Importing a Visio Diagram

One feature of the iGrafx platform currently being developed is the ability to convert Microsoft Visio VSD and VSDX diagrams into iGrafx IGXW diagrams. This feature is only available for cloud customers.

Step-by-step guide

1. Make sure that the Visio Import feature flag is activated in the iGrafx Platform

2. Navigate to the desired repository and desired parent object

3. Click the Add Object button 

4. Select 'Diagram' from the Type dropdown

5. Select Import > Import From File

6. Select the desired VSD or VSDX file from the Browse prompt or drag it into the specified area

7. Click Finish

• As Visio diagrams actually contain multiple diagram "pages", top level "diagrams" are imported as folders containing each individual generated "page" diagram. For example, importing a Visio diagram named MySampleDiagram.vsdx with three pages called Page 1, Page 2, and Page 3 will produce a folder object called MySampleDiagram containing three diagram objects named Page 1, Page 2, and Page 3. 

Limitations and known issues with importing Visio diagrams

When importing a Visio diagram there are limitations that you will need to look out for. These limitations are as follows:

General

Visio diagrams can have "back pages" with diagram elements that are displayed behind each other in the diagram. These diagram elements are currently not being imported in any way.

Diagram Type

Currently all Visio diagrams are imported as BPMN diagrams and have that rule set applied to them in the iGrafx Platform.

Shapes

Visio contains a much larger selection of shapes than the iGrafx platform supports. We attempt to import those shapes as long as they are not an image. If a shape fails to import it will be imported as a generic activity. A full list of the supported shapes can be found here.

• Tasks / Activities
  Collapsed Sub Processes are handled differently in Visio than in the iGrafx Platform. A collapsed subprocess in a Visio page will link to another page in the same diagram, whereas a collapsed subprocess in iGrafx will contain a sub diagram which only exists in the context of the parent diagram. As we did not see much value in attempting to duplicate the connected diagram within the collapsed subprocess, we are currently not doing anything with them on import. The connected Visio page will still be imported as its own diagram. So there is no risk of any data being lost.
  

• Gateways
  In the iGrafx platform, the 'X' indicator for exclusive gateways is configurable on a diagram level (i.e. either all exclusive gateways have the indicator or none have it). In Visio on the other hand, they are configurable on an individual level. As a result, X indicator settings for individual shapes are disregarded on import.
  

• Events
  Border thickness for BPMN events indicates whether the given shape is a start, intermediate, or end event. While this is manually configurable for individual event shapes in Visio, the iGrafx platform automatically determines them based on the event's position in the diagram. As a result, configured start/intermediate/end event data is currently disregarded on import.
  Known bug: Event background fill colors sometimes do not get imported correctly.
  

• Pools/Lanes
  Known bug: Some lanes are not imported with the correct height/position.
  Vertical Pools are not yet supported.
  Known bug: Some shapes are not contained in the correct pool (VSD issue only).
  Known bug: Some lane headers have the wrong background color.
  

• Color
  In the iGrafx Platform, shapes can only have two fill colors (body fill and line fill). Some shapes in Visio can have three. This will result in some colors being inaccurate. Additionally, if the diagram is using Theme color it will not always import in correctly.
  

• Text Shapes
  Text shapes have limited support.
  

• Grouped shapes
  Shapes that are grouped in the Visio file may not import correctly. Text may additionally be lost for these shapes. Usually un-grouping these shapes provides better results.

Lines

• Known Bug: Lines which are not connected to any shapes cannot be imported currently.

• Arrowhead styles are imported as directly as possible. However there are some exceptions:

  • Squares are imported as circles

  • Triple lines are imported as double lines

  • Circle followed by a line is imported as a line followed by a circle

  • Circle with a diamond is imported as just a circle

  • Double triangle imported as a single triangle

  • Triangle followed by a line is imported as a triangle

• Sizes are imported, but they have been adjusted and won't accurately represent what is shown in Visio for larger sizes

• Known bug: Some lines are connected to the wrong face of a shape.

Text

• Font
  Shapes using a default font size are imported with 8pt font in the iGrafx Platform
  Text font is not supported at this time, and all text inside a diagram will be our default font
  Some shape text may appear larger or smaller when viewed in the platform

• Alignment
  Vertical alignment of text in a Visio diagram is not supported and will be imported as center aligned; horizontal alignment does work
  If text has multiple horizontal alignments we currently only support one in the iGrafx Platform and will import text as the first horizontal alignment that is found within that text

• Lists
  Lists that are imported from a Visio Diagram will be imported as our default list style

• Labels
  Some labels are imported with slightly inaccurate coordinates