Visio 2003: Reference ShapeSheet cell on a different page or Hide/Unhde Pages

I pressed enter and posted the above before I was completely finished...

The first image shows page 1 and its corresponding shapesheet. As I mentioned previously, I added shape data fields to the page, which makes changing values very accessible as shown by the shape data dialog that is hovering over the page. You can certainly do the same thing with a control shape if you prefer.

The second image shows the UIVisibility formula for Page-3 -- here's where the tricky syntax resides:
  =Pages[Page-1]!ThePage!Prop.HidePage_03
The three parts of this expression refer to: 1) a specific page; 2) the page shapesheet; 3) a specific cell in the shape data (aka custom properties) section.

I'd be happy to post the Visio file itself if you'd like it.

Scott

Scott,

Thanks for the response.

I've been through that reference quite a number of times, and I can't figure out to reference the value of a cell in a row of a shapesheet of a shape that's on a different page. Maknig references to ShapeSheet information for shapes that are on the same page is not a problem for me at all.

I've even tried creating a shape on a page and referencing a ShapeSheet value of another shape on the same page, then moving one of the shapes to another page (hoping that the refrence would get correctly updated). It would simply change the referring ShapeSheet cell value to "REF()".

In light of your additional information...

It *seems* like you were modifying Page ShapeSheet information from a different page (or accessing it). I want to do the opposite... From *within* the ShapeSheet for a page, I want to reference ShapeSheet data of a shape on a different page.

Does that change the game any?

Wait... I think I can do this with some modifications.

I want to have a shape on the page that I can right-click and choose from two different options. I already have one of those to handle some very specific controls for printing. I will duplicate the shape and the controls, and I will have option one set a page property on the current page's ShapeSheet to one value, and option two will set it to a different value.

Once the value is set on the current page's ShapeSheet, I can use your syntax to refer to it from the other pages. I'll give it a try this morning and let you know how it works out.

The UIVisibility formula in the second image above does what you're asking about -- it references a cell on another page. It happens that the cell is in a row of the page's shapesheet rather than a shape's shapesheet but the basic syntax is similar.

Replace "ThePage" with the reference to your shape. If your control shape on Page-1 is "Sheet.3" and it has the same shape data that I used for Page-1 in my example the formula becomes
  =Pages[Page-1]!Sheet.3!Prop.HidePage_03

The upper half of the image below shows the control shape on Page-1 and the bottom half shows the UIVisibility cell on Page-3 that refers to a cell in the control shape.

if I create a brand new page, use the default page name, and then reference either the page ShapeSheet or a shape on that page, everything is fine with the formula reference.

Once the formula is in place, however, modifying the value of the ShapeSheet cell being referenced does NOT cause the referring page to disappear / appear. In order to get the page display to change, I have to open the ShapeSheet for the referring page and close it again.

Also - I am absolutely unable to reference a shape on an *existing* page, and I suspect that this has something to do with the fact that I have changed all of the default page names.

I have been fighting with this for the last hour, and have finally figured out the issue.

The problem was not my syntax or what I was trying to do AT ALL. The problem was that ShapeSheets do NOT use Local names of objects - they ONLY use Universal Names. While that doesn't pose an issue for most of the people, it was causing me consternation because of the way that my pages had been created and maintained.

When I initially created the page that I'm trying to reference, I allowed Visio to create it with the default name (Page-2). Afterward, I renamed the page to "Generic Name - Updated" and turned it into a template. Using the template to create a multitude of drawings, I would rename the page *again* to "Specific Name - Updated".

This still isn't something deemed significant until you understand that the *FIRST TIME* you rename an object, Visio changes both the Local *AND* Universal names. This means that the new Universal Name for my page is "Generic Name - Updated".

Every time I want to reference this page, or an object on this page, I have to start the reference with "Pages[Generic Name - Updated]!" (because, again, ShapeSheets ONLY use the Universal Names for reference purposes).

While I appreciate your showing me that what I was attempting is completely possible, it wasn't really part of my true solution. I will be deciding on how to best award the points because your help definitely renewed my own determination to solve this.

I will NOT consider points for anyone besides Scott at this point.

As you decide how to allocate points, please remember that the question you asked was about cross-page references to shapesheet cells. I believe I answered that question very thoroughly by providing examples of references to both cells in the page sheet and cells on a shape.

The additional information you discovered about universal names is, indeed, vital to the problem you wanted to solve but was not part of the question you asked.