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Shapes within a group: Maintaining size?



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 18th, 2008, 10:47 PM posted to microsoft.public.visio.general
beradio1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default Shapes within a group: Maintaining size?

I've searched for this, so I may not be asking the "right" question in the
search box.

I've created, for simplicity, two shapes. I position them where I want and
then group them together to make a new shape. My issue is when I resize the
whole shape, the smaller piece changes size too. I do NOT want that to
happen. The overall width of the shape must stay the same while allowing the
length to change. The smaller shape that makes up the whole shape MUST stay
the same no matter what. How can I do this?

I've tried formatting the little shape so the height and width are
protected. I even protected the shape "from group formatting". No luck. I
looked at behaviors but do not see anything that helps.

Thanks for any insight.

Bill

  #2  
Old September 19th, 2008, 06:57 PM posted to microsoft.public.visio.general
beradio1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default Shapes within a group: Maintaining size?

John,
Thanks for the response. I'll try this. I thought I did that when I set
the formats of each component before grouping. One shape I fixed the height
and the width, the other shape I made 1-D. Maybe I should make the first
shape 1-D also?

Still messing with it. I wish it was a bit more intuitive. Looks like I am
getting mo better with it and may have to spring for some classes to refine
my knowledge. I'll see how this works.

Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
I've searched for this, so I may not be asking the "right" question in the
search box.

I've created, for simplicity, two shapes. I position them where I want
and
then group them together to make a new shape. My issue is when I resize
the
whole shape, the smaller piece changes size too. I do NOT want that to
happen. The overall width of the shape must stay the same while allowing
the
length to change. The smaller shape that makes up the whole shape MUST
stay
the same no matter what. How can I do this?

I've tried formatting the little shape so the height and width are
protected. I even protected the shape "from group formatting". No luck.
I
looked at behaviors but do not see anything that helps.

Thanks for any insight.

Bill


The problem is that when you grouped the shapes, each shapes formula is
changed to be a percentage of the group shapes width and height. You can
prevent this, but you must set the ResizeMode in the component shapes BEFORE
grouping. Otherwise you have to open the spreadsheet, set the View to Value
and copy and past the displayed value in the cell and paste that value into
the formula bar at the top of the page.

John... Visio MVP


  #3  
Old September 23rd, 2008, 09:43 PM posted to microsoft.public.visio.general
beradio1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default Shapes within a group: Maintaining size?

John,

I make it 1-d so I can stretch it. I'm a broadcast engineer and I am
designing a layout for a transmitter site. I want to make a piece of
transmission line with a fixed width and a flange piece on one end. The
piece/shape then can be lengthened or shortened depending on placement.
Ideally a flange piece would be on both ends, but I decided to start "small"
or easy. ;-)

If you feel this is a mistake and I should keep it 2-d, that's ok with me.
I just need to make sure if I make a flange and group it into one shape, the
flange does not change size.

Regards,
Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

Why did you make it 1-d. Normally only lines are 1d ( or some of the rack
equipment). If you do not want the shape to be stretched, you can Guard the
Width or Height in the Shapesheet.

The Orgchart shapes are created for novice users so the customization is in
the menu so that it can be applied consistently to all shapes.

John... Visio MVP

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
John,
Thanks for the response. I'll try this. I thought I did that when I set
the formats of each component before grouping. One shape I fixed the
height
and the width, the other shape I made 1-D. Maybe I should make the first
shape 1-D also?

Still messing with it. I wish it was a bit more intuitive. Looks like I
am
getting mo better with it and may have to spring for some classes to
refine
my knowledge. I'll see how this works.

Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
I've searched for this, so I may not be asking the "right" question in
the
search box.

I've created, for simplicity, two shapes. I position them where I want
and
then group them together to make a new shape. My issue is when I
resize
the
whole shape, the smaller piece changes size too. I do NOT want that to
happen. The overall width of the shape must stay the same while
allowing
the
length to change. The smaller shape that makes up the whole shape MUST
stay
the same no matter what. How can I do this?

I've tried formatting the little shape so the height and width are
protected. I even protected the shape "from group formatting". No
luck.
I
looked at behaviors but do not see anything that helps.

Thanks for any insight.

Bill

The problem is that when you grouped the shapes, each shapes formula is
changed to be a percentage of the group shapes width and height. You can
prevent this, but you must set the ResizeMode in the component shapes
BEFORE
grouping. Otherwise you have to open the spreadsheet, set the View to
Value
and copy and past the displayed value in the cell and paste that value
into
the formula bar at the top of the page.

John... Visio MVP




  #4  
Old September 24th, 2008, 01:30 PM posted to microsoft.public.visio.general
John... Visio MVP
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 900
Default Shapes within a group: Maintaining size?

What you are describing suggests you consider line patterns and line ends.
John G has a good two part article on them and the second part of the
article
http://visualsignals.typepad.co.uk/v...ng-rand-1.html has
some examples that may be applicable to you situation.

In general terms, the flanges you are describing are the same as arrow heads
that can be placed on the end of lines.

John... Visio MVP

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
John,

I make it 1-d so I can stretch it. I'm a broadcast engineer and I am
designing a layout for a transmitter site. I want to make a piece of
transmission line with a fixed width and a flange piece on one end. The
piece/shape then can be lengthened or shortened depending on placement.
Ideally a flange piece would be on both ends, but I decided to start
"small"
or easy. ;-)

If you feel this is a mistake and I should keep it 2-d, that's ok with me.
I just need to make sure if I make a flange and group it into one shape,
the
flange does not change size.

Regards,
Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

Why did you make it 1-d. Normally only lines are 1d ( or some of the rack
equipment). If you do not want the shape to be stretched, you can Guard
the
Width or Height in the Shapesheet.

The Orgchart shapes are created for novice users so the customization is
in
the menu so that it can be applied consistently to all shapes.

John... Visio MVP

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
John,
Thanks for the response. I'll try this. I thought I did that when I
set
the formats of each component before grouping. One shape I fixed the
height
and the width, the other shape I made 1-D. Maybe I should make the
first
shape 1-D also?

Still messing with it. I wish it was a bit more intuitive. Looks like
I
am
getting mo better with it and may have to spring for some classes to
refine
my knowledge. I'll see how this works.

Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
I've searched for this, so I may not be asking the "right" question
in
the
search box.

I've created, for simplicity, two shapes. I position them where I
want
and
then group them together to make a new shape. My issue is when I
resize
the
whole shape, the smaller piece changes size too. I do NOT want that
to
happen. The overall width of the shape must stay the same while
allowing
the
length to change. The smaller shape that makes up the whole shape
MUST
stay
the same no matter what. How can I do this?

I've tried formatting the little shape so the height and width are
protected. I even protected the shape "from group formatting". No
luck.
I
looked at behaviors but do not see anything that helps.

Thanks for any insight.

Bill

The problem is that when you grouped the shapes, each shapes formula
is
changed to be a percentage of the group shapes width and height. You
can
prevent this, but you must set the ResizeMode in the component shapes
BEFORE
grouping. Otherwise you have to open the spreadsheet, set the View to
Value
and copy and past the displayed value in the cell and paste that value
into
the formula bar at the top of the page.

John... Visio MVP






  #5  
Old September 26th, 2008, 05:15 PM posted to microsoft.public.visio.general
beradio1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default Shapes within a group: Maintaining size?

Thanks for the link. I'll hit that next.

Interesting comparison of the flanges as arrow heads. That is very much
like I treat them now. I make my "pipe" which is a section of transmission
line and then I "attach" the flange. It's a multipart process and I would
like to make one that is length adjustable without changing the dimension of
the flange.

Very cool thought.

Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

What you are describing suggests you consider line patterns and line ends.
John G has a good two part article on them and the second part of the
article
http://visualsignals.typepad.co.uk/v...ng-rand-1.html has
some examples that may be applicable to you situation.

In general terms, the flanges you are describing are the same as arrow heads
that can be placed on the end of lines.

John... Visio MVP

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
John,

I make it 1-d so I can stretch it. I'm a broadcast engineer and I am
designing a layout for a transmitter site. I want to make a piece of
transmission line with a fixed width and a flange piece on one end. The
piece/shape then can be lengthened or shortened depending on placement.
Ideally a flange piece would be on both ends, but I decided to start
"small"
or easy. ;-)

If you feel this is a mistake and I should keep it 2-d, that's ok with me.
I just need to make sure if I make a flange and group it into one shape,
the
flange does not change size.

Regards,
Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

Why did you make it 1-d. Normally only lines are 1d ( or some of the rack
equipment). If you do not want the shape to be stretched, you can Guard
the
Width or Height in the Shapesheet.

The Orgchart shapes are created for novice users so the customization is
in
the menu so that it can be applied consistently to all shapes.

John... Visio MVP

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
John,
Thanks for the response. I'll try this. I thought I did that when I
set
the formats of each component before grouping. One shape I fixed the
height
and the width, the other shape I made 1-D. Maybe I should make the
first
shape 1-D also?

Still messing with it. I wish it was a bit more intuitive. Looks like
I
am
getting mo better with it and may have to spring for some classes to
refine
my knowledge. I'll see how this works.

Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
I've searched for this, so I may not be asking the "right" question
in
the
search box.

I've created, for simplicity, two shapes. I position them where I
want
and
then group them together to make a new shape. My issue is when I
resize
the
whole shape, the smaller piece changes size too. I do NOT want that
to
happen. The overall width of the shape must stay the same while
allowing
the
length to change. The smaller shape that makes up the whole shape
MUST
stay
the same no matter what. How can I do this?

I've tried formatting the little shape so the height and width are
protected. I even protected the shape "from group formatting". No
luck.
I
looked at behaviors but do not see anything that helps.

Thanks for any insight.

Bill

The problem is that when you grouped the shapes, each shapes formula
is
changed to be a percentage of the group shapes width and height. You
can
prevent this, but you must set the ResizeMode in the component shapes
BEFORE
grouping. Otherwise you have to open the spreadsheet, set the View to
Value
and copy and past the displayed value in the cell and paste that value
into
the formula bar at the top of the page.

John... Visio MVP






  #6  
Old September 26th, 2008, 05:49 PM posted to microsoft.public.visio.general
John... Visio MVP
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 900
Default Shapes within a group: Maintaining size?

The article has a set of downloadable examples that you can play with.

John...
"beradio1" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the link. I'll hit that next.

Interesting comparison of the flanges as arrow heads. That is very much
like I treat them now. I make my "pipe" which is a section of
transmission
line and then I "attach" the flange. It's a multipart process and I would
like to make one that is length adjustable without changing the dimension
of
the flange.

Very cool thought.

Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

What you are describing suggests you consider line patterns and line
ends.
John G has a good two part article on them and the second part of the
article
http://visualsignals.typepad.co.uk/v...ng-rand-1.html
has
some examples that may be applicable to you situation.

In general terms, the flanges you are describing are the same as arrow
heads
that can be placed on the end of lines.

John... Visio MVP

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
John,

I make it 1-d so I can stretch it. I'm a broadcast engineer and I am
designing a layout for a transmitter site. I want to make a piece of
transmission line with a fixed width and a flange piece on one end.
The
piece/shape then can be lengthened or shortened depending on placement.
Ideally a flange piece would be on both ends, but I decided to start
"small"
or easy. ;-)

If you feel this is a mistake and I should keep it 2-d, that's ok with
me.
I just need to make sure if I make a flange and group it into one
shape,
the
flange does not change size.

Regards,
Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

Why did you make it 1-d. Normally only lines are 1d ( or some of the
rack
equipment). If you do not want the shape to be stretched, you can
Guard
the
Width or Height in the Shapesheet.

The Orgchart shapes are created for novice users so the customization
is
in
the menu so that it can be applied consistently to all shapes.

John... Visio MVP

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
John,
Thanks for the response. I'll try this. I thought I did that when
I
set
the formats of each component before grouping. One shape I fixed
the
height
and the width, the other shape I made 1-D. Maybe I should make the
first
shape 1-D also?

Still messing with it. I wish it was a bit more intuitive. Looks
like
I
am
getting mo better with it and may have to spring for some classes to
refine
my knowledge. I'll see how this works.

Bill


"John... Visio MVP" wrote:

"beradio1" wrote in message
...
I've searched for this, so I may not be asking the "right"
question
in
the
search box.

I've created, for simplicity, two shapes. I position them where
I
want
and
then group them together to make a new shape. My issue is when I
resize
the
whole shape, the smaller piece changes size too. I do NOT want
that
to
happen. The overall width of the shape must stay the same while
allowing
the
length to change. The smaller shape that makes up the whole
shape
MUST
stay
the same no matter what. How can I do this?

I've tried formatting the little shape so the height and width
are
protected. I even protected the shape "from group formatting".
No
luck.
I
looked at behaviors but do not see anything that helps.

Thanks for any insight.

Bill

The problem is that when you grouped the shapes, each shapes
formula
is
changed to be a percentage of the group shapes width and height.
You
can
prevent this, but you must set the ResizeMode in the component
shapes
BEFORE
grouping. Otherwise you have to open the spreadsheet, set the View
to
Value
and copy and past the displayed value in the cell and paste that
value
into
the formula bar at the top of the page.

John... Visio MVP








 




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