Smart Tag Exasperation! Please Help!

[SteveM]

Trying to find simple intelligible Visio help is more complex than the
Di Vinci code. All I want to do is get an understanding of the design
pathway for Smart Tags via the Visio Shape Sheet. And maybe some
ideas about best practices for building Smart Tags. With the Shape
Sheet? Through Code? Is there an add-in? Whatever.

So far the only real example I've found are smart tags embedded in
Visio Guy's "Forefront Icons and Data Graphic Shapes" document. But
all I can do is replicate that and try to draw some inferences about
what is happening. And editing the Shape Sheet is so cumbersome, it's
hard not to believe that a colony of programmer-masochists were
assigned that task.

This meandering around the arid web desert of Visio Help Nothingness
for 40 years is driving me nuts. If anybody has anything there can
share with me about Smart Tag development with the Shape Sheet and/or
a good reference source for a Visio developer. (Uncommitted, I do
mathematical modeling but I'm a quick learner) please, please let me
know. I'm a Myers-Briggs ENTP and the inefficiency of this learning
curve is killing me.

Thanks Very Much,

SteveM

P.S. Thank you Visio Guy very much for your contributions.

 

[Chris Roth [Visio MVP]]

Hi Steve,

A Visio Smart Tag is essentially a menu that appears on the shape. It's
not much different than the right-click context menus that you can
create in the Actions section of the ShapeSheet.

I think this notion of Smart Tag is quite a bit different than what
Smart Tags do in the other Office Apps. The Visio implementation is
quite a bit simpler. There's no real API behind it. It's just ShapeSheet
row definitions.

Anyway, if you're still here...

A Smart Tag will display items from any Action rows that have the same
"TagName" value.

Actions normally show up when you right-click a shape. But if the tag
name matches a Smart Tag, then the Smart Tag will "steal" the Action
from the right-click menu.

Here's an example of an Action that causes the Shape Data (Custom
Properties) dialog to appear:

Actions.Row_1.Action = DOCMD(1312)
Actions.Row_1.Menu = "Edit Shape Data..."
Actions.Row_1.TagName = "Frustration"

If you then create a Smart Tag row, and give it the same TagName, then
your action will show up in the Smart Tag menu, but not in the
right-click menu anymore.

SmartTags.Row_1.TagName = "Frustration"

So if you want both a right-click menu and a Smart Tag menu, you have to
create two almost-identical Action rows, with differing TagNames.


The shapes in this article show the "dual mode"

Sankey Diagrams Shapes for Visio
http://www.visguy.com/2008/01/02/sankey-diagram-shapes-for-visio/

This article has shapes that really show how to really get masochistic:

How Many Fill Colors Can You Put on a Visio Shape?
http://www.visguy.com/2008/03/04/how-many-fill-colors-can-you-put-on-a-visio-shape/

And another one:

Visio Film Strip Shapes: Hurray for Hollywood!
http://www.visguy.com/2007/09/25/visio-film-strip-shapes-hurray-for-hollywood/


--
Hope this helps,

Chris Roth
Visio MVP


Visio Guy: Smart Graphics for Visual People
http://www.visguy.com

 

[SteveM]

Hi Steve,

A Visio Smart Tag is essentially a menu that appears on the shape. It's
not much different than the right-click context menus that you can
create in the Actions section of the ShapeSheet.

I think this notion of Smart Tag is quite a bit different than what
Smart Tags do in the other Office Apps. The Visio implementation is
quite a bit simpler. There's no real API behind it. It's just ShapeSheet
row definitions.

Anyway, if you're still here...

A Smart Tag will display items from any Action rows that have the same
"TagName" value.

Actions normally show up when you right-click a shape. But if the tag
name matches a Smart Tag, then the Smart Tag will "steal" the Action
from the right-click menu.

Here's an example of an Action that causes the Shape Data (Custom
Properties) dialog to appear:

Actions.Row_1.Action = DOCMD(1312)
Actions.Row_1.Menu = "Edit Shape Data..."
Actions.Row_1.TagName = "Frustration"

If you then create a Smart Tag row, and give it the same TagName, then
your action will show up in the Smart Tag menu, but not in the
right-click menu anymore.

SmartTags.Row_1.TagName = "Frustration"

So if you want both a right-click menu and a Smart Tag menu, you have to
create two almost-identical Action rows, with differing TagNames.

The shapes in this article show the "dual mode"

Sankey Diagrams Shapes for Visiohttp://www.visguy.com/2008/01/02/sankey-diagram-shapes-for-visio/

This article has shapes that really show how to really get masochistic:

How Many Fill Colors Can You Put on a Visio Shape?http://www.visguy.com/2008/03/04/how-many-fill-colors-can-you-put-on-...

And another one:

Visio Film Strip Shapes: Hurray for Hollywood!http://www.visguy.com/2007/09/25/visio-film-strip-shapes-hurray-for-h...

--
Hope this helps,

Chris Roth
Visio MVP

Visio Guy: Smart Graphics for Visual People
http://www.visguy.com

Chris,

Thanks so much for the advice. That's all I was looking for. At
least to get me started. I'm going to create a new message with what
has to be a standard question that all developers eventually
formulate. At least in their minds. I hope you check back in soon to
review that and contribute some great insights.

Best,

SteveM

 

[David Parker]

I do have a chapter on SmartTags in my book
http://www.visualizinginformation.com/chapters/chapter08/chapter.aspx