Shape.DropManyU method (Visio)

Article
01/19/2022

Creates one or more new Shape objects on a page, in a master, or in a group. It returns an array of the IDs of the Shape objects it produces.

Syntax

expression. DropManyU( _ObjectsToInstance()_ , _xyArray()_ , _IDArray()_ )

expression A variable that represents a Shape object.

Parameters

Name	Required/Optional	Data type	Description
ObjectsToInstance()	Required	Variant	Identifies masters or other objects from which to make shapes by their universal names.
xyArray()	Required	Double	An array of alternating x and y values specifying the positions for the new shapes.
IDArray()	Required	Integer	Out parameter. An array that returns the IDs of the created shapes.

Return value

Integer

Remarks

Using the DropManyU method is like using the Page, Master, or Shape object's Drop method, except you can use the DropManyU method to create many new Shape objects at once, rather than one per method call. The DropManyU method creates new Shape objects on the page, in the master, or in the group shape to which it is applied (this shape is called the "target object" in the following discussion).

You can identify which master to drop by passing the DropManyU method a Master object or the master's index or the master's name. When you pass an object, DropManyU isn't constrained to just dropping a master from the document stencil of the document onto which it is being dropped. The object can be a master from another document or another type of object.

Passing integers (master indices) or strings (master names) to DropManyU is faster than passing objects, but integers or strings can identify only masters in the document stencil of the document onto which it is being dropped. Hence your program has to somehow get the masters in question into the document stencil in the first place, provided they weren't there already.

ObjectsToInstance() should be a one-dimensional array of n >= 1 variants. Its entries identify objects from which you want to make new Shape objects. An entry often refers to a Microsoft Visio application Master object. It might also refer to a Visio application Shape object, Selection object, or even an object from another application. The application doesn't care what the lower and upper array bounds of the ObjectsToInstance() entries are. Call these vlb and vub , respectively.

If ObjectsToInstance(i) is the integer j , an instance of the Master object in the document stencil of the target object's document whose 1-based index is j is made. The EventDrop cell in the Events section of the new shape is not triggered. Use the Drop method instead if you want the EventDrop cell to trigger.
If ObjectsToInstance(i) is the string s (or a reference to the string s ), an instance of the Master object with name s in the document stencil of the target object's document is made; s can equal either the Master object's UniqueID or NameU property. The EventDrop cell in the Events section of the new shape is not triggered. Use the Drop method instead if you want the EventDrop cell to be triggered.
For vlb < i <= vub , if ObjectsToInstance(i) is empty (Nothing or uninitialized in Microsoft Visual Basic), entry i will cause ObjectsToInstance(j) to be instanced again, where j is the largest value < i such that ObjectsToInstance(j) isn't empty. If you want to make n instances of the same thing, only ObjectsToInstance(vlb) needs to be provided.

The xyArray() argument should be a one-dimensional array of 2 m doubles with lower bound xylb and upper bound xyub , where m >= n. The values in the array tell the DropManyU method where to position the Shape objects it produces. ObjectsToInstance( vlb + ( i - 1)) is dropped at ( xy [( i - 1)2 + xylb ], xy [(i - 1)2 + xylb + 1]) for 1 <= i <= n.

Note that m > n is allowed. For n < i <= m , the i 'th thing instanced is the same thing as the n 'th thing instanced. Thus to make m >= 1 instances of the same thing, you can pass an ObjectsToInstance() array with one entry and an m entry xyArray() array.

If the entity being instanced is a master, the pin of the new Shape object is positioned at the given xy. Otherwise, the center of the Shape objects is positioned at the given xy.

The Integer value returned by the DropManyU method is the number of xy entries in xyArray() that the DropManyU method successfully processed. If all entries were processed successfully, m is returned. If some entries are successfully processed prior to an error occurring, the produced Shape objects are not deleted and this raises an exception but still returns a positive integer.

Presuming all m xy entries are processed correctly, the number of new Shape objects produced by the DropManyU method is usually equal to m. In rare cases (for example, if a Selection object gets instanced), more than mShape objects may be produced. The caller can determine the number of produced Shape objects by comparing the number of shapes in the target object before and after the DropManyU method is executed. The caller can assert the new Shape objects are those with the highest indices in the target object's Shapes collection.

If the DropManyU method returns zero (0), IDArray() returns null (Nothing). Otherwise, it returns a one-dimensional array of m integers indexed from 0 to m - 1. IDArray() is an out parameter that is allocated by the DropManyU method and ownership is passed to the program that called the DropManyU method. The caller should eventually perform the SafeArrayDestroy procedure on the returned array. (Microsoft Visual Basic and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications take care of this for you.)

If IDArray() returns non-null (not Nothing), IDArray( i - 1), 1 <= i <= intReturned , returns the ID of the Shape object produced by the i 'th xyArray() entry, provided the i 'th xyArray() entry produced exactly one Shape object. If the i 'th xyArray() entry produced multiple Shape objects, -1 is returned in the entry. All entries i , intReturned <= i < m , return -1.

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 DropMany method to drop more than one shape when you are using local names to identify the shapes. Use the DropManyU method to drop more than one shape when you are using universal names to identify the shapes.

Example

The following example shows how to use the DropManyU method. It drops one instance of every master in the document stencil of the macro's Document object onto Page1 of the macro's Document object. Before running this macro, make sure there is at least one master in the document stencil.

 
Public Sub DropManyU_Example() 
 
 On Error GoTo HandleError 
 
 Dim vsoMasters As Visio.Masters 
 Dim intMasterCount As Integer 
 Set vsoMasters = ThisDocument.Masters 
 intMasterCount = vsoMasters.Count 
 
 ReDim varObjectsToInstance(1 To intMasterCount) As Variant 
 ReDim adblXYArray(1 To (intMasterCount * 2)) As Double 
 Dim intCounter As Integer 
 For intCounter = 1 To intMasterCount 
 
 'Pass universal name of object to drop to DropManyU. 
 varObjectsToInstance(intCounter) = vsoMasters.ItemU(intCounter).NameU 
 
 'Set x components of where to drop to 2,4,6,2,4,6,2,4,6,... 
 adblXYArray (intCounter * 2 - 1) = (((intCounter - 1) Mod 3) + 1) * 2 
 
 'Set y components to 2,2,2,4,4,4,6,6,6,... 
 adblXYArray (intCounter * 2) = Int((intCounter + 2) / 3) * 2 
 
 Next intCounter 
 
 Dim aintIDArray() As Integer 
 Dim intProcessed As Integer 
 
 intProcessed = ThisDocument.Pages(1).DropManyU(varObjectsToInstance, _ 
 adblXYArray, aintIDArray) 
 Debug.Print intProcessed 
 
 For intCounter = LBound(aintIDArray) To UBound(aintIDArray) 
 Debug.Print intCounter; aintIDArray(intCounter) 
 Next intCounter 
 
 Exit Sub 
 
 HandleError: 
 MsgBox "Error" 
 
 Exit Sub 
 
End Sub

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