Unofficial DPTPB Nutanix Dynamic Visio Shapes: Limitations

List of limitations or known issues with the Nutanix Dynamic Visio shapes

The text on label(s) is shown only when using scales from 1:1 to 1:16

• The smallest font that Visio can render is 1pt
• At 1:10 the label text font size is 1.6 pt
• At 1:16 the label text font size is 1 pt
• At 1:20 the label text font size would have to be less than 1 pt, but Visio would render the font to be 1 pt in size and the text would not fit within the label shape
• Work-around: N/A

Dynamic shapes should also work with Visio “Blank Page” template and “No Scale” page setting

• But it is highly recommended to use scaled drawings (1:2 to 1:16)
• “No Scale” drawings can cause much headache and unpredictable results.

Sometimes dynamic shapes look distorted after changes

• After making changes in “Shape Data” “pull-down” menus your shape might look distorted
• This is caused by slow responding “image rendering machine” in Visio
• Work-around
  • • To force Visio to re-render the image and fix distortions
    • Zoom out, to any % less than you are currently using
    • Zoom in, back to whatever % you were using before
    • and any distortions should be fixed

Sometimes it takes few seconds to pull a dynamic shape from stencil to drawing

• Typically not a problem when using a fresh template and handful of Dynamic shapes
• Can be a problem with a drawings which are frequently updated and have huge number of different dynamic shapes
• or
• Can be a problem with drawings where you use mix of different releases of Dynamic stencils
• Why?
  • To implement dynamic functionality the shapes contain more code and dynamic elements
  • The first time a shape is pulled from stencil
    • Visio checks that extra code and elements are okay
    • cross checks the shape against other existing (Master) shapes for possible conflicts
      • The more code and dynamic elements you have in a shape
      • and/or
      • The more existing (Master) shapes you have in your drawing
      • The longer it takes to complete these checks
    • saves the shape as a “Master” shape
  • For subsequent uses of a given shape
    • Visio uses a “Master” shape instead
    • no checking is required
    • making the shape usage faster
• Work-around 1
  • Solution
    • Remove unused masters from the drawing
    • “File” – “Info” – “Check for Issues” – “Reduce File Size”
    • click checkbox for  “Remove Unused Masters”
    • hit “OK”
    • and save your drawing
  • Background
    • When using shapes from stencils Visio stores a separate “master” copy for each shape used
    • Frequently updated drawings with many different shapes might get “bloated” over time
    • Quite often Visio stores unnecessary “master” copies, as you might have replaced a shape with updated version of the shape and there is no need to store the old “master” shape any more
    • Having too many unnecessary “master” shape copies might slow down drawing
• Work-around 2
  • Optimize code
  • Use less code
  • Use less dynamic elements
  • Re-code Visio executable to run the checks in parallel
    • at the moment checks seem run in one thread / CPU
    • not taking full advantage of modern multi-core/multi-threaded CPUs
  • Not always applicable
    • I can’t re-code Visio
    • but otherwise I will try my best 🙂
  • Comparing to some of the beta shapes, there is already quite a lot of improvement
  • Classical problem of “Rich Features vs Ultimate Performance”

PDF printouts look odd

• If exporting Visio images to PDF-format
  • Built-in Visio PDF export/print capabilities produce funky results
    • either by saving as PDF or printing as PDF
  • It is highly recommended to use CutePDF instead
    • Much nicer PDF as a result

Downloads

Please visit the Nutanix stencil download page for the latest dynamic stencil package.

Since these are unofficial Visio shapes, they are not available on visiocafe.com, where the official stencil package resides.

Further documentation

• Intro 
• Front & Rear View Shape usage
• Cables & Labels
• NX-1175S-G7 & NX-1175S-G6
• NX-1065-G7 /-G6 & NX-3060-G7 /-G6 
• NX-8150-G7 & NX-8155-G7/ -G6 & NX-5155-G6
• NX-8035-G7 & NX-8035-G6
• NX-8170-G7 & NX-3170-G6
• NX-3155-G7 & NX-3155-G6 
• Non-Dynamic mode
• Custom Disk Sizes
• Disk Size Validity Checks
• Why unofficial shapes? 
• Limitations (this post)
• Update Notes
• NX-3170-G7 & Minor updates
• NX-8170-G7 with partially populated NVMe bays
• NX-1120S-G7 & Minor updates