Dynamic connector with multiple independent labels

Started by tortoise, March 19, 2013, 05:17:35 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

mswally

I've been looking for a very very long time now to find a good example of a connector with labels at each end, mainly to connect 2 network devices and specify the interfaces at each end.

This topic has actually been my best luck so far and it gave me a few other ideas. Instead of trying to add multiple labels on a single connector I thought I'd add several smaller connectors on top of each other. So now I just have to take care of the positioning of the connectors instead of adding the labels which seems a bit easier. I've attache the smaller labels on top of the master connecter using connection points but maybe there's an easier more dynamic way of doing this.

It's still not perfect, specially for curved lines, but it works for me. Perhaps someone could optimize it, perhaps giving the distance as a parameter and use data fields as input.

The example VSD is added (visio 2010)


kaage

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :D :D :D

Tried to achieve this for 4 years with collegues!

wmarler

Is it possible to tie shape data into these connectors?

So for example, in mswally's attachment the connectors have the shapedata "textleft" and "textright", but these don't tie into the labels "LEFT SIDE" and "RIGHT SIDE" respectively.

robert.cowham

I have used some information gleaned from Graham's books to create a connector where the port labels are driven from shape data and can also be turned on or off, dragged and respositioned manually if desired etc.

Check out http://www.squaremilesystems.com/products/sms-visio-utils/network-connector/

It is working pretty well.

Behind the scenes it uses the built in magic functions _UCON_BEGTYP and _UCON_ENDTYP to decide if a connector is going from left/righ/top/bottom and to the same. It then repositions the port labels automatically.

tommy1234

I downloaded the connector Yacine posted.  How do I change it to a straight line style? Sorry if this is obvious, I'm quite new to Visio and it is not intuitive for me.

ondrugs


ondrugs

#21
MSWally - thanks for the upload. it's exactly what I was trying to [unsuccessfully] do!

one thing i can't figure out, is how to save the connector as a stencil. i tried "save as", but all it ends up doing when i load the stencil, is be a standard connector (i.e - the labels disappear).

any thoughts?

duzhev

I installed a SMS Visio Utils (Visio 2013), but I can't find network connector.
As to me to start using network connector from http://www.squaremilesystems.com/products/sms-visio-utils/network-connector/.
What do I do not so?

glenn59

Is it possible to add a third label near the center? And how?

Yacine

Hi Glenn,
in the examples posted earlier, there is already a 3rd label. Where is the problem?
Yacine

glenn59

Sorry Yacine.. I saw the third label on the curved connector only, not realizing it could be changed to a right angle as another poster mentioned. Now, I just need to change the fill to white and text to black. This could be a fantastic solution for me! Thanks so much!

netwiz

Hi Viso people!

I'm trying to create two connectors with three labels one as a curve and one as an arc, using the examples provided in this thread. Ultimately these will be used to help documenting data flows between systems, linking to a spreadsheet.....

I'm almost there!

The curve connector is close, all I need to do is get the centre label to be restricted to stay on the curve line

The Arc connector also needs to be restricted to the line and I cannot get the label to sit on top of (forward) of the line.

Would greatly appreciate any assistance!

See the attached file.... 

vojo

I have always had problems with the UI tools for arcs...so I made arcs using
parametric inputs (type values to define "curviness")

You may be able to use these to define reference points for your text box
(since the parameters are crisply defined...maybe some sequence of formulas can get you what you want....maybe like x = width * 0.5   y = height + user.arcness)

Yacine

Hi Netwiz,
I recalled having seen something similar in the forum ... and Google is your friend: "NEARESTPOINTONPATH site:visguy.com"
--> : http://visguy.com/vgforum/index.php?topic=6279.0
Check the attachment of reply #7 by Nikolay

Regards,
Y.
Yacine

netwiz

Thanks for the pointers guys!

Will investigate......