stencils for sentence diagramming

[ppindell]

I have searched for stencils related to diagramming sentences but have not
found any appropriate links. I am looking for a set of stencils to be used in
diagramming sentences. My son is having to diagram sentences for grammar
homework. I was looking for stencils to be used to assist him.

Do you remember stuff like this below

_____Subject_________|_______Verb____|_____Direct Object_____
|

I could do all of the diagramming with simple solid and dashed lines, but it
would be nice to have a set of stencils that were auto sized depending on how
many characters were in each word, and that had the text above the line
rather than under it.

Thoughts?

Paul

 

[John... Visio MVP]

I have searched for stencils related to diagramming sentences but have not
found any appropriate links. I am looking for a set of stencils to be used
in
diagramming sentences. My son is having to diagram sentences for grammar
homework. I was looking for stencils to be used to assist him.

Do you remember stuff like this below

_____Subject_________|_______Verb____|_____Direct Object_____
|

I could do all of the diagramming with simple solid and dashed lines, but
it
would be nice to have a set of stencils that were auto sized depending on
how
many characters were in each word, and that had the text above the line
rather than under it.

Thoughts?

Paul

I was going to ask if you were using the right tool because what you
describe can easily be done in Word. It is just a matter of underlinging the
full line and using centered tab stops.

Then of course, I did a little research and found
http://www.geocities.com/gene_moutoux/diagram2.htm Which definitely
indicates Visio as a better tool.

So how would you approach this in Visio? Create a shape with the text
centered. Place the connection point in the center, but below the text.
Remove the geometry section from the shape so that it is just a block of
text with no lines. You can use the shapes text control handle to rotate the
text (The A with an arrow around it).

Then use lines to create the structure. The shape used to create the line
could be modified so that it only sit at an angle of 0 degrees or +/- 45
degrees. The same can be done for the text.

John... Visio MVP

 

[WapperDude]

....thanks for the nightmares John.

You can make your lines to behave by modifying the shapesheet. Place a line
on the drawing page, and with it selected, go to menu bar > window >
shapesheet.

Once in the shapesheet, right click anywhere, open insert section, check the
Text Transform section and click OK. Scroll down to that section. There are
two entries to modify.the quotes. This offsets the text above the line.
MAX(TEXTWIDTH(TheText+2*Char.Size),4*Char.Size) This will be used to
size the length of the line based upon the text entered.

Almost done, now scroll to the top of the shapesheet. In the 1-D Endpoints
Section, change the EndX entry to be: GUARD(BeginX+TxtWidth) This is what
controls the line length.

That should do it. Now just copy, paste, type, and re-position the lines as
desired.

HTH and isn't too late (and turns out to be simple enough to use)

Wapperdude

 

[WapperDude]

After looking at this a little more, this solution is too simple. It works
well for horizontal lines, but, when you rotate the line, it misbehaves. The
problem is that both width and height need to be driven by the text based
upon line orientation. Do-able, but not as simple.

Sorry.

 

[John... Visio MVP]

You are working too hard, take a rest. ;-)

1. Draw a line.
2. Convert it to a 2-d
3. Set the background of the text to none (we want the line to show through)
4. Use the Text tool (The A with the arrow around it) to position the text
above the line
5. Open the shapesheet and set the Angle cell to =BOUND(15 deg,0,FALSE,45
deg,45 deg,FALSE,0 deg,0 deg,FALSE,-45 deg,-45 deg)

6. Play with the shape.

Using the rotation handle, the text will be locked at 45,0 or -45 degrees.
The text should be naturaly centered and in most cases shorter than the line
length.

John... Visio MVP

 

[WapperDude]

Received your advice too late! I had already charged ahead and made some
line shapes. Oh well, for what they're worth, found here:
http://visguy.com/vgforum/index.php?topic=727.0

But, that's about it for today, off to do sound for a Valentine's banquet.
Everyone do their duty and buy something nice???