Process engineering shapes don’t work like other Visio 2007 shapes. They have categories, tag formats, and other attributes that make your diagram more valuable. However, you might need to create your own shapes or modify existing Visio 2007 shapes to complete your diagram. To take full advantage of Visio 2007 you can convert other Visio 2007 shapes or even CAD symbols (from an AutoCAD .dwg or .dxf file) to process engineering shapes so that they will appear in your model. The Shape Conversion command on the Process Engineering menu applies the necessary component information to any shape or symbol, as Figure 27-30 shows.
The results of the conversion vary depending on the source of the shapes:
Shapes on the drawing page If you convert selected shapes on the page, Visio 2007 applies a category, shape data, and tags to each shape so that it appears in the appropriate model windows. Each shape links to a new master on the document stencil.
Shapes from a stencil If you convert an existing stencil, all the master shapes are updated with a category, shape data, and tags. When you drag a converted shape from the stencil onto the drawing page, it appears in all the appropriate model windows.
Shapes from an AutoCAD file If you convert the symbols from a .dwg or .dxf file, Visio 2007 creates a new stencil and adds a master shape for each converted symbol with the appropriate category, shape data, and tag information. To save the new stencil, click its title bar, and then choose File, Save.
To convert shapes into process engineering shapes, follow these steps:
Note
If you convert a stencil or CAD symbols, make sure to save the changes to the master shapes on the stencil. To do this, right-click a stencil title bar, and then choose Save or Save As.
Troubleshooting: An equipment shape in a P&ID or PFD no longer works—its tag and other information have been deletedSome operations in Visio 2007 can cause a process engineering shape to lose its data-tracking attributes, and you must use the Shape Conversion command to reapply the lost functionality. For example, if you ungroup a grouped shape, or use a shape operation command (choose Shape, Operations) with process engineering shapes, Visio 2007 discards the shape’s shape data, tag, and category information. You can reapply the information by converting the shape. |