How to create a custom form shape - Visio 2003

[Sam]

Introduction

Custom forms can be used when the standard stencils do not provide the required form look and feel. For example, a company may develop intranet applications that all share a standard header and footer. A custom form shape can be created that includes the standard header and footer.

The image below is an example of a custom form shape for a web application containing a standard header:




Instructions

To add the custom form shape:

1	Capture and save an image of the application containing the required screen layout / background
2	Using a paint program (e.g. Window Paint) remove any non-standard components from the image. Save the changes.
3	Drag the “Blank form” from “stpBA GUI Components” stencil to the Visio canvas and click OK on the popup dialog.
4	Right-click the form and select “Insert Image…” and select the image that you saved.
5	Resize the form as required. The recommended maximum dimensions are 180mm width max and 210mm height max.
6	From the main menu select “File / Shapes / My Shapes / Favorites”.
7	The “Favorites” stencil is added to the stencils section.
8	Click the “Favorites” stencil.
9	Drag the new blank form shape (with the embedded image) from the Visio canvas on to the “Favorites” stencil.
10	A message appears. Select “Yes” and the stencil is put into edit mode.
11	The new shape is added to the stencil.
12	Right-click the new shape in the stencil and select “Rename Master”.
13	Enter a name for the shape, e.g. “My standard form” and press Enter.
14	Click the red asterisk in the top-left corner of the stencil. A menu appears.
15	Select “Edit Stencil” to toggle editing off.
16	A message appears. Click “Yes” to save the stencil.

To use the custom form shape:

1	Start a new blank stpBA Visio document
2	From the main menu select “File / Shapes / My Shapes / Favorites”.
3	The “Favorites” stencil containing the custom form is added to the stencils section.
4	Drag the “Site map item” from “stpBA Site Map” stencil to the Visio canvas.
5	On the popup dialog drop-down the Type picklist and scroll to the bottom.
6	The new custom form will be listed as the last item in the pick-list.
7	Select the custom form from the Type pick-list
9	Enter a name in the Name field and click OK.
8	A site map item shape for the custom form is added. Also, a new Visio page tab containing the custom form shape is added.

Note: You can use the “Favorites” stencil to reuse any components. Any changes to the stpBA extended options (e.g. business rules, custom properties, etc) will also be retained for reuse.

[stevec]

Am i correct that there is a missing step in the instructions for use?  I was having trouble using custom shapes that had multiple objects.  I could not use them in site maps.  It was explained to me by stp support that when you created a new master, those objects were grouped.  Before they would work as site map objects, you had to ungroup them when you used them.

[Sam]

The custom shape is only grouped if it consists of multiple shapes, in which case it must be ungrouped when it is added to a document. However, the instructions in this post are for a single customised shape, and so there is no grouping involved. For clarity, there is no step missing in this particular case.

[rkarl]

I followed the instructions but the result was something I did not expect. I thought that "Insert image" just adds an image to the form but it replaced the form. I just wanted to add a header image to the form, then resize the form and group it with the image. I also need to add several images, text fields and shapes to the form without losing the built in features in order to have a stencil that is really useful. The same problem applies for other GUI and Edit components where I just want to change the formatting. Is there a way to do this?   

[Sam]

"Insert Image" replaces the blank area of the form with the inserted image. In the example screenshot at the top of this post, the inserted image consists of a header and blank body.

An alternative is to drop the "Image Placeholder" shape on to the form, right-click the shape and select "Border" to hide the border, and then right-click again and select "Insert Image". You can add other shapes in the same way. Press "Ctrl+A" to Select All and drag and drop the selected shapes to the "Favorites" stencil. The shapes are automatically grouped when added to the Favorites stencil. In order to use the custom form, drag and drop the form shape from the Favorites stencil, right-click the form and select "Shape / Ungroup" from the popup menu (the shapes need to be ungrouped in order to use the stpBA features).

Sam

[raje]

I was able to create the custom form shape. But when I refresh all images the Images is getting slightly compressed.  and A gap appears between the the sitemap outline and the image. This results in the links not being attached to the image properly.
Is there a way to fix this problem?

[Sam]

When we edit information in the Web UI, there will be some warning message or success message showed at the topright of the page. I want to know how to create our own warning message

Place a dynamic label shape in the top right of the form with an example of the message, and then use the functional tests functionality to describe which messages are shown under different conditions. Refer to the PDF tutorial for help on entering functional tests. The functional tests that you enter will be documented in the specification and the test scripts.