Routing around shapes not working (Visio2002)

[tonyz.wrightz]

Hi,

I am placing some rectangles from basic shapes and connecting them
using dynamic connectors. Problem is, the connectors between two shapes
will not route around shapes in the middle.

The shape placement behaviour is set to Lay out and route around.

The connector placement tab is set to Let Visio decide. The connector
placement tab is disabled for some reason, so looks like I can't change
this behavior (don't know why).

Any ideas how I can get these connectors to route around the shapes in
the middle?

Thanks,
Tony

 

[Jeff Chapman]

What version of Visio are you using?
I was able to make connector rerouting work for
both Visio 2002 and 2003. I opened a new drawing,
placed three rectangles side by side, and then dragged
a dynamic connector to join the leftmost and rightmost shapes.
Just to confirm, the placement behavior for the middle shape
should be "Lay out and route around" (Format | Behavior... |
Placement tab | Placement behavior dropdown menu)
and the behavior for the connector should be
"Reroute: freely" (Format | Behavior... | Connector tab |
Reroute). You are right - the "Placement" tab for the connector
is greyed out. That shouldn't be a problem, if you have
correctly selected the settings as above.

Let us know how it went!

- Jeff Chapman

 

[tonyz.wrightz]

Hi Jeff,

I am using Visio 2002 Standard SR1, which is the corporate standard
where I am.

I just opened Visio, added three rectangles to the drawing, then
connected the leftmost shape to the rightmost shape. It went straight
through the middle shape.

Tried to figure out if I was doing something different to you, and in
fact I am. I am using dynamic glue, which is when you drag the
connector towards the centre of the rectangle (but not actually to the
centre) and drop the connector when the border goes red.

Doing this, the line goes through the rectangle, as opposed to actually
attaching the connector to the outer cells of the rectangle, which will
route around.

So I guess the question now is, how do I get it to work with dynamic
glue?

Regards,
Tony

 

[David Parker [Visio MVP]]

Draw one rectangle - change its Behavior to Layout & Route Around
Duplicate that shape twice
Place in a row (or column)
Dynamically glue your connector from the first to the third, and the line
will avoid the middle one.

 

[Mark Nelson [MS]]

I just want to make sure you are using a connector (drawn with the Connector
tool) and not a line (drawn with the Line tool). That is often the case if
the Connector tab is disabled in the dialog.

--
Mark Nelson
Microsoft Corporation

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