Finishing and Testing a Template

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Before you save a template, check the following items:

  • The workspace should contain only the files you want to be opened.
  • All the windows are in appropriate positions.
  • Any window you want to be minimized is minimized.

You create a workspace for a template by selecting Workspace under the Save button in the Save As dialog box and saving the template file. After that, unless you clear the Workspace option, Microsoft Visio updates a template's workspace list each time the original file is saved—adding files that are open and eliminating files that are closed.

Cleaning up a Template

To make your template as efficient and easy to use as possible, you should clean up the windows and workspace in your template as well as include summary information in your template. Begin by opening up your template as Original.

To delete unnecessary masters from the template's document stencil

  1. Make sure the drawing window is active.
  2. On the File menu, point to Stencils, and then click Document Stencil.
  3. Delete only those masters that do not have instances in the template's pages.

To make sure the size of windows and stencils appears correctly on different systems

  1. Open the template on a system with a display resolution your users are most likely to have.
  2. On the Window menu, click Tile to help position windows correctly.
  3. Open the template again on systems with different display resolutions to ensure that the window positions still work.

To provide summary information for your template

  1. On the File menu, click Properties, and then click the Summary tab.
  2. Provide any summary information you want to include with your template.

Testing a Template

You test a template by verifying the information about it that appears in the Open dialog box, and then testing how the template acts when it is opened as Original, Copy, or Read only.

If you create a template by saving an existing Visio file as a new template ( . vst) file, the new template may inherit an irrelevant workspace list. Be sure to test your template to make sure its workspace list opens the files and windows you want before you release the template to users.

Tip


To protect your original template, create a copy that contains the shapes you want to test and use the copy for testing. After you test, incorporate changes in the original template and make a new copy for additional testing.

To test template information in the Open dialog box

  1. On the File menu, click Open.
  2. For Files of type, click Template.
  3. Pause your mouse pointer over the template file that you are testing.
  4. Verify that a title and description appear for the file.
  5. If the title and description don't appear, be sure to add these later to the original file by clicking Properties on the File menu.

To test the original version of a template

  1. Open the template file as Original.
  2. Verify that the template opens correctly using the following criteria:
    • The file opens with its name displayed correctly in the title bar. For example, if the template file is Organization Chart.vst, the name in the title bar should also be Organization Chart.vst.
    • All stencil ( . vss) files associated with the template open as Read only, unless intended to open as Original files.
    • The drawing page window opens in Whole Page view, unless you explicitly specify another option. Whole Page view is the best option for most monitors. (On the View menu, point to Zoom, and then click Whole Page.)
    • The stencil and drawing windows are positioned correctly. Click Tile on the Window menu to verify the window positions, unless you have already repositioned them during the current work session.
    • The template includes the correct number of pages. Check the Page tabs at the bottom of the drawing page. Templates should have only one page unless you have intentionally created additional pages.
    • The content of each page (including each background) is correct.
    • Nothing unintentional appears on the area outside the drawing page. To check, display each page at 5% magnification. To ensure all the shapes are visible, click Select All on the Edit menu.
  3. Verify that the template's settings are correct using the following criteria:
    • Each page scale is compatible with the shapes intended for use with the template. To check, for each page, click Page Setup on the File menu, and then click the Page Properties tab.
    • The page size corresponds to the page orientation used for printing. Unless you specifically want pages to tile when they are printed, the settings should correspond as follows: If the page size is taller than it is wide, the orientation should be portrait. If the page size is wider than it is tall, the orientation should be landscape.
    • No masters remain on the document stencil, unless you have created instances of the master on the template's drawing page, in which case no other masters should appear. To check, point to Stencils on the File menu, and then click Document Stencil.
    • File property information is filled out. To check, click Properties on the File menu and verify the spelling, grammar, content, spacing, capitalization, and punctuation.
    • The template settings for each page are as expected. To check, on the Tools menu, click the Options, Snap & Glue, and Ruler & Grid commands. On the File menu, click Page Setup and then click the Page Size, Drawing Scale, and Page Properties tabs. Check the style lists on the Format toolbars.
    • The template display options are set appropriately: rulers, grid, guides, connection points, and toolbar.
    • Make sure the template's color palette matches that of any stencils that open with the template.

To test a copy of a template

  1. Open the template file as Copy.
  2. Verify that the file opens with a drawing page name that looks like this: Drawing1:Page1.
  3. Verify that the drawing page, and any pages you have added, look the way you expect.
  4. Verify that all stencil files (.vss) associated with the template open as Read only.
  5. On the File menu, click Properties and verify that all file properties are blank except for the Author box; the Author box displays the user name specified using the Options dialog box (on the Tools menu, click Options) or the name specified when Visio was installed on the computer.

To test the read-only version of a template

  1. Open the template file as Read only.
  2. Verify that the file name in the drawing window title bar appears in braces and starts with the template name.
  3. Verify that on the File menu, the Save command is dimmed.


Developing Microsoft Visio Solutions 2001
Developing Microsoft Visio Solutions (Pro-Documentation)
ISBN: 0735613532
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 180

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