Display the length of a drawn line in Visio 2003?

R

Rich

How do I display the length of a drawn line in Visio 2003? The info box on
the bottom of the pge displays the X and Y coordinates as I'm drawing but I
would like it to display the length of the line in the scale units I have
set. For example, If my scale is 1"=10', and I draw a line 6.5" long it
should display 65'. If I draw a rectangle, it will display the length and
width in feet, but not the length of a line.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
 
M

Mark Nelson [MS]

Assuming your line is straight, go to Insert > Field and choose the Width
field to display.

--
Mark Nelson
Office Graphics - Visio
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
R

Rich

Mark,
Thanks very much for the quick reply. I've been trying the program for 2
days now and I never would have found that. It seems that procedure only
works if you draw or select the line first, then Insert >Field>Geometry>Width.

Then it only works for that one line. Plus it prints that dimension which I
don't want. A lot of hoops to jump through just to know the length of the
line you are drawing.

What I would like is for the length to display at the logical place (bottom
of the page where the XY coordinates now display) automatically as I 'm
drawing the line so I can tell when to stop. ConceptDraw and many other
simple drawing programs have this feature, I thought maybe there was some way
to set the properties to get it here on a very good program.

I found the size and position window under the View Menu, but that seems
pretty cumbersome, takes up drawing space and includes other displays that
cloud the issue.

I've done some more fooling around and if I draw a rectangle, elipse, or any
polygon, it will display the length and width while I draw. I also found that
if I draw a line, it will only display the current X and Y coordinates and
shoew them changing dynamically while I'm drawing. If I click on the line
after I finish drawing it, the length will be displayed where the XY
coordinates showed as I was drawing it.

Is there any way to get the diisplay on the bottom to give the length while
I'm drawing it?

Thanks again,

Rich
 
M

Mark Nelson [MS]

No, the Size & Position window is your best bet.

--
Mark Nelson
Office Graphics - Visio
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
V

vojo

the cool isometrics from that guy in Japan (great set of tools/stencils) has
a shape that does this (a line with a text field specifing length...grow the
line, test automatically updated).
 
R

Rich

Hey Vojo, that sounds cool. What is this, and where do I find it? Is there a
place on this site that has add-ons? I'd appreciate more info.

Thanks,

Rich
 

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