1-D shape

Either a straight line you draw using Microsoft Visio drawing tools or a shape that has a beginning point and ending point and can be glued between two shapes to connect them.


2-D shape

A shape that has four selection handles that you can use to resize the shape proportionally.


2-element constraint

A constraint that applies to two elements, such as two classes or two associations. The constraint is shown as a dashed arrow from one element to the other, labeled by the constraint string in braces ({  }).


abstract class

A class for which no instances may be created. If you implement an abstract type during the design phase, you will usually represent the abstract type with an abstract class.


abstract type

A type with members that belong to a subtype.


action

(1) A user-defined menu item associated with a shape. When a shape is selected, the item appears on the shortcut menu and on the Actions submenu of the Shape menu. (2) A program or Microsoft Visio command that runs in response to an event.


action (UML)

In a state-chart diagram, the response an object in a particular state makes to an event without changing its state. Unlike activities, actions have negligible execution times and cannot be interrupted.


action state

In an activity diagram, a type of state that has an internal action and at least one outgoing transition that involves the explicit events of completing the internal action.


activation

In a sequence diagram, the time period during which an object or actor is performing an action. Activation is represented by a thin rectangle.


active document

The document that is currently available for editing in Microsoft Visio.


active object

In a collaboration diagram, an object role that can initiate control. Typical active objects include processes and tasks.


active page

The drawing page that is currently available for editing in a Microsoft Visio document.


activity

In a statechart diagram, the response an object in a particular state makes to an event without changing its state. Unlike actions, activities have non-negligible execution times and can be interrupted.


activity diagram

A special case of a statechart diagram in which all of the states are action states and the transitions are triggered by the completion of actions in the source state.


actor

In a use-case diagram, a representation of a role played by an outside object. One physical object, therefore, may be represented by several actors.


actor class

The basic component of a ROOM structure diagram. The space inside the actor can contain actor references, behavior end ports, reference ports, bindings, and layer connections. The border can contain class relay ports and class end ports.


actor reference

The actors that define components of your structure diagram. Actor references can appear only inside an actor class. An actor reference can have reference ports on its outside border.


add-on

A program that extends the Microsoft Visio application through Automation references to Visio objects, methods, and properties. When an add-on’s EXE or VSL file is installed in a folder along the Visio Add-on’s path, its name appears in the Macros dialog box.


aggregation (UML)

A property of an association role (end) used to model a whole/part relationship between things. In UML notation, aggregation is noted by attaching a filled or hollow diamond to the association end at the class representing the whole, or composite, part of the relationship.


alignment box

The rectangle that appears around shapes and objects from other applications as you move them.


anchor point

A fixed point that anchors a "rubber band" line, whose other end is connected to a control handle. As you move the control handle, the rubber band line stretches and shrinks to show the original location of the handle. The anchor point provides information, but it does not affect the behavior of the control handle.


angle of rotation

The angle of the orientation of a shape’s local coordinate system with respect to its parent coordinate system. The angle of rotation is specified in the Angle cell of the Shape Transform section in a ShapeSheet spreadsheet.


angular units

The units in which angles are expressed in ShapeSheet cells.


animated build

A method of building a Microsoft PowerPoint slide using elements of a Microsoft Visio drawing. In an animated build, you introduce elements of the Visio drawing into a slide one at a time.


antiscaling

Behavior in which a shape is not sized according to the drawing scale of a page. The Microsoft Visio application automatically antiscales shapes when the drawing scale of the master exceeds the range of eight.


argument

A representation of the actual values passed to a dispatched request and aggregated within an action.


aspect ratio

A ratio of one dimension to another. When the aspect ratio is locked, the shape can be sized only proportionally; it cannot be sized in a singe dimension.


asset

A person or object for which you want to track information.


association

A relationship between two or more classes (for example, a point is on a polygon; a company places an order). In UML notation, indicate an association with a solid line. Use a Binary Association shape to represent a relationship between exactly two classes, and an N-ary Association shape to represent a relationship between more than two classes.


association class

In a static structure diagram, a class used to add attributes, operations, and other properties to an association. Drawn as a class shape attached by a dashed line to a binary association shape, an association class is actually a single modeling element. The element has a single name that can appear on the association, in the class, or in both places.


association end

The end of a binary or other association where it connects to a class. By associating properties with an association end, you can indicate the role or direction.


AssociationRole

A type of collaboration role that describes the relationship between two ClassifierRoles. It is represented by a path between two class role elements and can include the underlined name of the corresponding association.


attribute

An individual formatting element, such as line color, fill color, or line weight, that you can apply to shapes. A style can have more than one attribute.


attribute (database model)

In a relational model, a column of a table. In an entity relationship model, a property of an entity.


attribute (UML)

A data definition held by a class. The structure of a class is described by its attributes. The default syntax for an attribute is:  visibility name : type-expression=initial value {property string}


automatic layout

The positioning of shapes and the routing of connectors that occurs while you edit a connected drawing or when you choose the Lay Out Shapes command on the Shape menu.


Automation

A means by which an application can incorporate or extend the functionality of another application by using its objects. Formerly known as OLE Automation.


background

A page that you can assign to another page to create multiple layers in a drawing. You can see shapes displayed on a background when the page it is assigned to is displayed. You can’t select or edit the background without displaying the background page.


begin point

The selection handle at the beginning of a one-dimensional (1-D) shape. The begin point is marked by an X.


binary association

In a static-structure diagram, a relationship between exactly two classes. The point where a binary association connects to a class is called an association end or role.


binding

A dependency that indicates a binding of parameterized class, or template, parameters to actual values to create a bound, or nonparameterized, element.


bindings

A representation of the communication path between actors.


bitmap

An image stored as a pattern of dots. A scanned photograph or graphic that you create in a paint program is usually stored as a bitmap.


block

In a CAD drawing, one or more entities grouped together to form a single entity.


bound element

In a static structure diagram, a use of a parameterized class, or template, in which the parameters from the parameterized class are bound to actual values. Because a bound element is fully specified by the parameterized class, you can’t declare new attributes or operations.


bow

The distance from the midpoint of a circular arc to the midpoint of the arc’s chord.


CAD

Acronym for computer-aided design.


CallEvent

In a statechart or activity diagram, an indication that an object has received a call for an operation.


CAPSIF

A standard file format used in specifying or ordering furniture from distributors.


category

A classification of information tracked in a facilities plan. Categories include assets such as equipment, fixture, furniture, person, and space, and organizational groupings such as company and department.


cell reference

Used in formulas in a ShapeSheet spreadsheet to calculate the value of one cell on the basis of the value of another cell.


center of rotation

The point around which a shape or text block rotates. When you select a two-dimensional (2-D) shape with the rotation tool, its center of rotation is marked by a circle with a plus sign inside it. By default, the center of rotation is at the center of the shape. You can move the center of rotation by dragging it with the rotation tool.


ChangeEvent

In a statechart or activity diagram, an event in which a designated condition becomes true.


check clause

Code that enforces constraints on a table or column.


choicepoints

The point at which a transition splits into multiple, mutually exclusive branches, each terminating at a different destination state. One of the branches must be a default branch. A choicepoint is located within a state context at the end of a transition segment.


chord

A line that connects the endpoints of an arc.


class (UML)

In a static structure diagram, a class is an element representing concepts in the system being modeled. A class element includes objects with similar structure, behavior, and relationships.


class module

In a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) or Visual Basic project, a module containing the definition of a class (its properties and methods).


classifier

A superclass that includes class, data type, and interface subclasses. Because all classifier subclasses share the same syntax, they are all represented by the same rectangle model element.


ClassifierRole

A type of collaboration role that is a slot for an object in a collaboration. It is represented by the class rectangle symbol with only the name compartment showing.


client-side image map

A graphic with different linked regions. All the information a Web browser needs to process a click on a linked region is stored in the HTML file with the image data.


Clipboard

A temporary storage area in Windows that is used to transfer data between documents and applications. You can use the Clipboard to copy shapes and text and to copy shapes between drawings in the Microsoft Visio program or between the Visio program and other Windows-based programs.


closed shape

A shape that is surrounded by a continuous outline, such as a rectangle or circle. You can fill a closed shape with a color or a pattern.


code behind events

In a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) program, code that is executed when an event occurs. For example, a button on a user form usually has code behind the Click event.


code skeleton

An initial outline of a software application provided in the correct format and syntax of the specified programming language, to be refined by the developer.


Code tab (UML)

In the UML solution, a window that displays language-specific semantic errors associated with UML elements.


code template (UML)

An internal formatting tool in the UML model diagram that can be applied to various elements; used to format the appearance of code when code is generated from a UML diagram.


collaboration

A collection of modeling elements that interact within a given context to perform an operation or a use case.


collaboration diagram

An interaction diagram that shows, for one system event described by one use case, how a group of objects collaborate with one another.


collaboration role

A slot for an object in a collaboration that describes the type of objects that may play the role and its relationships to other roles.


collection type

Allows a collection—such as a set, list, or multiset—of objects of the same type to be stored in a single field.


color scheme

A set of colors you can assign to some drawing types. You can choose from preset color schemes, or you can create a new color scheme.


communicates relationship

In a use case diagram, a relationship that defines how an actor participates in a use case.


complex transition

In a statechart or activity diagram, a relationship between multiple source and/or target states or action states (a simple transition relates one source and one target state or activity). It can indicate either forking, which means that one transition leads to more than one parallel state, or synchronization, which means that a change to one state occurs only as a result of two or more transitions. A complex transition is indicated by a short heavy bar and one or more solid arrows to or from the bar. You can add a transition string, which is shown near the bar.


component

In component and deployment diagrams, a distributable unit of implementation in a system. In a deployment diagram, a component instance represents an implementation unit that has identity at run time and can contain objects.


component

In the Process Engineering templates, a component represents a single physical object in the real world, such as a valve or a pipeline. In a process engineering diagram, each component is represented by a shape or multiple shapes.


component diagram

An implementation diagram that shows the structure of the code itself. Components in a component diagram are types, not instances.


composite object

A high-level object made of tightly bound parts. A composite object is an instance of a composite class, which implies the composition aggregation between the class and its parts.


composite state

In a statechart diagram, a state that has been decomposed into concurrent (representing and relationships) or mutually exclusive (representing or relationships) substates.


composition

A form of aggregation that indicates that a part may belong to only one whole and that the lifetime of the whole determines the lifetime of the part. If the whole is deleted, so are its parts.


conceptual model

A type of static structure diagram used in the analysis phase of software development to help decompose a problem into individual concepts or objects and clarify the vocabulary of the domain.


configuration context

In the Active Directory solution, the configuration context stores information about the Active Directory forest. It contains a collection of sites, partitions, and subnets. You can import this information into an Active Directory diagram, allowing you to more easily create and modify sites, partitions, and subnets in your diagram.


connection point

A point on a shape where a connection point can be glued. You can create new connection points inside, outside, or on the perimeter of a shape using the Connection Point Tool. Each of a shape’s connection points is marked with a blue X.


connector

Any one-dimensional (1-D) shape that can be glued between two shapes in a drawing to connect the shapes.


constraint (ORM)

A rule that limits the instances allowed in one or more roles or that identifies a composite or nested object type. For example, an internal uniqueness constraint does not allow duplicate instances in the constrained role or roles. Special notation identifies each constraint in a conceptual model.


constraint (UML)

A specification for conditions and propositions that must be maintained as true for the system to be valid. Constraints are expressed as text within braces  {  } and can be written either in a predefined language, such as Object Constraint Language, or in natural language.


container

An OLE application in which you embed or link information. For example, if you insert a Microrosft Visio drawing into a Microsoft Word document, Word is the container application. A container application is also known as a client.


container

An object that can have potential child or parent levels.


control

An object you can place on a user form or a Microsoft Visio drawing page that has its own set of properties, methods, and events, such as a toolbar button.


control flow

A transition in an activity diagram. A control flow represents a relationship between two states or action states and indicates that an object in the first state will enter the second state and perform specified actions. The trigger that makes the transition fire is the occurrence of the event labeling the transition. A control flow is shown as a solid arrow from the source state to the target state and is labeled with a transition string with the following format:

event-name (parameters) [guard condition] / action ^ send-clause

For example:

right-mouse-down (location) [location in window] / object:=pick-object (location) ^ object.highlight ()


control handle

A handle that specifies unique behavior for certain shapes. For example, in some shapes you can use a control handle to reposition text on the drawing page. You can pause the pointer over a control handle to see what it does.


control point

(1) The circle that appears on a line segment or an arc segment when the line or arc is selected with the pencil tool. You can drag a control point to change the curvature of an arc or ellipse. (2) A point that influences the curvature of a spline segment.


control polygon

A series of straight line segments that connects all the control points of a single spline.


controller application

In Automation, the application (such as your program) that uses the objects exposed by a provider application. The controller application creates instances of the objects and then sets their properties or invokes their methods to make the objects serve the application.


coordinates

A pair of numbers that indicates the position of a point in relation to the origin of a shape, a group, or the page. The x-coordinate indicates the horizontal distance and the y-coordinate indicates the vertical distance of the point. Most formulas in a ShapeSheet spreadsheet are expressed as coordinates for controlling the position and size of a shape.


creation/destruction markers

In a collaboration diagram, markers used to indicate object roles and association roles, or links, that are created and destroyed during the operation.


crop

To reduce an inserted object or picture. Although cropping appears to clip off parts of the object or picture, the clipped portions are retained in memory. You crop an object or picture by selecting it with the Crop tool and dragging one of its handles.


Crow's Foot

A specification language for describing data structures. The Visio® application includes a Crow’s Foot template. You can use the Crow’s Foot entity and relationship shapes to diagram the structure of databases.


custom color

A color in the Microsoft Visio application that is stored with a shape as an RGB or HSL value rather than as an index to the document’s color palette. A custom color is saved only with the shape to which it is applied.


custom property

Information about shapes in your drawings. Some Microsoft Visio shapes come with custom properties already defined. You can edit or delete existing custom properties or create new ones.


data points

In the Charts And Graphs template. Control handles on the Line Graph shape that you can drag to change the values in the graph. You can specify the number of data points you want for your line graph by right-clicking the line graph, and then choosing Set Number Of Data Points.


data source

The information necessary to access a database, including the database location, the file name, and the name of the driver the database uses.


data store (DFD model)

In a DFD model, a repository of information. A line from a data store to a process indicates that data from the store is used by the process. A line from a process to a data store means that the process changes the information in the data store in some way.


data type

A description of the type or the number of characters that can be entered into a column or a field in a database table. Restricting a field’s data type reduces errors in your data entry.


data type (UML)

An instance of the DataType metaclass defined in the UML metamodel. A data type declares a type of class attribute. The Visio UML solution includes the data types commonly used in C#, C++, and Visual Basic, and you can add data types of your own.


database model

A database model is is created using the Database Model Diagram template, and is the basis for a database project. From a database model, you can generate a database schema to create a database project file (.vsd).


dataflow (DFD model)

In a DFD model, an exchange of information between processes. Data flows represent discrete packets of data that flow into and out of processes.


dataflow diagram

A tool for functional analysis that shows the general flow of information through a system or program. Microsoft Visio includes the following solutions for data flow diagramming: Data Flow Diagram (from the File menu, point to New, point to Flowchart, and click Data Flow Diagram), and Data Flow Model Diagram (from the File menu, point to New, point to Software and click Data Flow Model Diagram).


DBMS

Acronym for database management system, a software interface between the database and the user. Both Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle Server are examples of a DBMS.


decision

In an activity diagram, a guard condition that indicates different possible transitions from an action state. A decision must have one or more incoming transitions and two or more outgoing transitions, each labeled with a distinct guard condition.


default font

The font that the Microsoft Visio program uses by default to display text included in a shape. The default font is displayed with angle brackets in the Font dialog box.


default units

The units of measure used to display a value in a ShapeSheet cell if no units of measure are explicitly specified. Default drawing and page units are properties of a drawing page. Default angular and text units are application settings.


deferred event

In a statechart or activity diagram, an event that must be deferred for later use while another activity is under way.


dependency

A relationship between two elements that indicates that changes to the target element may cause changes in the source element. The notation for a dependency is a dashed arrow, and the element at the tail of the arrow depends on the element at the arrowhead. A dependency relates to the model elements themselves and doesn’t require instances for its meaning. Four particular kinds of dependency have been predefined and are labeled with an optional stereotype: trace, refinement, usage, and binding.


deployment diagram

An implementation diagram that shows the structure of a run-time system.


derived element

An element, such as an attribute or association, that can be calculated or derived from other information.


destination file

The file into which a linked or embedded object is inserted. The file that contains the information used to create the object is the source file. When you change information in a destination file, the information is not updated in the source file.


DGN

A format used by the Bentley MicroStation CAD program to store drawing files.


digitally signed

A digital signature is an electronic, encryption-based, secure stamp of authentication on a macro or document. This signature confirms that the macro or document originated from the signer and has not been altered.


Directory Service

An application that allows you to access a directory, which is a database of information about a network’s resources, such as hardware, software, users, or policies. Each resource is represented by an object that contains specific information about itself and about its relationship to other objects.


discriminator

A text label on a generalization path that indicates the name of a partition of the general class that contains the more specific class. The default discriminator is an empty string.


distribute

You can create an equal distance between the ends or centers of selected shapes. To do this, on the Shapes menu, point to Distribute Shapes. You also can align shapes to other shapes. On the Shapes menu, click Align Shapes.


docked stencil

A stencil that is attached to the side of the drawing window. By default, stencils are docked on the left side of the window. You can make stencils float, or you can dock them on the right side, the top, or the bottom of the drawing window.


document library

A folder where a collection of files is shared and the files often use the same template. Each file in a library is associated with user-defined information that is displayed in the content listing for that library.


document stencil

A stencil stored in a drawing file, which contains an inventory of the masters used in all of the drawings in the file. Masters on the document stencil are linked to their instances in the drawings. To display the document stencil for the current drawing file, on the File menu, point to Stencils, and then click Document Stencil.


Documentation tab

In the UML solution, a window that displays documentation (in the form of a tagged value) for a selected UML element.


domain of influence

The portion of a spline, specified as a number of spline knots, whose curvature is influenced by a single control point.


drag-and-drop drawing

Creating an instance of a master in a drawing by dragging the master from a stencil to the drawing. To drag a master, point to it with the mouse and hold down the left mouse button. Move the mouse until the shape is where you want it in the drawing, and then release the mouse button to drop the shape.


drawing

All the shapes on the foreground page together with all the shapes on optional background pages.


drawing file

A Microsoft Visio file with a .vsd extension that contains a drawing. To create a drawing file, on the File menu, point to New, and then click New Drawing, and start the drawing from scratch. Or to base a drawing on a template (drawing type), on the File menu, point to  New, and then click Choose Drawing Type. Save the file.


drawing page

The printable area in a drawing window that contains a drawing. A page can be either a foreground or a background page. Each page has a size, which usually corresponds to a standard paper size, and it has a scale.


drawing path

The folder or folders where drawings you create in Microsoft Visio are stored if you don't specify a different path. To find your drawing path, on the Tools menu, click Options. On the File Paths tab, the Drawings box shows the drawing folder location. You can add folders to this path.


drawing scale

The ratio of distance on the printed page to distances in the real world. For example, a drawing scale of 1 cm = 1 m means that 1 centimeter on the printed page represents 1 meter in the real world.


drawing type

A Microsoft Visio file (template) with a .vst extension that opens with the stencils, styles, and settings you need to create a particular type of drawing.


driver

Software that enables the Facilities Management solution to communicate with data in the repository.


DWG

A standard format used by CAD programs (such as Autodesk AutoCAD) to store drawing files.


DXF

A standard ASCII or binary file format for importing and exporting files between most CAD programs. Acronym for Drawing Exchange Format.


Dynamic Connector shape

A one-dimensional (1-D) connector shape that changes its path to avoid crossing through two-dimensional (2-D) placeable shapes that lie between the two shapes the connector connects. (This type of connector is also called a "routable connector.") When you drag a Dynamic Connector shape’s endpoints, it reroutes automatically. When you select the Dynamic Connector shape, it displays midpoints and vertices that you can drag to manually change its route from one shape to the other.

The Microsoft Visio application creates a Dynamic Connector shape when you use the connector tool or the Connect Shapes command, as long as a connector shape is not selected on the stencil.


dynamic glue

A type of glue that allows the endpoint of a connector shape to move from one connection point to another as the connected shapes are moved. (When shapes are connected without dynamic glue, the endpoints of the connector are attached to specific connection points; in that case, instead of jumping to a new connection point, the connector changes shape to avoid crossing over the shapes when they’re moved.)


eccentricity handle

The circle that appears at each end of a dotted line when a control point of an elliptical arc is selected with the pencil tool. Eccentricity handles are dragged to change the angle and magnitude of an arc’s eccentricity.


element (UML)

In a UML model diagram, an element is a modeling entity that can represented code constructs on the Visio drawing page. UML elements represent items such packages, subsystems, classes, attributes, operations, association ends and so on.


embed

To insert a Microsoft Visio drawing into another application's document (a container application) to establish a dynamic connection between the drawing and the other document. In the container application, you can open the embedded Visio drawing to edit it.


embedded object

An object inserted into a destination file. Once embedded, the object becomes part of the destination file. When you double-click an embedded object, it opens in the program (source program) in which it was created. Any changes you make to the embedded object are reflected in the destination file.


end name

A name that appears as a text string near the end of a binary association. It indicates the role played by the class attached to the association end; each end can have its own end name. Also called role name.


end ports

A type of class port that defines the internal and external ports of an actor class. This symbol can appear only on the border of an actor class. An end port provides a link between structure and behavior.


endpoint

Either of the square handles that appear at the beginning or end of a selected line, arc, or other one-dimensional (1-D) shape. The endpoint at the beginning of the shape (begin point) is marked by an x. The endpoint at the end of the shape (end point) is marked by a plus sign (+).


equivalence at boundaries

In a DFD model, the requirement that data flows are used consistently between top-level and detail pages. If you add a new data flow to a process that has a detail page, the new data flow must also be added to the detail page to balance the model.


Errors tab (UML)

In the UML solution, a window that displays semantic errors associated with UML elements.


event

An occurrence in Microsoft Visio, such as a change to a shape formula or the deletion of a page.


event (UML)

In a statechart or activity diagram, an occurrence that triggers a transition. There are four types of events, which are not mutually exclusive: ChangeEvent, Signal Event, CallEvent, and TimeEvent.


Event object

A Microsoft Visio object thata you create from a stand-alone Microsoft Visual Basic, C, or C++ program to handle Visio events. An Event object pairs an event with an action--either to run an add-on or to notify an object in your program that the event occurred. When the event occurs, the Event object fires, triggering its action.


event procedure

In a Microsoft Visual Basic program, code that is executed when an event occurs. For example, a button on a Visual Basic form usually has an event procedure to handle the Click event.


Exception

A signal raised by behavioral features typically in case of execution faults.


explicit units

Units of measure specified as part of a number-unit pair so that the result is always displayed using the units specified. For example, the value "3 mm" always appears in a ShapeSheet window as "3 mm."


expression

A combination of values, operators, functions, and sheet references that results in a value. A logical expression compares two values and yields a TRUE or FALSE result.


extended property

A property assigned to an object that is classified as user-defined. An extended property can be deleted from the object and does not need to contain values. Adding an extended property to an object does not globally affect all objects of the same type.


extends relationship

In a use case diagram, a relationship between two use cases that indicates that an instance of use case B, subject to conditions specified in the extension, may include the behavior specified by use case A.


extensible

An object to which you can add extended properties.


extension point

A location within a use case at which an action sequence from another use case may be inserted. Within a use case, each extension point name must be unique.


facilities data source

A data source file (.dsn) that points to a database, which is set up to contain organizational information and that has been successfully linked to a drawing by means of the Facilities Management Setup Wizard.


facilities database

A database that Microsoft Visio CAFM Explorer uses to track your asset information. Also called a repository.


fact type


field

A placeholder in text that displays information such as dimensions, dates, and times. A field might display the date and time a drawing is printed, a shape’s angle of rotation, or the result of a formula you write. Fields are automatically updated when you change a drawing.


fill

The color and pattern inside a closed shape. The default fill for Microsoft Visio shapes is solid white.


final state

In a statechart or activity diagram, a representation of the completion of activity in the enclosing state or action state. A statechart diagram can have one or more final states or, if the system never stops, no final state at all.


Find Shape

A Microsoft Visio tool you can use to locate shapes when you’re not sure which stencils they are on. For example, if you know a 3-D Box shape exists, but don’t know where to find it, use the Find Shape feature to determine which stencil contains the shape, and then open the stencil and add the shape to your drawing.


fixed grid

Grid lines on the drawing page that stay the same distance apart when you zoom in or zoom out of a drawing.


floating stencil

A stencil that appears in the size and location you choose. By default, stencils are docked on the left side of the drawing window. You can make stencils float, or you can dock them on the right side of the drawing window.


foreground

The top page of a drawing. Shapes on the foreground page appear in front of shapes on the background page and are not visible when you edit the background of the drawing.


Forest

One or more Active Directory domains that are not necessarily connected, but which share a common schema and configuration information.


format

The visual appearance of a shape (such as the thickness and color of its lines, the color and pattern inside the shape, and its font). You can change the format of a shape by applying a style or by changing its individual attributes.


format picture

A set of symbols and abbreviations that Microsoft Visio interprets and uses to format string output, such as in a custom text field formula. For example, "0.## UU" is a format picture that displays the input value "260.125 ft." as "260.13 FEET".


formula

An expression that is entered in a ShapeSheet cell, which returns a value.


formula bar

The portion of the ShapeSheet window in which you enter a formula for the selected ShapeSheet cell. You can also enter formulas directly into a cell.


freeform curve

A shape with curved segments. Also called a spline.


function

A calculation tool used for a variety of purposes in a formula. Microsoft Visio includes mathematical, trigonometric, geometric, event, date and time, color, logical, statistical, and other functions.


Functional Band shape

In the Cross-Functional Flowchart template. A shape that represents a functional unit, such as a department, in which process steps occur. You use either horizontal or vertical functional band shapes depending on the orientation you want for your diagram.


generalization

A relationship between a specific element and a general element, such that the specific element is fully consistent with the general element and includes additional information (such as attributes and associations).


geometry

An arrangement of vertices and segments that define a path.


gesture recognition

A feature of the Pencil tool. As you begin to move the mouse, Microsoft Visio quickly calculates the path the mouse pointer travels. If the path of the mouse is straight, the Pencil tool draws a straight line segment. If the path curves, the Pencil tool draws an arc.


glue

A property of shapes that causes them to stay connected even when one of the shapes is moved. When you attach a connector to a shape, you glue the connector.


grid

Nonprinting horizontal and vertical lines that appear at regular intervals on the page.


grid lines

The faint vertical and horizontal lines that appear in the drawing window when the grid is turned on. You can use grid lines to help position shapes precisely.


grid origin

The point that defines the layout of grid lines on the drawing page. A vertical grid line and a horizontal grid line pass through the grid origin, and all other grid lines are drawn at specified intervals from these reference lines. By default, the grid origin is the lower-left corner of the drawing page.


group

A shape composed of two or more shapes. You can move or size groups as a unit but group members retain their original appearance and properties.


group transition

An outgoing transition segment with an outgoing arrow that begins on the state context and has no chained incoming transition.


group window

A drawing window you can open to edit individual components of a group. The group appears unrotated in the group window even if it is rotated on the drawing page.


guard

In a statechart or activity diagram, a condition that specifies when an event can take place. Whenever its event fires, a guard is evaluated only once. Include a guard as a Boolean expression in square brackets in an internal action statement in a state or in a transition string.


guide, guide point

A reference line you can drag onto the drawing page to position shapes precisely. You drag a horizontal guide from the horizontal ruler, a vertical guide from the vertical ruler, and the guide point from the upper-left corner of the drawing window where the horizontal and vertical rulers meet.


handle

A control that appears when you select a shape. You can use handles to alter a shape. Handles vary with the type of shape and the tool you use to select it. For example, when you select a shape with the pointer tool, it displays selection handles that you can drag to change the shape’s size and proportions. When you select a shape with the rotation tool, the shape displays rotation handles that you can drag to rotate the shape.


history state indicator

In a statechart diagram, a representation of the substate last visited. When a transition to the indicator fires, an object resumes the state it last had at the same level as the history indicator.


IDEF1X

A specification language for describing data structures. Microsoft Visio includes an IDEF1X template. You can use the IDEF1X entity and relationship shapes to diagram the structure of databases.


image map

A type of graphic used on the World Wide Web. An image map is divided into different regions, some of which are associated with links.


implementation class

In a static structure diagram, a class that defines the physical data structures and procedures of an object as implemented in a traditional programming language, such as C++. An object may have only one implementation class.


implicit units

Units of measure specified as part of a number-unit pair in which the result is displayed using a specified measurement system, which may not coincide with the units originally entered. For example, the expression "1 [in.,d]" specifies that the value is initially interpreted as 1 inch, but the d indicates that the result is displayed using the default drawing units of the current page. If the drawing units are centimeters, the ShapeSheet displays "2.54 cm."


in place

Running a program from inside another program. When you work in place, the source program's menus and toolbars appear and replace some of the current program's menus and toolbars.


index

A number corresponding to the position of a color in the Color dialog box. The index is displayed to the left of the color. Microsoft Visio records a shape’s color as the index for that color.


inherited formula

A formula that is stored in a style or a master but used by an instance as if the formula were stored locally with the shape. A change to a formula in the style or master affects all shapes that inherit the formula and do not have an overriding local formula.


initial state

In a statechart or activity diagram, a representation of the initial state of an object before any events included in the diagram have acted upon it. There can only be one initial state in a statechart diagram, but an activity diagram can have multiple initial states.


inline (C++)

Inline settings are a flag to the compiler, causing  the operation body to be inserted in the location where the operation is called. Applies to C++ only, for optimization.


insertion point

The blinking vertical line that appears in text when you select a shape with the text tool and click the text with the mouse. Text you type appears at the insertion point. You can move the insertion point by clicking another location with the mouse or by pressing the arrow keys.


installation folder

The folder in which Microsoft Visio is installed. The default folder is Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio10.


instance

(1) A copy of a master, which you create by dragging the master from a stencil to a drawing. (2) A running image of a Windows application.


instance (UML)

A specific, concrete variation of a generic, abstract descriptor. For example, an object is an instance of a class,  and a link is an instance of an association. The names of instances are underlined in UML diagrams.


intelligent tag

In the Process Engineering templates, a tag that contains information about a component, such as the line size of a pipeline.


interaction

A specific pattern or sequence of message exchanges that accomplishes a purpose, such as performing an operation. Objects in a collaboration interact by exchanging messages.


interface (DFD model)

In a DFD model, an external user of the information system that can originate or receive data flows or data stores.


interface (UML)

Specifies the externally visible operations of a class, component, package, or other element without specifying internal structure. An interface has only operations but no attributes, states, or associations.


internal self-transition

A transition segment that begins and ends on the same state context, and that has neither a chained incoming transaction nor a chained outgoing transaction. This transition is a combination of the group and history transitions.


internal units

The units of measure that Microsoft Visio uses internally to store dimensional values. The Visio application’s internal units are inches for linear measurements and radians for angular measurements.


item

A single object for which you can track properties. An item is represented in Microsoft Visio CAFM Explorer by an icon inside a folder. Items such as repository, facilities model, company, location, building, manufacturer, and supplier are represented in Visio CAFM Explorer only. Items such as people, assets, spaces, and boundaries are also represented by shapes in a facilities plan.


jump

A hyperlink between a shape or drawing page and another page in the drawing file, a file in another program, or an Internet site. You can right-click the shape or drawing page to "jump" to the destination.


Junction shape

In Process Engineering, the shape used to connect pipelines when one pipeline is split by another pipeline. The default junction shape is Junction. However, you can specify any shape on the document stencil as a junction.


keyword

A characteristic word, phrase, or code that is stored in a key field and is used to conduct sorting or searching operations on records. You type a keyword in the Find or Index box to locate specific information in a Help file.


layer

A named category of shapes. You can organize shapes in your drawing by assigning them to layers. You can selectively view, edit, print, or lock shapes on layers.


layer/export connections

(1) A layer connection between one or more service access points (SAPs) or service provision points (SPPs); (2) An export connection in which an SPP is exported through a containing actor.


LDIF


level

A named category of shapes in a Bentley MicroStation .dgn file. You can insert MicroStation drawings in a Microsoft Visio drawing and selectively view levels in the inserted drawing.


link

To establish a dynamic connection between an object in a Microsoft Visio drawing and another program's file. When changes occur in the original file, you can update the linked file so that the most current version of the object appears in the linked file.


link (UML)

An instance of an association. A link represents references between objects. If the association name is shown, it is underlined to indicate an instance.


linked object

Information that is created in one file (the source file) and inserted into another file (the destination file) while maintaining a connection between the two files. The linked object can be updated when the source file is updated. A linked object does not become part of the destination file.


local coordinates

The coordinate system whose origin is the lower-left corner of a shape’s width-height box. The geometry of a shape is expressed in local coordinates.


local formatting

Individual formatting attributes such as line width, fill color, or font size, that you apply to a selected shape by using a command on the Format menu, such as Line, Fill, or Text. Local formatting is most useful when you want to give a unique look to one shape or to just a few shapes.


local formula

A formula that is stored in a cell of a shape instead of being inherited from a master or a style. A local formula overrides changes to the corresponding cell in the master of which the shape is an instance. Also called local override.


lock

A setting that limits the ways that users can change a shape. For example, a lock on a selection handle prevents the user from resizing a shape using the selection handle.


macro

(1) A Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) program that extends Microsoft Visio through Automation by referencing Visio objects, properties, methods, and events; (2) a procedure that takes no arguments and is contained within a module within a project stored in a Visio template, stencil, or drawing.


mandatory constraint

A constraint that requires every instance of an object type’s population to play that role. With a disjunctive mandatory role constraint, each member of the object type’s population must play at least one of the roles indicated.


mandatory property

A property that requires a value when it exists as an object in the Directory Navigator and in the diagram. Mandatory properties that are defined for a class cannot be deleted.


master

A shape on a stencil that you use repeatedly to create drawings. When you drag a shape from a stencil onto the drawing page, the shape becomes an instance of that master.


measurement unit

Measurement units are sizes in the real world, and page units are sizes on the printed page. For example, in an architectural drawing that uses the scale 1 cm = 1 m, meter is the measurement unit and centimeter is the page unit. The ratio of page units to measurement units is the drawing scale.


message (sequence diagram)

In a sequence diagram, a communication between objects that conveys information and results in an action. A message is represented by a horizontal arrow. Messages extend from the lifeline of one object to the lineline of another, except in the case of a message from an object to itself. In such cases, the message begins and ends on the same lifeline. A message can be labeled with a name, an argument value, and a sequence number. Variations of messages are represented in different ways: an asynchronous message has a half-arrowhead; a call has a solid, filled arrowhead; and a return has a dashed line.


message flow

In a collaboration diagram, a labeled arrow near the association role, or link, that connects two object roles indicates that a message is sent from one object to another. The link transports the message to the target object, which is the object toward which the arrow points.


message label

In a collaboration diagram, an arrow label that indicates the message sent, its arguments and return values, and the sequencing of the message within the larger interaction (including call nesting, iteration, branching, concurrency, and synchronization).


metaclass

In a static structure diagram, a class whose instances are classes.


metafile

A file that stores an image as graphical objects (lines, circles, polygons) rather than as pixels. Metafiles preserve an image more accurately than pixels when the image is resized. There are two types of metafiles, standard and enhanced. Standard metafiles usually have a .wmf file name extension. Enhanced metafiles usually have an .emf or .emz file name extension.


mirror file

A file separate from your database model diagram in which you can save the code from your model.


model (UML)

An abstraction of a modeled system that specifies the system from a certain viewpoint and at a certain level of abstraction. In the Visio UML model diagram, all the models for a system appear in the same drawing file, and each model is visible in the UML Model Explorer tree view.


model space

In a CAD drawing, the primary drawing workspace in which a drafter creates a three-dimensional drawing.


modeless activity

A program activity that does not terminate when control returns to the Visio program. For example, an add-on may open a modeless window, which remains open after the add-on terminates.


modifed actor reference

An actor reference that is modified to indicate different properties.


module

In a Microsoft Visual Basic or Viusal Basic for Applications (VBA) project, code that is a set of declarations followed by procedures. A standard module contains only procedure, type, and data declarations and definitions.


MultiLanguage Pack

Provides the translated text for the user interface and Help for Microsoft Visio.


multi-object

In a collaboration diagram, a set of object roles on the “many” end of an association role. Using a multi-object shows that an operation addresses an entire set rather than a single object within the set; for example, a selection operation to find an individual object. To indicate an operation on each object in the set, use a single message that includes an iteration and add a many indicator (*) to the target role name.


multiplicity

The number of times a spline knot is repeated.


multiplicity (UML)

The number of  objects that can participate in a particular relationship, expressed as a single number or a range from the lower to the upper limit. The most common multiplicities are 1, * (which means zero to..infinity), and 0..1.


namespace

A namespace is a logical naming scheme for grouping related types.  A namespace provides a way to organize elements of a class library, both internally and as a way of presenting elements that are exposed to other programs. Namespace is a keyword in the Microsoft C# programming language.


naming properties

The property or properties used to determine how the values for an object’s name are displayed in the Directory Navigator and in the directory diagram. For example, if the user object’s CN (common name) and SN (surname) properties are set as the naming properties, then the values for CN and SN are displayed.


n-ary association

In a static structure diagram, an association among three or more classes (a single class may appear more than once). Each instance of the association is an ordered set of values from the respective classes.


natural language

A search method that lets you direct your search using conversational language. This allows you to give search instructions such as "Find all appointments for today."


navigability

On an association, navigability is indicated by an arrowhead. Attach the arrowhead to the end of the path that is attached to the class toward which navigability is supported.


network place

A folder on a network file server, Web server, or Exchange 2000 server. Create a shortcut to a network place to work with files there. Some network places, such as document libraries, have features not available with local folders.


node (UML)

In a deployment implementation diagram, a run-time physical object that represents a processing resource. Nodes are usually computing devices but can also represent human resources or mechanical processing resources.


nonperiodic spline

A spline with defined endpoints. If a spline’s begin point and end point coincide, the spline is closed.


note

A UML diagram comment that has no semantic influence on the model elements.


nudge

To move a shape a small amount using the arrow keys.  Select the shape, and then click the up, down, right, or left arrow key. (Make sure that the Scroll Lock key is turned off.)


number-unit pair

An expression that includes a number and a corresponding dimension. For example, "1 cm" is a number-unit pair.


object

Information created in another application and imported, embedded, or linked in a Microsoft Visio drawing. The term object is used to refer to objects from other applications and OLE objects. The application that the object is created in is known as the server application.


object

Represents a view of a directory service class. Objects represent specific network resources and have values assigned to their properties.


object (UML)

A representation of a particular instance of a class. An object has a name, which is underlined to indicate an instance-level element, and attributes.


object flow

In an activity diagram, a dashed arrow that indicates that an object is input or output by an action.


object flow state

In an activity diagram, defines an object flow between actions. An object flow state signifies the availability of an instance of a classifier in a given state.


object in state

In an activity diagram, an object that is manipulated by a number of successive activities. Each appearance of the object indicates a different phase in its life.


object lifeline

In a sequence diagram, a representation of the existence of an object at a particular time. If the object is created or destroyed during the time period the diagram represents, then the lifeline stops or starts at the appropriate point. Mark an object’s destruction with a large X.


object linking and embedding (OLE)

A Windows protocol that makes it possible to embed an object created in one Windows application into a document created in a different Windows application, or to link an object to a file that contains the original object.


ODBC (Open Database Connectivity)

A standard interface that allows applications to access, view, and modify data from a variety of databases. Many database applications, including Microsoft Access 7.0, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle SQL Server, are ODBC-compliant.


Off-Page Reference shape

In the Audit Diagram, Basic Flowchart, SDL Diagram, TQM Diagram, and Work Flow Diagram templates. A 2-D shape that you can use in large flowchart diagrams to link to another page in the drawing.


offset

For a specified line or curve, the Microsoft Visio program implements the offset as a pair of lines that are equidistant from the original line or curve. The offset from a straight line is a pair of straight lines, and the offset of a circular arc is a pair of circular arcs. If the offset to a curve is not a line, arc, or elliptical arc, then the offset is a spline, or series of splines that approximate the offset of the curve. This approximation comes as close as possible to fitting all the points that are a specified distance from a curve.


open shape

A shape such as a line, arc, or zigzag. You can format an open shape with line patterns and ends, such as by changing a solid line to a dashed line and adding an arrow to one end.


operation (UML)

A service that an instance of a class may be requested to perform. The behavior of a class is represented by a set of operations.


optional property

A property that does not require a value when the class it applies to exists as an object in the Directory Navigator and in the directory diagram. Optional properties defined for a class cannot be deleted.


OR constraint

An indicator of a situation in which any instance of a class can participate in only one association at one time.


origin

The lower-left corner of the selection rectangle of a shape, of a group, or of the drawing page. The x- and y-coordinates of the origin are always 0,0. Dimensions of a shape, such as its width and height, and the center of rotation are measured from its origin. The location of a shape in relation to its parent (a group or the page) is measured from the parent’s origin.


orthogonal

Intersecting or lying at right angles. You can rotate a Microsoft Visio drawing page so that every shape in your drawing, regardless of the angle at which it is drawn, can be drawn orthogonally; in effect, the drawing maintains a horizontal and/or vertical orientation to the Visio gridlines and rulers.


package

A grouping of model elements represented in the UML by a symbol that resembles a manila file folder. Each element in a system can be owned by only one package, and one package can be nested in another.


page

The printable area in a drawing window that contains a drawing. A page can be either a foreground or a background page. Each page has a size, which usually corresponds to a standard paper size, and a scale, which the Microsoft Visio program preconfigures for particular drawing types.


page coordinates

The coordinate system whose origin is the lower-left corner of a drawing page.


page orientation

To print a drawing, you can choose a page orientation of portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal). In portrait mode, a document prints across the narrower dimension of a rectangular sheet of paper. In landscape mode, a document prints across the wider dimension of a rectangular sheet of paper.


page sheet

A ShapeSheet that represents a page.


page units

Sizes or distances on the printed page.  For example, in an architectural drawing that uses the scale 1 cm = 1 m, centimeter is the page unit. The ratio of page units to measurement units is the drawing scale.


pan

To move an OLE object with the crop tool by holding down the left mouse button and shifting the object within the object’s border.


paper space

In a CAD drawing, a two-dimensional workspace analogous to a sheet of paper in which a drafter can arrange different views of a 3-D drawing.


parameter (UML)

An unbound variable that can be changed, passed, or returned. A parameter can include a name, type, and direction of communication.


parameterized class (UML)

In a static structure diagram, a template that describes a class with one or more unbound formal parameters. It defines a family of classes, each of which is specified by binding the parameters to actual values.


parametric

The ability of a Microsoft Visio shape to adjust its geometry and other attributes according to the values of certain parameters.


parent

The group that contains a shape is the shape’s parent. If the shape is not in a group, its parent is the page.


partition

A distinct section of data in a Novell Directory Service (NDS) tree. It must contain at least one parent object and zero or more child objects in a hierarchical structure.


paste

To insert information from the Clipboard into a Microsoft Visio drawing or another Windows application.


pasteboard

The area that surrounds a page in the drawing window. You can store shapes on the pasteboard. Each page has its own pasteboard.


path

A series of contiguous line or arc segments in a shape. A shape can have more than one path.


patterns

Principles that guide developers as they assign responsibilities to software classes and design system behavior.


periodic spline

A closed spline with no defined endpoints.


persistence

The lifetime of a variable, procedure, or object. For example, an object can persist while the Microsoft Visio application is running. An object that can store Event objects between Visio application sessions is said to persist events.


pin

The point around which a shape or text block rotates. When you select a 2-D shape with the rotation tool, its center of rotation is marked by a circle with a plus sign inside it. A shape’s pin expressed in parent coordinates (the PinX and PinY cells of the Shape Transform section) defines the shape’s location on the drawing page. Also known as center of rotation.


pixel

An individual block of display information. The term pixel is derived from the phrase "picture element."


placeable shape

A 2-D shape that is set to work with routable connectors and automatic layout. If a shape is set as placeable, a routable connector can detect and avoid crossing through it. You can set a shape as placeable in the Behavior dialog box by selecting Lay Out and Route Around. If you glue a routable connector, such as the Dynamic Connector, to a 2-D shape, the Microsoft Visio program automatically sets the 2-D shape as placeable.


ploymorphic operation (UML)

The same operation implemented differently by two or more types.


point

A single value that embodies a set of x- and y-coordinates for greater convenience in calculations.


point-to-point

A method of connecting shapes. The actual point of connection stays the same no matter how you move the connected shapes. You connect shapes point-to-point by dragging a connector from a connection point on one shape to a connection point on another shape.


polygon

A 2-D, closed single shape with three or more line segments.


polyline

The type of line you create when you draw a sequence of line segments in one stroke without lifting your pen. A closed polyline is a polygon. A polyline in the Microsoft Visio program is represented in the ShapeSheet by a contiguous sequence of LineTo rows.


primary selection

The first selected shape in a multiple selection, indicated on the drawing page by green selection handles. When a multiple selection is combined, the formatting of the primary selection is applied to the new shape. In a Selection object, the primary selection is the first item in the object’s Shapes collection.


procedure

A named sequence of statements executed as a unit. For example, Function, Property, and Sub are types of procedures.


Procedure template

The beginning and ending statements that are automatically inserted in the Code window when you specify a Function, Property, or Sub procedure in the Insert Procedure dialog box.


process (DFD model)

In a DFD model, any activity that generates, uses, transforms, or destroys data.


project (database)

A database project is a grouping of source models, such as ORM or ER source models; contents of a database project are listed in the Project Window in the Database Model Diagram.


project (VBA)

In Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), the code that you write that is saved with a Microsoft Visio file. You can create only one project for a Visio document, but that project can consist of any number of modules, class modules, and user forms.


project (Visual Studio)

A collections of files in the Visual Studio.NET development environment.  Settings can be managed on a project-wide basis, and one or more projects exist within a Visual Studio solution.


project template

A Visual Studio project template is used to create the basic project container and the initial set of files needed to develop a particular type of application in the selected target language.


Properties window

In the UML solution, a window that displays common properties associated with the selected UML element.


property

The type of information tracked by a category. For example, the Person category might track the First Name, Last Name, Date Hired, and Title properties.


provider application

An application that provides objects that can be controlled through Automation. A provider application makes the objects accessible to other applications and provides, or exposes, the properties and methods that control them.


Qualified Name

The naming property and the value for a directory service object. The Qualified Name syntax uses the naming property plus the value when displayed. For example, the Qualified Name for Jack Frost is CN=Jack+SN=Frost, where CN and SN are two naming properties for the object. The Qualified Name also indicates the object’s position in the [Sub Tree] hierarchy.


qualifier (UML)

One or more attributes of an association whose value(s) distinguish the set of objects at the far end of the association. A qualifier is indicated by a small rectangle at the source end of the association.


range of eight

A rule for handling instances whose scale is different from that of the drawing page. If the ratio of a master’s drawing scale differs from that of the drawing page by less than a factor of eight, the instance is scaled appropriately for the drawing page. Otherwise, the instance is antiscaled.


realizes relationship

The client at the tail of the arrow supports or inherits all the operations of the supplier at the arrowhead.


reception

A declaration stating that a classifier is prepared to react to the receipt of a signal. The reception designates a signal and specifies the expected behavioral response.


redlining

To review and mark up or add comments to a drawing.


reference mode

A word, number, or abbreviation used to identify a unique instance of an entity object type.


reference ports

A port that defines the internal and external ports of an actor reference. Reference ports can be placed only on the outer border of an actor reference shape. They can be used as anchors for bindings.


refinement

A dependency that indicates a historical or derivation relationship between two elements with a mapping between them.


related to

Shares or associates the selected item with another folder. For example, if an Administrative Assistant is shared by two departments, you would relate that person to both departments. When you delete an item, it is deleted from all folders to which it is related.


relay ports

A type of class port that defines the internal and external ports of an actor class. This symbol can appear only on the border of an actor class. Relay ports relay either incoming messages to a contained actor or outgoing messages from a contained actor.


replication

A connection between two data storage objects that allows synchronization between the two objects. Data storage objects are usually servers, databases, or domain controllers.


report definition

The definition of a property report that determines which shapes are used to generate the report, what custom properties are included, and how the report is formatted.


resize

To change the dimensions of a shape.


reverse engineer (database)

Reverse engineering a database involves extracting information such as stored procedures, check clauses, triggers, functions, and other code specific to a database management system (DBMS). Elements of the database code can then be used with Visio database modeling features.


reverse engineer (UML)

Reverse engineering for software projects involves starting with souce code in a development language, and then working with the extracted code elements in a UML model diagram.


rotation handle

One of the round handles that appear at a corner of a shape’s selection rectangle when you select the shape with the Rotation tool.


routable connector

A 1-D connector that automatically changes its path to avoid crossing through 2-D placeable shapes that lie between the two shapes the connector connects. When you select a routable connector, it displays midpoints and vertices that you can drag to edit the connector’s path manually. The Dynamic Connector is a routable connector.


scale

A measure of the relationship between actual distances and distances represented in a Microsoft Visio drawing. For example, a floor plan might have a scale of one meter of actual distance to one centimeter in the drawing.


scaled drawing page

A drawing page with a drawing scale, such as 1/4" = 1' or 2 cm = 1 m.


schema

A collection of classes and properties for a directory service. Classes and properties determine the types of information stored in the directory service and how they interact with each other.


schema (database)

A description of a database to a database management system (DBMS) in the language provided by the DBMS. A schema defines the structure of a database, and includes information on tables, attributes (fields) and parameters.


scope

The extent to which a variable, procedure, or object persists in a running program. The scope of an item typically depends on where it is declared. For example, the scope of a variable declared in a procedure is the procedure--when the procedure finishes executing, the variable goes out of scope.


ScreenTips

Tips that appear when you pause the pointer over certain elements in the Microsoft Visio program, including: masters on stencils, toolbar buttons, and the ruler.


segment

A straight line or curve that is part of a more complex shape.


selection

Shapes in a drawing that you have selected and on which you can perform actions. Selected shapes have selection handles. Selection also refers to text selected in a text block. Selected text is highlighted when it is editable.


selection handle

A square handle that appears on a shape selected with the pointer tool. Selection handles indicate that you can move or size the shape.


selection net

A means of selecting more than one shape at a time by dragging the pointer tool to define a rectangular area that encloses all the shapes to be selected.


selection rectangle

The dotted line that surrounds selected shapes or objects from other applications.


sequence diagram

An interaction diagram that shows the objects participating in a particular interaction and the messages they exchange arranged in a time sequence. A sequence diagram defines the logic for a particular instance of a use case.


sequential build

A method of building a Microsoft PowerPoint slide using elements of a Microsoft Visio drawing. In a sequential build, you bring in elements of a Visio drawing one by one onto successive slides.


server-side image map

A World Wide Web graphic with different linked regions. A program on a Web server examines map data associated with the linked regions and processes the links.


shape

(1) An open or closed object created using Microsoft Visio drawing tools or commands. (2) A grouped collection of shapes. (3) An instance of a master that is dragged from a stencil onto the drawing page.


ShapeSheet

The spreadsheet that contains information about a shape; for example, its dimensions, angle, and center of rotation and the styles that determine the shape’s appearance. ShapeSheets can contain formulas that define how the shape behaves when it is moved or sized.


shape-to-shape

A method of connecting shapes. The actual point of connection might change when you move the connected shapes. You make shape-to-shape connections by dragging a connector from the center of one shape to the center of another shape. As you place the mouse over the center of each shape, a red box appears to indicate that you're creating a shape-to-shape connection.


signal

A generalizable element defined independently of the classes handling the signal. It specifies an asynchronous stimulus communicated between instances to which there is no reply.


signal event

In a statechart or activity diagram, an indication that one object has received a signal from another.


signal receipt

In an activity diagram, an icon used to replace an event label on a transition.


signal send

In an activity diagram, an icon used to replace an event label on a transition.


sink object

In a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) program, a class that receives events fired by a particular kind of Microsoft Visio object. In a stand-alone Visual Basic, C, or C++ program, an object that receives the notification sent by a Visio event object and that enables two-way communication between a stand-alone solution and Visio. Also known as event sink, notification sink.


site

An area of good network connectivity. Often a LAN (local area network), but it may contain multiple LANs connected by a fast WAN (wide area network).


size

To change the dimensions of a shape by dragging one of its handles after it has been selected with the pointer tool.


SmartConnector shape

A 1-D shape that behaves intelligently when it’s used to connect other shapes. For example, if you use a SmartConnector shape to connect two shapes and you move one of the shapes, the SmartConnector shape repositions itself and in some cases changes its shape to avoid crossing over the shapes it connects.


SmartShape symbol

A shape that is programmed to behave predictably when you move or size it.


snap

The ability of shapes, guides, grid lines, and other elements in the Microsoft Visio program to pull shapes and other elements into position when they are moved and sized.


solution

The file folder that contains templates for particular drawing types. For example, the Project Schedule solution folder contains the Calendar, Gantt Chart, PERT Chart, and Timeline, templates that you use to create those particular drawing types.


solution (Visual Studio)

A Visual Studio solution is a container for projects and other items that can be built into a software application; a solution folder in this context includes a solution file with the extension *.sln.


source file

The file that contains the information that was used to create a linked or embedded object. The object exists in the destination file. When you update the information in the source file, the information in the linked object is also updated.


source file (UML)

A file containing code in a development language.


source model  (database)

A souce model can contain a portion of an entire database model.  Visio includes the ER Source Model and ORM Source Model templates.


space identifier

A custom property assigned to a Space shape that uniquely identifies that space shape in a space plan drawing, such as an office number or room number. The custom property label is Space ID.


space plan

A drawing that uses space shapes or geometric shapes to show the approximate location of spaces in a building.


Spanning Tree

The Spanning Tree function is available for some switches and bridges. This function has the ability to enable backup loops between switches (in the case of either cable or port failure). Using Spanning Tree, switches continually exchange routing tables between each other, updating the best path to specific locations. Within large LANs, Spanning Tree also provides fault tolerance from incorrect wiring, which can result in multiple paths causing endless loops called broadcast storms.


spline

A freeform curve that is based on a polynomial equation.


spline knot

A real number that marks the boundary between polynomial pieces on a spline.


stacking order

The order in which shapes overlap other shapes on the page and the order in which shapes are selected. You can change the stacking order of shapes by using commands on the Shape menu.


stamp

To create an instance of a master with the Stamp tool. To stamp a master, select the master in the stencil, choose the Stamp tool, and click where you want the instance to appear. To glue a connector with the Stamp tool, select the connector in the stencil, and then drag between connection points on the shapes you want to connect.


stand-alone stencil

A Microsoft Visio file with a .vss file name extension that contains a collection of masters and is usually referred to simply as a stencil. Unlike a document stencil, a stand-alone stencil usually does not have an accompanying drawing.


state

The period of time during which an actor exhibits a particular behavior.


state (UML)

In a statechart or activity diagram, a condition during which an object satisfies a condition, performs an action, or waits for an event. It is an image of an instant in the life of an object that reflects the values that exist in the object’s attributes and the links the object has with other objects.


state context

A nested series of states, which represents the current state of a system.


state machine

A graph of states and transitions that describes the response of an object of a given class to the receipt of outside stimuli. A state machine is attached to a class or method. A statechart diagram represents a state machine.


statechart diagram

A representation of a state machine, attached to a class or method, that describes the response of the class to outside stimuli. A statechart diagram uses states, events, and transitions to document the sequence of states the object goes through during its life.


static glue

A type of glue behavior in which the endpoint of a connector remains fixed to a particular connection point, no matter how the shape to which it is glued moves.


static structure diagram

A diagram that shows the static structure of a model; that is, the elements that exist (such as classes and types), the internal structure of the elements, and their relationships to one another. Static structure diagrams can be either class diagrams, object diagrams, or conceptual models.


stencil

A collection of masters associated with a particular Microsoft Visio drawing type, or template. By default, stencils that open with a template are docked on the left side of the drawing window. You can open stencil (.vss) files independently of a template.


stencil path

The folder or folders where Microsoft Visio stencils are stored. To find your stencil path, on the Tools menu, click Options. On the File Paths tab, the Stencils box shows the stencil folder location. You can add additional folders to this path.


stereotype

A representation of a usage distinction. A stereotype is a subclass of an existing element with the same attributes and relationships as that element but with a different intent and possibly additional constraints.


stored procedure

A procedure created by analysts and stored in the data dictionary for repeated use by applications.


stub

In a statechart diagram, a small vertical line drawn inside the boundary of a composite state that indicates a transition connected to a suppressed nested state.


style

A collection of attributes that has a name and is saved with a template or drawing file.


subcategory

A new category that is based on an existing category. For example, instead of tracking computers along with all your other equipment, you might want to create a Computer subcategory from the Equipment category to track them as a separate group.


subdivision

The division between grid lines and between intervals of the ruler. This option is set using the Ruler & Grid command. The choices are Fine, Normal, and Coarse.


subselect

To select individual shapes within a group.


subsystem (UML)

A package that contains the contents of the entire system or an entire model within the system.


summary task

In the Gantt Chart template. A summary task has more than one subtask below it. Subtasks are indented below the summary task in the project frame. The summary task bar has special markers (inverted yellow triangles) to indicate that it has subtasks.


swimlane

In an activity diagram, a way of assigning responsibility to action states. Each swimlane represents the responsible class, person, or organizational unit.


synchronized copy

In the Organization Chart template. A copy of a department that you create on a new page of a large organization chart, so that you can determine how your chart breaks across pages. When you create a synchronized copy, any changes you make appear in both places.


system

Any application or process that you want to model. Examples of systems include a computer game, a process for assembling microchips, and a library information system.


system boundary

In a use case diagram, a boundary surrounding the use cases that indicates the system.


tagged value

A keyword-value pair that can be attached to any model element. The keyword is called a tag, and it represents a property applicable to one or many elements.


template (Visio)

A Microsoft Visio file (drawing type) with a .vst extension that opens with the stencils, styles, and settings you need to create a particular type of drawing.


template (Visual Studio project)

A Visual Studio project template is used to create the basic project container and the initial set of files needed to develop a particular type of application in the selected target language.


text block

The text area associated with a shape that appears when you click the shape with the text tool or select it with the pointer tool.


textual definition

A definition used to list the textual declarations of extended state variables or the functions associated with a state context.


tile

(1) A printing technique used when oversized drawing pages are printed on multiple sheets of paper. (2) A command on the Microsoft Visio Window menu that opens multiple drawings side by side in the main window.


time event

In a statechart or activity diagram, an event that occurs after a designated period of time or on the occurrence of a given date or time.


tip

Notes that appear when you pause the pointer over certain elements in the Microsoft Visio program, including masters on stencils, toolbar buttons, and the ruler.


toolbars

The rows of boxes, buttons, and bars that appear below the menu bar. To choose which toolbars you want to display and to create custom toolbars, click View, and then point to Toolbars.


trace

A kind of dependency that indicates a historical relationship between two elements that represent the same concept at different semantic levels or from different points of view.


transition

An allowed path from one state to another.


transition (UML)

In a statechart or activity diagram, a relationship between two states or action states or between a state and itself (a complex transition has multiple source and/or target states). A simple transition indicates that an object in the first state will enter the second state and perform specified actions. The trigger that makes the transition fire is the occurrence of the event labeling the transition. A transition is shown as solid arrow from the source state to the target state and is labeled with a transition string with the following format:

event-name (parameters) [guard condition] / action -expression ^ send-clause

For example:

right-mouse-down (location) [location in window] / object:=pick-object (location) ^ object.highlight ()


transition points

The start or endpoint of a transition segment.

An initial transition point is placed within a state context and is used as the starting point for the initial transition in that context. All other transition points are placed on the border of a state context.


transition to history

An incoming transition segment that ends on an outer state context and does not have a continuing transition segment within the context.


transitive

A trust relationship where one domain trusts all other domains. For example, if Site X has a trust relationship with Site Y, and Site Y has a trust relationship with Site Z, Site X does not necessarily have a trust relationship with Site Z.


tree view (UML)

A hierarchy in which each UML element or view (diagram) is represented by an icon. The tree view is displayed in the UML Model Explorer window


trigger

An event-driven, stored procedure. A stored procedure is a procedure created by analysts and stored in the data dictionary for repeated use by applications.


TWAIN

A cross-platform interface for acquiring electronic images that have been captured by scanners, digital cameras, and still-frame video capture boards. Microsoft Visio supports TWAIN version 1.7.


type

A changeable role that an object may adopt and later abandon. A type describes a set of objects with attributes and operations, but because a type may not include methods it is a specification of a software entity but not an implementation.


UML Model Explorer

In the UML solution, a window that contains the tree view showing the hierarchy of a UML system.


UML Properties dialog boxes

In the UML solution, a dialog box used for editing a UML element’s properties.


UMLSysA

One UML drawing file represents the system you are modeling.


UMLSysB

Each model in the system is an abstraction that reveals the system from a different perspective. Each diagram is a different view of a model. Each diagram type is represented by an icon (that resembles the icons pictured here).


UMLSysC

Use case diagrams describe the external actors and how they use the system.


UMLSysD

Conceptual models (object diagrams), a type of static structure diagram, decompose a system into related real-world objects.


UMLSysE

System sequence diagrams show, for a particular use case, the system events that external actors generate.


UMLSysF

Use packages to group related elements and partition a complex conceptual model into manageable subsets.


UMLSysG

Collaboration diagrams show how objects involved in each system event interact via messages to fulfill tasks.


UMLSysH

Class diagrams, a type of static structure diagram, translate real-world objects into software entities with associations, attributes, interfaces, methods, and dependencies.


UMLSysI

For state-dependent objects, statechart diagrams describe how objects react to different events.


UMLSysJ

Activity diagrams show the workflow related to individual objects.


UMLSysK

Deployment diagrams show the physical relationships among the software and hardware components.


UMLSysL

Component diagrams show the structure of the code itself and the dependencies between components.


uniqueness constraint

A constraint that prohibits repetition of individual data or combinations of data.


unitless number

A number that is not associated with a unit of measure.


units of measure

The type of measurement system used in a drawing. In formulas, used after a number to specify the unit of measure that the number represents. You specify the default unit of measure for a document (inches, feet, miles, points, meters, and so on) in the Options box.


Unqualified Name

A display of the value of the object without any naming properties. Multiple naming properties are separated by a plus sign (+). Therefore, if the naming properties of the User object Jack Frost are CN and SN (Common Name and Surname), and CN=Jack, and SN=Frost, then the Unqualified Name for Jack Frost is Jack+Frost.


unscaled drawing page

A drawing page whose drawing scale is 1:1.


US units

Units used in the US measurement system, such as inches, feet, yards, and miles.


usage

A kind of dependency that indicates that one element requires the presence of another element for its correct implementation or functioning.


use case

In a use case diagram, a representation of a set of events that occurs when an actor uses a system to complete a process. Normally, a use case is a relatively large process, not an individual step or transaction.


use case diagram

A diagram that shows the external actors who will interact with your system and how they will use it.


user form

A file in a Microsoft Visual Basic or Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) project with the file extension .frm that contains user interface controls, such as command buttons and text boxes.


uses relationship

In a use case diagram, a relationship between two use cases that indicates that an instance of use case A will also include behavior specified by use case B.


utility

In a static structure diagram, a programming convenience rather than a fundamental construct. Attributes and operations you define for a utility become global variables and procedures.


vanishing point

In the Block Diagram with Perspective template. A point that represents where the perspective recedes in your drawing. You can move the vanishing point to any location on the drawing page.


variable grid

Grid lines that change as you change the magnification of a drawing. When you zoom in, grid lines are closer together.  When you zoom out, grid lines are farther apart.


vertex, vertices

One of the diamond-shaped handles that appears between two segments on  a multiple-segment shape, or at the end of a segment. You can reshape a shape or connector by dragging its vertices.


view

A way to present data in a database for review by a user. Views are created from subsets of columns from one or more tables in a database.


virtual

A class for which you cannot create an instance. A Virtual/Abstract class can only act as a superclass to other classes. In a directory service schema, virtual/abstract classes are dimmed.


visibility

The ability of one element to see or refer to another. For one element to send a message to another element, the latter must be visible to the former.


Visio library

A special dynamic-link library (dll) that is loaded by the Microsoft Visio application at run time and can implement one or more Visio add-ons. A Visio library has the filename extension .vsl.


Visio type library

A file that contains definitions of the objects, properties, methods, events, and constants that the Microsoft Visio application exposes to Automation.


VLAN domain

A VLAN domain is a set of connected switches that share the same subnet definitions. A VLAN domain propagates changes of the domain attributes (including subnet definition) to switches in the domain. The VLAN domain protocol also attempts to minimize traffic among switches by sending network traffic only to those ports assigned to the same VLAN.


VLANs

Virtual LANs (VLANs) provide some of the advantages of a routed network within a switched network, such as reducing network traffic by breaking the network into multiple broadcast domains. A port-based VLAN is a logical broadcast domain, where membership in the VLAN is assigned on a switch port basis.


wall reference line

The line that extends from the wall begin point to the wall endpoint. Although the wall reference line is typically centered on the wall or aligned with one edge of the wall, you can locate it any distance you want from the wall by changing the wall reference line offset. To change the wall Reference Line Offset setting, right-click the wall, and choose Properties.


WIA

A device-driver interface that supports still digital cameras and low- and high-end scanners, and allows retrieving of still images from IEEE 1394-based DV camcorders and USB-based "Web cams."


wizard

A Microsoft Visio tool that automates common tasks. For example, you can use the Org Chart Wizard to automate creating an organization chart.


workspace

A Microsoft Visio file that contains information about the size and position of drawings and stencils at the time you save the workspace. When you open a workspace, the Visio application recreates the arrangement of stencil and drawing windows for you. You can store a workspace with a drawing file or save a workspace as a workspace (.vsw) file.


zero point

(1) The location of the 0 on the horizontal or vertical ruler. (2) The point in the drawing window where the zero points of each ruler intersect. By default, the zero point is the lower-left corner of the drawing page.


zoom

To increase or decrease the display size of a drawing in the drawing window. A display size of 100% (or Actual Size) displays the drawing at the same size it will be when it is printed, unless you reduce or enlarge the printed output in the Page Setup dialog box.