Adding Multiple Stencils To Same Visio Sheet

Question

I have C# code that creates a Visio Application instance, then opens some existing stencils so I can get the Shape Masters I need for my drawing. Visio 2013 changed things so I need 2 different stencils open. The issue is that I get 2 drawings open in Visio, 1 per stencil. When I build my document and save it, I can close it but there is still another empty drawing open. I also get an empty blank page in my active document where I am creating the drawing.

Visio.Application va = new Visio.Application();


    va .Documents.Add(@"");
    Visio.Documents vdocs = va.Documents;
    const string templateNameU = "BASFLO_M.VSTX";
    const string ConnectorStencilNameU = "BASFLO_M.VSSX";
    const string RectangleStencilNameU = "BASIC_U.VSS";
    const string stencilNameU = "CONNEC_U.VSSX";
    const string connectorMasterNameU = "Dynamic Connector";
    const string RectangleMasterNameU = "Rounded Rectangle";
    Visio.Master connectorMaster = null;
    Visio.Master rectangleMaster = null;


     // open the templates we need                   
    Visio.Document vc = vdocs.OpenEx(RectangleStencilNameU, short)Visio.VisOpenSaveArgs.visOpenDocked);
    va.Documents.Add(templateNameU);

I have tried closing all the open drawings with:

 foreach (Visio.Document d in va.Documents)
     {
        va.Documents[d.Name].Close();                             

     }

    va.ActiveDocument.Close();

but that is messy. The for loop for some reason doesn't close the active document. Is there a way to add multiple stencils to the same document and/or page so I am only working with one page? Is there a way to delete the blank page without resorting to a for loop to get the page name to delete it? I have looked through the API and don't see a way.

Nikolay Nikolay · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-06T21:52:31

It looks like you are creating two documents.. i.e. the first (empty) one with va.Documents.Add("") and then the second one based on the template using va.Documents.Add(templateNameU).

If you don't want the first one, just don't create it.. Means, you can create new document, then open stencils, then draw, then close everything, like this:

var doc = va.Documents.Add(templateNameU)
var stn1 = va.Documents.Open(<first stencil>)
var stn2 = va.Documents.Open(<second stencil>)

// ... do stuff with the doc and then close everything...

doc.Close();
stn1.Close();
stn2.Close();

Am I missing something?

BTW, to get "Dynamic connector" you don't need to open the "Connector Stencil", it contains a specific dynamic connector. To get the default connector, you can just use Application.ConnectorToolDataObject

Also, you can connect shapes using shape.AutoConnect (this will also use the default connector)

Also, you don't need to open the stencil specifically actually. If it is part of the template, it will be opened automatically for you when you create a new drawing based on that template (so you can get them using Application.Documents[].

Maybe helpful? (draw 2 rectangles and connect them):

var doc = va.Documents.Add("BASICD_M.VSTX");
var stencil = va.Documents["BASIC_M.VSSX"];

var rectMaster = stencil.Masters["Rounded Rectangle"];
var rect1 = va.ActivePage.Drop(rectMaster, 1, 1);
var rect2 = va.ActivePage.Drop(rectMaster, 3, 1);

rect1.AutoConnect(rect2, Visio.VisAutoConnectDir.visAutoConnectDirNone);

Adding Multiple Stencils To Same Visio Sheet

1 Answers