Get the Super-smart Visio Divided Box Shape!
Visio Guy reader Sim sent me a request a few months ago for a Divided Box Shape. You know, title at the top, description in the bottom portion.
I’ve built lots of variations of this shape over the years, but I thought I’d do a super-duper, ultra-mega version this time. And I even threw in auto-numbering!
We see divided box shapes all over the place. Data-base diagrams, UML and class-hierarchy diagrams. Heck, even our Post-Its take on this form: Big title at the top, smaller description below. Here’s another example you might recognize:
To edit the title, simply select the shape and start typing. To edit the description in the lower rectangle, sub-select it, then start typing. You can also use the F2 key to edit already-existing text, instead of overwriting it.
And here is the full anatomy of today’s Super-smart Divided Box Shape:
click to view larger image
As you can see from that diagram, this shape has a ton of features. Here’s a quick list of them in text form:
- Auto numbering on copy
- Specify current number via Shape Data field
- Format number to include leading place holders, like: 001, 002, 003
- Add a prefix to each number, like: step 01, step 02, step 03
- Turn off auto-numbering
- Hide the number sub-shape
- Change corner rounding with control handle
- Change height of title space using control handle
- Height of box and title space automatically change to accommodate all text if shape made narrower
Now let’s take a closer look at what you can do with this baby…
Well done
How did you implement the number bubble positioning? I’m working on a shape and need to do something similar, i.e. have something that can be positioned in a finite set of places.
Hi OMZ,
Some hints for the bubble positioning: the PinX and PinY of the bubble sub-shape are linked to a control handle in the group. The control handle has the BOUND function in it’s X and Y position cells.
If you use Visio 2007 and have applied Data Graphics, you’ll notice that they can be repositioned using a control handle too. You can look at the formulas, and the help for BOUND to get an idea for how it all works.