Linking Visio Shapes and Pages | Microsoft Visio Version 2002 Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))

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You don't have to save your diagram as a Web page to create hyperlinks, which make it possible to jump from one shape or file to another. You can link a shape on one page of a diagram to a shape on another page that provides another view or more information. You can also link a shape to another Visio, Microsoft Office, or other document, or even a Web address. Shapes can even contain multiple hyperlinks. And if you do add hyperlinks to shapes, and then save the diagram as a Web page, Visio preserves the links, which appear when you pause the pointer over a shape. In a diagram, hyperlinks that you define appear as options on a shape's shortcut menu, as Figure 5-1 shows.

figure 5-1. when you define one or more hyperlinks, visio adds the links to the shape's shortcut menu.

Figure 5-1. When you define one or more hyperlinks, Visio adds the links to the shape's shortcut menu.

You can create, edit, and delete hyperlinks in Visio, and you can insert multiple hyperlinks for a single shape. If you need to link multiple shapes to a single destination, you can also copy a hyperlink or copy the hyperlink with its shape.

Tip

When you point to a shape in Visio that contains a hyperlink, the pointer displays the hyperlink icon.

Linking to Another Shape, Page, Document, or Web Site

In Visio, a hyperlink links a specific shape or page to something else. Whether you want to link to another shape, page, document, or Web site, you must provide what Visio calls an address. As Figure 5-2 shows, the Hyperlink dialog box includes two types of addresses:

Address, which specifies the URL of an Internet address or the file path for a document, including another Visio drawing file (.vsd), Microsoft Office document, or any other type of file.
Sub-Address, which specifies a page and shape in the current Visio diagram, or an anchor (an <A> tag) within the body of the HTML page specified in the Address box.

figure 5-2. when you define one or more hyperlinks, visio adds the links to the shape's shortcut menu.

Figure 5-2. When you choose Insert, Hyperlinks, you can link to Internet addresses, files, or other pages in the current drawing file.

It's a little confusing to think of a shape or page in your diagram as a "sub-address," but that's how the Hyperlink dialog box works. By default, Visio uses a relative path for the address, which means that Visio stores the location of the link's target (the page, file, or Web address) relative to the location of the drawing file. The advantage to you is that when you can link your drawing file to another file, you can move the files to a new folder without breaking the link. The opposite of a relative link is an absolute link, which specifies the exact location of a linked file (that is, its drive, folder, and file name). With an absolute link, you can move the drawing file that contains the hyperlink, and the link will not break.

The Hyperlink dialog box includes another option, the Default button, which you can use to specify a default hyperlink when a shape has more than one.

Linking to a Web Site

Follow these steps to create a hyperlink to a Web site:

Select a shape. Or, to add a hyperlink to a page, make sure nothing is selected.
Choose Insert, Hyperlinks.
If you know the exact URL you want to use, type it in the Address box. Otherwise, click the Browse button to the right of the Address box, and then choose Internet Address to start your browser. Locate the site you want, and copy its address. Switch to Visio, and then paste the URL in the Address box.
To link to a specific location on the page, type the anchor name or fragment identifier in the Sub-Address box. For example, type #Sales to specify the anchor link defined as <A href="#Sales">.
To change the name that appears on the shortcut menu for the hyperlink, type the text you want in the Description box.
Click OK. Or click New to add another hyperlink.

Linking to a File

Follow these steps to create a hyperlink to a Visio, Office, or other file:

Select a shape. Or, to add a hyperlink to a page, make sure nothing is selected.
Choose Insert, Hyperlinks.
Click Browse next to the Address box, and then click Local File.
In the Link To File dialog box, make sure the appropriate file type is selected in the Files Of Type list, navigate to the file you want to link to, and then click Open.
Note
If you haven't saved the file you want to link to, it won't appear. You must save the document before you can link to it.
To change the name that appears on the shortcut menu for the hyperlink, type the text you want in the Description box.
If you want to link to the file by its exact file path rather than by a relative path, clear the Use Relative Path For Hyperlink check box.
Click OK. Or click New to add another hyperlink.

Linking to a Page or Shape

You can create a link from a shape on one page to another page, and even zoom in to a specific shape on that page. To link to a shape, you must use a unique name or the shape's ID. Whether or not you know a shape's name, you can easily find its ID and use that to refer to the shape. The default name of any shape is Sheet.n where n is the shape ID. A shape's ID is displayed when you choose Format, Special or in the title bar of the Custom Properties window when you've selected the shape. For example, if a shape's ID is 5, the correct way to refer to the shape is Sheet.5.

Follow these steps to create a hyperlink to a shape or page in the current drawing file:

Select a shape. Or, to add a hyperlink to a page, make sure nothing is selected.
Choose Insert, Hyperlinks.
Click Browse next to the Sub-Address box to display the Hyperlink dialog box.
In the Page list, select the name of the page you want to link to.
If you want the link to go to a particular shape, type the name of the shape in the Shape box.
To change the zoom level when the page is displayed, choose an option in the Zoom list. This option is particularly useful if you're linking to a specific shape.
Click OK to return to the Hyperlinks dialog box.
To change the name that appears on the shortcut menu for the hyperlink, type the text you want in the Description box.
Click OK. Or click New to add another hyperlink.

Using a Relative Path

When you use a relative path, Visio uses the location of the current drawing file as the basis for finding the linked file. If you want to specify a relative path for the hyperlinks in the Visio drawing that is not based on the location of the drawing file, specify it in the file's properties. After closing the Hyperlinks dialog box, choose File, Properties, and then type the base path you want to use in the Hyperlink Base box, as Figure 5-3 shows.

figure 5-3. you can specify a relative path for a hyperlink by choosing file, properties..

Figure 5-3. You can specify a relative path for a hyperlink by choosing File, Properties.

The relative path for a Visio drawing file is the file path specified in the Options dialog box on the File Paths tab. Visio uses this information to search for stencils, templates, and other Visio files. To define a new relative path for a Visio file, choose Tools, Options, click the File Paths tab, and then type a new path in one or more of the boxes.

Adding a Hyperlink Navigation Shape

Visio includes hyperlink navigation shapes so you can make it easier for viewers to navigate your Visio drawings on the Web. Visio includes three hyperlink navigation shapes on the Borders And Titles stencil, as Figure 5-4 shows. The buttons work like any other hyperlink in Visio. The only difference is that when you drag a Hyperlink shape onto the drawing page, the Hyperlinks dialog box opens so that you can specify a Web page, file, page, or shape. To activate the link, you must right-click the shape to display the shortcut menu that includes the link.

figure 5-4. when you use the hyperlink circle 2 (at left), hyperlink button, or hyperlink circle 1 shape from the borders and titles stencil, you can select the icon that appears on the button.

Figure 5-4. When you use the Hyperlink Circle 2 (at left), Hyperlink Button, or Hyperlink Circle 1 shape from the Borders And Titles stencil, you can select the icon that appears on the button.

InsideOut

You can make any shape a navigation shape by adding a hyperlink to it and typing the appropriate label. You aren't required to use these navigation shapes; they are merely a convenience and can give your drawing a more consistent look.

The hyperlink shapes don't include text labels, because they're designed to be iconographic—and you can choose the icon that appears. However, you can type a label for the hyperlink shape as you would for any shape. Select the shape, and then type. You can reposition the label with the shape's control handle. To change the icon for a hyperlink shape, right-click the shape, choose Change Icon, and then select an option in the Icon Type list. Table 5-1 shows the icons that you can display.

Table 5-1. Hyperlink Shape Icons


Icon	Icon Type	Icon	Icon Type
	Back		Forward
	Directory		Help
	Down		Home
	Info		Photo
	Mail		Search
	None		Up

Modifying or Deleting a Hyperlink

After you've created a hyperlink, you might need to modify it—perhaps the linked file has been moved or renamed, or you want to change the magnification for a linked shape. Anything you can specify when you create a hyperlink can be changed just as easily.

Follow these steps to modify or delete a hyperlink:

Select the shape or the page that contains the hyperlink, and then choose Insert, Hyperlinks.
If the shape contains multiple hyperlinks, select the link you want to change in the list of links at the bottom of the dialog box.
To delete the hyperlink, click the Delete button in the Hyperlinks dialog box.
To modify the hyperlink, make the changes you want.
Click OK.

Copying Hyperlinks

When you add a hyperlink to a shape or page, you can copy the shape or page and then paste it in Visio with the hyperlink intact. Even better, you can paste just the hyperlink to add it to another shape or page. For example, if you want the same home page hyperlink to appear on each page of a multiple-page diagram, you can copy and paste the hyperlink. You don't have to manually insert a new hyperlink each time.

Follow these steps to copy a hyperlink to other Visio shapes:

Select a shape that contains a hyperlink, and then press Ctrl+C to copy it.
Select a new shape on the same page, on another page, or in another Visio drawing file.
Choose Edit, Paste As Hyperlink.

Microsoft Office 2000 and later applications also include the Paste As Hyperlink command, which means that you can paste the hyperlink from a Visio shape into Word, for example, to create hyperlinked text. To paste a hyperlink into a document in another application, choose Edit, Paste As Hyperlink. Only the shape's text (if it has any) and its hyperlink are pasted. To paste just the shape, choose Edit, Paste Special, and then choose a file format. The shape is pasted but not its hyperlink.

Troubleshooting

When you click a link to a Visio diagram, Internet Explorer opens instead of Visio.

If you click a link to a Visio drawing file on a Web site, Internet Explorer can open the Visio drawing file. This behavior might seem strange if you were expecting Visio to start. However, you can edit Visio drawings within Internet Explorer and even drag shapes from stencils. If you don't see the Visio toolbars and menus, click the Tools button on the Internet Explorer toolbar to display them. When Internet Explorer opens a Visio drawing, you can edit a diagram while retaining the advantages of the Web environment. For example, you can use the Forward and Back buttons to display other Web pages and other Office documents.