Universal Communication Channel (vertical)

Meaning

The Universal Communication Channel (vertical) is used to depict a communication of two agents over a channel. The R and the arrow indicate the direction of the communication. If there is no Request/Response-Symbol the two agents communicate in arbitrary fashion as A and B do in this case.

Utilization

Control Points

A )	moves the position of the explaining text appears only when text has been entered to enter text double click the shape or start typing while the shape is selected
B )	defines the position of the request/response symbol
C )	defines the position of the channel limited to the bounds of the drawing

Context Menu

The context menu allows to turn the Req./Resp. Symbol by 90 deg. or to hide it completely:

		Show Req./Res. Symbol - This will show or hide the Request/Response Symbol.
		Turn Req./Res. Symbol - Turns the Request/Response Symbol in 90 deg. steps.

Hints

Arrows

To create a request channel from this shape you can simply add arrows to the line ends using Visio's standard tool "Line Ends" from the Format toolbar. For more details use the dialog Format -> Line and configure the settings under the category "Line Ends".

Misc

The line of the channel will always be twice as thick as the connection