You are most welcome.
Good. I am opposed to that which is non-trivial, especially if it is not necessary.
- I don’t see why this problem needs a script, and
- the script you are describing will have nasty problems due to Template location and determination.
Why don’t you:
- place the Template file in a shared library, ReadOnly
- let them, instead of OpenNew and drag-from Template, File/TemplateChooser, and select the Template for the [implied] new document.
Well, teach them that the “background” fixation is a Visio::OG step mismatch problem, and just to open a new document from a Template. Forget about backgrounds.
That is not quite correct…
Before you figure out the difference in the Variables, you need to understand what the thing that the Variable refers to, means.
- Page and Canvas are not defined in the manuals. (They are great-looking marketing organs.)
- Page does not equal Canvas.
- First, get notion of Visio “background” out of your mind.
- (It appears to me that it is a thing that OG V4 had, that has been removed in post-V4 releases. Some of its facility can be implemented in a Canvas, some of it has to be implemented in multiple SharedLayers (whereas in V4 and Visio it is in a single thing). In any case, for this discussion, let’s use OG terminology.)
Canvas
A Canvas is the thing you draw a single or multiple diagrams on.
- It is the first Unit of Measure in OG.
- Same as a Sheet in Numbers: you can have multiple objects (tables; charts; graphs; text boxes) on a single Sheet/Canvas.
- The simplest OG document (file) is a single Canvas.
- A Canvas is the single thing that is displayed in the main window of an OG document (file, that you work with).
- To begin with, a Canvas has no relation to a Page or to printing.
- Mess around with the objects, get them looking exactly the way you want.
- Same as with Numbers, you can select a drawing or a chart or a group of objects, Copy it, and Paste it into another document (eg.) Pages; or as an image in a web page; etc.
- For organisational purposes, if you have several related diagrams, or several diagrams of different types in a single Document, you may place each of them on a separate Canvas.
- If you do use headers and footers for the Canvas, the Variables will therefore be
<%CanvasNumber%> <%TotalCanvases%>.
No mention of Page or Page items thus far.
Canvas Size
It can be anything you want.
- But it does get silly when you consider that it is 2018 and each country uses fixed sizes for many reasons, which have been elevated to an external Standard, and which most people know and understand, which exist for the purpose of easing communication and avoiding problems when documents (files) are exchanged.
- Eg. US Letter in American colonies vs A4 in the Rest of the World.
- Further, the understanding is complicated (as distinct from silly) when the features of OG such as Auto-sizeCanvas; FitToSize; Pickle&Oil; etc, are brought in. Therefore let’s exclude those marvellous features until understanding has been achieved, and bring them in if and when it has.
Therefore, for a reasonable person, for most drawing tasks, the CanvasSize will be:
- set using the second OG Unit of Measure: PageSize.
- And of course, we use Standard PageSizes, rather than custom sizes for each canvas (which an unreasonable person would use)
- A Canvas is therefore a multiple of a PageSize.
- PageSize; Orientation; and Scale, are set at the Document (File) level, via File/PageSetup
- Orientation only (not PageSize & Scale) can also be set up at the Canvas level - which is where your problem is focussed
- In older releases of OG, Scale can be set at the Canvas level. The removal of which is badly missed.
- Note that Orientation is an attribute of a Page, not of a Canvas. Yes, of course, since the Canvas is a multiple of PageSize, the Canvas indirectly has one Orientation.
That allows you to draw diagrams of any reasonable size, and to use the objects or object groups or the diagram as a whole, in other documents. One can produce PDF files and exchange them with other people, to facilitate communication of complex things, such as project plans; data models; architectural plans; etc. For decades, I have communicated complex articles in the form of PDF files, without having to print them (this is not to exclude the need for printing, which I will deal with in the proper order).
Still no mention of the Variables related to Page <%#%> <%TotalPages%>, or the hard-and-fast limitations of a Page or PageSize.
Template
In order to save time in document set up, and to obtain Canvasses that have a consistent format, with or without initial objects, a Template can be created. Further, a Template can be shared, simply by placing it on a shared folder somewhere in the corporate network, usually a shared library.
Since a document is first a Canvas, and a Canvas is second a Page & PageSize, and that is set at the document level, a single Template would be for a single Canvas set up, which is a PageSize.
- Eg. for my architectural drawings, which have a corporate logo; a legend; a header; a footer,
- in terms of content, I have one Template,
- but a Template File for each PageSize: A4; A3; A2; A1; A0; and US Letter; 11x17; 17x22,
- with two Canvasses, one for each Orientation: Portrait and Landscape
- All that is set up using the fewest Shared Layers, carefully. Such that the draftsman can simply, for each new (2nd and subsequent) Canvas, if not the same as the first:
- set the PageOrientation (not PagesSize) and
- drag in the SharedLayer that is required.
- Compared with the MasterCanvas in older releases, the SharedLayer is
- a royal pain (duplication and far more manual labour), but hey, that is “progress” in OG terms.
- So the number of Layers in each Canvas in each Template in a post-V4 OG document is far greater than in V4, and requires the Template user to mess around much more.
- This needs to be mentioned, because the Visio “background” and its ease-of-use is equivalent to the V4 MasterCanvas, which is lost. Do not look for it. Expect to implement its work via multiple SharedLayers.
A minimal Template would therefore pertain to one PageSize, with two Canvases, one each for Portrait and Landscape. Same as a Numbers or Pages Template.
Again, simple if Standard PageSizes are used. A Template for custom sizes, or for Auto-size, would be very silly, because its usefulness is limited to content, not Canvas format.
Still no mention of the Variables related to Page <%#%> <%TotalPages%>, or the hard-and-fast limitations of a Page or PageSize.
Printing
There are of course, projects that require the Canvases to be printed, a PDF flashing up on a screen is simply inadequate. Something that is visible as a result of contemplating the whole diagram on a single page that is stuck on a wall or window, is lost when viewed through a [much smaller] screen, which is really a fixed window into the Canvas.
Printing requires a device called a Printer, and such devices take Standard PageSizes only. Printers that use large PaperSizes cost large sums of money.
By way of explanation of the considerations, let me identify the way I work. Obviously, other people will have different needs and considerations, but this nevertheless explains that which needs to be understood.
- These days, most customers have a good colour printer, but it is limited to A4 or A3. Some printers are laser, which is high quality and resistant to fading, but most are ink-jet, which has poor resolution and fades quickly. High quality paper is also far more expensive than low quality paper.
- In a given project, I may have a data model that is drawn on an A2 Canvas. When I get close to the final draft, I go to a print shop and print it in vivid colour, on a laser printer, on A2 paper. Although that costs only a few bucks, I don’t run off to the print shop every second day if I can help it.
- For presentation and discussion purposes, I print that A2 Canvas in A1.
- For everything up to, and excluding close-to-final draft, the A2 PDF viewed on monitors (ie. not printed) is quite adequate.
Still no mention of the Variables related to Page <%#%> <%TotalPages%>, or the hard-and-fast limitations of a Page or PageSize.
PageSize Limitation
Whereas I produce a high-quality (eg.) A2 printed page at the the close-to-final draft stage, for all projects, for some projects, before the close-to-final draft stage, ie. the duration of the modelling exercise, I need to print interim versions of the model, which uses the nasty corporate printer, that is limited to A3.
- Of course, I can print an A2 Canvas on A3 paper. But such a diagram would be too compressed to read, due to the scaling down (while remaining quite pretty to gawk at).
- I need it at full scale, for reading.
- It is no big deal to draw the A2 model such that it can be printed on 2 x A3 pages: just keep complex objects out of the middle of the diagram (the page split area), and ensure that the fewest lines go through it.
A. Not Perfect
For those projects (and yet other projects the reader here may have), we need such pages numbered, and with a consistent footer. Eg. I have one customer whose developers are so stupid, they need a fresh copy of the data model every time I make the slightest change. They can’t wait for a few changes to be batched up, and a single high-quality A2 page to be printed at the print shop. For them, I perform the following:
- Create a little Page Footer object with a Line; and document and page info
- Include the <%#%> <%TotalPages%> Variables
- Create a new SharedLayer A3 PageFooter (as distinct from my A2 CanvasFooter SharedLayer)
- In the A3 PageFooter SharedLayer, duplicate the PageFooter object and position it at the bottom of each Page. Note”
- the SharedLayer (both A3 PageFooter and A2 CanvasFooter) pertains to the Canvas Size because that is the diagram size
- the A2 CanvasFooter SharedLayer is intended for A2 printing, it has one Canvas footer object
- the A3 PageFooter SharedLayer is intended for A3 printing, it has one Page footer object per Page
- Turn the A2 CanvasFooter Layer Off
- Turn the A3 PageFooter Layer On
- Print the bastard child in its fragmented pieces
- Note that “CanvasSize does not equal PageSize”, assembly is required
- If they drop the fragments, they can re-assemble the whole via the Page numbers.
Such Pages work quite well, as long as the reader is not unreasonable, assembling the Pages into a single Canvas is easy. Leave it as is for viewing on a table, or use a bit of Scotch tape for hanging.
B. Perfect
That is acceptable for that sort of circumstance, but not for others. Where a perfect print of a Pages-not-Canvas document is required for a customer (rather than for his development boffins), the requirement is different again. My data model is still A2, but the final draft on A3 is required.
- Now the PageSize for the OG document is A2, and it remains so throughout the life of the model (it may grow, but it will not shrink).
- When preparing for the [perfect] print task, duplicate the document (I add a suffix “Print”). This document exists for the duration of the print task only.
- If the Orientation in A2 is Portrait, it will be 2 x A3 Landscape, top and bottom. If in A2 it is Landscape, it will be 2 x A3 Portrait, left and right.
- Change the File/PageSetup/PageSize from A2 to A3
- Turn the A2 CanvasFooterPortrait Layer Off
- Turn the A3 CanvasFooterLandscape Layer On
- The first Page (top half) is fine. The top half of the diagram is visible, and the bottom half bleeds off the Canvas. Yes, Canvas.
Note that now “CanvasSize equals PageSize”.
- But if this (discard copy of the document, for the sole purpose of printing, and set up for such, and existing only for the duration of such) were the only lens through which one were to view and understand an OG Canvas, it would be severe limitation indeed, to both the approach and the use of OG as a drawing tool.
- Worse still if one set up one’s Templates with only that way of viewing and drawing a diagram [that has consistency in Form, from the use of a Template].
For the second Page (bottom half of the diagram), we have a bit of work to do:
- Duplicate the Canvas, to obtain Page 2 (Canvas 2)
- Group the entire diagram into a single object. That will collapse object distribution across multiple Layers into one, but we don’t care, it is a discard copy.
- If you use a Grid (and you should, always), set the Canvas/Grid/MajorSpacing to 8 or 16 times what it is. This is for convenience in the next step
- Shift the diagram (now a single object) down one Page. This will be easier with a large Canvas/Grid/MajorSpacing setting
- Ensure the bits that bleed off the Pages (bottom of Page 1; top of Page 2) line up perfectly. Again, easy if you use a grid
- Export to PDF and send to the print shop.
In the same way, an A1 diagram can be printed on 4 x A3 pages, etc. But the work required for the 2nd and subsequent Pages (steps above) is onerous. Prohibitive, if you have to do it often.
Finally
Of course, others will have different requirements, and the need for printing Pages rather than Canvasses more frequently. However, in all cases, all the above needs to be taken into account, and in the declared order. Many people get confused or falsely think OG is limited in some way, because they reverse the order required for a good and proper understanding.
Once you have that understanding, the OG Features such as Auto-sizeCanvas and SizeToFit can be contemplated. Reversing the order is incorrect because it is not possible to grasp the relevance of a complex feature, or to use it reasonably, before one has obtained a full purchase on the simple feature operation.
- Just check the many posts that inquire about these features “Why can’t I get Auto-size to work … [the way I think it should] [without understanding how non-auto-size works]”
- It is like trying to ride a motorcycle without ever having learned to ride a bicycle, and having skinned one’s knees, which demonstrates the acute awareness of both balance, and the point at which one loses it, which is demanded for riding a motorcycle.
As you can see, a little ‘thank you’ reaps rewards.
Cheers
