Is it possible to generate a connector diagram/plan in Visio?

Question

Hello I work as an Electrical Engineer and sometimes I like to use Visio to plan electrical power/data cabling.

I was wondering if there was a way to output a list of all the connectors when using them in a drawing.

I was imagining it to look like a spreadsheet with all the relevant information like connector goes from Object A to B and also one column for the text on the connector.

Please let me know if something like this is possible in Visio as it would help me save a ton of time in my work =)

Answer 1

Hi @delverofsecrets

Based on your description, I think you may try using Shape Reports in Review>Reports, then select the properties you would like.
"Information like connector goes from Object A to B" may not achieve.
As a workaround, you may add "information like connector goes from Object A to B" to connector text then select the property to display it.

Result:

Hope this is helpful.
Any misunderstandings or updates, please let me know.

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Answer 2

Hello Erin!

Thank you for your awesome explanation, this was really helpful and is pretty much what I was looking for.

For the sake of efficiency do you know if it possible to assign text to connection points if there are multiple on a shape?
Often these plans get very complex and I am trying to reduce the amount of steps required as much as possible to reduce chance of human error and also time spent.

The reason why I mentioned "information like connector goes from Object A to B" is because in order to do my job, cables need to have printed labels on both ends for each cable termination. For example 1 cable goes from Unit 1 to Unit 2 I will need to print 2 labels:

One that says "Cable 1 - Unit 1 to Unit 2" and another one "Cable 1 - Unit 2 to Unit 1"

Because of this I thought it might be really efficient to just create shapes with all the required connection points and already saved text that is tied to each connection point (like ports, unit names, maybe even x and y coordinates on the plan although this one seems simple)

I'm sorry if this is really complicated or confusing but I am just trying to understand what Visio is capable of and if this is enough to automate a big part of my job!

Thank you already and again in advance. Much love. =)