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Am I doing something wrong? I can't seem to rename a shape more than once, and I cannot reference any shapes by their "given" names, only by their shape ID. Here's what I'm doing in Visio 2016 Standard:

  1. Create a new shape, which I'll call myShape
  2. Inside myShape, I draw a square. Visio gives it the default name of Sheet.5.
  3. From the Developer tab, I select Shape Name, and give Sheet.5 the name of "Square". The Master Explorer reflects the name change. The Shape Sheet for the shape reflects the new name.
  4. If I try to reference "Square" from another Visio object, I am unable to do so. I get an "error in formula" error. If however I put "Sheet.5" in the same formula, it's fine. I can't reference the shape by the name I've given it, but I can reference it by the ID.
  5. Furthermore, let's say I change my mind on the name of my shape. If I go to the Developer tab, select Shape Name, and change "Square" to "Cuadrado", this is reflected in the Master Explorer. However, the Shape Sheet's title bar still shows "Square" as the name.

Is this expected behavior? Is there a bug in my stencil? In my master shape?

the_meter413
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2 Answers2

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This is expected behavior. Shapes and pages (and other items) have a local and a universal name. When you create a formula to access a shape you will see there is a Name and a NameU. Name is the local name and NameU is the universal name. Via the UI you can only change the local name, and the universal name can only be changed via code.

Paul Herber
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Let's say a bunch of people are invited to a lecture. This includes you and some friends. You are Robert Smith. Friend A calls you Bob, but friend B calls you Bobby. To add to the confusion, in the crowd, there are 2 other Robert Smiths. The universal name is Robert Smith. Bob and Bobby are local names. But further distinction is needed. So, perhaps, based upon time of arrival, there's Smith.1, Smith.2, & Smith.3. Friend A only cares about Bob but the lecture organizers care about numerical versions. But, the name tag people only care about the universal name. Visio makes all three available.

Wayne Perlich
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