7.2 Creating Visio Shape Data Fields

[@VisioGuy]

Here's two tips to view the Shape Data Sets panel, inspired by @ericgelders Method 1: - Right-click in the Shape Data panel and click "Shape Data Sets..." Method 2: 1. Right-click the Quick Access Toolbar (bar of small shortcut icons at the top of the window) 2. Choose "Customize Quick Access Toolbar..." 3. In left drop-down, set: Choose commands = "All Commands" 4. Find "Shape Data Sets..." in the list and select it 5. Click the "Add" button in the middle of the form 6. Click OK to exit the pop-up You will now have a button in the Quick Access Toolbar to show the Shape Data Sets panel whenever you need it! Thanks to Eric G!

[@ericgelders]

Well thank YOU for putting in the effort to test and publish here. Appreciated🙏!

[@VisioGuy]

Visio shows blank values just fine. Do you want the row to disappear when it has no data? How will you add data then? If you know the ShapeSheet, you can hide fields with something like this: Prop.Row_1.Invisible = (LEN(Prop.Row_1)=0)

[@d12kiem7]

I had a built in data table show up in the Shape Data window every time I place shape on Visio and the contents of that window suddenly disappeared. What happened?????

[@AztecWarrior69_69]

How would you Change text in a rectangle shape? Open;Close

[@VisioGuy]

Hi AW, your question isn't very clear. Can you elaborate?

[@AztecWarrior69_69]

@@VisioGuy I have a master with a picture of a timer, which I added connection points. In the display window of the timer I added a Blue Rectangle shape with the words either "Open" or "Close". Every time I place a timer in the drawing I have to go in and manually change Open or Close. I need a way to do this with a as a selectable option. TY.

[@AztecWarrior69_69]

@@VisioGuy Was that not clear enough?

[@ericgelders]

These videos are still valuable these days, thank you for putting them up here! I like to work with shape data sets, it's very covenient. But I wonder if there is a way to see ALL the shape data sets being used in a Visio drawing, in a list or overview, or maybe a data dump? To get to all the data sets, first you need to dive into the shape, then the shape editor and then edit shape data sets... That's a bit obfuscated IMHO.

[@VisioGuy-UsingVisio]

I believe the definitions are stored "per-document", and can be found in SolutionsXML, which is an awkward API, but you can get at it with VBA, C#, VB.NET, etc, if you are technically inclined. If I had a few spare hours, I would try and make a GitHub project that did some basic accessing of this information, so people could start an .exe and have a quick look at them, maybe export them to some text file for re-import, etc.

[@VisioGuy]

Also, the "Shape Data Sets" floating window shows all the data sets in the document. I think you have to use this to apply a set to a shape, so I'm not sure I truly understand your question now...?

[@ericgelders]

@@VisioGuy Thanx for the extensive replies! Yes, I found the Shape Data Sets floating window eventually, thanx for pointing out! The thing is, you have to dig relatively deep to find it - it's not like there's an option in the ribbon to find it with one mouse click and provide you with a convenient data set overview.

[@VisioGuy]

@@ericgeldersYeah, I always right-click in the Shape Data panel...SO INTUITIVE. No idea if there is a button anywhere else to get at it.

[@ericgelders]

@@VisioGuy Well, once again thanx for the explanation, appreciated 👍!

[@739sf6mwq6pRdocosbaiTxocmKlkes]

You know what drives me crazy? How Visio can’t handle simply not displaying a BLANK field when a row has empty data.

[@culgiles4433]

Assuming you are using a fixed list type, you can insert a semicolon before the list of items in the Format field, which themselves are separated by semicolons, which then allows users to leave that field blank.

[@739sf6mwq6pRdocosbaiTxocmKlkes]

@@culgiles4433 thank you. I will try that. I’m connecting to an excel spreadsheet shared through sharepoint and it automatically updates my diagrams depending on the data found.

[@HoosierGuy]

Very helpful! How would you display the shape data on the shape? For example the wattage centered in the bulb?