Purchase approval swimlane

How it works

1. Define the grid

   Declare the requester, budget owner and operations lanes, then add intake, review, decision and fulfilment phases.

2. Place the steps

   Use typed start, step, decision and end nodes with their lane and phase identifiers.

3. Connect the outcomes

   Add the approval handoff and an explicit revision path back to review. Reopen the VSDX before rendering PNG and SVG.

The example below shows the document API and layout used for this report. Follow the Visio guide for package setup in your own project.

using OfficeIMO.Visio;
using OfficeIMO.Visio.Diagrams;

namespace OfficeIMO.Examples.Showcase.Workflows;

/// <summary>Maps a purchase approval across requester, budget owner and operations with an explicit revision path.</summary>
internal static class ApprovalSwimlane {
    internal static void Create(string folder) {
        var document = VisioDocument.Create(Path.Combine(folder, "example.vsdx"))
            .SwimlaneDiagram("Purchase approval", swim => swim
                .Theme(VisioStyleTheme.Modern())
                .Lane("requester", "Requester").Lane("owner", "Budget owner").Lane("operations", "Operations")
                .Phase("intake", "Intake").Phase("review", "Review").Phase("decision", "Decision").Phase("fulfil", "Fulfil")
                .Start("submit", "Submit request", "requester", "intake")
                .Step("check", "Check need", "owner", "review")
                .Decision("approve", "Approved?", "owner", "decision")
                .Step("revise", "Clarify request", "requester", "decision")
                .Step("order", "Place order", "operations", "decision")
                .End("receive", "Confirm receipt", "operations", "fulfil")
                .Flow("submit", "check", "request").Flow("check", "approve")
                .Exception("approve", "revise", "revise").Handoff("approve", "order", "yes")
                .Flow("revise", "check", "resubmit").Flow("order", "receive"));
        document.Save();
    }
}

Use this in your project

Use stable identifiers for nodes and replace the sample roles with actual owners. Keep exception labels concise so the path stays readable.

The Visio guide explains package setup and related document APIs.

Continue with another example

• VisioOrganisation chart with team vacancies
• WordAn editable decision record