Rendering Visio diagram in WebHelp

[ann.jensen]

Hi,
i have a requirement to render a diagram created in Visio in my WebHelp output.
I went and saved the Visio file as a .png file and created an image element for this image. However, this doesn't cater for updates being made to the Visio diagram which is housed on SharePoint.
Is there any other approach to including a Visio file in Dita content without converting it to an image?
Any advice appreciated,
Regards,
Ann

[Costin]

Hi,

It is possible to embed any kind of file types in the WebHelp output. However, in order for the resulting output to also be serviceable, the internet browser that will be used to open the WebHelp should know how to handle those file types. We do not have control over how browsers render various files, so rendering Visio diagrams in WebHelp is all up to the internet browser as well.
It is our understanding that by default, internet browsers can not render Visio files. You could search for a third party browser plugin or extension in order to make your browser capable of rendering Visio files, though we are not aware of such plugin/extension.

As a workaround, you could include links to Visio files in DITA, so those will also be available in the WebHelp output. Then, the users in your company that have Visio installed on their machines, could just directly open the Visio files in their Vision application.

Best Regards,
Costin