Help with crazy walls! Please...

Started by visiodum, November 27, 2014, 02:55:38 AM

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visiodum

Hi all. I joined up because I want to draw a houseplan and Visio (2007) seemed to include that facility. Now, I'm not so sure  :(

I'm trying to draw a room that's 5.55 meters by 3.55 meters (overall) with 100mm walls.

I started in Shapes\Wall, Shell and Structure and selected the Room shape. But I couldn't change the walls from 200mm to 100mm so I gave up.

Next I tried creating four Exterior Wall shapes of the right length and thickness and Snap\Gluing them together.

I thought this would be a breeze but it turned out to be impossible to get right. Like every time I dragged two walls to form a corner, their lengths would change. Gawd only knows what would happen if I tried it with four walls! I had Snapping and Gluing ON to start with. No joy. Then I turned off Snapping. No improvement. Then I turned off Snapping AND Gluing but still no joy.

So there are my first two questions: How to set Room Shape wall thickness? How to make Wall shapes behave?

Thanks for reading  :o


Visio Guy

Hi V,

Use the Room shape. You'll need to show the Shape Data dialog to easily set the width and length. Then, you have to go inside the group to change individual wall thicknesses.

Shape Data: right-click the shape, then Data > Shape Data, if you don't see the window already (it might be different in Visio 2007, I can't remember)

To open up the group window, just right-click the Room, and choose Group > Open Room.



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visiodum

#2
Thanks VG. Your first suggestion worked, but right-clicking the Room, didn't offer 'Group > Open Room'.

However, I got there by right-clicking the Room and selecting Shape > Ungroup (which elicited dire warnings about severing its connection from the Master. Ooer!).

From there I right clicked a wall and clicked Data > Shape Data and got a selector to configure the wall dimensions, including thickness. Phew!

Thanks again, I can now move on :-)

BTW, I was given a copy of Office 2013. Is that version of Visio vastly superior? Or not much different?

Cheers  ;D

visiodum

Here I go again. Wow, this is one heckuva learning curve.
As a PC builder and service guy I'm fairly expert in Windows (except for W8, which I'm ignoring for now).
And Word 2003 has no mysteries for me. (All the ribbon-bedecked later versions are way too complicated, IMHO)
But this program - well, it's so unlike every other app I've used that I'm floundering.
Pity the M$ guys don't bring out a real bedrock, bare bones, no frills version of Visio just for drawing basic house plan layouts.   

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be glad I persevered. If I don't have a nervous breakdown.

So, two more questions, if someone would be so kind:
How to reset Visio to its install defaults? The reason I ask is I've made a heap of config changes in my floundering and I've probably screwed up a lot of essential settings.
Also, how can I get the Room shape to save my preference of 100mm thick walls? This is the nominal norm for house exterior walls in New Zealand, as they're constructed from 94mm x 47mm timber framing. 

If a NZ house is to have a 'basement', ie, a lower level containing a garage, laundry, rumpus room or extra bedrooms, it will usually be above ground (unlike basement\cellars in parts of the US), and then the walls will be 200mm, normally light weight hollow core masonry with some concrete reinforcing.