Working with Connectors
Connect
shapes using the Connector tool
Connect
shapes using the Drawing tools
Connect
shapes using a connector shape from a library
Drag
a connector from a control handle on a shape
Add
text to a connector
Reposition
text on a connector
Add
arrows or other line ends to a connector
Reset
the path of a connector
Connect
shapes using the Connector tool
-
Click the
Connector
tool
.
-
Draw connection line as
follow:
To keep the connector glued to a specific point
on a shape, drag from a connection point
on the first shape to a connection point on the
second shape. The connector endpoints turn red when
the shapes are connected.
Note You can also create connections between
shapes where one side of the connector is connected
to a point and the other end of the connector is
connected to the shape (and vice versa).
Connect
shapes using the Drawing tools
-
Click the
Line
tool
,
or Arc
tool
,
or Sector
tool
,
or Curve
tool
,
or Freehand
tool
.
-
Draw connection line as
using
Connector tool.
Connect
shapes using a connector shape from a library
-
In a library that has
connector shapes, drag a connector shape from
the library .
-
Drag the connector's
begin point
to the shape you're connecting from.
-
Drag the connector's
end point
to the shape you're connecting to.
The endpoints turn red
when the connector is glued to the shapes.
Drag
a connector from a control handle on a shape
-
Select a shape that has
built-in connectors, and position the pointer
over the shape's control handle
.
-
Drag the control handle
to a connection point on another shape.
Note Not all the control
handle
can be glued to connection points, when dragging
the control handle and moving over connection
point, red rectangle
will appear if the control handle can be glued.
But you cannot dynamically glue them.
Add
text to a connector
-
Select a connector.
-
Type the text you want
to add to the connector.
Note For
Right-angle
connectors
(created by Connector tool
,
or by Line tool
),
there three text blocks.
Double click the
area where you want to type text, the nearest
text block will be activated.
For example,
double click the begin point area of the
Connection line, the text block near the begin
point will be edited.
Reposition
text on a connector
Many connectors have
control handles
for moving text. To move the text, select the
connector and then use the
Selection
tool
to move the text control handle.
Note If
the connector does not have a control handle, you
can still reposition its text using the
Text Block
tool
,
just as you would on any other shape. Click the
Text Block
tool, click the shape, and then drag the double
rectangle that appears when the pointer is over the
text in the text block.
Add
arrows or other line ends to a connector
-
Select a connector.
-
On the
Shape
menu, click
Line. Also you can click
on Format
toolbar.
-
Under
Line ends,
choose the type and size of line end you want.
-
Click OK.
Notes
The line ends on a
connector don't necessarily indicate the direction
of the endpoints (endpoint: Either of the square
handles
that appear at the beginning or end of a selected
line, arc, or other connector shapes in library.)
of the connector. If you need to reverse the
direction of a connector, select the connector,
point to Rotate or
Flip on the
Shape menu, and then click
Flip Horizontal,
and also you can change the
Line ends
to reverse the direction.
Reset
the path of a connector
-
Select a dynamic
connector (created by
Connector
tool
)
on the page, then the
Connector
Layout toolbar
will appear.
-
Click
Reset
Connector button
on the toolbar.
As you press
Reset
Connector button, the connector will reset its path
and change its Reroute Mode to
Reroute Freely as
well. In Reroute
Freely mode, connector will reroute its path when
any operation happens.
Note Only
the connector has been modified by dragging control
handle
or
,
otherwise the
Reset Connector button is Unable.
Once the dynamic connector is modified, the
Never Reroute
button
will be focus, and the dynamic connector will never
reroute until you click
Reroute Freely
button
.
