Change the text of a shape rather than its master

[Sam Huang]

Hi,
I build custom masters by mixing two general shapes, say square and
circle together, and have text on both the shapes.

But after I drop an instance of the master into a page, I cannot
modify the text of the instance. To do so, I need to modify the text
on the master, which is non-sense for me.

How to change the text of a shape without modifying its master?
Thanks!

 

[John Marshall, MVP]

How are you doing this? By code or by the UI?

Are you grouping the shapes? If you drag two shapes to the stencil, it will
group the shapes. So instead of a square and a circle you have three shapes.
A Square, Circle and the group shape. So when you are manipulating the text
on the shape, normally, you will be changing the text in the group shape. To
change the Square text, select the group shape and then click again to
select te circle. Alternately, you can select the grouped shape and choose
Edit Group from the Edit menu.

You can also change the Group properties so that the members are selected
before the group.

John... Visio MVP

Need stencils or ideas? http://visio.mvps.org/3rdparty.htm
Need VBA examples? http://visio.mvps.org/VBA.htm
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[David Parker]

It sounds like your square and circle are being grouped automatically when
you drop the master onto the page.
You need to group your shapes first in your master, and change the behavior
of the group.
Ensure that Edit text of group is unchecked, and that Selection is not Group
Only.

 

[Michel LAPLANE \(MVP\)]

Think also to add a ShapeData to your group and refer the text of the two
sub shape to this ShapeData :

- Select your group and add a ShapeData MyText (be aware to rename
the Row_1 default name by MyText) in the Shape Data Dialogbox
- Select your group an note is name (Format=>Special) let say Sheet.1
- Open the group (Edit=>OpenGroup)
- Select your square and insert a custom formula
(Insert=>Field=>Customformula) like "=Sheet.1!prop.MyText"
- Select your square and insert a custom formula
(Insert=>Field=>Customformula) like "Sheet.1!prop.MyText"
- Close the group
- Put your group in a stencil.

Now when you change the ShapeData content of your dropping shape you will
see the text of you sub shape changing.

Enjoy with visio.