-
Create a colored rectangle and group it with the network
shapes on the left side of the page.
-
Draw a bounding box around the Branch
Office 2 network shapes on the right side of the
page.
-
On the Insert tab, in the
Diagram Parts group, click the
Container button. The container
gallery opens.
As you move your mouse over the thumbnails in the container
gallery, note that Live Preview shows how each container
style will look with your selected shapes.
-
Click Container 2
(as shown in the previous graphic).
Your diagram now shows a set of grouped shapes on the left and
a container on the right.
-
Click the Branch Office 1
group once to select it, and then drag the bottom resize handle down
to the bottom of the page.
-
Click the edge or heading of the Branch Office 2 container once to select
it, and then drag the bottom resize handle down to the bottom of the
page.
Important
One immediate difference to note: you can select a group by
clicking anywhere on its edge or interior, but you can only select
a container by clicking its edge or its heading.
In the following graphic, you can see that what you’ve
previously learned about groups applies here: resizing the group
resizes the shapes in the group. Look at the container on the right,
however. The container is taller but its member shapes are
unchanged.
-
Press Ctrl+Z twice to undo both resize
operations.
-
Drag two PC shapes from the
Computers and Monitors stencil,
dropping the first in the open area above the Branch Office 1 network segment and the
second in the open area of the container for Branch Office 2.
Tip
Containers provide visual feedback when you drag shapes near
or into them. (This is one way to distinguish a container from a
group or an ordinary shape.) The border of the container on the
right in the following graphic shows an orange color that is very
similar to the coloring used for Dynamic Grid lines.
-
Hold down the Shift key and click on both the group and the
container to select them. Then drag the selection down to the bottom
of the page.
As you can see in the following graphic, dropping a
shape on a group does not add it to the group—it is left behind when
you move the group. In contrast, dropping a shape into a container
does add it to the container, so it moves when you move the
container.
Tip
By default, shapes dropped on a group are not added to the
group. However, if you run Visio in developer mode, you can change
the behavior of a group so it will accept dropped shapes. For more
information about developer mode, see the Appendix.
-
Press Ctrl+Z three times to undo the move operation and delete
the two PCs you added.
-
Click once to select the Branch Office
1 group, and then click the printer in the group. Drag it
out of the top of the group rectangle.
Tip
The default behavior for groups is that the first click
selects the group; you must click a second time to select a shape
in the group. If you run Visio in developer mode, you can alter
the selection characteristics of a group. For more information
about developer mode, see the Appendix.
-
Click once to select the printer in the Branch Office 2 container, and then drag it
out of the top of the container. The results of both this step and
the previous one are shown in the following graphic.
Tip
One click is sufficient to select any shape in a container
because, by design, the fill of the container can’t be selected
with a mouse click.
-
Hold down the Shift key and click both the group and
the container to select them. Then drag the selection down to the
bottom of the page.
Although you have dragged the printer on the left off the
colored group rectangle, the shape is still part of the group.
Consequently, the printer moves when you move the group. On the
right, however, dragging a shape out of a container removes it from
the container so it stays behind when you move the container.
-
Press Ctrl+Z three times to undo the move operation and return
the printers to their original locations.
-
Click and drag in the interior of the group and attempt to
draw a bounding box around the two PCs below the network
segment.
The result will not be what you intended. You cannot select
the two PCs with a bounding box because clicking and dragging within
the group shape moves the group (see the graphic in the next
step).
Tip
You can select shapes in a group with a bounding box—but
only if you start the bounding box outside of the group.
-
Click once in the interior of the container and attempt to
draw a bounding box around the two PCs below the network
segment.
A bounding box inside a container does select contained shapes
for the same reason that you could select a contained shape with a
single click in Step 13: the container background is “invisible” to
mouse clicks.
-
Click once to select the Branch Office
1 group, type San Francisco, and press Esc. Then
format the text to 14 pt. and
Bold to make it more
visible.
-
Click once to select the container, type Boston,
and press Esc. Then format the text to 14
pt. and Bold to make
it more visible.
As you can see in the following graphic, the text you added to
the group on the left is positioned in the center of the group by
default. Unfortunately, this places the new text on top of the words
Branch Office 1.
In contrast, a container has a built-in header. When you add
text to a container, the text automatically appears in the
header.
