How do I prevent or remove the _VisDM_ prefix from the Name field in Defining Shape Data?

Question

1. I have created a custom shape to use as a stencil.
2. I have imported the spreadsheet with the data.
3. I drag a line of data onto the shape and it automatically adds all the column data to the shape and I don't have to manually type each data item. There are as many as 30 per shape.

The problem is - Visio adds a prefix of VisDM prefix to the Name field.

ComponentStatus becomes VisDM ComponentStatus which is problematic when exporting shape data to other sources.

Any ideas? Turn off some mystery prefix setting?

Answer 1

Visio attaches the VisDM prefix whenever you link a row from the External Data window to a shape and the shape doesn't contain a field whose name matches a column name in the data row.

You can prevent Visio from attaching the VisDM prefix by creating Shape Data fields in your custom shape in advance. To say that another way, when you create your custom shape, add a Shape Data field with a name that exactly matches the name of each column in your data.

I don't recall at the moment whether the match between the column name and the Shape Data field name is case sensitive, but I think it is. A quick experiment will tell you for sure.