Force a connector to connect perpendicularly to the shape

Hello.

I'm a bit skeptical, as I can't reproduce your drawing...

1) My rectangle only has 8 deformation points.

It only offers 9 anchor points... Where do your 28 points come from?


2) My connector positions itself perpendicularly in a spontaneous and automatic manner.

3) In my version of PowerPoint, I couldn't find the "Anchor" tool; where did you find yours?

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Retirement is nice! Especially in the Caribbean...
Raymond (INSA, AFPA)

Hello,

Like Raymond, I don't understand how you proceed.
It's pretty simple:
- you draw your rectangle
- you choose your connector
- you bring the mouse close to the rectangle and the four connection points appear (I said FOUR).
- you click on one of them and draw your connector.

The number of connection points varies with the type of shape: for a rectangle (including rounded rectangle), there are 4, for a circle for example, there are 8, for a star, there are at each tip of the branches, etc.

m@rina

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There's no need to ask me your questions privately. I won't answer them.

Good evening,

Indeed, I hadn't realized you had added points to the shape, since it didn't seem to have changed form. The purpose of these points is specifically to modify a shape, to deform it... By the way, this feature has only existed since version 2007, where you first had to convert the shape into a freeform before you could modify the points.

Additionally, it’s true that these added points function as connection points (that's what they're called, not anchor points ;). We'll try to stick to the dedicated terms.

These connection points indeed allow you to connect two shapes via a connector, and if you move one of the two shapes, the connectors can be redirected. To do this, you right-click on the connector and choose Redirect Connectors.

The issue you're encountering is not due to the new points. When I look at your latest diagram, you're trying to connect a point located on the side of shape B with a point located at the top of shape A... This is frankly not the quickest path. So, whether it's new points or native points, the curved connector is very likely to cross shape A. If, once the connector is drawn, you choose to redirect it via the dedicated function, the connector will AUTOMATICALLY choose a different route that will be the shortest, namely from the top of shape B to the bottom of shape A. This point can be a new point.

And the other solution, if you absolutely want to connect two distant points, is indeed to modify the shape of the connector using the adjustment handles (the yellow diamonds).

m@rina

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There's no need to ask me your questions privately. I do not answer them.

Allow me to give you my opinion, based on my experience with flowcharts:
You are trying to make it too complicated!
And generally, the more complicated a representation is, the less readable and usable it is...
So, for your double connection:
You want to draw two distinct connectors at all costs...
Is it really useful (and relevant)?

You can use one double-headed connector, which will be anchored to your shape.
You can draw a curve (not an arc) freehand, add a point, size it, and place it as you want, then duplicate it and rotate it horizontally and vertically.

--
Retirement is great! Especially in the West Indies...
Raymond (INSA, AFPA)

Another technique that I often use:
Add another small shape, placed strategically, and then group it with the main shape.
These multiple connectors can, at your discretion, be made discreet (reduce the size, remove the fill, lighten the shade, and decrease the stroke thickness ...).

--
Retirement is great! Especially in the Caribbean...
Raymond (INSA, AFPA)

Hello to both of you,

Thank you very much for your responses!

I understand your surprise regarding the shapes I present in my images. I realize I should have better contextualized them! (By the way, if there is a way to edit my first post to make it clearer, I’m all ears!).

In fact, what I ultimately want to achieve is this:


Here is my problem reformulated:

Wish 1

I would like to have arc connectors that arrive: 
- at two different points on the same edge,
- neatly (perpendicularly to the edge, for example, without crossing the shape) (Wish 2)
- and in a anchored manner (what I call anchoring is simply what allows a connector to stay attached to the shape when I move the connector or the shape).

If I succeed, it would allow me to draw nice feedback loops!

Anchoring. Points A and B are anchor points. There is anchoring of my connector at point A.

Problem: with basic shapes, like a rounded rectangle, I only have one anchor point per edge, so I end up with a result like this when I use two arc connectors:

The connector adjustment handle gives me very little room for maneuver, and my connectors are compressed, without making nice arcs.

Observation: apparently, I am not doing what I want with my connectors; they take on an automatic shape, and if I try to change this shape with the handle, the automatic shape will reappear as soon as I move the shape or the connector. (Stop me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me I have observed only this behavior).

Idea: if I cannot modify the shape of my connectors, I can try to influence it by creating new anchor points on my shapes.

For that, I followed the tutorial http://www.pptworkbench.com/html/connector2.htm

And I added points to my shapes. These points can also serve as anchor points.


This is how I obtained the shape in my first post (by adding points, which are also anchor points)!

But actually, once I start tweaking my shape by adding points, its new anchor points give the connectors irrelevant behaviors.



So if I summarize my problem, which I recall here:

Wish 1

I would like to have arc connectors that arrive: 
- at two different points on the same edge,
- neatly (perpendicularly to the edge, for example, without crossing the shape) (Wish 2)
- and in a anchored manner (what I call anchoring is simply what allows a connector to stay attached to the shape when I move the connector or the shape).

I am trying to fulfill wish 1, and my initial question was about wish 2 (which is problematic).

P.S.: For your information, I have Office 2013.

My question is therefore resolved!