Reviewer's Guide

Table of Contents

Product Facts - Page 2

iGrafx™ Professional Product Description - Page 3

iGrafx™ Professional Competitive Information - Page 8

	
Piotr Biernacki
Micrografx ROE-EE
+48 601 242635
piotrekt@micrografx.pol.pl	

Mark Stanford
Product Manager, iGrafx Professional
+1 (503) 404-6018
marks@micrografx.com

	
Kim Tompkins
Public Relations and Investor Relations Manager
+1 (972) 994-6389
kimt@micrografx.com

Product Facts

Description	iGrafxTM Professional is an intelligent business diagramming and modeling solution that addresses the complete range of visual communications that professionals need. 
	
Developer

	Founded in 1982, Micrografx is recognized as a global graphics software leader, focused on three business categories: corporate graphics, process management and network documentation.

Micrografx Inc.		
1303 E. Arapaho Rd.		(800) 676-3110
Richardson, TX  75081		(972) 234-1769
www.micrografx.com		(972) 994-6477
	
Availability	English, French and German 
Japanese
Italian and Dutch
Spanish
Brazilian Portuguese	Immediate
May 1999
June 1999
June 1999
July 1999
	
Distribution	Via distributors.
Poland:	Aditech			 I-BiS
	Wimal			
Czech Republic	& Slovakia:	 Abakus
	BSP			 SWS	
		
System Requirements	Personal or multimedia computer with a Pentium processor. 
Microsoft Windows 95 or 98 or Microsoft Windows NT 4
Windows 95 or 98: 16 MB of memory required. 
Windows NT4: 24 MB of memory required. 
More memory may be required to run additional applications simultaneously.
35 - 280 MB hard disk space required for local installation; 65 MB required for typical installation. An additional 20 MB is required for Microsoft® Visual Basic® for Applications 6.0 if not already installed.
CD-ROM drive.
800x600, 16 bit or high-color 
Mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouse, or compatible pointing device.	
		
Media Contacts	Mark Stanford
Product Manager, iGrafx Professional
+1 (503) 404-6018
marks@micrografx.com	Kim Tompkins
Public Relations and Investor Relations Manager
+ 1(972) 994-6389
kimt@micrografx.com	
	Piotr Biernacki
Micrografx for Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia
+48 601 242635
piotrekt@micrografx.pol.pl	

iGrafx Professional Product Description

A tradition of diagramming excellence continues with the introduction of iGrafx Professional.  The successor to Micrografx ABC FlowCharter®, iGrafx Professional is an intelligent business diagramming, and modeling solution. 

It's designed for knowledge workers, managers, and IT professionals who are creating the complete range of visual communications, structured diagrams, and graphic models. 

Product Highlights	Why This is Important	

A wide range of capabilities encompasses the creation of free form, structured, and presentation styles of diagrams.  

These include, but are not limited to, process diagrams, flowcharts, marketing charts, data graphs, organization charts, fishbone diagrams, network diagrams, web content, software diagrams, and data diagrams.
	
Enterprises demand more than just the best process diagramming and flowcharting tool available.

They request a flexible tool that is excellent for visualizing all types of data from all levels and functions of the enterprise. 	

iGrafx Professional is designed for ease-of-use. Features like single-mode editing make creating, modifying, and publishing structured diagrams fast and simple. 	
Organizations strive to visualize, understand, and improve processes. These goals are realized only when the catalyst is fun and easy to use. 

The faster compelling visuals are created, the faster communication and process improvement are fostered.

Intelligent shape technology, iShapes, delivers a comprehensive range of intelligent shape behavior.

Intelligent placement technology, iGrids, provides intelligent templates for diagrams. 
	
Users of diagramming tools don't want to create everything from scratch. Intelligent shapes and templates give a head start towards process visualization. 

iGrafx Professional’s open architecture integrates Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA 6.0) technology into intelligent entities available for creating, viewing, and interacting with diagrams.	
Any business with the skill to customize and extend Microsoft® Office applications has already learned the iGrafx programming interface. 

There's no need to learn a proprietary language to customize and extend iGrafx Professional.

Intelligent diagrams, iDiagrams, a patented technology, make diagrams come alive for interacting with people, databases, and other programs.
	
When combined with VBA, diagrams that describe processes are transformed into diagrams that perform the processes they describe.	

Create a wide range of intelligent, structured diagrams

iGrafx Professional excels at producing process diagrams and flowcharts. However, that's only the beginning. Enterprises are creating all kinds of diagrams with iGrafx Professional:

Classic flowcharts	Process diagrams using swimlanes 	
Dataflow diagrams	

			
			
Quality initiative diagrams	Network diagrams	Marketing charts	

Designed for ease of use

iGrafx Professional sets a new standard for ease of use in a diagramming tool.  iGrafx Professional features a streamlined purpose-oriented user interface that includes intelligent modes. These intelligent modes greatly reduce the amount of effort and steps to create a diagram.  If a user wants to operate in the classic style they are free to do so.  However, with iGrafx Professional, editing modes are integrated to allow a complete diagram to be created or modified in a single mode.

Streamlined toolbar with intelligent modes greatly enhances ease of use. 

Integrated visual gallery provides modeless access to functionality.

iGrafx Professional, like the rest of the iGrafx System, follows the Microsoft Office look and feel style.

The visual gallery allows quick, modeless access to formatting, style, and content.  Integrated into the gallery is the iGrafx Share component of the iGrafx system.  

This allows immediate access to enterprise and private graphics, including searching and cataloging capabilities to organize and distribute enterprise content.

iGrafx Professional offers a uniquely flexible page model allowing quick and easy targeting of diagrams to different devices.  Need to print your diagram to be put in a notebook today and posted on the wall tomorrow?  iGrafx Professional makes it easy because the page size is set when you print -- not when you create. 

Also, font differences between output devices are seamlessly handled to provide true device independence that ensures What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get. 
. 

The Intelligent diagramming tool

iGrafx Professional incorporates advanced features to make diagramming easier and more productive.

iGrafx Only	
New	Diagramming Feature	
Benefit

Automatic Off-page Connectors	
Makes multi-page hardcopy easier to read because it's clear where lines end on one page and begin on another. When saved to the web, the connectors become convenient hyperlinks.

Multi-page Support	
The iGrafx Professional unlimited drawing area displays and edits all pages on screen at once, making large, complex diagrams easier to work with and manage.

Multi-diagram Support	
When all related diagrams are saved in the same file there is less chance for error when collaborating across the enterprise. 

Smart Departments (Swimlanes)	
Swimlanes add information while reducing diagram clutter. A great method for visualizing functional responsibility for process activities. 

Shape Import	
Reuse existing enterprise shapes that already convey meaning within the organization. When pasted to a diagram, these shapes are automatically available on the toolbar.

Annotate with Share Viewer	
All associates, not only iGrafx Professional users, can share and communicate their ideas directly on the diagram.  

Shape Numbering	
Support for change control and incremental numbering.  Intelligent auto-numbering based on connectivity and structure.

Java web Output	
Zoom, scroll and search intelligent web output.

Connect Anywhere	
There's no need to predefine shape connection points. Even imported shapes are connected intelligently. 

Autoadd and Autodelete Shape	
Add shapes between connected shapes with one step instead of four (delete line, drop shape, connect line, connect line). The same intelligent behavior is used for removing shapes.

Extend and customize iGrafx Professional with VBA

By integrating Microsoft® Visual Basic® for Applications technology, iGrafx Professional provides a layer of extensibility that allows users to customize, extend, and integrate iGrafx Professional with other applications. Enterprises can customize its capabilities and appearance or extend the tool into other areas that the base product might not normally address. 

Organizations can also integrate iGrafx Professional with data sources and other applications that may have been developed by the corporation or developed by another Independent Software Vendor (ISV). Over 1600 interfaces provide integration to the document, application, or any component of a diagram (shape, line, department, etc.).  

Intelligent adjustment uses VBA to change the donut width intelligently. 

A few lines of Visual Basic® is all it takes!

Full VBA integration to the shape level allows iShapes™ to be created that have intelligent behavior to ease difficult tasks.  

The intelligent iShapes may be copied to iGrafx Share Media for distribution throughout the enterprise.

Other programs use proprietary languages and schemes to allow much more limited customization while iGrafx Professional uses standard VBA to allow unlimited customization and intelligence.

iGrafx Professional allows full customization of all user interfaces and program behaviors.  

Build enterprise models for later "what if" analysis and simulation with iGrafx™ Process

Organizations desire to visualize, understand, and improve their processes. These goals can be realized by documenting existing processes with iGrafx Professional. However, the greatest business improvements are only possible when diagrams are taken to the next step — to become process models for analysis and simulation. 

By simply adding information to a process map about how work gets done, users are able build a replica of their real-life process. Managers and process specialists then experiment with proposed process improvements on the model instead of experimenting with their real-life processes. Once the best process is found with the model, the improved process is implemented within the organization. By using the model, significant time and money is saved. 

iGrafx Professional and iGrafx Process share the same user interface and file format. All files created with both products are interchangeable between the tools. Models may be created with either tool. The only difference between the two products is the simulation feature unique to iGrafx Process. 

iGrafx Professional Competitive Information

New iGrafx Feature	Feature	iGrafx Professional	Main competitor	
				
	Smart departments		Limited support with add-on	
	Automatic off-page connectors			
	Multi-page support and unlimited size diagrams			
	Multi-diagram support of hierarchical diagrams			
	Intelligent import of user-defined shapes			
	Diagram annotation with Share Viewer			
	Java web support			
	Connect lines to any point on a shape			
	Automatic shape numbering		some shapes	
	Gallery for fast formatting			
	Shape Library toolbar for frequently used shapes			
	Smart diamonds and other intelligent iShapes™ 			
	Automatic connect shapes in selected region			
	Tabular view			
	Process diagrams can be scaled to print on a single page or number of pages			
	Output device independence			
	Component Viewer to display diagram hierarchy			
	Seamless integration with "what if" analysis and simulation tool			
	Auto insert and delete shape			
	Cursor "nudge" for moving shapes			
	iDiagrams for running diagrams			
	Visio® filter (now works without Visio® installed)			
	Share Media for shape management and distribution			
	Automatic skips and intersections			
	Automatic line-routing to avoid obstacles			
	Designed for Windows® 95, 98, NT and Office compatible			
	Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)	Version 6	Version 5	

iGrafx, iShape, iDiagram, FlowCharter, and Micrografx are registered trademarks or trademarks of Micrografx, Inc. Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and Visual Basic are registered trademarks of Microsoft. Visio is a registered trademark of Visio Corporation.