Trying to edit an existing document

[Brittney]

Hello,
I am really, really new to Visio. I am currently trying to make edits on an existing document. Edits include deleting rows and columns and adding text.
Whenever I try to delete the rows or text I receive this message, "shape protection, container, and/or layer properties prevent complete execution of this command"
Can someone please help?

[Nikolay]

The message means exactly what it says...
The shape you are trying to edit is protected from direct modifications by it's creator, means, it should not be edited directly,
and was specifically configured by the person who designed it to disallow direct editing.

Probably there is another way to edit your shape(s) which was assumed to be used.

For example: for a (specialized) database diagram, you don't edit shape directly, but instead use "Properties" tab and Visio will prompt you with dialog and update the shape automatically for you.
Probably you are dealing with some solution like this.

[jw76novice]

Brittney,
Nikolay is probably correct, and you should definitely right-click on the shape and see if there are custom options in that menu to interact with your "table".

On the other hand, the person who developed your drawing may just have turned on protection themselves to discourage others from editing their work.  If the latter, turn on the Developer tab of the ribbon, then open the Protection dialog to see/change many protection options, including Text, From deletion, and others.

Be aware this can easily break a custom Visio solution, so make a backup copy of your file before trying this.

HTH

[Brittney]

Is there a way I can post the picture and get step by step instructions to recreate it?
The PDF is how it is supposed to look
The Visio document is where I accidentally deleted and cannot get it back

[Brittney]

Can someone take me step by step to remove the shape protection, container, and/or layer properties so that I can make changes?

[Nikolay]

It looks like you should check Six-Sigma diagram docs, how to build such diagrams in Visio..  I've found this one for example, may be worth looking at:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-a-Six-Sigma-flowchart-or-House-of-Quality-diagram-26296a8f-f511-4a31-91e9-211d8ef304ce#bm3

Removing protection does not seem to be a good idea. But if you insist, well, you can remove it.
- Open developer tab.
- Select the shape you want to un-protect.
- Click "Protection".
- Un-check the options you want to remove.

[Yacine]

Having had a look at the vsd, it seems that the drawing was made we a lot of manual work.
The contents in the cells were just put over the actual diagram and protected manually from editing.
So either you start from scratch and find out to do properly, or
you continue the same way by removing the protections and editing on top of the diagram.

----
I played a little bit with the six sigma template. (https://youtu.be/Fwh3W-tlCCU)
I think, the thing to avoid is to protect the value shapes dropped on the diagram. They snap and glue so nicely on the diagram, that there's no need to protect them (I'm referring to the sample you uploaded).