{"id":83,"date":"2009-11-24T10:44:56","date_gmt":"2009-11-24T17:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visiozone.com\/?p=83"},"modified":"2010-12-22T19:39:12","modified_gmt":"2010-12-23T02:39:12","slug":"creating-well-connected-assemblies-with-1d-visio-shapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83","title":{"rendered":"Creating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Post<\/a><\/p><\/div>

\n
\n
\"A

A 1D line with and without height<\/p><\/div>\n

Visio shapes can be either 1D (one dimensional) or 2D (two dimensional).\u00a0 Unfortunately, there is no 3D shape although you can produce a \u201c3D-like\u201d 2D drawing by using the same methods as you would on paper\u2026 isometric, axonometric, perspective, etc.\u00a0 Most Visio drawings that simulate 3D are drawn as isometrics\u2026 but I digress and will cover that in a future post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When you draw a straight line, Visio treats it as a 1D shape by default. \u00a0When you draw a polygon or multi-segment line (polyline) Visio treats it as a 2D shape by default.\u00a0 So what\u2019s the difference? Well, today we\u2019ll focus on 1D shapes because they have some very powerful connection and assembly behaviors in Visio.<\/p>\n

A 1D shape has a begin point and an end point.\u00a0 To understand this better, select a line and open Visio\u2019s Size & Position window from Visio\u2019s View menu.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see XY locations for the beginning and end of the line based on X=0 and Y=0 being at the bottom left corner of your drawing page.\u00a0 The window also shows the length and angle of the line as well as a height.\u00a0 Wait\u2026 height? \u00a0Yes\u2026 in Visio a 1D shape can have height although a simple line defaults to zero height.\u00a0 Type a value of 1 into the height field in the Size & Position window, then press Enter.\u00a0 You should see the results shown below.\u00a0 The height of a 1D shape gives us a place to insert an image while maintaining the advantages of 1D behavior as you\u2019ll see in a moment.\u00a0 The result is that you can have a shape that behaves like a line but looks like a rectangle.<\/p>\n

This is important for assemblies because 1D shape have the ability to strongly \u201cglue\u201d to connection points in Visio.\u00a0 This kind of connectivity is what gives you those nice flow charts where the lines follow the boxes as you move them. We leverage this feature of 1D shapes to create Visio parts that assemble together accurately.\u00a0 If we understand in advance how the real parts fit together then we can design the shape behavior to make it very easy to create an assembly of parts.<\/p>\n

In the example below, a Juniper Networks<\/a> MX router is placed into a rack.\u00a0 If you look closely at the image on the left you can see the height of the 1D shape.\u00a0 We used that height to insert an image that actually looks like a 2D picture of the device but it behaves like a 1D line where the endpoints will easily glue to connection points on the rack.\u00a0 When you drag the shape from the stencil and place the endpoints near to the connection points, they \u201clight up\u201d in red to signal that they are gluing into place at those points.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Rack

Rack with network device and cards glued in place<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For standard equipment racks we know that the mounting holes are 18.31\u201d apart horizontally and the overall width of the devices will be very close to 19\u201d between outer edges of their mounting flanges.\u00a0 \u00a0Therefore, we\u2019ve designed this shape to glue to connection points spaced 19\u201d apart.\u00a0 Note the little red squares at the lower left and right corners of the shape (they are a bit hard to see so look closely).\u00a0 The connection points are placed in the rack so that the mounting holes of the device align with mounting holes on the rack.<\/p>\n

When you move the rack, the device goes with it.\u00a0 In the close-up on the right you can see how a horizontal card is glued into the device (note the red square at the left end of the card).\u00a0 This is an example of a hierarchical assembly\u2026 rack, chassis, card.\u00a0 Move the rack and they all go together.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at a different assembly condition with Leviton\u2019s<\/a> Structured Cabling products.\u00a0 These are products that mount into small enclosures residential wiring of media and telecom systems.\u00a0 The enclosures mount on a wall and various wiring modules mount into the enclosures.\u00a0 There are also expansion boards that go into the modules to provide a range of wiring options.\u00a0 So we have here another hierarchical assembly\u2026 enclosure, module, expansion board\u2026 but with very different dimensional parameters from the previous example.\u00a0 Here, the mounting holes are at 3\u201d intervals horizontally and 1\u201d vertically.\u00a0 The modules snap and glue into place accordingly and the (green) expansion boards are made to fit into the modules.\u00a0 Just as in the real objects, you can mount the modules at any hole positions in the enclosures.\u00a0Also note the connection points (little blue Xs) at every location where a cable can be connected.\u00a0 This greatly eases the drawing process for wiring diagrams.<\/p>\n

\"Wall

Wall-mounted enclosure with modules and cards installed<\/p><\/div>\n

To show the range of assembly possibilities, we\u2019ll look at one more example.\u00a0 For the Emcor Enclosures<\/a> FP2 series of cabinets we created 1D shapes that assemble in flexible modular arrangements.\u00a0 The drawing below shows a plan view of, from left to right, an end panel, a base cabinet, a wedge, etc. until the configuration is complete at the right.\u00a0 Note the far right base cabinet that shows 1D endpoints in red glued to the adjacent wedge.<\/p>\n

\"Modular

Modular enclosure system in plan view<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ll conclude this topic for now but I can certainly expand on how the 1D shape concept can be used to assemble other kinds of objects.\u00a0 Certain assembly conditions are difficult to handle well with 1D shape assembly methods so Visio provides 2D shape techniques for those.\u00a0 You can also experiment with changing a shapes behavior from 1D to 2D or the reverse using the Format > Behavior menu.\u00a0 If you are interested in more details, leave a comment on the blog or contact us at info@visimation.com<\/a> to vote for another article with additional information about 1D vs. 2D assembly techniques.<\/p>\n

You can download the free<\/strong> stencils used in this article for Juniper Networks, Leviton, and Emcor at www.ShapeSource.com<\/a>.\u00a0 At the left sidebar on the Home page, select Visio Shapes and scroll down to the product you want.<\/p>\n

\"Post<\/a><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Post<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A 1D line with and without height<\/p>\n

Visio shapes can be either 1D (one dimensional) or 2D (two dimensional). Unfortunately, there is no 3D shape although you can produce a \u201c3D-like\u201d 2D drawing by using the same methods as you would on paper\u2026 isometric, axonometric, perspective, etc. Most Visio drawings that simulate 3D are drawn as isometrics\u2026 but I digress and will cover that in a …Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6,61],"tags":[18,16,17,19,7,3,73,4],"yoast_head":"\nCreating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An article describing how Microsoft Visio 1D shapes are used to create system assemblies\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An article describing how Microsoft Visio 1D shapes are used to create system assemblies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VisioZone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-11-24T17:44:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-23T02:39:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/visiozone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/1D_line_height-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Visimation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Visimation\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/\",\"name\":\"VisioZone\",\"description\":\"News, Tips, and Advice for Microsoft Visio Users\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/visiozone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/1D_line_height-300x200.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/visiozone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/1D_line_height-300x200.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83\",\"name\":\"Creating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-11-24T17:44:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-23T02:39:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/51201304605fb9824737a063c55184fd\"},\"description\":\"An article describing how Microsoft Visio 1D shapes are used to create system assemblies\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Creating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/51201304605fb9824737a063c55184fd\",\"name\":\"Visimation\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/713995917054f55a13f6c7249af33b8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/713995917054f55a13f6c7249af33b8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Visimation\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.visimation.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Creating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes","description":"An article describing how Microsoft Visio 1D shapes are used to create system assemblies","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Creating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes","og_description":"An article describing how Microsoft Visio 1D shapes are used to create system assemblies","og_url":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83","og_site_name":"VisioZone","article_published_time":"2009-11-24T17:44:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-23T02:39:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/visiozone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/1D_line_height-300x200.jpg"}],"author":"Visimation","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Visimation","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/","name":"VisioZone","description":"News, Tips, and Advice for Microsoft Visio Users","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/visiozone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/1D_line_height-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/visiozone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/1D_line_height-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#webpage","url":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83","name":"Creating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2009-11-24T17:44:56+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-23T02:39:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/51201304605fb9824737a063c55184fd"},"description":"An article describing how Microsoft Visio 1D shapes are used to create system assemblies","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?p=83#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Creating Well Connected Assemblies with 1D Visio Shapes"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/51201304605fb9824737a063c55184fd","name":"Visimation","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/713995917054f55a13f6c7249af33b8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/713995917054f55a13f6c7249af33b8c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Visimation"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.visimation.com"],"url":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436,"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visiozone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}