HickmottJ

I am about to streamline our MMPD. I have removed all the Manufacturers we do not deal with and now about to start the Category and Type lists.

Am I free to delete/rename these without any implications?

I suspect not but thought I would ask.

Kevin Mikelonis

Originally Posted by HickmottJ

I am about to streamline our MMPD. I have removed all the Manufacturers we do not deal with and now about to start the Category and Type lists. Am I free to delete/rename these without any implications? I suspect not but thought I would ask.

Add categories as needed, but keep the existing category names!

These are tied to the stencils and the best practice for stencil use and database management is to rely as much as possible on default stencil and shape behavior!

If you change category names, you will be mapping shapes to data a great deal.

Change the Categoriy ID abrreviations all you like without impact, leave the names the same!

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Process Dealer Services Group
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Stuff That Works

HickmottJ

Originally Posted by Kevin Mikelonis

Add categories as needed, but keep the existing category names! These are tied to the stencils and the best practice for stencil use and database management is to rely as much as possible on default stencil and shape behavior! If you change category names, you will be mapping shapes to data a great deal. Change the Categoriy ID abrreviations all you like without impact, leave the names the same!

I can not see how the mapping between Category in MMPD and the Visio Stencils is automatically done.

I have reduced my Manufacturers to the minimum. I have kept the Generic for now.

Surely, if I change a Category in MMPD it will change the list of Stencils in Visio. It worked when I renamed for e.g. CCTV to CCTVA. The Stencil list became CCTVA.

Basically, how does Visio know which stencils to use?

FSUfan

Originally Posted by HickmottJ

Surely, if I change a Category in MMPD it will change the list of Stencils in Visio. It worked when I renamed for e.g. CCTV to CCTVA. The Stencil list became CCTVA.

I don't think so... if you open the properties of the shape itself you can see that the shapes are assigned to the type of equipment you drop. So in this example if I change the category from CCTV to CCTVA there will be no shape that references that...


I am not sure what all you can do with this information, but as far as I can tell... .if you change all your default categories you are going to lose all your standard shapes.

fryeguy

I am dealing with this issue (or a similar one) when trying to create a special shape to represent a wire bundle. It doesn't even show up in the list when I try to assign it to be the default shape for an item. I'm pretty sure it has to do with some of the shape sheet entries.
Wherein the world is someone supposed to find a good tutorial on shape sheets. yikes...

Memphix

You need to have the fields: Manufacturer, Model, Category, ComponentID etc for its custom properties.

The easiest way to make your own is to copy another stencil (right click on the stencil title and choose Edit Stencil, copy and past)... then edit it. When you choose to edit the shape, select it and choose Edit Master | Edit Master Shape. Then select the drawing (and while selected) choose Edit | Open Group. Make any change to its appearance here. Then close the open group view. Right click on the shape and choose Shape... | Custom Properties. Edit these details if you need to (remove manufacturer field details if you want the shape assigned to any manufacturer etc). Save it and your done... it should now be available in the list.

Keep in mind you need to copy updated stencils to other computers manually if you use multiple computers.