How to lock Group ID/Preserve ID when moving groups

Hi ​@NMN 

When groups are cut, pasted, or duplicated across pages, their original IDs are not retained - instead, new IDs are generated. To maintain consistency and track group identities, the recommended approach would be, adding a custom field for example - OriginalID to the group.

This custom field will remain intact even if the group is moved or copied, ensuring consistent referencing in your workflows.

Hope this helps - Happy to help further!!
Thank you very much and have a great one!
Warm regards

Hi ​@Humas1985 ,

Thanks for your quick reply.

I use custom shapes and need to ensure that each shape has a unique ID across the entire document. That’s why I’m not using custom fields for shape IDs—this way, I’m certain I can't assign the same ID twice.

So there's no way to move a shape or a group to another page while preserving the original ID? 😔

Also, is there any way to check if a custom field is already set with the same value in another shape?

Hi ​@NMN, thanks for sharing this use case and bringing the idea to our attention. ​@Humas1985 is exactly right that group IDs are unique to each page, and currently there's no way to preserve the original groupId when cutting and pasting across pages without capturing it as a custom data field. I’ve passed your feedback along to our product team, since we know consistent identifiers can be crucial when integrating with external systems or building custom workflows.

As a partial workaround, ​@Humas1985’s suggestion of using a custom field like OriginalID is likely your best option right now, even though it may not fully meet your needs. We definitely see the value in exploring stronger support for persistent/enforceable group IDs.

Feel free to keep us updated on how you're using these IDs. Real-world examples like yours are incredibly helpful for informing future improvements.

Hi ​@Richard Udell,

Thanks for you interest in Real-world examples.

I’ve created dynamic custom shapes to build I/O synoptics. Each cable and group (equipment) has custom fields containing data, and every group is assigned a custom ID (e.g., Sonos-Port-(3)).

I use formulas and group IDs to dynamically display text data on the shapes and cross data between shapes and pages.

If I try to use an already assigned ID, I can immediately see it.

I’m using formulas only to generate text outputs on shapes—like these:

I then export my synoptic as a CSV file and parse it with a small app I built, in order to extract all the information into a spreadsheet— including the equipment names, the quantity, their source and destination zones, the types of cables used, and all sort of data.

That’s why it’s important for me to find a way to lock IDs. Right now, if I want to move a agroup between pages, I have to copy it first, then copy its group ID, delete the original group, and rename the new one. 😅

I hope this helps clarify why I need custom IDs and not just custom fields.

Nicolas