Has Visio lost its mind (or is it just me)?

[big_trog]

Hi, all -

I'm developing a complex grouped shape for use in a
Visio automation setting using Visio 2003 Professional.
The group consists of 386 native shapes - a border, a
title block, and 96 subgroups with four shapes each.
Each subgroup has several custom properties and user
defined cells that control its positioning and presentation.
To build up this large group, I painstakingly set up the
border, text block, and a single subgroup as I wanted it,
then opened the top-level group, selected the subgroup,
and started duplicating it.

The problem is that after about 15 or so duplications,
Visio starts rendering the new subgroups incorrectly, as
though it loses track of the stacking order of the shapes
within the new subgroups. (In particular, the subgroup text,
which is supposed to be in front of the member shapes,
gets moved behind even though I haven't touched any of
the group display options.) The problem persists until I
close the document and reopen it, at which time order
is restored. When I start duplicating subgroups again,
the problem will reappear as before after about 15
duplications.

Is this a known problem in Visio 2003 Pro? Is there any
workaround other than closing and reopening the
document?

Thanks,
John B.

 

[Mark Nelson [MS]]

To clarify, are you performing all these operations within a group edit
window or in the main drawing window? I have not seen a problem like this
before but would be happy to look at a file that can reproduce the problem.

 

[big_trog]

I was trying to do these operations in a group edit window.
(I will send a copy of the offending file to you directly when
I get to my office.)

John B.