Using SmartShapes technology, you can develop shapes that behave like the objects they represent in the real world. You do this by defining formulas that represent shape attributes, such as width and height, and shape behavior, such as what the shape does when a user right-clicks it.
Everything in Microsoft Office Visio―every shape, group, style, page, or document―has a ShapeSheet spreadsheet where information about that object is stored. The ShapeSheet contains information such as height, width, angle, color, and other attributes that determine the shape's appearance and behavior.
You can view the ShapeSheet in the ShapeSheet window and add or modify formulas.
Note Visio formulas are similar to typical spreadsheet formulas in many ways. Visio regards anything in a cell—even if it is a numeric value or simple cell reference—as a formula.
The ShapeSheet contains formulas that determine a shape's size, appearance, and behavior.
Displaying the ShapeSheet
To display the ShapeSheet for a shape, select a shape in the drawing window, and then on the Window menu, click Show ShapeSheet.
Getting help in the ShapeSheet window
Help about the ShapeSheet is available in the ShapeSheet Reference (on the Help menu, click Developer Reference). For help on a specific cell, click the cell, and then press F1.
Examples of actions you can program into shapes
You could add a command to a shape's shortcut menu that goes to another page in the drawing.
To do this, select the shape, and then click Show ShapeSheet on the Window menu. On the Insert menu, click Section, select the Actions check box, and then click OK. Select a cell in the Actions section, and then on the Edit menu, click Action. Fill in the Menu box, and then choose an action (for this example, click the Go to page option).
For more information, see the ShapeSheet Reference (on the Help menu, click Developer Reference).
