Visio Guy

Visio Discussions => ShapeSheet & Smart Shapes => Topic started by: mfPanter on June 17, 2010, 01:30:08 PM

Title: How can I set the start direction for a connector in a shape group
Post by: mfPanter on June 17, 2010, 01:30:08 PM
Hello together!

We are using MS Visio to create our Process and Instrumentation Diagrams (PID). We use a shape group which contains a 2D shape and a connector for a measurement point.
At the moment the connector which starts in the centre of the oval searches automatically its way based on the position of the end point. But sometimes we would like to give the start direction (vertical or horizontal) in order to get a better drawing.
In the attached example we would like that the second measurement point would look similar to the first one, but with the same end point.
How can I do that with ShapeSheet techniques?
Thank you for your help.
mfPanter
Title: Re: How can I set the start direction for a connector in a shape group
Post by: Visio Guy on June 17, 2010, 03:36:07 PM
Servus MFP,

Schau im ShapeSheet Abteil "Shape Layout" (ganz unten.) Dort gibt es eine Zelle: ShapeRouteStyle.

Experimentiere mit Werten 21 oder 22.
Title: Re: How can I set the start direction for a connector in a shape group
Post by: Yacine on June 17, 2010, 05:02:16 PM
Hi MFP,
I guess that you don't want to change the layout options in general, but for a certain section of the drawing.

You could create a new shape with control points "controlled" lines. I don't recommend this option, because you would need to adjust these control points each time, you use the shape.

Still presuming that the change is occasional, I would rather recommend to modify the connector.
1) you must be able to select it (right click on group, format / behaviour / selection = "group first"
2) Now when you select the connector( by "double single clicking"), press the ctrl-key to move it's corner around and you get the desired result.
You may want to discard the automatic routing (which I definitely recommend for PI&D drawings), so the connector stay in place when you move or scale parts of the drawing.