Creating a Network Diagram

Core Training for Microsoft Visio Standard 2002

Creating and Formatting a Network Diagram

1	To begin a network drawing of your company's local area network, click the File menu, point to New, point to Network, and then click Basic Network (US Units).
2	To view additional network shapes, on the Basic Network Shapes stencil, click once below the scroll box in the scroll bar.
3	To insert an Ethernet shape into the blank drawing, on the Basic Network Shapes stencil, point to the Ethernet shape, hold down the mouse button, drag to the center of the drawing page, then release the mouse button.
4	To magnify the drawing page, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, then click 75%.
5	To view the shapes at the top of the stencil again, in the Basic Network Shapes stencil, click once above the scroll box in the scroll bar.
6	To insert a workstation into the drawing, on the Basic Network Shapes stencil, point to the Workstation shape, hold down the mouse button, drag to the bottom of the drawing page, just above the scroll box in the horizontal scroll bar, then release the mouse button.
7	To begin connecting the Ethernet shape to the Workstation shapes, click the Ethernet shape.
8	To connect to the lower-left Workstation, on the Ethernet shape, point to the lower-left control handle (yellow diamond), and when a four-headed arrow displays, hold down the mouse button, drag down to the Workstation shape below it, and when the connection point turns red, release the mouse button.
9	To connect another Workstation shape, point to the lower-right control handle, and when a four-headed arrow displays, hold down the mouse button, drag the pointer to the top of the remaining Workstation shape below it, and when the connection point turns red, release the mouse button.
10	To insert a laptop computer shape into the drawing, on the Basic Network Shapes stencil, point to the Laptop computer shape, hold down the mouse button, drag the shape to the upper-left corner of the drawing page, then release the mouse button.
11	To view additional shapes, on the Basic Network Shapes stencil, click once below the scroll box in the scroll bar.
12	To insert a wireless communications link to the drawing, on the Basic Network Shapes stencil, point to the Comm-link shape, hold down the mouse button, drag the shape onto the drawing page to the left of the Ethernet shape, then release the mouse button.
13	To view additional shapes, on the Basic Network Shapes stencil, click once below the scroll box in the scroll bar.
14	To add a hub to the diagram, on the Basic Network Shapes stencil, point to the Hub shape, hold down the mouse button, drag to about an inch below the Comm-link shape, then release the mouse button.
15	To begin connecting the Comm-link shape to the Laptop computer shape, click the Comm-link shape.
16	To connect the selected shape to the laptop computer shape, on the Comm-link shape, point to the left selection handle, and when a four-headed arrow appears, hold down the mouse button, drag upwards to the Laptop computer shape, and when the connection point turns red, release the mouse button.
17	To finish indicating data transmission between the laptop computer and the Hub below it, on the Comm-link shape, point to the bottom selection handle, when a four-headed arrow appears, hold down the mouse button, drag down to the left connection point of the Hub shape, and when the connection point turns red, release the mouse button.
18	To select and zoom in on the upper-left workstation shape, click the Workstation shape at the upper left, and then, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and click 100%.
19	To reposition the label of the selected Workstation shape, point to its yellow control handle, and when a four-headed arrow appears, hold down the mouse button, drag to the top of the selected Workstation shape, then release the mouse button.
20	To display the entire network diagram again, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, then click 75%.
21	To select multiple shapes, click the Hub shape, hold down the SHIFT key, click the two lower Workstation shapes, then release the SHIFT key.
22	To begin aligning the selected shapes, click the Shape menu, then click Align Shapes...
23	To align the shapes to a horizontal guide, in the Align Shapes dialog box, in the Up/Down alignment section, click the third button from the left, then click the checkbox next to Create guide and glue shapes to it to insert a check mark, and then click OK.
24	To select shapes that you want to align vertically, click the upper-right Workstation shape, hold down the SHIFT key, click the lower-right Workstation shape, then release the SHIFT key.
25	To begin aligning the selected shapes, click the Shape menu, then click Align Shapes...
26	To align the shapes to a vertical guide, in the Align Shapes dialog box, in the Left/Right alignment section, click the second button from the left, then click the checkbox next to Create guide and glue shapes to it to insert a check mark, and then click OK.

Defining New Custom Properties

1	To magnify the drawing page, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, then click 100%.
2	To display custom properties of a shape, click the RandallT shape, click the View menu, and click Custom Properties Window.
3	To expand the custom properties window so you can see all of the custom properties, point to the top edge of the Custom Properties window, and when a double-headed arrow appears, hold down the mouse button, drag upwards until the scroll bar in the window disappears, and release the mouse button.
4	To display a stencil containing all of the shapes used in the current drawing, click the File menu, point to Stencils, and click Document Stencil.
5	To edit the custom properties of a master shape, in the Document Stencil, double-click the Workstation shape.
6	To begin adding a custom property to a master shape, click the Workstation master shape, click the Shape menu, point to Actions, then click Properties.
7	To define custom properties, in the Custom Properties dialog box, click Define...
8	To add a new custom property to this master shape, in the Define Custom Properties dialog box, click New, and then type User Name.
9	To add a ScreenTip to the new custom property, click the Prompt text box, type Employee name, click OK, and then, in the Custom Properties dialog box, click OK.
10	To display the new custom property at the bottom of the list, in the Custom Properties window, click once below the scroll box in the scroll bar.
11	To close the master shape window and return to the network drawing, on the menu bar, to the right of the Ask a Question box, click the Close Window button.
12	In response to the message asking whether you want to update 'Workstation' and all of its instances, click Yes.
13	To display custom properties for another Workstation shape in the network drawing, in the Drawing Page window, click the CarlsonT shape.
14	To display the newly added custom property for the selected shape, in the Custom Properties window, click once below the scroll box in the scroll bar.
15	To display a ScreenTip about a custom property, in the Custom Properties window, hold the mouse pointer over User Name.
16	To define the new User Name custom property for this shape, in the Custom Properties window, click User Name, and type Ty Lor Carlson, and then click to the left of the Custom Properties window.

Creating a Report

1	To select shapes from which to generate a report, hold down the SHIFT key, and click the following shapes, in this order: TurnerC, HohmanB, New Contacts, the top Garden Expo Laptop, the bottom Garden Expo Laptop, the Hub, RandallT, CarlsonT, Printer, and TGCServer, then release the SHIFT key.
2	To begin creating a report of the selected shapes, click the Tools menu, then click Report...
3	To begin defining a new type of report, in the Report dialog box, click New...
4	To base the report on the shapes you have selected, in the Report Definition Wizard, click Currently selected shapes, then click Next.
5	To choose the properties you want displayed as columns in the report, click the <Displayed Text> and <Master Name> check boxes to insert checkmarks, and then click below the scroll box in the scroll bar.
6	To select more columns for the report, click the Location, Manufacturer and Product Description check boxes to insert checkmarks, then click Next.
7	To add a title to the report, type Garden Company Network, then click Next.
8	To name the new report definition, type Network Equipment.
9	To add a description to the report definition, click in the Description box, and type Includes.
10	To save the new report definition, click Finish.
11	To generate a Network Equipment report, in the Report dialog box, click Run...
12	To display the report as a shape on the drawing page, in the Run Report dialog box, in the Select report format list, click Visio Table Shape, then click OK.
13	To close the Report dialog box, click OK.
14	To magnify the page so you can view the new report table, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, then click 75%.
15	To deselect the table, on the drawing page, click to the left of the selected table.