brache methodology is based on the research of Dr. Geary Rummler. The research led to the conclusion that business performance occurs at the organization, process, and performer levels, and that all three levels of performance are interdependent and must be planned, designed, and managed.

The Visio Rummler-Brache Solution Pack consists of:

A template that opens four stencils containing Rummler-Brache masters and sets up five pages for creating a Rummler-Brache project: one page for each of the five Rummler-Brache map types.
A Project Navigator to help you visualize the hierarchy of maps in your project and move easily from one map to another.
A set of commands specific to the Rummler-Brache template, located on the Rummler-Brache menu.
Online reference material and assistance for creating each of the five map types and for completing other specific procedures.

For more information about the Visio Rummler-Brache solution, see Rummler-Brache Help. When you create a new project based on the Rummler-Brache template, you can click Rummler-Brache Help on the Rummler-Brache menu that appears.

Visio Introductory Tour

The Visio Introductory Tour is a 15 to 20 minute interactive tutorial that shows you the basics of Visio Standard. The tour is available only on the Visio 5.0c CD. See the "Delivery Options" section later in this article for information about ordering the CD.

For more information about the Business Bonus Pack, please contact Microsoft Product Support Services. You can find the appropriate phone number at the following Web address:

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/assistsupport

Additional Improvements and New Features in All Visio 5.0c Products

Support for Microsoft Backoffice Small Business Server (SBS)

When you install the Visio 5.0c update from the CD, you can use the /v command-line option with the Setup program to install Visio files in a folder that you specify within the SmallBusiness\Clients folder structure. With SBS support, you can start Visio from the Setup Computer Wizard and the Manage Computers feature in the SBS Console program. For more information about SBS support in Visio 5.0c, refer to Sbs.txt in the root folder of the Visio CD. For information about ordering the CD, see the "Delivery Options" section later in this article.

Drag-and-drop Printing

You can print a Visio drawing by dragging the drawing file icon from Windows Explorer onto a printer icon in the Printers window (click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers). Visio starts, opens the drawing, prints it, and then closes.

[GRAPHIC: Picture showing Drag-and-drop printing]

Command-Line Printing

You can print a Visio drawing by using a new option for starting Visio from the command line (click Start and then click Run). Visio starts, opens the drawing, prints it, and then closes.

The command line option is /pt, and it takes the following arguments:

/pt "filename", "printername", "drivername", "portname"

The printername, drivername, and portname arguments are optional. If you include only the file name, Visio opens the drawing and displays the Print dialog box, in which you can select a printer and click OK (as it does when you use the /p option).

The following example command line prints a file named Demo.vsd, which resides in the Visio folder, on a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 6L printer set up on a local port:

"c:\Program Files\Visio\Visio32.exe" /pt "Demo.vsd", "HP LaserJet 6L (PCL)", "HP LaserJet 6L (PCL)", "LPT1"

You can find the printer, driver, and port names in the Properties dialog box for the printer that you want to print the drawing on.

To find the printer, driver, and port names:

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
In the Printers dialog box, right-click the printer that you want to print the drawing on, and click Properties.

You can find the printer, driver, and port names on one of the tabs in the Properties dialog box that appears. The tab that contains the information depends on the operating system you use.

/noicons Command-Line Option

If you do not use the solution-type icons in the New Visio Drawing folder on the Start menu, you can choose not to install them by adding the /noicons option to the command line (click Start and then click Run) when you run the Visio Setup program. For example, if you have the Visio CD and drive D is the CD-ROM drive, type the command as shown in the picture below.

[GRAPHIC: Picture that shows that you should type the following in the Open box: d:\install\setup.exe /noicons]

Improvements in Microsoft Office 97 and Outlook Compatibility

Visio 5.0c provides improved support for the following operations that require Microsoft Office 97 or Microsoft Outlook:

Attaching a routing slip to a drawing you send through e-mail.
Sending a drawing to a Microsoft Exchange folder.
Recording Visio activities in the Outlook Journal.

For more information about sending drawings through e-mail, search Visio Help for "Microsoft Office compatibility."

Improved AutoCAD File Format Support

The DWG Display component includes the following enhancements:

Improved performance in opening a DWG file.
The ability to read Autodesk AutoCAD R14.01 files and display R14 hatch patterns.
A new font file that increases support for extended characters.

Changes to Screen-Redraw Behavior

Visio 5.0c includes new off-screen redraw functionality that reduces screen flicker when you perform an action that causes Visio to redraw the screen, such as change the zoom level, reposition shapes, or save a drawing. The new behavior applies to the drawing, master, group, and print preview windows. The following new setting in the [application] section of the Visio.ini file enables the new screen-redraw behavior:

DrawOffscreen=1

The new behavior is system dependent, so whether it improves performance depends on your computer. If you prefer the screen-redraw behavior of Visio 5.0b and earlier versions, you can return to it by changing the value of the DrawOffscreen setting to zero (0).

For more information about working with off-screen redraw settings, see the Readme.txt file in the Visio folder.

Additional Improvements and New Features in Visio Technical

Visio Technical includes the Business Bonus Pack and all of the updates and new features described in this article, as well as the following additional DWG converter enhancements:

Improved performance in reading and writing drawings, and in opening a drawing for display only.
New font-mapping behavior that supports the use of SHX files in place of the default font with displayable layers.
Support for the /s argument, which allows you to run the Convert AutoCAD Library command through automation without opening dialog boxes.

You can also add multiple file names with the /s argument. For example, /s c:\path?filename1?filename2.

The ability to open a DWG file more than once; for example, once for display and once for conversion.

Additional Improvements and New Features in Visio Professional

Visio Professional includes the Business Bonus Pack and all of the updates and new features described in this article, as well as the following additional enhancements:

New generic network equipment shapes.
Standardized behavior in software stencil shapes.
A new template and stencil for each of two new software-diagramming solutions:

The Real-time Object Oriented Modeling (ROOM) modeling language for diagramming real-time systems.

The Jackson methodology for creating data and program structures.

For more information about these new solutions, in Visio Professional, on the Help menu, click Template Help, and find the appropriate topic under Software Diagram.

Improved Web Diagram Wizard.

NOTE: Also see the Readme.txt file in the Visio folder for information about using the Web Diagram Wizard with certain versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between the Business Bonus Pack and Visio 5.0c?

The Business Bonus Pack is the most significant new content in the Visio 5.0c update; however, Visio 5.0c includes some improvements in addition to the Business Bonus Pack. These are listed in the "Additional Improvements and New Features in All Visio 5.0c Products" section of this article.

Can I use the Business Bonus Pack with Visio Technical or Visio Professional?

Yes. The 5.0c version of Visio Technical and of Visio Professional includes the Business Bonus Pack.

I haven't updated my Visio 5.0 product to version 5.0b yet. What additional improvements do the 5.0a and 5.0b service releases include?

For a list of updates in Visio 5.0a and 5.0b, see one of the following articles:

254536 Summary of updates in Service Release B for U.S. English Visio 5.0.

254534 Summary of updates in Service Release B for International English Visio 5.0.

If I have not updated my Visio 5.0 product yet, do I have to install Service Releases A, B, and C separately to get all of the improvements?

No. When you install Service Release C you get all of the new features and improvements from Visio 5.0 to 5.0c.

Delivery Options

To obtain the Visio 5.0c update, including the Business Bonus Pack, either order it on CD, or download Service Release C for your version of Visio.

To order the CD, please contact Microsoft Product Support Services. You can find the appropriate phone number at the following Web address:

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/assistsupport

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download Vis5X25C.exe now (for the U.S. version of Visio 5.0)

Download IE5X25C.exe now (for the International English version of Visio 5.0)

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

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