Copyright: (C) 1996-1997 Visio Corporation
Citation: (C) 1996-1997 Visio Corporation


Geographic Maps Template

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Creating geographic regions

You can drop several shapes on a drawing page, and then have Visio assemble them into a geographic region. You can designate an anchor shape to control the position and size of the other shapes in the region.

To create a geographic region:

1.	Drag the geographic shapes you want the region to include to your drawing page.

2.	Choose Edit > Select All.

3.	Right-click one shape, then choose Arrange To Page.

The shapes form into an appropriately sized and aligned region.

Tip: Visio doesn't automatically group shapes in a region so, if you drag one shape, you'll remove it from the region. To group the shapes in a region, Shift+click to select all the region's shapes, then choose Shape > Grouping > Group.

To create a geographic region based on an anchor shape:

1.	Drag the geographic shapes you want the region to include to your drawing page.

2.	Choose Edit > Select All.

3.	Right-click one shape, then choose Arrange To Shape.

4.	When the Region Builder dialog box appears, click the drawing page, select the shape you want as the anchor shape, then resize, align, and position it the way you want.

5.	In the Region Builder dialog box, click OK. Visio forms the shapes into a region relative to the anchor shape.

Adding properties to geographic shapes

You can associate data with shapes by giving the shapes custom properties. A custom property is a field in which you can store information.

For example, to associate with each country in a geographic map with its population and head of state, you can add Population and Head Of State custom properties to the geographic master shapes. You can then associate a specific population and head of state with each instance of the shape by right-clicking the shape on the page.

To add custom properties to shapes, run the Custom Properties Editor.

To run the Custom Properties Editor:

•	Choose Tools > Macro > Custom Properties Editor.

See also:

Adding, editing, and deleting custom-property fields

To enter data into existing custom properties:

•	Right-click a shape, then choose Properties.

Generating reports from properties

If you've entered data for the properties associated with your shapes, you can run the Property Reporting Wizard to generate inventory or numerical reports based on the data. For example, you could create an inventory report that lists the population and head of state for each country in a geographical map.

To run the Property Reporting Wizard:

•	Choose Tools > Property Report.

See also:

Creating reports from custom data

Linking shapes to other drawing pages, other files, or World Wide Web locations

You can add navigational links to any shape in your diagram, so that users of the diagram can right-click the shape to jump to separate drawing pages, separate files, or documents on an intranet or the Web. For example, you can link a country to a Microsoft Word document that includes information about the country's population, per capita income, and area. Or you can link a state to a Web site that lists the state's major tourist attractions.

To add links to shapes:

•	Choose Insert > Hyperlink.

See also:

Adding, modifying, and deleting hyperlinks

Placing Visio drawings on the World Wide Web

You can easily convert a Visio drawing to a format Web browsers can read. Then you can distribute the drawing on an intranet or the Web.

See also:

Exporting shapes and drawings in .jpg or .gif format

Saving drawings as HTML pages


Creating geographic regions

Adding properties to geographic shapes

Generating reports from properties

Linking shapes to other drawing pages, other files, or World Wide Web locations

Placing Visio drawings on the World Wide Web