It is possible to open the Edit mode on the client to see the shape properties of a Visio drawing:
But when trying to edit a property and save it, I get the notification that there is no Visio application present so it can't be saved.
A vsdx file is actually a .zip file that contains folders with .xml files.
For example when unzipping, and going to the visio\pages\page1.xml I can see the shapes and their properties:
One would think that it's easy to modify such property content of existing drawings so there is no need to have a Visio license on every client PC.
Are there any plans to have DataMiner support this or are there other catches that would prevent this and it doesn't suffice to simply edit the xml content?
Both *.vdx and *.vsdx are xml-based indeed and we could have chosen 'direct file updates' instead of interaction with the Visio Application to save shape data.
The main reasons for the current choice are:
- You need the Visio application for drawing anyway.
- The API (UIAutomation) we are using will typically change less often than the file format.
- There are some advanced concepts in Visio that would complicate the implementation of direct file updates: Formulas, Master shapes, ...
At this moment, there are no specific plans to change strategy.
The current idea is rather to enrich the Visio Application with DataMiner panels. The 'Advanced Editing' panel is a first example.