1. Running Computer and Network Reports
Many of the templates provided with Visio include predefined
reports. Both the Basic Network Diagram (see preceding section) and the
Detailed Network Diagram (see following section) include three reports
that highlight different subsets of the shape data in the various computer and
network shapes.
The following three graphics show part of the output available in
the three network and computer equipment reports. The sample reports
were created by adding data to the network diagram you created in the
preceding exercise.
Tip
The Displayed Text column in the reports shows the text typed
onto the shapes. In this network diagram, the only two shapes that
contain text are the Ethernet segments.
Tip
Only part of the Network Equipment report is shown above; there
are additional fields to the right of the Product Description
column.
2. Searching and Replacing Text
In this exercise, you will use the Visio find/replace features to
locate and alter text in a drawing.
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On the Home tab, in the
Editing group, click the
Find button, and then click
Find. The Find dialog box opens
and allows you to type the search text as well as to define various
search parameters.
In the next step, you will locate all computers that use
Windows XP.
-
In the Find what text box
of the Find dialog box, type
Windows
XP, and then click Find Next.
Even though you know there are three shapes containing
Windows XP, it’s clear from the preceding
graphic that Visio did not find any of them. The problem lies in the
default search parameters that you see behind the search results
message box: Visio only searched the shape text (the
text displayed on a shape) and not the shape data.
-
Click OK to close the
information dialog box, and then select Shape data in the Find dialog box.
-
Click Find Next
again. This time the Find function identifies a PC with Windows XP
in its shape data (look for the laptop that is selected in the
Branch Office 2 network).
Continuing to click Find Next will identify other shapes that
contain the search text Windows XP. Eventually,
clicking Find Next will display a dialog box indicating that Visio
has finished searching the page.
Tip
By using additional settings in the Find dialog box, you can
limit a search to just those shapes that are currently selected or
you can expand the search to all shapes on all pages. You can also
search shape
names and user-defined cells. The Options
section of the Find dialog box lets you limit search results based
on text case and other text attributes.
-
Click Cancel to close the
Find dialog box.
-
On the Home tab, in the
Editing group, click Find, and then click Replace.
Tip
Both the Find and the Replace dialog boxes display the most
recently used search string when you open them (see
Windows XP in the following figure). In
addition, both the Find What text box and the Replace With text
box contain a drop-down arrow. Clicking the arrow displays
recently used text strings.
Important
Notice that the Replace dialog box does not include
check boxes for Shape Text, Shape Data, Shape Name, or
User-Defined Cell as the Find dialog box does. This means that you
can use the Replace function to change shape text and but cannot
replace the text found in the other three locations.
-
In the Replace dialog box,
type Branch in the Find what text box.
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Type Local in the Replace with text box, and then click
Find Next.
Visio zooms in on the shape containing the search text and
enters text-edit mode.
-
Click the Replace button.
Visio makes the change, finds the next match, and enters edit
mode.
At any time, you can click Replace to make the next change, or
Replace All to replace all occurrences of the found text.
Clean Up
Close your drawing file. It is not necessary to
save changes.
