Visio shape names and their corresponding stencils?

[Doyle]

I have a Visio drawing that someone else created and I'm trying to figure out
the name of the shapes that are used in it, and the corresponding stencils
where the shapes are found. Aside from going through every single stencil to
find the shapes, is there an easier way?

Thanks,

Doyle

 

[Tim Davenport [MSFT]]

You can get the name of the shape by selecting it and going to
Format>Special. However, getting the stencil it came from is not as easy.
One trick I can think of would be to search for the shape and have the
results returned by stencil name. That could at least help narrow down the
search. You didn't mention what version of Visio you have, but in 2003, you
can enter the shape name in the "Search for Shapes" field near the top of
the stencil window. First, though, go to Tools>Options and click the Shape
Search tab to set the results to "By Group" instead of alphabetically. That
will return the results with the stencil names.

The shape search feature also existed in Visio 2002 but it was called "Find
Shape" and it was on the File menu.

 

[Brian W.Bush]

Hi Doyle,

Tell me your version of Visio and I may be able to help more.

Why not go to Window on the menu bar and click on show document stencil
older versions or click on the shapes icon in 2003 and go to show document
stencil.

This will give you all the shapes used and their name. Create your own blank
stencil and copy the shapes to it and you will be able to use them in other
drawings.

BrianBush