Getting Started with Visio Services in SharePoint 2010

By: Amarprit Jaspal | Comments | Related: > SharePoint

Problem

I have heard that SharePoint 2010 provides Visio Services. I would like to know how to set it up and start using it.

Solution

One of the Business Intelligence features from SharePoint 2010 is Visio Services that lets users view Visio web diagrams(*.vdw files) directly on web browser without the need of installing Visio 2010 or the Visio viewer on the local machine. Further, data can be refreshed from various data sources and displayed on the web browser. Web diagrams are published using Microsoft Visio Professional 2010 and Microsoft Visio Premium 2010.

This tip will run through the steps to install Visio services and display Visio files for end users.

Create a web application and while doing so make sure Visio Graphics Service is checked

Now, create Site collection while doing so you will notice Visio Process Repository template under collaboration.

Download Visio from here (trail version). I am not going through installation step as its very straight forward. Once installed open Visio and pick any template or design on your own.

Click File from the top menu and select Save & Send. Then choose Save to SharePoint and make sure you have selected Web Drawing.

Once saved you will see this uploaded directly to a SharePoint library as below.

Now, when you click on anyone of the files above, it will open directly in a web browser as shown below.

Also, you can publish the Visio diagram directly on your website homepage. This can be done by using Visio Web Access under Business Data Category.

Points to Remember

Visio Web drawings can be published to a SharePoint Server 2010 using Microsoft Visio Professional 2010 and Microsoft Visio Premium 2010.
For best performance results while planning, take into consideration the bandwidth, peak loads, frequencyof refreshes etc.. for optimum performance on your environment.
Various Data Resources are supported by Visio.

Next Steps

Once installed, check this tip for turning on the Visio feature in Site Settings.
Read about Excel Services in SharePoint 2010.
Check out Visio ResourcesVisio related resources from Microsoft