Associate shape text with shape reference

[Sundog]

I am a new user of SuperUtils with the following problem. I create Visio drawings with multiple hyperlinks, 36 in one instance. I run SuperUtils > Document > Hyperlink Report (current document) to get a list of hyperlinks and associated shapes. I see a hyperlink problem in the list. How do I know which shape on my drawing is Process.62, out of my many Process shapes, so I can fix the hyperlink?

I can't find a report that associates shape text with shape ID. The SuperUtils > Document > Shape(s) Text Export (this document) report lists all the shape texts, but has no association with shape ID. Is there a report that could help me?

[Paul Herber]

Hi, thanks for using the utils.
The best way to find any shape is via the Visio Drawing Explorer window.
How you get there depends on your Visio version. It used to be on the View menu but from Visio 2010 onwards it's on the Developer ribbon.
Look in the Foreground Pages, expand to the shapes and your Process.62 will be there somewhere. If it's a shape within a group then it will be within one of the other shapes, if you explore a grouped shape you will see what I mean, difficult to explain but obvious once seen (I hope). But if you are using standard process type shapes that shouldn't be a problem.

Hope that helps.

[Sundog]

Paul, thanks for the quick reply, and the education about Visio Drawing Explorer. In my case, I would run SuperUtils to find a problem, then go back to Visio (2013 in my case), open Developer > Drawing Explorer > Foreground (or Background if necessary) Pages, then scan down the list to find my Process.62 shape--realizing that the list is sorted by machine rules, not humans, so skip over Process.43, Process.44, Process.5, Process.6, Process.61 to get to Process.62. Then click it to find it on my drawing.

This seems unnecessarily convoluted; doesn't SuperUtils already know that Process.62 has text Foundry? If so, couldn't it be added to the Shape Text Report, or create another report with this info? Or does Drawing Explorer already offer this capability?

I have recommended SuperUtils to several key personnel that I work with, at Sandia National Laboratories--New Mexico. They too would find this information very useful.

[Paul Herber]

Hi, point taken, yes, it does know the shape's text. However, the shape's text could be extensive, could contain hyperlinks, fields etc so might make the output of this report very confusing. If the shape's text is very short then it all works fine, but the utils have to take every case into account, and no point in duplicating what Visio does already!
The text report is suppoosed to be just an output of the text with no superfluous gumpf.
Once you start also outputing the shape's Name, then you also need the NameU, ID etc - ......

Thanks for the recommendations!

[Sundog]

Oh well, I see why it could be a difficulty.

I've found if I have my drawing up in Visio in one pane, and keep my Hyperlink List report open in another pane with the Visio Drawing Explorer Shapes listing adjacent to the Hyperlink List report, it's not so difficult to use one to find the other, and then switch to Visio to fix any problem.

A benefit of this approach: Once I find Process.62 for example, in the Shapes listing, when I click it, it shows as selected on the Visio drawing. So I can immediately do whatever's necessary to that shape in Visio.

[Paul Herber]

... in the Shapes listing, when I click it, it shows as selected on the Visio drawing ...

Sorry, yes, I meant to say that in my previous response!