Link Text Between Shapes

[Eshambe]

Hi There!

Super new to Visio and can't seem to figure something out.

What I am trying to do is this:

1. Draw a shape (rectangle) on page 1
2. Draw another shape on some other page, lets say page 3
3. Type some text in the shape on page 3
4. Have that text also appear in the shape on page 1 automatically

The end game here is that I want to have a single "background page" with a bunch of shapes (almost like a chart) that I can just add values to and those values will populate shapes on various pages with the desired values referenced from that single page. I'm not sure if this is possible with Macros or Shapesheets etc. But any help with this matter would be greatly appreciated!!

[Nikolay]

Yes, this is definitely possible, but maybe it does not worth it.

I.e. maybe you could be better off filling shape data from some external source/file?
Like create an Excel sheet next to Visio file, and then show values from that Excel sheet on shapes, instead of copying them from other shapes (or from a "background" page)?
Could it make sense for you?

Linking data with shapes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSeLZ0ip_oI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0uouTAw74Q

[Eshambe]

Thank you for your help Nikolay.

I do understand what you are saying and using Excel does have good applications, but I would rather keep everything strictly in Visio. For example, having a chart on the last page that acts as a checklist for all of the other pages and I can just type information in the chart and have this information populate other boxes or shapes on different pages throughout the file. I'm not sure if this is making sense, but if there is a way to link shape text just using Visio that would be ideal.

[Nikolay]

Yes, clear. Maybe the easiest then (no ShapeSheet):

1. Create new diagram.
2. Add new page.
3. Rename page (say, to "Settings")
4. Draw a rectangle on page "Settings". This will be a "reference" shape
5. Go to another page, draw another rectangle.
6. Use "Insert Field", select "Custom Formula", then enter formula to use the text from another page, from another shape. If you followed the above steps, the formula should be like this (assumes that the "reference page" is called "Settings", and that "reference shape" is the first one):

=SHAPETEXT(Pages[Settings]!Sheet.1!TheText)

After this setup, whatever you type on page "Settings" in that shape, will be reflected on another page, on another shape.

[Eshambe]

This is great! Exactly what I was looking for. I just have to remember to pre-set the font size of the shape that I want to reference to so I can create a replicable template. And I see that if you have multiple shapes that you want to reference from the "Settings" page that you just need to iterate the !Sheet.x value to correspond with the order the reference shape was created in.

My only question going forward is are you able to determine the Sheet.x value by looking it up in the Shapesheet? Or do you just have to remember in what order the shape was created on the "Settings" page?

Again, thank you so much for all of your assistance! 

[Nikolay]

My only question going forward is are you able to determine the Sheet.x value by looking it up in the Shapesheet? Or do you just have to remember in what order the shape was created on the "Settings" page?

Check out this article:
http://www.visguy.com/2009/07/15/whats-my-shapes-id/