I have previously written about using off-page references and labelled page grids in Visio, see A Page Grid with Labels and Page Grids and Off Page References, however a reader pointed out that the label on the Off-Page Reference shape is duplicated on both ends. This is not always ideal, however it is all I could do using just ShapeSheet formulas alone. So, in this article, I show how a VBA macro can enhance the reciprocal labels on the twin Off-Page Reference shapes, and they automatically update if either end is moved between grids. This is especially useful in electrical wiring diagrams, but the principal can be adapted for other purposes.
My previous articles explain that the Off-page reference shape uses the OPC add-on, and contains a slightly modified version in of this master, along with a custom GridLabel and GridLines masters. I have created a more up-to-date version as Page Grid With OPC.vsdx for downloading.
If this document is placed in OneDrive or SharePoint Online, then it can be edited. The Off-page reference shapes can be moved, and the label of twin shapes will be automatically updated with the grid reference of its destination. The hyperlinks can be followed with the CTRL-Click on each Off-page Reference shape.
In Visio desktop, the Off-page reference shapes can be double-clicked, and the destination twin shape will also be selected. This is because the OPC add-on is built-in to Visio desktop, whereas currently the hyperlink navigation only opens the target page.
Running the Enhance OPCs macro
All of the VBA code is in the Enhanced OPC.vssm macro-enabled stencil, which can be downloaded and placed into the My Shapes folder. It will then be available to open in the Visio UI. It contains just one master, Enhance OPCs, which can be dragged and dropped on to any page in the above Visio document. This can be done anytime after adding more of the Off-page reference shapes available from the Document Stencil or the Basic Flowchart stencil, as it will enhance each of the instances.

The code iterates through each page, and selects all instances of the Off-page reference shape. It then checks that the User.OPCDPageID cell exists because this contains the unique ID of the destination page. This is automatically entered by the Microsoft OPC add-on, as is the unique ID of the destination shape in the User.OPCDShapeID cell.
This existing ShapeSheet formula, =RUNADDONWARGS(“OPC”,”/CMD=3″), in the TheText cell calls this OPC add-on and updates the text of the twin shape whenever the text is changed. This is why the existing functionality has identical text in each of the twin shapes, so the macro removes this, and instead, inserts a a formula into the User.visEquivTitle.Prompt cell. The previous articles used the User.visEquivTitle.Value cell to store the row and column label text, so all that this macro does is create a reference to this call in the twin shape:
"=Pages[" & trgtPage & "]!Sheet." & trgtShape.ID & "!User.visEquivTitle"
This cell reference can then be inserted into the text block of the shape, and it will thus be automatically updated if the destination shape is moved within its page to a different grid reference.
I needed two helper functions, GetShape and GetMasterU, before using them in the EnhanceTheOPCs function.
GetShape function
This function returns the shape specified with the unique IDs of the destination page and shape, or nothing if it does not exist.
Private Function GetShape(ByVal pageUID As String, ByVal shapeUID As String) As Visio.Shape
On Error GoTo errHandler
Dim pag As Visio.Page
Dim shp As Visio.Shape
For Each pag In ActiveDocument.Pages
If pag.PageSheet.UniqueID(Visio.VisUniqueIDArgs.visGetOrMakeGUID) = pageUID Then
Set shp = pag.Shapes(shapeUID)
Set GetShape = shp
GoTo exitHere
End If
Next pag
exitHere:
Exit Function
errHandler:
'Not found
Resume exitHere
End Function
GetMasterU function
This function returns the master in the active document of the passed in master name, or nothing if it does not exist.
Public Function GetMasterU(ByVal masterName As String) As Visio.Master
If Len(masterName) = 0 Then
Exit Function
End If
Dim mst As Visio.Master
For Each mst In Visio.ActiveDocument.Masters
If UCase(mst.NameU) = UCase(masterName) Then
Set GetMasterU = mst
Exit Function
End If
Next
Set GetMasterU = Nothing
End Function
EnhanceTheOPCs function
This sub-function enhances all of the instances of the specified master
Public Sub EnhanceTheOPCs()
On Error GoTo errHandler
Const MSTR As String = "Off-page reference"
Dim mst As Visio.Master
Set mst = GetMasterU(MSTR)
If mst Is Nothing Then
GoTo exitHere
End If
Dim pag As Visio.Page
Dim sel As Visio.Selection
Dim shp As Visio.Shape
Dim trgtPageUID As String
Dim trgtShapeUID As String
Dim trgtPage As Visio.Page
Dim trgtShape As Visio.Shape
Dim chars As Visio.Characters
For Each pag In ActiveDocument.Pages
Set sel = pag.CreateSelection(visSelTypeByMaster, 0, mst)
For Each shp In sel
If shp.CellExistsU("User.OPCDPageID", Visio.VisExistsFlags.visExistsAnywhere) <> 0 Then
trgtPageUID = shp.CellsU("User.OPCDPageID").ResultStr("")
trgtShapeUID = shp.CellsU("User.OPCDShapeID").ResultStr("")
If Len(trgtPageUID) = 38 And Len(trgtShapeUID) = 38 Then
Set trgtShape = GetShape(trgtPageUID, trgtShapeUID)
If Not trgtShape Is Nothing Then
Set trgtPage = trgtShape.ContainingPage
If shp.CellExistsU("User.visEquivTitle", Visio.VisExistsFlags.visExistsAnywhere) Then
shp.CellsU("Hyperlink.OffPageConnector.SubAddress").FormulaU = "=""" & trgtPage.Name & "/" & trgtShape.Name & """"
shp.CellsU("Hyperlink.OffPageConnector.Description").FormulaU = "=User.visEquivTitle"
'Remove the existing formula =RUNADDONWARGS("OPC","/CMD=3")
shp.CellsU("TheText").FormulaU = "=0"
shp.CellsU("User.visEquivTitle.Prompt").FormulaU = "=Pages[" & trgtPage & "]!Sheet." & trgtShape.ID & "!User.visEquivTitle"
Set chars = shp.Characters
chars.Delete
chars.Begin = 0
chars.End = 1
chars.AddCustomFieldU "User.visEquivTitle.Prompt", visFmtNumGenNoUnits
End If
End If
End If
End If
Next shp
Next pag
exitHere:
Exit Sub
errHandler:
MsgBox Err.description, vbExclamation, "EnhanceTheOPCs"
Resume exitHere
End Sub
Further reading
Taking Visio Actions Rows to the limit
I recently (re-)discovered that there is a limit to the number of Actions section rows that will be evaluated for display on the right mouse menu of a Visio shape. I have not hit a limit (yet) for the number of rows that can be added to the Actions section … so why is there…
A Multi-Time Zone Clock for Visio
I wrote a post about making a clock face in Visio fifteen years ago, but a reader recently asked about displaying multiple time zones. Well, I have previously written about time zones in Visio, so I accepted the challenge to improve upon my earlier work. (more…)
Update any Visio ShapeSheet cell with External Data
When Microsoft introduced a new way of linking external data to Visio shapes in 2007, I initially bemoaned the inability to update anything but Shape Data row values, unlike the old database add-on that I had been using for 10 years. The new method, though, has many advantages over the old way, not least that…
Referencing Container Data in Visio
Microsoft Visio has a useful Structured Diagramming concept that consists of Containers, Callouts and Connectors. The first of these features make it possible for shapes to know what they are contained within, as a better option to grouping shapes together. Grouping can hide or break the grouped shapes smartness, so Visio provides two ways of…
Understanding Morse Clicks with Visio
A few years ago, I wrote an article about messaging and encryption inspired by a visit to the National Museum of Computing in the UK. I developed a Morse Click shape to demonstrate how Visio can be used to represent and learn Morse Code. However, I never published the shapes here, and my good friend…
Correcting the Text Control Handle on Visio Network Shapes
There are literally thousands of master shapes in the stencils supplied with Microsoft Visio, so I guess that mistakes can creep in. One error that I have noticed is the inability of the default text control handle of many of the network shapes to actually move the text block horizontally. (more…)
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