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.
It moves the vertical position without a problem, as can be seen in this short video:
The fix is straight forward enough. The TxtPinX cell is missing the formula =SETATREF(Controls.visSSTXT) , so this following VBA macro can fix that for an active document. It will need to be run after the problem master shapes have been first used in the document, but then they are fixed for ever….
Public Sub FixTheTextControlHandle()
On Error GoTo errHandler
Dim mst As Visio.Master
Dim mstCopy As Visio.Master
Dim shp As Visio.Shape
Dim curFormula As String
'This is the referenced cell
Const cll As String = "Controls.visSSTXT"
'This is the missing formula
Const frml As String = "SETATREF(Controls.visSSTXT)"
For Each mst In ActiveDocument.Masters
If mst.Shapes(1).CellExistsU(cll, Visio.VisExistsFlags.visExistsAnywhere) <> 0 Then
curFormula = UCase(mst.Shapes(1).CellsU(cll).FormulaU)
If Not UcurFormula = UCase(frml) And _
Not InStr(curFormula, "GUARD") > 0 Then
Set mstCopy = mst.Open
Set shp = mstCopy.Shapes(1)
shp.CellsU("TxtPinX").FormulaForceU = "=" & frml
mstCopy.Close
mst.MatchByName = True
End If
End If
Next
exitHere:
Exit Sub
errHandler:
MsgBox Err.description, vbExclamation, "FixTheTextControlHandle"
Resume exitHere
Resume
End SubThen the control handle can move the text block horizontally too:
I have informed Microsoft of the bug, and hope they will fix it soon.
Synchronizing Visio Shape Fill Color (or almost any cell) across pages
I was recently asked how the color of one shape can be changed and for other shapes to be automatically updated to the same color … even if they are on different pages! Well, it is possible with Microsoft Visio’s awesome ShapeSheet formulas. In fact, this capability is not limited to the FillForegnd cell ……
Positioning Visio Shape Text Block with a Control Handle
I was recently asked how a control handle can be added to a Visio shape so that it can be used to re-position the text block. Fortunately, it is extremely easy to setup, and requires just two formulas to be updated in the ShapeSheet. This is a great use of the SETATREF(…) function. (more…)
Understanding Segments of Visio Geometry
I recently had to revise my understanding of the POINTALONGPATH(…) function in Visio because I was getting a #REF! error in some cases. My particular scenario requires a line with a number of vertices that are initially all in a straight line but can be moved by dragging controls around that each vertex is bound…
Custom Color Themes in Visio?
I was recently looking into custom color themes for corporate branding in desktop Microsoft Visio and became re-aware how different Visio still is from the rest of the Microsoft Office applications. A Visio page or document does not need to have any theme applied, but the documents of the other Office applications always have a…
When is a Visio Callout not a Callout?
I have been a Visio user/developer since the mid-1990’s and seen the word “callout” used as part of the name of many master shapes in Visio. The images below show five ways that the term “callout” has been applied to the name of Visio master shapes. Generally, each evolution has been an advance on the…
Using Visio Color by Value on Connectors
Data Graphics in Visio Plan 2 and Visio Professional is great, but it only enables us to use them with 2D shapes in Visio, i.e. not on connectors. So, what if you want to change the line colour of the connectors between the 2D shapes because of the data flowing between them? Well, it is…