Change Dimensions to Rack Units

Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or "U's" to be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension - Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

It might help if you could share what you are trying to do with the
dimension.
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or "U's" to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension - Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

I would like to use the dimension as a dynamic ruler or guide.

When placing shapes in the rack, I can stretch or shrink the dimension
callout to a desired rack unit, then place the shape at the position of the
callout. This would be useful since I do not want to count points on the
rack shape. The dimension shape already displays feet/inches, but I don't
want to convert this to rack units every time. Displaying a "U" would be
quick and easy.

Example, an a shape (RAID, or CPU) needs to be placed at the 30 U mark on a
rack, I will adjust the dimension callout to 30 U and place the shape at 30
U. This would be a great times saver since I have many shapes to place in a
rack.

If you have an easier solution, then that would help as well.

Thanx

"Al Edlund" wrote:

It might help if you could share what you are trying to do with the
dimension.
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or "U's" to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension - Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

what version of visio are you working with?
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
I would like to use the dimension as a dynamic ruler or guide.

When placing shapes in the rack, I can stretch or shrink the dimension
callout to a desired rack unit, then place the shape at the position of
the
callout. This would be useful since I do not want to count points on the
rack shape. The dimension shape already displays feet/inches, but I don't
want to convert this to rack units every time. Displaying a "U" would be
quick and easy.

Example, an a shape (RAID, or CPU) needs to be placed at the 30 U mark on
a
rack, I will adjust the dimension callout to 30 U and place the shape at
30
U. This would be a great times saver since I have many shapes to place in
a
rack.

If you have an easier solution, then that would help as well.

Thanx

"Al Edlund" wrote:

It might help if you could share what you are trying to do with the
dimension.
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or "U's"
to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension -
Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack
units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

Visio Professional 2003 with all the patches.

Thank you.

"Al Edlund" wrote:

what version of visio are you working with?
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
I would like to use the dimension as a dynamic ruler or guide.

When placing shapes in the rack, I can stretch or shrink the dimension
callout to a desired rack unit, then place the shape at the position of
the
callout. This would be useful since I do not want to count points on the
rack shape. The dimension shape already displays feet/inches, but I don't
want to convert this to rack units every time. Displaying a "U" would be
quick and easy.

Example, an a shape (RAID, or CPU) needs to be placed at the 30 U mark on
a
rack, I will adjust the dimension callout to 30 U and place the shape at
30
U. This would be a great times saver since I have many shapes to place in
a
rack.

If you have an easier solution, then that would help as well.

Thanx

"Al Edlund" wrote:

It might help if you could share what you are trying to do with the
dimension.
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or "U's"
to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension -
Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack
units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

ok, you do understand that what you're asking for requires custom coding
that is not in the product.
The challenge here is that there are two parts to getting the 'shelf'
number. The first is that the shelves in the rack add-in are not named, so a
piece of code would have to be written to put a more friendly name into the
connections section. The second part is to have a mouse handler that would
figure out where you are clicking and if it is a rack then figure out where
you are in the rack to give you a shelf 'name'.

the first part renaming the shelves might use something like this.


'
' go through a rack and add connection point names so that
' we can address at a shelf level
'
Public Sub RenameRackShelfRows(ByVal visShape As Visio.Shape)
Dim visSection As Visio.Section
Dim visRow As Visio.Row
Dim strShelfName As String

Set visSection = visShape.Section(visSectionConnectionPts)

Dim intX As Integer
Dim intY As Integer
Dim intShelf As Integer
Dim rowName As String
rowName = ""
' connections start at zero
For intX = 0 To visSection.Count - 1
Set visRow = visSection.Row(intX)
strShelfName = "shelf_"
intY = (intX + 1) Mod 2 ' are we odd or even
If intY = 0 Then
intShelf = ((intX + 1) / 2)
strShelfName = strShelfName & "right_"
Else
intShelf = (intX / 2) + 1
strShelfName = strShelfName & "left_"
End If
visRow.NameU = strShelfName & CStr(intShelf)
visRow.Name = strShelfName & CStr(intShelf)
Next intX


End Sub


The second part might take advantage of some material in the visio sdk in
capturing mouse events and identifiying which shape was being pointed at.

'
' modified from the sdk
'
Private Sub vsoApplication_MouseUp _
(ByVal lngButton As Long, _
ByVal lngKeyButtonState As Long, _
ByVal dblX As Double, _
ByVal dblY As Double, _
blnCancelDefault As Boolean)

'
Const TOLERANCE As Double = 0.0001

Dim vsoClickedShapes As Visio.Selection
Dim vsoShape As Visio.Shape
Dim lngNextShape As Long
Dim strMessage As String
Dim strMasterName As String
Dim intName As Integer

On Error GoTo vsoApplication_MouseUp_Err
Set vsoWindow = vsoApplication.ActiveWindow

' Check if the left mouse Button caused this event to occur.
If lngButton = Visio.VisKeyButtonFlags.visMouseLeft Then

' Get the list of shapes at the click location.
Set vsoClickedShapes = getMouseClickShapes( _
vsoWindow.PageAsObj, dblX, dblY, TOLERANCE)

' Check if any shapes were found.
' if only one is found then check to see if it is a rack
If (Not vsoClickedShapes Is Nothing) Then
If (vsoClickedShapes.Count = 1) Then

Set vsoShape = vsoClickedShapes.Item(1)
strMasterName = vsoShape.Master.NameU
intName = InStr(1, LCase(strMasterName), "rack")
If 0 intName Then
strMessage = getShelf(vsoShape, dblX, dblY)
Else
' no rack in name get out
Exit Sub
End If

If (vsoApplication.AlertResponse = 0) Then
MsgBox strMessage
End If
End If
End If
End If

Exit Sub

vsoApplication_MouseUp_Err:
Debug.Print Err.Description

End Sub

'
' this is from the sdk
'
Private Function getMouseClickShapes _
(ByVal vsoClickedPage As Visio.Page, _
ByVal dblClickedLocationX As Double, _
ByVal dblClickedLocationY As Double, _
ByVal dblTolerance As Double) _
As Visio.Selection
Dim vsoClickedShapes As Visio.Selection

On Error GoTo GetMouseClickShapes_Err

' Use the SpatialSearch function of the page to get the list
' of shapes at the location.
Set vsoClickedShapes = vsoClickedPage.SpatialSearch( _
dblClickedLocationX, dblClickedLocationY, _
Visio.VisSpatialRelationCodes.visSpatialContainedI n, _
dblTolerance, Visio.VisSpatialRelationFlags.visSpatialFrontToBac k)

Set getMouseClickShapes = vsoClickedShapes

Exit Function

GetMouseClickShapes_Err:
Debug.Print Err.Description

End Function


The final part would be to add investigate the shape based on the mouse
click to find the shelf based on the connection points


' assumes the connections in the rack have been renamed
' connection formula for y
'=User.BaseHeight+IF(Prop.UCount1,1,Prop.UCount)* User.OneUHeight
' so function should be asware of baseheight and oneuheight from
' the shape

Private Function getShelf _
(ByVal vsoShape As Visio.Shape, _
ByVal dblMouseX As Double, _
ByVal dblMouseY As Double) As String

Dim vsoCell As Visio.Cell
Dim vsoSection As Visio.Section

Dim strMasterName As String
Dim strPinX As String
Dim dblPinX As Double
Dim strPinY As String
Dim dblPinY As Double
Dim strBase As String
Dim dblBase As Double
Dim strUHeight As String
Dim dblUHeight As Double
Dim strMouseX As String
Dim strMouseY As String

Dim dblDisplace As Double
Dim strShelf As String
strShelf = "Not Found"

Dim intConnCt As Integer
Dim strConnCt As String
Dim intX As Integer

Dim strMessage As String

' for debug
strMasterName = vsoShape.Master.NameU
strMessage = Left(strMasterName, 4)
strMouseX = " mouseX " & CStr(dblMouseX) & vbCrLf
strMouseY = " mouseY " & CStr(dblMouseY) & vbCrLf


'get the page horizontal position
If vsoShape.CellExists("pinX", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("pinx")
' the vertical middle
strPinX = " pinX " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblPinX = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

' get the page vertical position
If vsoShape.CellExists("pinY", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("pinY")
' the bottom
strPinY = " pinY " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblPinY = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

' get the rack displacement
If vsoShape.CellExists("user.BaseHeight", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("user.baseheight")
strBase = " Base " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblBase = vsoCell.ResultIU
Else
strMessage = "Not a Rack addin shape"
End If

dblDisplace = dblMouseY - (dblPinY + dblBase)

' get the unit height to use as a range for testing
If vsoShape.CellExists("User.OneUHeight", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("User.Oneuheight")
' the bottom
strUHeight = " OneUHeight " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblUHeight = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

If vsoShape.SectionExists(visSectionConnectionPts, False) = True
Then
Set vsoSection = vsoShape.Section(visSectionConnectionPts)
intConnCt = vsoSection.Count
strConnCt = " conns " & CStr(intConnCt) & vbCrLf
For intX = 0 To intConnCt - 1
' get the y for the connection point
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsSRC _
(visSectionConnectionPts, intX, visY)

If dblDisplace = vsoCell.ResultIU _
And dblDisplace vsoCell.ResultIU + dblUHeight Then
strShelf = vsoSection.Row(intX).NameU
strShelf = Right(strShelf, 3)
strShelf = Replace(strShelf, "t", "")
strShelf = Replace(strShelf, "_", "")
strShelf = "shelf " & strShelf
Exit For
End If
Next intX
End If

' our debug message
strMessage = strMessage & vbCrLf _
& strPinX & strPinY _
& strBase & strUHeight _
& strMouseX & strMouseY _
& strConnCt

' return the shelf number
getShelf = strShelf

End Function


hope this helps to get you started on what you want to do,

al




"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Visio Professional 2003 with all the patches.

Thank you.

"Al Edlund" wrote:

what version of visio are you working with?
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
I would like to use the dimension as a dynamic ruler or guide.

When placing shapes in the rack, I can stretch or shrink the dimension
callout to a desired rack unit, then place the shape at the position of
the
callout. This would be useful since I do not want to count points on
the
rack shape. The dimension shape already displays feet/inches, but I
don't
want to convert this to rack units every time. Displaying a "U" would
be
quick and easy.

Example, an a shape (RAID, or CPU) needs to be placed at the 30 U mark
on
a
rack, I will adjust the dimension callout to 30 U and place the shape
at
30
U. This would be a great times saver since I have many shapes to place
in
a
rack.

If you have an easier solution, then that would help as well.

Thanx

"Al Edlund" wrote:

It might help if you could share what you are trying to do with the
dimension.
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or
"U's"
to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension -
Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack
units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

Hello again and thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

I am a newbie, and programming is not my "thing". I do not believe I need
something as complicated as your code at this time( maybe I do?).

I just need to replace the feet/inches displayed with "Units" on the
"Vertical Dimension" shape. I will adjust the "Vertical Dimension" shape to
any height and use as a guide / reference. It does not need to be used
exclusively for racks, it could also be used to outline custom shapes I
create for the rack.

I thought this was simple since many shapes in the Rack-Mounted stencil set
have this feature. Each "Unit" is 1.75 inches, so maybe a field to
calculate units based on feet/inches and display this in a callout?
Is there a way to import this field from other shapes?

I will try your technique below, since it will make future rack designs
easier.

Thank you again.


On 4/1/07 9:36 AM, in article , "Al
Edlund" wrote:

ok, you do understand that what you're asking for requires custom coding
that is not in the product.
The challenge here is that there are two parts to getting the 'shelf'
number. The first is that the shelves in the rack add-in are not named, so a
piece of code would have to be written to put a more friendly name into the
connections section. The second part is to have a mouse handler that would
figure out where you are clicking and if it is a rack then figure out where
you are in the rack to give you a shelf 'name'.

the first part renaming the shelves might use something like this.


'
' go through a rack and add connection point names so that
' we can address at a shelf level
'
Public Sub RenameRackShelfRows(ByVal visShape As Visio.Shape)
Dim visSection As Visio.Section
Dim visRow As Visio.Row
Dim strShelfName As String

Set visSection = visShape.Section(visSectionConnectionPts)

Dim intX As Integer
Dim intY As Integer
Dim intShelf As Integer
Dim rowName As String
rowName = ""
' connections start at zero
For intX = 0 To visSection.Count - 1
Set visRow = visSection.Row(intX)
strShelfName = "shelf_"
intY = (intX + 1) Mod 2 ' are we odd or even
If intY = 0 Then
intShelf = ((intX + 1) / 2)
strShelfName = strShelfName & "right_"
Else
intShelf = (intX / 2) + 1
strShelfName = strShelfName & "left_"
End If
visRow.NameU = strShelfName & CStr(intShelf)
visRow.Name = strShelfName & CStr(intShelf)
Next intX


End Sub


The second part might take advantage of some material in the visio sdk in
capturing mouse events and identifiying which shape was being pointed at.

'
' modified from the sdk
'
Private Sub vsoApplication_MouseUp _
(ByVal lngButton As Long, _
ByVal lngKeyButtonState As Long, _
ByVal dblX As Double, _
ByVal dblY As Double, _
blnCancelDefault As Boolean)

'
Const TOLERANCE As Double = 0.0001

Dim vsoClickedShapes As Visio.Selection
Dim vsoShape As Visio.Shape
Dim lngNextShape As Long
Dim strMessage As String
Dim strMasterName As String
Dim intName As Integer

On Error GoTo vsoApplication_MouseUp_Err
Set vsoWindow = vsoApplication.ActiveWindow

' Check if the left mouse Button caused this event to occur.
If lngButton = Visio.VisKeyButtonFlags.visMouseLeft Then

' Get the list of shapes at the click location.
Set vsoClickedShapes = getMouseClickShapes( _
vsoWindow.PageAsObj, dblX, dblY, TOLERANCE)

' Check if any shapes were found.
' if only one is found then check to see if it is a rack
If (Not vsoClickedShapes Is Nothing) Then
If (vsoClickedShapes.Count = 1) Then

Set vsoShape = vsoClickedShapes.Item(1)
strMasterName = vsoShape.Master.NameU
intName = InStr(1, LCase(strMasterName), "rack")
If 0 intName Then
strMessage = getShelf(vsoShape, dblX, dblY)
Else
' no rack in name get out
Exit Sub
End If

If (vsoApplication.AlertResponse = 0) Then
MsgBox strMessage
End If
End If
End If
End If

Exit Sub

vsoApplication_MouseUp_Err:
Debug.Print Err.Description

End Sub

'
' this is from the sdk
'
Private Function getMouseClickShapes _
(ByVal vsoClickedPage As Visio.Page, _
ByVal dblClickedLocationX As Double, _
ByVal dblClickedLocationY As Double, _
ByVal dblTolerance As Double) _
As Visio.Selection
Dim vsoClickedShapes As Visio.Selection

On Error GoTo GetMouseClickShapes_Err

' Use the SpatialSearch function of the page to get the list
' of shapes at the location.
Set vsoClickedShapes = vsoClickedPage.SpatialSearch( _
dblClickedLocationX, dblClickedLocationY, _
Visio.VisSpatialRelationCodes.visSpatialContainedI n, _
dblTolerance, Visio.VisSpatialRelationFlags.visSpatialFrontToBac k)

Set getMouseClickShapes = vsoClickedShapes

Exit Function

GetMouseClickShapes_Err:
Debug.Print Err.Description

End Function


The final part would be to add investigate the shape based on the mouse
click to find the shelf based on the connection points


' assumes the connections in the rack have been renamed
' connection formula for y
'=User.BaseHeight+IF(Prop.UCount1,1,Prop.UCount)* User.OneUHeight
' so function should be asware of baseheight and oneuheight from
' the shape

Private Function getShelf _
(ByVal vsoShape As Visio.Shape, _
ByVal dblMouseX As Double, _
ByVal dblMouseY As Double) As String

Dim vsoCell As Visio.Cell
Dim vsoSection As Visio.Section

Dim strMasterName As String
Dim strPinX As String
Dim dblPinX As Double
Dim strPinY As String
Dim dblPinY As Double
Dim strBase As String
Dim dblBase As Double
Dim strUHeight As String
Dim dblUHeight As Double
Dim strMouseX As String
Dim strMouseY As String

Dim dblDisplace As Double
Dim strShelf As String
strShelf = "Not Found"

Dim intConnCt As Integer
Dim strConnCt As String
Dim intX As Integer

Dim strMessage As String

' for debug
strMasterName = vsoShape.Master.NameU
strMessage = Left(strMasterName, 4)
strMouseX = " mouseX " & CStr(dblMouseX) & vbCrLf
strMouseY = " mouseY " & CStr(dblMouseY) & vbCrLf


'get the page horizontal position
If vsoShape.CellExists("pinX", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("pinx")
' the vertical middle
strPinX = " pinX " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblPinX = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

' get the page vertical position
If vsoShape.CellExists("pinY", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("pinY")
' the bottom
strPinY = " pinY " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblPinY = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

' get the rack displacement
If vsoShape.CellExists("user.BaseHeight", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("user.baseheight")
strBase = " Base " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblBase = vsoCell.ResultIU
Else
strMessage = "Not a Rack addin shape"
End If

dblDisplace = dblMouseY - (dblPinY + dblBase)

' get the unit height to use as a range for testing
If vsoShape.CellExists("User.OneUHeight", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("User.Oneuheight")
' the bottom
strUHeight = " OneUHeight " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblUHeight = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

If vsoShape.SectionExists(visSectionConnectionPts, False) = True
Then
Set vsoSection = vsoShape.Section(visSectionConnectionPts)
intConnCt = vsoSection.Count
strConnCt = " conns " & CStr(intConnCt) & vbCrLf
For intX = 0 To intConnCt - 1
' get the y for the connection point
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsSRC _
(visSectionConnectionPts, intX, visY)

If dblDisplace = vsoCell.ResultIU _
And dblDisplace vsoCell.ResultIU + dblUHeight Then
strShelf = vsoSection.Row(intX).NameU
strShelf = Right(strShelf, 3)
strShelf = Replace(strShelf, "t", "")
strShelf = Replace(strShelf, "_", "")
strShelf = "shelf " & strShelf
Exit For
End If
Next intX
End If

' our debug message
strMessage = strMessage & vbCrLf _
& strPinX & strPinY _
& strBase & strUHeight _
& strMouseX & strMouseY _
& strConnCt

' return the shelf number
getShelf = strShelf

End Function


hope this helps to get you started on what you want to do,

al




"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Visio Professional 2003 with all the patches.

Thank you.

"Al Edlund" wrote:

what version of visio are you working with?
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
I would like to use the dimension as a dynamic ruler or guide.

When placing shapes in the rack, I can stretch or shrink the dimension
callout to a desired rack unit, then place the shape at the position of
the
callout. This would be useful since I do not want to count points on
the
rack shape. The dimension shape already displays feet/inches, but I
don't
want to convert this to rack units every time. Displaying a "U" would
be
quick and easy.

Example, an a shape (RAID, or CPU) needs to be placed at the 30 U mark
on
a
rack, I will adjust the dimension callout to 30 U and place the shape
at
30
U. This would be a great times saver since I have many shapes to place
in
a
rack.

If you have an easier solution, then that would help as well.

Thanx

"Al Edlund" wrote:

It might help if you could share what you are trying to do with the
dimension.
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or
"U's"
to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension -
Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack
units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

Hey Vinnie,

I couldn't resist dinking with Visio's dimension line shapes, and posted a
modified "Rack Unit" version on my web site!

Have a look he

http://www.visguy.com/2007/04/01/rac...imension-line/

--
Hope this helps,

Chris Roth
Visio MVP

Free Visio shapes:
http://www.visguy.com/category/shapes
Visio programming info:
http://www.visguy.com/category/programming/
Other Visio resources:
http://www.visguy.com/visio-links/

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or "U's" to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension - Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

This is AWESOME, just what I needed.

Thank you.

"Chris Roth [MVP]" wrote:

Hey Vinnie,

I couldn't resist dinking with Visio's dimension line shapes, and posted a
modified "Rack Unit" version on my web site!

Have a look he

http://www.visguy.com/2007/04/01/rac...imension-line/

--
Hope this helps,

Chris Roth
Visio MVP

Free Visio shapes:
http://www.visguy.com/category/shapes
Visio programming info:
http://www.visguy.com/category/programming/
Other Visio resources:
http://www.visguy.com/visio-links/

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or "U's" to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension - Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.

The Vertical Dimension shape is pretty complex, and it is set up to use
units internal to Visio, but here are some steps that will at least get you
started on hacking it to do what you're asking:
1. Open the shape's ShapeSheet
2. In the Prop.LUnits Format cell (Custom Properties/ShapeData section), add
"Rack Units" to the list. This will add "Rack Units" to the drop down list
in the Custom Properties dialog which is opened from the Precision and Units
right mouse action.
3. In the User.LUnitsFactor Value cell (User-defined Cells sections), add
"0IN" to the list. This will show the shape's length in inches when "Rack
Units" is selected.
4. Change the User.Length Value cell to "=IF(Prop.LUnits="Rack
Units",(User.LUnitsFactor+Width)/1.75,User.LUnitsFactor+Width)".
5. Change the Text Fields 0 Value cell to "=IF(Prop.LUnits="Rack
Units",User.LengthText&" RU",User.LengthText)".
6. Close the ShapeSheet.
7. Right-click the shape and select "Precision and Units." Select "Rack
Units" from the Units list and select "don't show units" from "Units
Display".

"Vito Cavallo" wrote in message
...
Hello again and thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

I am a newbie, and programming is not my "thing". I do not believe I need
something as complicated as your code at this time( maybe I do?).

I just need to replace the feet/inches displayed with "Units" on the
"Vertical Dimension" shape. I will adjust the "Vertical Dimension" shape
to
any height and use as a guide / reference. It does not need to be used
exclusively for racks, it could also be used to outline custom shapes I
create for the rack.

I thought this was simple since many shapes in the Rack-Mounted stencil
set
have this feature. Each "Unit" is 1.75 inches, so maybe a field to
calculate units based on feet/inches and display this in a callout?
Is there a way to import this field from other shapes?

I will try your technique below, since it will make future rack designs
easier.

Thank you again.


On 4/1/07 9:36 AM, in article , "Al
Edlund" wrote:

ok, you do understand that what you're asking for requires custom coding
that is not in the product.
The challenge here is that there are two parts to getting the 'shelf'
number. The first is that the shelves in the rack add-in are not named,
so a
piece of code would have to be written to put a more friendly name into
the
connections section. The second part is to have a mouse handler that
would
figure out where you are clicking and if it is a rack then figure out
where
you are in the rack to give you a shelf 'name'.

the first part renaming the shelves might use something like this.


'
' go through a rack and add connection point names so that
' we can address at a shelf level
'
Public Sub RenameRackShelfRows(ByVal visShape As Visio.Shape)
Dim visSection As Visio.Section
Dim visRow As Visio.Row
Dim strShelfName As String

Set visSection = visShape.Section(visSectionConnectionPts)

Dim intX As Integer
Dim intY As Integer
Dim intShelf As Integer
Dim rowName As String
rowName = ""
' connections start at zero
For intX = 0 To visSection.Count - 1
Set visRow = visSection.Row(intX)
strShelfName = "shelf_"
intY = (intX + 1) Mod 2 ' are we odd or even
If intY = 0 Then
intShelf = ((intX + 1) / 2)
strShelfName = strShelfName & "right_"
Else
intShelf = (intX / 2) + 1
strShelfName = strShelfName & "left_"
End If
visRow.NameU = strShelfName & CStr(intShelf)
visRow.Name = strShelfName & CStr(intShelf)
Next intX


End Sub


The second part might take advantage of some material in the visio sdk in
capturing mouse events and identifiying which shape was being pointed at.

'
' modified from the sdk
'
Private Sub vsoApplication_MouseUp _
(ByVal lngButton As Long, _
ByVal lngKeyButtonState As Long, _
ByVal dblX As Double, _
ByVal dblY As Double, _
blnCancelDefault As Boolean)

'
Const TOLERANCE As Double = 0.0001

Dim vsoClickedShapes As Visio.Selection
Dim vsoShape As Visio.Shape
Dim lngNextShape As Long
Dim strMessage As String
Dim strMasterName As String
Dim intName As Integer

On Error GoTo vsoApplication_MouseUp_Err
Set vsoWindow = vsoApplication.ActiveWindow

' Check if the left mouse Button caused this event to occur.
If lngButton = Visio.VisKeyButtonFlags.visMouseLeft Then

' Get the list of shapes at the click location.
Set vsoClickedShapes = getMouseClickShapes( _
vsoWindow.PageAsObj, dblX, dblY, TOLERANCE)

' Check if any shapes were found.
' if only one is found then check to see if it is a rack
If (Not vsoClickedShapes Is Nothing) Then
If (vsoClickedShapes.Count = 1) Then

Set vsoShape = vsoClickedShapes.Item(1)
strMasterName = vsoShape.Master.NameU
intName = InStr(1, LCase(strMasterName), "rack")
If 0 intName Then
strMessage = getShelf(vsoShape, dblX, dblY)
Else
' no rack in name get out
Exit Sub
End If

If (vsoApplication.AlertResponse = 0) Then
MsgBox strMessage
End If
End If
End If
End If

Exit Sub

vsoApplication_MouseUp_Err:
Debug.Print Err.Description

End Sub

'
' this is from the sdk
'
Private Function getMouseClickShapes _
(ByVal vsoClickedPage As Visio.Page, _
ByVal dblClickedLocationX As Double, _
ByVal dblClickedLocationY As Double, _
ByVal dblTolerance As Double) _
As Visio.Selection
Dim vsoClickedShapes As Visio.Selection

On Error GoTo GetMouseClickShapes_Err

' Use the SpatialSearch function of the page to get the list
' of shapes at the location.
Set vsoClickedShapes = vsoClickedPage.SpatialSearch( _
dblClickedLocationX, dblClickedLocationY, _
Visio.VisSpatialRelationCodes.visSpatialContainedI n, _
dblTolerance,
Visio.VisSpatialRelationFlags.visSpatialFrontToBac k)

Set getMouseClickShapes = vsoClickedShapes

Exit Function

GetMouseClickShapes_Err:
Debug.Print Err.Description

End Function


The final part would be to add investigate the shape based on the mouse
click to find the shelf based on the connection points


' assumes the connections in the rack have been renamed
' connection formula for y
'=User.BaseHeight+IF(Prop.UCount1,1,Prop.UCount)* User.OneUHeight
' so function should be asware of baseheight and oneuheight from
' the shape

Private Function getShelf _
(ByVal vsoShape As Visio.Shape, _
ByVal dblMouseX As Double, _
ByVal dblMouseY As Double) As String

Dim vsoCell As Visio.Cell
Dim vsoSection As Visio.Section

Dim strMasterName As String
Dim strPinX As String
Dim dblPinX As Double
Dim strPinY As String
Dim dblPinY As Double
Dim strBase As String
Dim dblBase As Double
Dim strUHeight As String
Dim dblUHeight As Double
Dim strMouseX As String
Dim strMouseY As String

Dim dblDisplace As Double
Dim strShelf As String
strShelf = "Not Found"

Dim intConnCt As Integer
Dim strConnCt As String
Dim intX As Integer

Dim strMessage As String

' for debug
strMasterName = vsoShape.Master.NameU
strMessage = Left(strMasterName, 4)
strMouseX = " mouseX " & CStr(dblMouseX) & vbCrLf
strMouseY = " mouseY " & CStr(dblMouseY) & vbCrLf


'get the page horizontal position
If vsoShape.CellExists("pinX", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("pinx")
' the vertical middle
strPinX = " pinX " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblPinX = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

' get the page vertical position
If vsoShape.CellExists("pinY", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("pinY")
' the bottom
strPinY = " pinY " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblPinY = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

' get the rack displacement
If vsoShape.CellExists("user.BaseHeight", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("user.baseheight")
strBase = " Base " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblBase = vsoCell.ResultIU
Else
strMessage = "Not a Rack addin shape"
End If

dblDisplace = dblMouseY - (dblPinY + dblBase)

' get the unit height to use as a range for testing
If vsoShape.CellExists("User.OneUHeight", False) Then
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.Cells("User.Oneuheight")
' the bottom
strUHeight = " OneUHeight " & CStr(vsoCell.ResultIU) & vbCrLf
dblUHeight = vsoCell.ResultIU
End If

If vsoShape.SectionExists(visSectionConnectionPts, False) = True
Then
Set vsoSection =
vsoShape.Section(visSectionConnectionPts)
intConnCt = vsoSection.Count
strConnCt = " conns " & CStr(intConnCt) & vbCrLf
For intX = 0 To intConnCt - 1
' get the y for the connection point
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsSRC _
(visSectionConnectionPts, intX, visY)

If dblDisplace = vsoCell.ResultIU _
And dblDisplace vsoCell.ResultIU + dblUHeight
Then
strShelf = vsoSection.Row(intX).NameU
strShelf = Right(strShelf, 3)
strShelf = Replace(strShelf, "t", "")
strShelf = Replace(strShelf, "_", "")
strShelf = "shelf " & strShelf
Exit For
End If
Next intX
End If

' our debug message
strMessage = strMessage & vbCrLf _
& strPinX & strPinY _
& strBase & strUHeight _
& strMouseX & strMouseY _
& strConnCt

' return the shelf number
getShelf = strShelf

End Function


hope this helps to get you started on what you want to do,

al




"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Visio Professional 2003 with all the patches.

Thank you.

"Al Edlund" wrote:

what version of visio are you working with?
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
I would like to use the dimension as a dynamic ruler or guide.

When placing shapes in the rack, I can stretch or shrink the dimension
callout to a desired rack unit, then place the shape at the position
of
the
callout. This would be useful since I do not want to count points on
the
rack shape. The dimension shape already displays feet/inches, but I
don't
want to convert this to rack units every time. Displaying a "U" would
be
quick and easy.

Example, an a shape (RAID, or CPU) needs to be placed at the 30 U mark
on
a
rack, I will adjust the dimension callout to 30 U and place the shape
at
30
U. This would be a great times saver since I have many shapes to
place
in
a
rack.

If you have an easier solution, then that would help as well.

Thanx

"Al Edlund" wrote:

It might help if you could share what you are trying to do with the
dimension.
al

"Vinnie Boombots" wrote in
message ...
Does anyone have a trick or shape that will allow rack units or
"U's"
to
be
displayed instead of inches or feet when using the "Dimension -
Vertical"
shape from the Rack-Mounted Equipment stencils?

Basically, I want to have a "callout" that displays the correct rack
units
as I change the length of the callout.

Many shapes in the Rack-mounted stencils have this feature.

Thank you.