Spotting Custom UI Errors in Visio Add-ins

I have written many COM and VSTO add-ins for Visio, but got confused when a client recently reported that the following Custom UI Runtime Error was appearing. I wasn’t getting the same error on any of my test laptops, so I chatted with my good friend, and fellow Visio MVP, John Goldsmith ( John Goldsmith’s visLog ). He gave me an excellent tip….

He remembered that he had seen somewhere a setting for displaying UI errors, and after first searching vainly in the Visio UI, we found it in Excel in the Excel Options. This Show add-in user interface errors setting is apparently Office wide, so ticking it meant that it as enabled for Visio desktop too.

And what was the error?

I had simply forgotten that the <Separator /> element in the Ribbon.xml file requires a unique id attribute …

Post-Processing Paste from Clipboard in Visio

One of my current Visio VSTO add-in projects requires me to react to users pasting custom shapes in the Visio page from the clipboard. The process involves registering the ExitScope event and then checking the Clipboard contents. Initially, I was merely testing for a line in the DataObject that started with the word “Visio “,…

Are Master Shortcuts useful in Visio?

Many Visio users may not even understand the question, but this almost hidden feature has been available for many years. A Master Shortcut looks like a normal Master in a stencil, but it is merely holds a reference to another Master in a Stencil, not necessarily the same one, and has an option to add…

Co-authoring and Commenting with Visio Documents

Microsoft Visio can be used in the web browser and on the desktop, but there are several licensing options available, so which ones can be used concurrently whilst supporting co-authoring and commenting? This article tests the various scenarios but assumes that the Visio documents are stored in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online\Teams. The Microsoft…

Merging Linked Data from Similar Tables

I was recently asked how to link data from different tables but with similar column names to Visio shapes. In this case, each table has the same unique identifier, but some of the column names are the same. The problem is that the data linking matches the column name with the label of a Shape…

Using Button Face Ids in Visio

Microsoft Visio desktop has the ability to display icons from a built-in list of Office icons on Actions and Action Tags (nee Smart Tags). These can be set in the ShapeSheet by using the desired number from several thousand in the ButtonFace cell. Although there is the ability to add better icons using code, the…

Optimize Visio Flowcharts: Swimlane Reordering Tips

Microsoft Visio desktop Plan 2 and Professional editions provides the ability to create and synchronize cross-functional flowcharts between the diagram and an Excel table. This is great, and widely used for many types of processes. The Excel table normally has a Function / Swimlane column that contains text that becomes labels on the swimlane containers,…