Copy master to clipboard- paste shortcut to a stencil - error

[Eva]

I don't drop the shortcut into a drawing, but in a stencil. It is possible to create a link to a master:
1. Create a shape and drop it in your own stencil ST1.
2. Copy the master (in the stencil) to clipboard and drop a shortcut into a new stencil ST2
3. Save both stencils.
4. Edit the original master in the stencil ST1
5. Create a new drawing, open the stencil ST2 and drag and drop the shortcut into the drawing.
The icon of the shortcut in the stencil ST2 looks still the same as the original master, but when dropped into the drawing, it is the new one.
I think this is a link. And you can save the stencil which includes shortcuts, you don't have to create it dynamically.

[Yacine]

Just for being clear - is this your scenario?

[Yacine]

Just tried your description of the process with Visio 2013 and Windows 7. It works as you described.

BUT: I understand that the "work stencil" is generated by a search tool, thus the masters in ST2 are always up-to-date. The shapes already dropped in the drawing itself don't update.
So I don't understand why a link is needed instead of a "fresh" copy of the master.

[Nikolay]

Dear Eva,
I was also able to reproduce the thing ("Paste Shortcut" does not work in Visio 2016 on Windows 10).
Steps are exactly the same as you describe.

If you have support requests from M$, and you need this thing to be fixed, then probably it's time to use it.
I don't think that anybody except Visio development team can fix that - looks like a 100% bug

[Nikolay]

I am not happy with the built-in search function, because I haven’t found any way to search shapes in my own stencils. The built-in search only search for shapes that are installed with Visio?

The built-in search works for all shapes. but. This is a long-standing pain point. For shape search to work you need:
- Enable the search service (make sure it's up and running - it is enabled by default but some "optimizers" tend to turn it off for performance reasons)
- Ensure that the location (folder) where you keep your stencils is included in the search index (check Indexing Options).
- Wait a bit for the search service to re-index your content. It won't pick up immediately.

[Eva]

Thank you!
Yacine, you're right that the shapes do not stay up-to-date in the drawing, but anyway the "search stencil" is useful.
Your drawing about the search idea is quite right, except that the "search stencil" is not meant to be temporary. The user can save it and use as long as he needs.

Nikolay, thank you for information. Now I know I should not try to get the shortcut to work, but I must change the function.
The built-in search is not worth using in this case because even if I can get it work on my own machine, it's too complicated to instruct all users.

[Nikolay]

The built-in search is not worth using in this case because even if I can get it work on my own machine, it's too complicated to instruct all users.

By default, it should work. No special setup is required.
Means, "My Documents" folder is included in the search index by default. So if you put the stencils there (or in any sub-folder of "Documents"), the search should pick them up.

[Eva]

The stencils of my tool are not in My Documents folder or sub-folder. And this search feature should only search in the stencils of this tool, not in all Visio stencils. In addition, my search does not search not only in the master's name but also inside some shape data values. But I admit that the built-in search is much faster than my special search. If I could get it work easily in all user's machine, it would be better.

[Eva]

I have tried the built-in search, and found that it really works fast. But I noticed that it also uses master shortcuts. Somehow it works, even if I can't create master shortcuts manually. ?