Straight 'lines' vs not-quite-straight connectors

[Mark Tangard]

I've learned that you can use graphical lines in a Visio flowchart
exactly the way you use connectors, except of course that the lines
won't ever curve. This is fine & useful, since connectors are a bit
more ornery and I haven't found a way to force them to be perfectly
straight when needed (which, here, is often). But apparently you can't
add text to a line the same way as with connectors. (You can add it,
but not nudge it in any direction.) Is that correct, or am I missing
something? If that's the just the way it is, is there a clean
workaround for it?

Thanks for any clues on this. Visio 2003, Win XP.

 

[Mark Nelson [MS]]

Connectors come with the ability to automatically control the position of
text so that it stays close to the routing. There is also a control handle
available for easy placement by the user.

Have you tried right-clicking on your connectors and setting them to the
straight line routing style?

 

[Mark Tangard]

Yes, I have, but (1) this often detaches the connector at one end -- the
junction changes from red to green, esp. if the connector connects to
another connector -- and (2) what I'm trying to achieve isn't just a
line without jogs in it but an angle of exactly 90 (or 180 or 270)
degrees. And I can't seem to do that. (Holding down Shift, as with
other drawing tools, seems to have the wrong effect on a connector.)

Am I forgetting something obvious?

TIA

--
Mark Tangard, Microsoft Word MVP
"Life is nothing if you're not obsessed." --John Waters

Connectors come with the ability to automatically control the position of
text so that it stays close to the routing. There is also a control handle
available for easy placement by the user.

Have you tried right-clicking on your connectors and setting them to the
straight line routing style?

-- Mark Nelson Microsoft Corporation This posting is provided "AS IS"
with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Mark Nelson [MS]]

Visio does not handle connector to connector well. Connectors are designed
to work with 2-D shapes. If you do have some connectors between 2-D shapes,
you could try using dynamic glue rather than static. To form a dynamic
connection, move the endpoint of the connector to the center of a shape
until you get a red outline around the shape. Then release the endpoint.