Two lovely ShapeSheet functions will help you get there: TEXTWIDTH and TEXTHEIGHT. It’s very helpful to know just how big your text block is. Oddly, you have to add it (as opposed to show it) but this is simply a matter of going to Insert > Section, and checking the Text Tranform box. If your shape’s text block is default–ie: it hasn’t been manipulated, then you won’t see the section in the ShapeSheet. One note about the Text Tranform section. TxtAngle = IF(BITXOR(FlipX, FlipY), Angle, -Angle) Pretty simple.īut, if your users get tricky, they might flip the shape, which will break this formula. Your shape rotates, your text anti-rotates. The expression is pretty simple: just make the text rotate in the opposite direction as the shape: The easiest make text anti-rotate is to get it to compensate for any rotation of the shape by anti-rotating the text. Well one of those cells specifies the angle at which the text is rotated, relative to the shape: TxtAngle. We’ve already mentioned that the Text Block tool causes changes to cells in the Text Transform section. For instance, if you rotate a shape that has “normal” or default text, you’ll get something that looks like this:īut if you set up “Anti Rotate” text, you’ll get this pleasing result:Īs you might guess from the hints in the images above, you can cause text to anti-rotate using ShapeSheet formulas. Sometimes you want your text to stay level - that’s right-side-up and readable without neck pain - no matter how the user rotates those darn shapes. You can also enter custom ShapeSheet-valid expressions if you don’t find what you need in the pre-defined set of fields.Ĭlick to view larger image 5. You can insert more than one field by moving the text-edit cursor around and going back to the Field dialog. Choose the info you want and specify formatting.Select Shape Data or User-defined cells (or other info about the shape or document) in the Category column.Hit F2 to get into text-edit mode (like in tip #2!).Select a shape that has shape data fields, like the ThinkPad shape shown below.If you want to display data stored behind your shape in the shape’s text, it’s as easy as inserting a field. Link Text to Shape Data Fields (Custom Properties) So if you’re making automation tools that set this behavior automatically, just set the EventDblClick cell! 4. Inside of the ShapeSheet, an event cell will receive a new formula. Check the radio button: Edit shape’s text.Go to: Format > Behavior > Double-click tab.If you have text-heavy drawings with lots of text-containing shapes, you might want to set all shapes so that double-clicking enters text edit mode. But if you draw a group, then double-clicking will probably just sub-select one of the group’s sub-shapes. When you draw a simple rectangle or circle, the default double-click behavior is to enter text-edit mode. Just select a shape and press F2, and your shape’s text will become highlighted–ready and waiting for you to edit it.Įscape ( Esc) will get you out of text-edit mode. But sometimes you want to edit text that is already there, and double-clicking doesn’t always get you into text-edit mode.įor these cases, F2 is a shortcut that will get you into text-editing mode. Sure it’s easy to select most Visio shapes and simply start typing. ShapeSheet junkies will want to know that changes you make with the Text Block tool are reflected in the Text Transform section of the ShapeSheet. Note: some shapes have protection and guarding that prevents you from doing this, so practice on simple shapes that you yourself have drawn until you get familiar with the tool. You have to click the little drop-down triangle to get at it, like this: Sitting at the top of the Standard toolbar, just below the big black A is the the Text Block Tool. It can be moved and rotated independently of the shape. Just as you can move and rotate a shape relative to the page or to a group, you can move a text block relative to a shape! The text block is the conceptual rectangle that holds a shape’s text. Process and manipulate lists of values with lookup and indexing functions.Linking shape data fields to shape text.Setting double-click to edit the text of a shape.Quick text-editing using F2 to get into text-edit mode.Using the text block tool to reposition text on a shape.In today’s top-twelve Visio text tips, we’ll address these issues in moderate detail: This list could have easily been twenty-two tips long, but we had to trim. Today we have a treatise on twelve text tips for both end-users and ShapeSheet fans. Oh yes, you’ll want to rotate it, reposition it, evaluate it, make it reflect data, make it resize with the shape, and much, much more. If you are designing your own shapes, you’ll spend a lot of time manipulating text.Īnd the more you learn about Visio’s capabilities, the more you’ll want to control shape text.
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