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Shape.CellsU Property

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Visio Automation Reference

Returns a Cell object that represents a ShapeSheet cell. Read-only.

Version Information
 Version Added:  Visio 2.0

Syntax

expression.CellsU(localeIndependentCellName)

expression   A variable that represents a Shape object.

Parameters

Name Required/Optional Data Type Description
localeIndependentCellName Required String The name of a ShapeSheet cell.

Return Value
Cell

Remarks

CellsU("somestring") raises an "Unexpected end of file" exception if "somestring" does not name an actual cell. You can use the CellExistsU property to determine if a cell with the universal name "somestring" exists.

The cells in a shape's User-Defined Cells and Custom Properties sections belong to rows whose names have been assigned by the user or a program. You can use the CellsU property to access cells in named rows.

For example, if "Row_1" is the name of a row in a shape's User-Defined Cells section, you can use this statement to access the first cell in this row (the cell in column zero, which holds the name of the row):

Visual Basic for Applications 
  vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsU("User.Row_1")

You can use this statement to access the prompt cell in Row_1:

Visual Basic for Applications 
  vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsU("User.Row_1.Prompt")

Next, assume that Row_1 is in the Custom Properties section instead of the User- Defined Cells section. You can use this statement to access the first cell in the row (the cell in column zero, which holds the name of the row):

Visual Basic for Applications 
  vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsU("Prop.Row_1")

You can use this statement to access other cells in the row:

Visual Basic for Applications 
  vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsU("Prop.Row_1.xxx")

where xxx is one of these cells: Label, Prompt, SortKey, Type, Format, Invisible, or Ask.

ms425973.vs_note(en-us,office.12).gif  Note
Beginning with Microsoft Visio 2000, you can use both local and universal names to refer to Visio shapes, masters, documents, pages, rows, add-ons, cells, hyperlinks, styles, fonts, master shortcuts, UI objects, and layers. When a user names a shape, for example, the user is specifying a local name. Beginning with Microsoft Office Visio 2003, the ShapeSheet spreadsheet displays only universal names in cell formulas and values. (In prior versions, universal names were not visible in the user interface.)

As a developer, you can use universal names in a program when you don't want to change a name each time a solution is localized. Use the Cells property to get a Cell object by using the cell's local name. Use the CellsU property to get a Cell object by using the cell's universal name.

Example

The following Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro shows how to use the CellsU property to get a particular ShapeSheet cell by its universal name. It draws a rectangle on a page and bows, or curves the lines of the rectangle by changing the shape's lines to arcs. This is accomplished by changing the ShapeSheet row types for each side of the rectangle from LineTo to ArcTo and then changing the values of the X and Y cells in each of these rows.

Visual Basic for Applications 
  
Public Sub CellsU_Example()
 
    Dim vsoPage As Visio.Page 
    Dim vsoShape As Visio.Shape 
    Dim vsoCell As Visio.Cell 
    Dim strBowCell As String
    Dim strBowFormula As String
    Dim intCounter As Integer

'Set the value of the strBowCell string. 
strBowCell = "Scratch.X1" 

'Set the value of the strBowFormula string. 
strBowFormula = "=Min(Width, Height) / 5" 

Set vsoPage = ActivePage 

'If there isn't an active page, set vsoPage
'to the first page of the active document.
If vsoPage Is Nothing Then
    Set vsoPage = ActiveDocument.Pages(1) 
End If  

'Draw a rectangle on the active page.
Set vsoShape = vsoPage.DrawRectangle(1, 5, 5, 1) 

'Add a scratch section and add a row to the scratch section. 
vsoShape.AddSection visSectionScratch 
vsoShape.AddRow visSectionScratch, visRowScratch, 0

'Set vsoCell to the Scratch.X1 cell and set its formula.
Set vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsU(strBowCell) 
vsoCell.Formula = strBowFormula 

'Bow in or curve the rectangle's lines by changing
'each row type from LineTo to ArcTo and entering the bow value.
For intCounter = 1 To 4 
    vsoShape.RowType(visSectionFirstComponent, visRowVertex + intCounter) = visTagArcTo 
    Set vsoCell = vsoShape.CellsSRC(visSectionFirstComponent, visRowVertex + intCounter, 2) 
    vsoCell.Formula = "-" & strBowCell 
Next intCounter 



End Sub

See Also