Visual tools
Visual tools
(OP)
I make a lot of spreadsheets. One thing that I don't like about Excel is I haven't found a good way to produce diagrams that show whats going on (say cantilevered retaining walls, showing the wall to scale, soil profiles, pressures, ect. ). Its not really important but I thought it would help people who use it correlate between what they think its doing and what it is actually doing. I was expecting to dump the info into CAD but after looking online and my limited coding knowledge I thought that might be too time consuming. Any suggestions or good references to check out?





RE: Visual tools
RE: Visual tools
-- MechEng2005
RE: Visual tools
RE: Visual tools
RE: Visual tools
It works, but makes for enormous files.
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Visual tools
I usually make a CAD drawing that I insert in my spreadsheets that defines input measurements and such. That works OK, I was hoping to have something somewhat interactive. I've tried using the Excel graphs but that is just way too much work to try and get everything to scale.
I'm interested to see your spreadsheet Clyde38 but I have 2003. I'll try downloading the compatibilty pack.
We don't have Visio but it seems like an odd program... has anybody used it?
RE: Visual tools
RE: Visual tools
RE: Visual tools
Computers are a lot more powerful now, maybe you'll get lucky.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Visual tools
Here's a solution to keep you plotting scaled drawings in Excel.
Make chart area square and add a diagram of a single line, a diagonal of a square which will insure equal horizontal and vertical scales. Just a few formulas requred.
Xmax,Xmin, Ymax, Ymin are maximum and minimum coordinates of everything on the chart.
dx = Xmax-Xmin
dy = Ymax-Ymin
first point of diagonal
x1 = if(dx>=dy, Xmin, (Xmax+Xmin-dy)/2)
y1 = if(dx>=dy, (Ymax+Ymin-dx)/2, Ymin)
second point
x2 = if(dx>=dy, Xmax, (Xmax+Xmin+dy)/2)
y2 = if(dx>=dy, (Ymax+Ymin+dx)/2, Ymax)
Should work!
P.S. To beautify the chart make this line invisible.
Yakpol
RE: Visual tools
good luck
RE: Visual tools
TTFN
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Visual tools
I got this spread sheet from http://www.interactiveds.com.au/
I saved a copy in 2003 format, you can see if it works. .
RE: Visual tools
TTFN
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Visual tools
Thats a good idea for the diagonal, yakpol, I'll try that.
Does anybody know an easy (ha!) way to make a .DXF (or whatever you could get into CAD) file? I've done some C++ back in the day but never VBA and I'm a little intimidated, and since it doesn't really improve the calcs I shy away from dumping time to figure it out...
RE: Visual tools
-- MechEng2005
RE: Visual tools
h
Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services
http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/
RE: Visual tools
RE: Visual tools
In the past I have fiddled extensively with using VBA to draw scaled drawings in Excel. This can get complicated when getting fancy with scale factors, locating the picture right where you want it on the sheet, etc. This can work well, but I found it to be more of a tool looking for an application. The biggest problem was the lack of control over curved lines. I even tried to learn how to draw using lower level commands from VBA but this is beyond my meager programming talents and is not trivial. But the lack of good tools for curvy lines is apparent.
(What I really miss is the macro feature in AutoSketch for Windows 1.0. With that you could generate the geometric points using Excel, then run the macro in AutoSketch to automatically get the drawing.)
But I frequently sketch in Excel using only my eye for sizing, etc. This is just like sketching by hand on a sheet of paper. I find it helpful to sometimes increase the magnification to 200% or even 400% so I can get lines flush at corners, etc. It's also helpful to use the "group" command to lock things together when done so that you can move and size the sketch easily. I also use "heavy" line weights to emphasize the object, and lighter weight lines for dimensions. And it's easy to add text using the text blocks.
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http://www.freevbcode.com/ShowCode.asp?ID=8211
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RE: Visual tools
http:/
RE: Visual tools
corus