VCF Chart

Overview

VCF Charts are User Items for importing charts made with TMG's Visual ChartForm tool (VCF). VCF charts include more formats than native Second Site charts, and VCF charts can be edited and tweaked prior to being imported. In other ways, imported VCF charts work like Second Site's native charts. VCF charts include links back and forth from the charts to the person page entries and the chart name is in the person page entry chart list. See an example chart.

Unlike Second Site charts, VCF charts are imported as JPEG images and they will use more disk space and network bandwidth. Web site users will have to analyze the size of their VCF charts to determine if they are within reasonable limits. Large charts aren't a problem when you use Second Site to create a site on removable media.

You may import as many VCF charts as you want.

Adding VCF Charts

When you add a VCF Chart User Item, Second Site prompts you to pick an existing VCF chart and set some properties for the resulting JPEG image.

During the import process, Second Site starts the Visual Chartform program in order to create a JPEG version of the chart and to help with other aspects of the import process.

Second Site starts Visual ChartForm in the background and instructs it to make a JPEG file and a map of the chart box locations. When Visual ChartForm finishes, Second Site reads the map data and stores it in the SDF file with the other User Item properties.

Step by Step

1. Before you begin, make (or review) your chart in Visual ChartForm to ensure it meets your requirements.
2. Close TMG and/or VCF if they are open.
3. Start Second Site and open your SDF file.
4. Go to the User Items section and add a new VCF Chart User Item via the Add menu or the [+] button beneath the User Item list.
5. Second Site will prompt you to choose a Visual ChartForm file. Visual ChartForm files have a ".vc2" extension.

   Use the standard MS Windows "choose a file dialog" to navigate to the folder where the ".vc2" file resides, select the file, and click the [Open] button.

6. Second Site will prompt you to choose a "JPEG Quality". This determines the quality of the chart image and the size of the JPG file that contains it. Choose a JPEG Quality and click [OK].
7. When the import succeeds, SS will display a message window with the title "Import Successful".
8. Second Site will open the VCF Chart User Item so you can edit some properties of the chart, like its title. Click OK after you have the properties set as desired.

Limitations

• You must reload the VCF chart using the Reload VCF Chart button in the Edit VCF Chart window if you recreate the VCF chart in TMG.
• You may not import fan charts. Visual Chartform does not create an image map for fan charts.
• Second Site reads an image map created by VCF to determine the position of the boxes in the chart and convert those boxes to person page links. If you make any boxes members of a group in VCF, the image map produced by VCF will not include the grouped boxes.
• Second Site requires version 2.1.0.592 or greater of "vcf.exe". Second Site v5.3.3 (and subsequent) will only find the "vcf.exe" file if you are using TMG v8.xx or TMG v9.xx. Prior versions of Second Site will not find the TMG v9.xx version of "vcf.exe".