Sandrila Ltd

JSD for Visio - V1.9 - 11th August 2008

JSD for Visio website

System Requirements and Installation

Requirements

Installation

  1. Create a folder 'c:\Program Files\sandrila\jsd' and unzip jsd.zip into this folder.
  2. Start Visio.
  3. From the 'Tools' menu select 'Options -> Advanced' then select the 'File Paths' button.
    Add the path to the 'sandrila' folder e.g. : 'c:\Program Files\sandrila'
    to the Templates, Stencils and Add-ons file paths.
    Multiple paths should be separated by ';' e.g. stencils;c:\Program Files\sandrila
    P.S. Setting the path to point to 'sandrila' will allow Visio to present jsd
    as a new drawing type on the menu File -> New.
  4. Visual Basic for Applications is used by this template for some of its operations.
    VBA and Automation Events must be enabled.
    From the menu
    1. in Visio 2000/2002 - 'Tools -> Options -> Advanced'
    2. in Visio 2003 - 'Tools -> Options -> Security'
    3. in Visio 2007 - 'Tools -> Options -> Advanced'
    ensure that:
    1. 'Enable Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications' is ticked and
    2. 'Enable Automation Events' is ticked.
    and for Visio 2007
    menu Options -> Trust Center
    Trust access to the VBA project object model: enable tick box
  5. Check your security settings (below)
  6. Close and restart Visio.
    Now when choosing a new drawing type, 'jsd' and 'jsd_2000' should be visible.
    'jsd' is for use with Visio 2002 or later.
    'jsd_2000' is for Visio 2000.
    Delete any unwanted template to prevent confusion or problems.
    Choose drawing type 'jsd' or 'jsd_2000', the unregistered version should show the about box.
    If you have the registered version, use the JSD menu and select 'JSD About'.

Security Settings

You may need to check or adjust your Visio/Office security settings. This seems to change with every new version so I shall point you to Chris Roth's excellent article:
http://visguy.com/2007/05/17/vba-macro-security/

Registration

When you register JSD for Visio with Sandrila Ltd you will be sent a registration key by email.

Uninstall

  1. Remove the paths to JSD from the Visio 'File Paths' dialog (as above).
  2. Close Visio and delete the JSD folder.
Visio 2000/2002 Options - File Paths
Visio 2000 options
Visio 2003/2007 Options - File Paths
Visio 2002 options

Uninstall

  1. Remove the jsd folder
  2. Remove the path to JSD in Options | FilePaths (unless you also have other Sandrila software)
  3. Close Visio.

Registration Key

When you purchase JSD for Visio you will be sent a registration key by email.

  1. Select and copy this registration key
  2. Open JSD for Visio
  3. From the JSD menu and select JSD About'.
  4. Click on the Registration Key button and paste this into the 'registration key' text area.

The registration key is stored in the registry, hence, the key only needs to be entered once.

JSD menus

JSD for Visio adds a new menu to the Visio menu bar -

added menu

The 'Add...' item expands to the following submenu -

add menu

Please note that the Syntax Check menu, though visible, is inactive until you register and purchase JSD for Visio.

Adding a new diagram

Use the JSD menu and select 'Add' then 'Add new diagram'. This will create a new diagram based on the JSD template.

Adding a new page to the current diagram

To add a new page to your diagram, use the JSD menu and select 'Add' then 'Add new Page'. A new page based on the first page will be added.

Adding n new pages to the current diagram

To add several new pages to your diagram, use the JSD menu and select 'Add' then 'Add n new pages'. At the dialog box, enter the number of pages required (1 .. 99). This number of new pages based on the first page will be added.

JSD diagram types

Setting the diagram type

Use the JSD menu and select 'Set Diagram Type' and select the required diagram types. All the pages in the current document will be set to this diagram type. Set the diagram type before adding symbols to that diagram. Once symbols have been added to a diagram, it will not be possible to change the diagram type as this may allow an incorrect symbol type on a page.

Open JSD Stencil

When opening a diagram that has been saved without saving the relevant stencil, this menu will open the relevant stencil for the current drawing type.

Diagrams and pages

A few lines to describe how JSD for Visio handles JSD diagrams and pages.

JSD diagrams may contain 1 or more pages but each page in that diagram must be of the same type e.g. Structure.
Each page within a diagram can have individual settings for paper size, page size and custom properties.

Starting a new diagram

Start a new diagram based on the JSD template.
Initially a new JSD formatted page will be displayed with the following attributes:

Choosing the paper size

Use the Visio page setup menu to select your paper size.

Choosing the page size

Either:

  1. Use the Visio page setup menu and select 'Page size'. Use the 'predefined size' option to select your page size.
  2. or move the top and/or right page borders using the mouse and Control key

Changing the page name

Double click on the tab at the bottom of the page and then type in the new name or edit the old one. The pages indication in the top right-hand corner of the page will show the current page name and the total number of pages.

Adding a new diagram

Use the JSD menu and select 'Add new diagram'. This will create a new diagram based on the JSD template.

Adding a new page to the current diagram

To add a new page to your diagram, use the JSD menu and select 'Add page to this diagram'. A new page based on the first page will be created

Adding symbols to a page

Drag and drop a symbol from a stencil onto a diagram page. Note that only valid symbols can be dropped onto a page e.g. a Sequence symbol cannot be dropped onto any page except a Structure diagram page.

Diagram analysis (Registered version only)

Syntax check

This performs a syntax check on all diagram types.
Items found to contain a fault are highlighted in red.
See also Syntax Check Error Messages.
Below is typical output from the analysis of diagrams with and without errors.

syntax output 1

syntax output 2

Syntax Check Error Messages (Registered version only)

Errors

Certain errors (marked *) will prevent syntax checking from continuing.

1*Diagram name not found.
A diagram must have a name allocated to it. This item should be part of the standard template. Perhaps it has been deleted accidentally. The best way to fix this is to create a new page and copy all your symbols to the new page.
2Flow line disconnected.
The highlighted flow line is not connected to a symbol. Check the connections at both ends.
3Flow line should not have text.
Flow lines must not have text. If this flow line is an output from a Decision then use a 'flow line with text'.
4Flow line looped.
Both ends of this flow line connect to the same symbol.
5Symbol has no text.
The highlighted symbol requires some text.
6*Title is blank.
The diagram must have a title. The title area will be highlighted if the text area is blank
7*No Agent type on page.
The Agent Type for this page is missing.
8*Agent type has no text.
The Agent type for this page is empty. Somehow, the text has been deleted. Try setting the diagram type, the diagram type text should re-appear in the text box.
9Unterminated comment.
The highlighted symbol contains an unterminated comment.
10*The diagram type is not the same as the first page.
The diagram type of each page must be the same.
11The selected shape has no connectors.
All shapes must have at least one connector.
Fatal errors
998*Too many connectors - aborting
999*Too many symbols - aborting

There is a limit on the number of symbols and connectors (currently set to 8000) that the syntax analyser can process on a page. If you reach this limit then your diagram is probably much too large and complicated.

Troubleshooting

If you have any problem with this software, here are a few pointers and solutions: Please contact Sandrila Ltd at http://www.sandrila.co.uk/ with any questions or problem reports.

Acknowledgements

The development of JSD for Visio has been aided and abetted by the following software applications and tools (in alphabetical order) :