Recommended Reading
- Practical Network Cabling by Derfler & Freed, QUE/PHI, ISBN-81-203-1662-2
Microsoft Excel: A case study
Microsoft Excel can be used to prepare near to-scale layouts drawings, block-diagrams and with a little imagination even basic 3D and wire-frame models.
The trick is to convert the spreadsheet into a graph like grid. This is done by resizing the Column Width and Row Height. Exact values of these parameter will depend on the amount of scaling and the size of the final drawing to be made. Most important thing is that it has to be ensured that after setting these properties, the whole spreadsheet should LOOK like a graph paper sheet. For example to make a very detailed layout, select complete spreadsheet and set Column Width=0.5 and Row Height=4.5.
After the basic setup of graph like background has been made, the various formatting and drawing tools have to be used creatively to get the exact results you want.
You can download an Excel file containing a selection of works done by me with this idea. To appreciate these works, view them in Print Preview mode or take a colour printout. It has following spreadsheets-
- Layout of the Wheel Shop at Rail Wheel Factory, Bangalore
- Road Layout of JMP
- Layout of IRIMEE complex (Thanks MKG'90)
- Layout of JMP East Colony
- IRIMEE Library Interior Design Layout
- Floor Tile Designing for Mechatronics Lab
- An elementary 3D design of podium
- Wire Frame drawing of a telescopic bird cage
Ajay Singh, Professor (IT) | 
