Brocade visio shapes how to#
Brocade visio shapes software#

So to place the textbox correctly, Visio aligns the blue dot with the red dot (and what do we get when we add red to blue? Purple of course!): When it gets pinned to the square (the noticeboard), which part of the textbox (the paper) should the pin go through (so to speak)? There needs to be a way to tell Visio which bit of the textbox to stick the thumbtack through This is accomplished with the second pair of variables, TxtLocPinX and TxtLocPinY, the location of which is represented by a blue dot below: TIP: The coordinate origin (0,0) for the values we are discussing is at the bottom left. The size of the textbox does not change as it moves. Within the square, we define a point where we want the textbox to be вЂњpinnedвЂќ This position is defined by the first pair ofВ variables: TxtPinX and TxtPinY, shown below with a red dot:Д«y adjusting the values for TxtPinX and TxtPinY, the dot moves, and the textbox thatвЂ™s pinned toВ that dotВ moves with it. Think of the textbox as being a piece of paper, and the square as a noticeboard to which the paper can be attached.

To do this, we will pretend that the square and its textbox are completely separate entities.

This as achieved through the use of two pairs of variables which tend to get confused, so IвЂ™ll take a moment to explain them. The textbox you will note is handily centered in the middle of the square. TxtWidth and TxtHeight are the object variables that define the size of the textbox within the square, and they in turn refer to the Width and Height of the parent object (the square).

Brocade visio shapes how to#

This is our first glance at the ShapeSheet weвЂ™ll look at how to edit it later on, but the similarity to an Excel spreadsheet is uncanny in some respects. The Width and Height shown here are actually the width and height of the square вЂ“ they are stored as variables and then used in a formula to define the sizeВ of the textbox. Technically the actual textbox within the square object is actually the same height and width as the square it sits within, but with the borders, the usable space is less: The white space around it is the border space we can change borders (down to no border), but for the moment letвЂ™s leave them in place and work with the default. IвЂ™ve shaded the usable text area grey to distinguish it from the square it sits within. Effectively, within the shapeвЂ™s textbox, there is a slightly smallerВ usable area in which you can type: If youвЂ™ve ever tried to put a lot of information inside a shape like this, you may have been frustrated about the fact that the text doesnвЂ™t go all the way up to the edge of the object thereвЂ™s a little buffer zone of white space. The square above is perhaps not the most exciting demonstration of VisioвЂ™s capabilities, but itвЂ™s a good starting point вЂ“ we have text inside a shape. ItвЂ™s particularly valuable because when you have objects grouped, you can click until the correct sub-object is highlighted and use F2 to edit just that componentвЂ™s text, which can otherwise be almost impossible to get into edit mode.

Brocade visio shapes software#

IвЂ™ve been surprised with how many people donвЂ™t know this shortcut вЂ“ it works almost everywhere in Microsoft software вЂ“ in Windows Explorer to rename a selected file in Excel to edit a cell in PowerPoint to edit object text or text blocks and so on. TIP: If you want to edit the text within an object, select it and press F2.

Not very exciting I agree, but itвЂ™s an interesting property of most objects in Visio that you can type textВ and itВ will appear within /on top of / around the object, and that the text is вЂњattachedвЂќВ (i.e. I mean that when you have a shape on the page (either a native shape, a stencil, or a group of objects) you can type text into it, right? For example, I drew a square and while it was still selected, I typed some letters and they appeared in the middle of the square: In PartВ 3 IвЂ™ll look specifically at how to implement these changes consistently via the ShapeSheet.ДЇirst things first:В when I talk about a textbox, IвЂ™m not really referring to something you add using the A (text) tool. In Part 2 IвЂ™ll look at whether the changes discussed can be implemented without touching a shapesheet in the first place, and look at some of the issues that can arise by doing so. In Part 1В (this post)В IвЂ™ll cover some of the underlying terms and concepts required to play with textboxes. So, since IвЂ™ve had to explain this a couple of times recently and it would be nice to have something on record, hereвЂ™s a quick guide to using Visio shapesheets to manipulate the textboxes attached to (most) objects in Visio.

ItвЂ™s possible to take this to a rather sick level of complexity, but having a basic knowledge of using shapesheets turns out to be rather helpful. ThatвЂ™s a shame as theyвЂ™re kind of useful to manipulate shapes in Visio and automate the behavior of those shapes. Shapesheets, eh? Many people I speak to have never heard of shapesheets in Microsoft Visio, let alone used them.