Document.AlternateNames Property

  • Article
Visio Automation Reference

Gets or sets the alternate names for a document. Read/write.

Version Information
 Version Added:  Visio 2000

Syntax

expression.AlternateNames

expression   A variable that represents a Document object.

Return Value
String

Remarks

The application stores document names in the following situations:

  • Templates store stencil names. For example, the Basic Flowchart template stores the names of the Basic Flowchart Shapes.vss and Backgrounds.vss stencils. These stencils are opened with the Basic Flowchart template.
  • Master shortcuts store stencil names. For example, a shortcut for the Data shape stores the name of the stencil on which the Data shape is stored—Basic Flowchart Shapes.vss.

When the application opens a document or accesses the Document object's collection, it uses the document name. If Microsoft Office Visio can't find the document name, it looks for alternate names for those stencils that are in the correct path. (To add a path, on the Tools menu, click Options, click the Advanced tab, and then click File Paths.) For example, suppose you created the stencil named "New Shapes 2007.vss." The following year you revised the stencil and renamed it "New Shapes 2008.vss." Any templates that opened New Shapes 2007.vss should now open New Shapes 2008.vss. To do this, set the AlternateNames property of New Shapes 2008.vss to "New Shapes 2007.vss." The following Microsoft Visual Basic code shows one way to do this:

Visual Basic for Applications 
  Visio.Documents("New Shapes 2008.vss").AlternateNames = "New Shapes 2007.vss"

The AlternateNames property is empty until you set it by using Automation. Each of the alternate names in the string should contain the file name, but no folder information. You can also include comments in angle brackets (<>), because the application ignores anything in angle brackets. For example, you could use the following code to set the AlternateNames property:

Visual Basic for Applications 
  Visio.Documents("HRShapes.vss").AlternateNames = "Human Resources Shapes.vss; <old name> HRDept Shapes.vss"

Example

The following macro shows how to get and set the AlternateNames property of the current document. It demonstrates that the property is empty until you set it.

Visual Basic for Applications 
  
Public Sub AlternateNames_Example()
 
    'Get the AlternateNames property of the document. 
    Debug.Print "Alternate name is: "; ThisDocument.AlternateNames

'Set the AlternateNames property of the document. 
ThisDocument.AlternateNames = "Test Shapes.vss" 
Debug.Print "Alternate name is: "; ThisDocument.AlternateNames 



End Sub

See Also