Controlling shapes using connected lines' values.

[natelfo]

This is something I posted in msofficeforums and it was suggested that I post it here.

Hello everyone. I just started using Visio and I am teaching myself how to use it, through tutorials and reading about it and I have learned a lot in the last few days. I'm primarily going to be using it for electrical schematics.

One thing I am trying to figure out how to do, or if it can be done, is can you use a connection point as a source for an action/control? For example, lets say I want to control a relay and there is a connection point to the power input pin. I would like to be able to use a value, say a scratch value of a connecting line's shapesheet, to change a value on the relay depending on whether that line is connected or not?

Basically, can a value on a connector line's sheet influence what it is connected to, and vice-versa, and be limited by whether or not that line is connected to a particular item. What I want to do is make an interactive schematic where a line will be red if it has power on it, then you close a switch, which passes the power through, turning the next line red, and that line connects to and triggers a relay. I would like this to be line status dependent so that I can make a master stencil for these parts that look at what's connected instead of specific sheet numbers, so I don't have to modify them too much as these will be used in various schematics.

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[Hey Ken]

Natelfo:

   I built such a beast a number of years ago specifically to prototype relay circuits.  Check it out: http://visguy.com/vgforum/index.php?topic=6969.msg29130#msg29130.  A cool toy.

   - Ken

[wapperdude]

Cannot be done in shapesheet, could be done in code.   Near Visio versions have updated the object model making it relatively simple to get connectivity info.

Wapperdude