Looking for a Visio shape similar to a wall object

[Daniel Sheehan]

Greetings,
I have Visio 2007 Profession SP2 installed.

I am trying to draw up some construction plans for putting together some
wooden structures. Currently the only object that lets me set with width and
length (and automatically adjusts the size of the object) to resemble a piece
of lumber seems to be the "wall" object in the floor plan template.

However when I try put two of the objects together to touch sides (to show
two pieces of wood screwed together) it merges them and changes the size of
the object which is not what I want. Additionally it seems that the
orientation setting on the predefined wall object wants to link to only one
side of the object.

So I am looking for a box that I can set the width and length on, and be
able to have the objects touch without Visio trying to merge them together
and thus resizing them.
I also liked the feature of the wall object where you could right mouse
click the object and select something, and it would put the mesaurement next
to the object with an arrow going between two lines. This is not a required
feature but a "nice to have".

Can someone poing me in the right direction? I have spent hours trying
different web search key word combinations with no luck.

 

[Paul Herber]

Greetings,
I have Visio 2007 Profession SP2 installed.

I am trying to draw up some construction plans for putting together some
wooden structures. Currently the only object that lets me set with width and
length (and automatically adjusts the size of the object) to resemble a piece
of lumber seems to be the "wall" object in the floor plan template.

However when I try put two of the objects together to touch sides (to show
two pieces of wood screwed together) it merges them and changes the size of
the object which is not what I want. Additionally it seems that the
orientation setting on the predefined wall object wants to link to only one
side of the object.

So I am looking for a box that I can set the width and length on, and be
able to have the objects touch without Visio trying to merge them together
and thus resizing them.
I also liked the feature of the wall object where you could right mouse
click the object and select something, and it would put the mesaurement next
to the object with an arrow going between two lines. This is not a required
feature but a "nice to have".

Can someone poing me in the right direction? I have spent hours trying
different web search key word combinations with no luck.

The wall sections are not being merged exactly, Visio recognises that
the wall sections are joining and hides the joining wall ends (it
actually sets the line format to "no line").
However, what you want to do is quite simple. Use the rectangle tool
on the drawing toolbar to create a small rectangle where the join is
going to be. Now add the second wall section to the end of this
rectangle. The wall will still glue correctly.

 

[WapperDude]

There is an alternative technique, which doesn't require the added square.
If the goal is to preserve the outside dimensions, then, each wall must be
placed with the connection points and the boundry line on the outside. This
must be true of all walls. Then, when the 2nd wall connection point is
placed on the 1st wall connection point, both walls will retain the desired
outside dimension. Of course, the interior will be shortened by the
thickness of the wall. Do just the opposite in the interior dimension is
critical. Now, the outer walls will be longer by the thickness of the wall.

Walls with "T" connections tend to be a problem.

HTH
Wapperdude

 

[Daniel Sheehan]

Let me explain ultimately what I am trying to do.
I am trying to document how to assemple a wooden structure from 2x4 lumber.

The shape looks roughly like this:
+-----+
| | |
|--| |
| |--|
| | |
+-----+

Except straight lines.

I am trying to show measurements of each piece of lumber in scale so that
the person I hand the plans to can know exactly what the cuts should look
like and what the finished product should look like.

I have corners that need to be preserved (and not joined), and I have T
intersections. Visio is the one drawing program I have some experience with,
and it looks capable of helping me render this drawing, just as long as it
wouldn't try and join the objects and subsequently resize them.

So while a wall object may not be the best object/item for this, is there
another object in a stencil somewhere that would allow me to create an object
21" by 1&1/2" and link it to another object?

Thanks!

 

[Paul Herber]

Let me explain ultimately what I am trying to do.

I am trying to document how to assemple a wooden structure from 2x4 lumber.

The shape looks roughly like this:
+-----+
| | |
|--| |
| |--|
| | |
+-----+

The standard block diagram will do what you want. Just take a normal
rectangle shape, open the Size and Position window, create one bit of
lumber with a rectangle, set the size in the Size and Shape window,
remove the connection points using menu Window -> Show Shapesheet.
Duplicate, resize and rotate as required. I created a drawing like
that in 5 minutes.