Straight 'lines' vs not-quite-straight connectors

I've learned that you can use graphical lines in a Visio flowchart
exactly the way you use connectors, except of course that the lines
won't ever curve. This is fine & useful, since connectors are a bit
more ornery and I haven't found a way to force them to be perfectly
straight when needed (which, here, is often). But apparently you can't
add text to a line the same way as with connectors. (You can add it,
but not nudge it in any direction.) Is that correct, or am I missing
something? If that's the just the way it is, is there a clean
workaround for it?

Thanks for any clues on this. Visio 2003, Win XP.

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Connectors come with the ability to automatically control the position of
text so that it stays close to the routing. There is also a control handle
available for easy placement by the user.

Have you tried right-clicking on your connectors and setting them to the
straight line routing style?

--
Mark Nelson
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Mark Tangard" wrote in message
...
I've learned that you can use graphical lines in a Visio flowchart
exactly the way you use connectors, except of course that the lines
won't ever curve. This is fine & useful, since connectors are a bit
more ornery and I haven't found a way to force them to be perfectly
straight when needed (which, here, is often). But apparently you can't
add text to a line the same way as with connectors. (You can add it,
but not nudge it in any direction.) Is that correct, or am I missing
something? If that's the just the way it is, is there a clean
workaround for it?

Thanks for any clues on this. Visio 2003, Win XP.

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Connectors come with the ability to automatically control the position of
text so that it stays close to the routing. There is also a control handle
available for easy placement by the user.

Have you tried right-clicking on your connectors and setting them to the
straight line routing style?

--
Mark Nelson
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Mark Tangard" wrote in message
...
I've learned that you can use graphical lines in a Visio flowchart
exactly the way you use connectors, except of course that the lines
won't ever curve. This is fine & useful, since connectors are a bit
more ornery and I haven't found a way to force them to be perfectly
straight when needed (which, here, is often). But apparently you can't
add text to a line the same way as with connectors. (You can add it,
but not nudge it in any direction.) Is that correct, or am I missing
something? If that's the just the way it is, is there a clean
workaround for it?

Thanks for any clues on this. Visio 2003, Win XP.

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Yes, I have, but (1) this often detaches the connector at one end -- the
junction changes from red to green, esp. if the connector connects to
another connector -- and (2) what I'm trying to achieve isn't just a
line without jogs in it but an angle of exactly 90 (or 180 or 270)
degrees. And I can't seem to do that. (Holding down Shift, as with
other drawing tools, seems to have the wrong effect on a connector.)

Am I forgetting something obvious?

TIA

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Mark Nelson [MS] wrote:
Connectors come with the ability to automatically control the position of
text so that it stays close to the routing. There is also a control handle
available for easy placement by the user.

Have you tried right-clicking on your connectors and setting them to the
straight line routing style?

-- Mark Nelson Microsoft Corporation This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Mark Tangard" wrote in message
...

I've learned that you can use graphical lines in a Visio flowchart
exactly the way you use connectors, except of course that the lines
won't ever curve. This is fine & useful, since connectors are a bit
more ornery and I haven't found a way to force them to be perfectly
straight when needed (which, here, is often). But apparently you can't
add text to a line the same way as with connectors. (You can add it,
but not nudge it in any direction.) Is that correct, or am I missing
something? If that's the just the way it is, is there a clean
workaround for it?

Thanks for any clues on this. Visio 2003, Win XP.

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Yes, I have, but (1) this often detaches the connector at one end -- the
junction changes from red to green, esp. if the connector connects to
another connector -- and (2) what I'm trying to achieve isn't just a
line without jogs in it but an angle of exactly 90 (or 180 or 270)
degrees. And I can't seem to do that. (Holding down Shift, as with
other drawing tools, seems to have the wrong effect on a connector.)

Am I forgetting something obvious?

TIA

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Mark Nelson [MS] wrote:
Connectors come with the ability to automatically control the position of
text so that it stays close to the routing. There is also a control handle
available for easy placement by the user.

Have you tried right-clicking on your connectors and setting them to the
straight line routing style?

-- Mark Nelson Microsoft Corporation This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Mark Tangard" wrote in message
...

I've learned that you can use graphical lines in a Visio flowchart
exactly the way you use connectors, except of course that the lines
won't ever curve. This is fine & useful, since connectors are a bit
more ornery and I haven't found a way to force them to be perfectly
straight when needed (which, here, is often). But apparently you can't
add text to a line the same way as with connectors. (You can add it,
but not nudge it in any direction.) Is that correct, or am I missing
something? If that's the just the way it is, is there a clean
workaround for it?

Thanks for any clues on this. Visio 2003, Win XP.

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Visio does not handle connector to connector well. Connectors are designed
to work with 2-D shapes. If you do have some connectors between 2-D shapes,
you could try using dynamic glue rather than static. To form a dynamic
connection, move the endpoint of the connector to the center of a shape
until you get a red outline around the shape. Then release the endpoint.

--
Mark Nelson
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Mark Tangard" wrote in message
...
Yes, I have, but (1) this often detaches the connector at one end -- the
junction changes from red to green, esp. if the connector connects to
another connector -- and (2) what I'm trying to achieve isn't just a
line without jogs in it but an angle of exactly 90 (or 180 or 270)
degrees. And I can't seem to do that. (Holding down Shift, as with
other drawing tools, seems to have the wrong effect on a connector.)

Am I forgetting something obvious?

TIA

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Mark Nelson [MS] wrote:
Connectors come with the ability to automatically control the position
of
text so that it stays close to the routing. There is also a control
handle
available for easy placement by the user.

Have you tried right-clicking on your connectors and setting them to the
straight line routing style?

-- Mark Nelson Microsoft Corporation This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Mark Tangard" wrote in message
...

I've learned that you can use graphical lines in a Visio flowchart
exactly the way you use connectors, except of course that the lines
won't ever curve. This is fine & useful, since connectors are a bit
more ornery and I haven't found a way to force them to be perfectly
straight when needed (which, here, is often). But apparently you
can't
add text to a line the same way as with connectors. (You can add it,
but not nudge it in any direction.) Is that correct, or am I missing
something? If that's the just the way it is, is there a clean
workaround for it?

Thanks for any clues on this. Visio 2003, Win XP.

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Visio does not handle connector to connector well. Connectors are designed
to work with 2-D shapes. If you do have some connectors between 2-D shapes,
you could try using dynamic glue rather than static. To form a dynamic
connection, move the endpoint of the connector to the center of a shape
until you get a red outline around the shape. Then release the endpoint.

--
Mark Nelson
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Mark Tangard" wrote in message
...
Yes, I have, but (1) this often detaches the connector at one end -- the
junction changes from red to green, esp. if the connector connects to
another connector -- and (2) what I'm trying to achieve isn't just a
line without jogs in it but an angle of exactly 90 (or 180 or 270)
degrees. And I can't seem to do that. (Holding down Shift, as with
other drawing tools, seems to have the wrong effect on a connector.)

Am I forgetting something obvious?

TIA

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Mark Nelson [MS] wrote:
Connectors come with the ability to automatically control the position
of
text so that it stays close to the routing. There is also a control
handle
available for easy placement by the user.

Have you tried right-clicking on your connectors and setting them to the
straight line routing style?

-- Mark Nelson Microsoft Corporation This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Mark Tangard" wrote in message
...

I've learned that you can use graphical lines in a Visio flowchart
exactly the way you use connectors, except of course that the lines
won't ever curve. This is fine & useful, since connectors are a bit
more ornery and I haven't found a way to force them to be perfectly
straight when needed (which, here, is often). But apparently you
can't
add text to a line the same way as with connectors. (You can add it,
but not nudge it in any direction.) Is that correct, or am I missing
something? If that's the just the way it is, is there a clean
workaround for it?

Thanks for any clues on this. Visio 2003, Win XP.

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters