defining shape's dimensions?

[Jan]

I used Visio "back in the day" before Microsoft bought it. Now I'm
using it again for the first time in 5-6 years. One of the things I
need to do either is no longer possible or has become so complicated I
can't find the solution.

I need to be able to draw a floorplan, and put some furniture in it,
using American measurements. I used to be able to do that almost on
autopilot; if I remember correctly, I could just insert a shape,
right-click, select Properties and define away. Now, though, using the
office layout stencil, it looks like I have to insert wall by wall,
which seems a little kludgy but okay, except that I can't find how to
define the length (or any other dimension) of the wall.

So I tried the basic stencil, thinking I could fall back on plain old
rectangles (the end product doesn't have to be to architectural
standards - it'll be more of a you-get-the-idea thing), but I don't
see any way to define the shape's measurements there either.

Help? Is the solution so simple that I can't see it because I'm making
it difficult? Thanks in advance...

 

[Darrin [MSFT]]

Hi Jan,

You can still build a room via the "old school" method if you want (it's how
I still do it too).

Open the Home Plan template (or the Office Layout template)
And on the Walls, Doors, and WIndows stencil - select and drop the Room
shape onto the drawing page
now open the custom properties on that shape and enter in the desired size
you want for any wall
(you can do this via the View menu - Custom Properties)

This technique also works for all the other wall shapes.

Hope that helps,
darrin.