Shape numbering outside of shape

[Outrider]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can provide a suggestion to me.  Is there a way to auto-number shapes in a way that places the number outside of the shape?  I've used the Number Shape add-on, but it forces the number to the shape's inside.

Thank you for any help you can provide. 

Outrider

[wapperdude]

Open the shapesheet, add the Text Transform section.  Change the TxtPinX and TxtPinY entries and optional, the TxtLocPinX and TxtLocPinY entries.

If you add a control and assign the Txtpins to the control's x- y- coordinates, then you can drag the text around.

[Outrider]

Open the shapesheet, add the Text Transform section.  Change the TxtPinX and TxtPinY entries and optional, the TxtLocPinX and TxtLocPinY entries.

If you add a control and assign the Txtpins to the control's x- y- coordinates, then you can drag the text around.

Thanks, Wapperdude, for responding so quickly.  I appreciate it.  That got me part of the way there. 

Forgot to mention: I'm running Visio 2007.  It seems the section marker for Text Transform is greyed out and thereby the section is not displayed in the Process <Shape> window (this is for a shape already numbered).

Any suggestions?  And are the entries and dragable x/y controls still appear?

Thanks!   

[Outrider]

Okay!  I found how to add the Text Transform section.  Sorry!

The only thing I need now is how to add the control and assign the Txtpins to the x/y coordinates.

I'm soooo close!  If Wapperdude or someone could clue me in, I'd offer a thousand thanks!

[wapperdude]

Wow!  I'm getting lazy and assuming too much!  Sorry about that.   

To add a control, first insert the control section like you did for the Text Transform section.  For those unfamiliar, right click the shapesheet, select insert section and choose Controls.  If you select the row title box, e.g., Controls.Row_1, hit enter, you can rename the row to something more meaningful.   In the X and Y cells, enter something a little more useful, for example, X cell =  Wdith*1, and Y cell = Height*0.5.  You should see the yellow diamond move in the drawing window.  Or, you can just grab the diamond and move it.  The shapesheet entries will follow along.

Now scroll down to the Text Transform section.  For TxtPinX enter Controls.row_1.X and for TxtPinY enter Controls.row_1.y.  (The ".X" may not be necessary.) 

HTH
Wapperdude

[Outrider]

Thanks wapperdude!  You helped me break through a wall on this.  Pretty exciting!

The shape number now appears outside of the shape and is movable.  Great!

I noticed that the shape's text is still tied to the number.  So if I need to enter text in the shape, such as "Start procedure", it appears with (underneath) the shape number outside.

Somehow, I need to keep the shape's text inside the shape, leaving the shape number outside . . .

THX a mil,

Outrider

[scott]

Outrider,

You mentioned that you're using Visio 2007... are you using Visio 2007 Professional? If so, you can do what you need with data graphics. You'll use the text field in the shape in the usual way and you'll use a data graphic to display the number. You'll be able to position the number wherever you'd like relative to the shape.

To start, add a Shape Data field to contain the shape number: right click the shape; select Data/Shape Data...; add a numeric field called ShapeNumber (or whatever name you'd like). At this point you have the number stored inside the shape and just need to display it with a data graphic.

Select Data/Display Data on Shapes... from the Visio main menu. This will open the data graphics pane with several sample data graphics. Select your shape (or CTRL+A to select all shapes), then click one of the data graphics in the DG pane. At this point, your number should appear near your shape. The specific position relative to the shape is built into the data graphic you chose but you can either edit the existing data graphic (use the down arrow that appears when you hover over the data graphic in the DG pane) or you can create your own data graphic by clicking New Data Graphic... near the top of the DG pane.

Let me know if this helps...

[Outrider]

Scott,

Thanks for being willing to help.  I appreciate it.  Version: Visio 2007 ("Professional" doesn't appear in the title shown in the Help/About . . . window (shape either selected or not).

I added the field easily.  No problem there.

Unfortunately, the Data menu doesn't display a Display Data on Shapes option.

I'm probably missing something . . . this is all a new task . . .

Outrider