You can't split a connector to insert a new shape in a Visio 2010 diagram

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Visio 2010

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

  • You have a diagram in Visio.

  • The diagram contains two shapes that are tied together by using a connector.

  • You try to insert a new shape between the existing two shapes.

In this scenario, the connector doesn't split to enable you to insert the new shape between the existing shapes.

Note

This behavior may occur with any connector or shape in Visio.

Cause

This behavior may occur because one of the following:

  • The ShapeSplittable property of the connector is set to 0.
  • The ShapeSplit property of the new shape is set to 0.

Workaround

To work around this behavior, change the ShapeSplittable property of the connector to 1.

To do the following steps:

  1. Select the connector between the shapes where you want to add a new shape.

  2. Select the Developer tab, and then select Show ShapeSheet.

    If the Developer tab isn't displayed, select the File tab, select Options, select Advanced, scroll to the bottom, select to select the Run in developer mode check box, and then select OK.

  3. Locate the ShapeSplittable property in the Shape Layout section, and then change the setting to 1.

  4. Close the ShapeSheet.

If the ShapeSplittable property of the connector is already set to 1, or if the new shape still does not split the connector, change the ShapeSplit property of the new shape to 1.

To do this only for the shape that you want to use to split the connector, follow these steps:

  1. Select the shape.

  2. Select the Developer tab, and then select Show ShapeSheet.

  3. Locate the ShapeSplit property in the Shape Layout section, and then change the setting to 1.

  4. Close the ShapeSheet.

    To do this for all shapes of the same type as the shape that you want to use to split the connector, follow these steps:

    1. Make sure that at least one shape of the type exists in the diagram.
    2. Select the Developer tab, and then check Document Stencil.
    3. In the Shapes window of the document stencil, right-select the appropriate shape, select Edit Master, and then select Edit Master Shape.
    4. In the new window that opens (The new window only displays the master shape that is being edited), select the Developer tab, and then select Show ShapeSheet.

  5. Locate the ShapeSplit property in the Shape Layout section, and then change the setting to 1.

  6. Close the ShapeSheet.

  7. Close the new window that opened in step 4, and then save the changes.

  8. Close the document stencil. Select the Developer tab, and then select Document Stencil to clear that selection.

More information

The splitting of shapes and connectors can be disabled. Additionally, splitting of shapes and connectors can be disabled on a page or can be disabled in Visio.

Various built-in stencils have the Shape Split feature enabled. However, other stencils have the Shape Split feature disabled. Whether the feature is enabled depends on the typical usage of the template.

  • Examples of shapes for which the splitting feature is disabled:

    • Server Shapes
    • UML Shapes
    • Database Modeling Shapes
    • Network Rack Shapes

  • Examples of shapes for which the splitting feature is enabled:

    • Flowchart Shapes
    • Fault Tree Analysis Shapes
    • EPC Diagram Shapes