Shape.StaticID

Property StaticID As Long

Member of Shape

The StaticID property returns an integer representing a unique ID number assigned to each shape.

The ID number does not change during the lifetime of a shape, so this number can always be used to identify a shape.

The StaticID property returns a read-only value.

The following code example stores the current selection in the array of the active page properties:

Sub SaveSelection() 
 Dim s As Shape, n As Long 
 ActivePage.Properties("StoredSelection", 0) = 
ActiveSelection.Shapes.Count 
 n = 1 
 For Each s In ActiveSelection.Shapes 
  ActivePage.Properties("StoredSelection", n) = s.StaticID ' Store 
the current shape's ID number 
  n = n + 1 
 Next s 
End Sub

The followinge code example restores the selection saved in the properties of the active page in the previous example. You can use the Page.FindShape or Layer.FindShape methods to locate a shape based on its unique ID.

Sub RestoreSelection() 
 Dim s As Shape, sr As New ShapeRange 
 Dim v As Variant 
 Dim Num As Long, i As Long, id As Long 
 v = ActivePage.Properties("StoredSelection", 0) ' Retrieving the 
total number of shape references stored 
 If Not IsNull(v) Then 
  ActivePage.Properties.Delete "StoredSelection", 0 ' Delete the 
property 
  Num = v 
  For i = 1 To Num 
   id = ActivePage.Properties("StoredSelection", i) ' Getting the 
current shape's ID to find 
   Set s = ActivePage.FindShape(StaticID:=id) 
   If Not s Is Nothing Then sr.Add s ' Add the shape to the shape 
range if it still exists in document 
   ActivePage.Properties.Delete "StoredSelection", i ' Delete the 
property 
  Next i 
  sr.CreateSelection ' Selects all shapes found 
 Else 
  MsgBox "No selection stored in the active page" 
 End If 
End Sub