Quote Originally Posted by PhilM View Post
Another possible reason for the problem is that the JavaScript that runs the SmartShape is not working properly for some reason.

Unfortunately, at the moment, I can't think of a reason why the JavaScript might not work (assuming that your installation worked properly and that you haven't changed anything inside the program folder).

Best suggestion at the moment is to re-install.

Phil
Just to give some closure, I solved it, but it opened a whole other can of worms!

You will remember I was also having problems accessing the online content? Well I found that problem occurring with some other web sites including my ISP and The Independant, but excluding The Guardian as examples. I phoned my ISPs excellent customer support (Zen to give credit where it is due) and they talked me through some things eventually leading to the MTU setting in my router. Oddly, I'd not touched the router settings for months, so how it suddenly went wrong is a bit of a mystery. Once that was fixed everything is OK - the smartshape now resizes as expected, double-clicking gives the round blue handles etc.

But really guys, it is a poor show when a bad internet connection stops a locally installed program working and an even worse show when it just loses some random features without any kind of diagnostic message! I have a real love-hate relationship with Xara - conceptually it is great, but a serious lack of attention to usability and some, let us say, "eccentric" UI choices make it very hard to recommend!