Visio does have a tool for adding Connection points, but it does not have a tool for nudging that point if you missed the first time or decided at a later date you anted it elsewhere. Normally, Visio Connection points are simple, middle of the shape, one of the corners or the center of one of the sides. Once you get into creating Visio shapes, the Connection point can be anywhere.
In my current project, I am dealing with shapes that connect to tubing. On the surface, this seems like a simple task. The connection point should be centered on the tube. Unfortunately, to create the shape involves a lot of unioning joining and other operations. I could leave the shape as a collection of basic shapes so the tube connection stands out, but that would mean a complex shape with poor performance.
In the Connection sections, the Connection points are positioned at a percentage of the Width and a percentage of the Height. So, simply playing with the scaling factor is a hit and miss operation. The movement by tenth of an inch may have radically different scaling factors for different shapes. Basically, a lot of playing to get it right.
My solution is to create a new shape that when dropped on the shape that needs adjustment would expand to the height and Width of that shape and display a control handle with a bullseye. You can then use the control handle to position the bullseye to the location of the Connection point. At the same time as you are doing this, the shapesheet for the shape is open in a different Visio session at the Connection section. Next to the bullseye would be the scaling factors for that position. So, it would be a simple matter of copying the values to Connection points in the other spreadsheet.
I have created this Connection tool and will be publishing it next week to the Visio Gallery.
John Marshall… Visio MVP Visio.MVPs.org
john Visio MVP 