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

Getting help in the ShapeSheet window

Examples of actions you can program into shapes