Laying Out Shapes Automatically

Many drawing types in Visio 2007 incorporate automated layout behavior so that you don’t have to manually rearrange connectors and shapes. For example, the dynamic connector can route itself around shapes that get in the way and find the best point to connect to shapes. It also jumps over other connectors that cross it. At some point, you will probably encounter the results of this built-in layout and routing behavior—which behaves logically for the most part, but yields surprising results occasionally. Understanding how layout and routing works will make your drawings easier (and more fun) to revise.

The language for describing this behavior is a little peculiar. For example, almost all shapes can be detected ...

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