Visustin FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

See also Troubleshooting later on this page.

Q: Can I edit the flow charts?

A: Yes, with Editor.

Q: Do I need Visio to create Visio diagrams?

A: Yes. Visio export requires Visio installed. Visustin sends the flow chart data to Visio, which is responsible for creating the diagram. Exporting does not function without Visio.

Q: The chart appears rotated 90 degrees. How can I get it in normal orientation?

A: Rotation is a demo version limitation. The full version does not rotate the flow charts.

Q: The word "demo" appears in the flow chart, what is it?

A: That is a demo version limitation. The full version does not add anything extra to the flow charts.

Q: The diagram is too large. How can I reduce it?

A: Detailed flow charts are large indeed. Several smaller charts are better than a really big one. Use the Structure tab to flowchart your code in parts. Hide comments to preserve space. Read more about handling large charts.

Q: Is there a size limit?

A: No, there is no fixed size limit. Very large flow charts are not practical, though. They don't fit in documents or allow reasonable print-outs. Make several smaller charts to visualize a complex file. More about large charts.

Earlier versions of Visustin had some problems with code sizes exceeding 3000 lines, 32 kB or 64 kB, but these limits have been lifted.

Q: Can I visualize an entire program?

A: Yes, but be prepared that the graphs will be very large. Your wall may not have be long enough for hanging up the print-out.

Q: How can I visualize function calls and file dependencies?

A: Visustin does not do this. It is a detailed flowcharting tool. Flow charts work on the statement level displaying each branch, loop and so on. Flow charts are not for viewing higher-level (less detailed) relationships, such as procedure-to-procedure or module-to-module dependencies.

If you use Visual Basic, VB.NET or VBA, try Project Analyzer to visualize procedure calls, file dependencies, class hierarchies and the control flow at a higher abstraction level.

Q: Flow charts are too detailed. Can't I see function calls only?

A: You should get another diagramming program for that purpose. Flow charts are detailed on purpose. Their idea is to display every branch, jump and loop. Other diagram types display an overview with less detail. That's not what Visustin does since it's a flowcharting program.

Q: Can I export UML to my favorite UML tool?

A: No. Visustin produces UML style Activity Diagrams in a way that is not compatible with other UML tools.

Q: Can I get UML Sequence Diagrams, Case Diagrams or the like?

A: No. Visustin only produces UML style Activity Diagrams.

Q: Some comments appear at strange locations, why?

A: Comments are not a part of a program's control flow. They may be written at a location that is hard to link with a specific control flow, or even on a line that is not executed at all. Therefore, a comment in the flow chart may appear at a different location from what the developer was thinking when writing the comment. Sometimes it is not clear whether a comment next to a conditional statement is labeling the "if" condition or the "then" branch. Similarly, a comment next to a looping statement may describe the entire loop, the loop body or the loop condition. A comment above a case label may describe the previous case branch, the case label itself or the next case block.


Troubleshooting

Q: Error #429 getting flow chart image: ActiveX component can't create object

A: WinGraphviz.dll is probably missing or not installed. Run the demo version setup to get all run-times installed correctly. Alternatively, just copy WinGraphviz.dll in the same directory as Visustin.exe.

Q: Error h80020009 registering WinGraphviz.dll

A: Run Visustin as Administrator and try again. Alternatively, run setup as Administrator.

Q: Visustin crashes at start-up or every time I press Draw or Editor. Why?

A: You never get to see a flow chart? Please ensure you have write access to a root directory. In Windows Vista, you may need to disable UAC or run as Administrator. More

Q: Visustin produces empty flow charts on Windows Vista. How do I get it to work?

A: Visustin doesn't appeart to create any flow chart? Please ensure you have write access to a root directory. In Windows Vista, you may need to disable UAC or run as Administrator. More

Q: Visustin hangs or crashes on my small 50,000-line program. Why?

A: That's not a small file. You may have run out of memory. Read about large charts.

Q: Visustin draws a large chart well, but cannot save it. Why?

A: The chart may be too large to save in that file format. Try saving in another format.

Visustin creates and displays large charts in several parts. Most image file formats require saving as one big image. A large flow chart may exceed the capabilities of the file format. A paged format such as PDF can cope better.

Q: I saved a large chart, but it won't open in other applications. What can I do?

A: Save it as PDF. Some viewers and applications cannot handle very large images, such as ones exceeding 65535 pixels in width or height. Trying another viewer or file format may help. PDF is best.

Q: I printed everything on one sheet. The text is too small to read. How do I fix it?

A: There is a limit to what one can reasonably fit a one sheet of paper. Print on more sheets.

Q: Sometimes a large picture displays strange colors or becomes rasterized. Why?

A: You are running low on memory. Visustin preserves memory by using low-color zooming. This may produce a rasterized black & white image or strange colors. This effect appears when there is not enough physical RAM available. Close other programs to free some memory or add RAM into your system. You can also zoom again as the operating system may have freed up some RAM meanwhile.

Q: Visustin runs when I'm logged in as Administrator but crashes when I'm logged in as a regular user.

A: Does the user account have write access to a drive root, say C:\? Visustin requires root access to some drive for its temporary files. More

Q: The flowchart displays empty symbols without any code in them

A: This is a known bug without explanation. It seems to be related with Windows Server 2003. Workarounds: 1) Run Visustin on Windows XP. 2) Try Editor. 3) Export to Visio.

Q: I had problems displaying national characters with a previous version. Has this been fixed?

A: Starting with version 5, Visustin supports a wide range of character sets.

Q: How to get rid of rasterized colors in Editor?

A: Your display is running in a low color mode. Right-click the Desktop, select Properties, Settings and select a proper color mode such as 32-bit True Colors.

Q: Visustin crashes occasionally on 64-bit Windows Vista?

A: Set the application compatibility mode to Windows 95, 98 or ME. Right-click visustin.exe, select Properties, then Compatibility.


Language support

Q: Will you support language x in a future version?

A: We rely on user feedback when deciding which languages and dialects to add. Please send us your vote. We will tell you what the chances are to get it added.

Q: Can I use Visustin in my programming environment as an add-in?

A: Visustin is a stand-alone tool that doesn't depend on any programming environment or IDE. If you would like Visustin to work as an add-in, please send us your vote.

Q: Visustin – What does it mean?

A: Visustin is an artificial name with the intended meaning visualizer. It is formed from the Latin word visus (vision) by adding then Finnish ending -tin (-izer). So, we simply added the words visus+tin = Visustin. While Visustin itself is a mixed language construct, the Finnish word visusti means carefully, a requirement for professional software development and maintenance.

Q: How do I say "Visustin"?

Visustin is pronounced as [visustin].

Written in another way, say it like vi-sus-tin. The "i" and "u" sounds are short as in "it" and "put". The ending "tin" sounds like tin the metal in English.

Some misspellings of Visustin include "Vistuin", "Visusting", "Visustion" and "Visutin".

©Aivosto Oy