I have been using (Microsoft) Visio for importing and exporting data since 1996, and was an early tester/adopter of the Database Wizard features in Visio 4.1 (I think). I think of Visio as a data visualization tool, yet I cannot recall seeing a comprehensive list of the areas in Visio, out-of-the-box, where you can import and export data easily. So I decided to draw a data-linked diagram of just this for Visio 2010.
I have made the files available for you at the following links:
Microsoft Office Visio has had an Org Chart Wizard for as long as I can remember (and I have been using Visio since 1996). It has gone through several iterations, but basically it provides a simple way to create personnel hierarchies from a variety of data sources. It even has a command line interface so that the charts can be created with a minimum of user interaction. This is great, but it is limited. Firstly, it does not take advantage of the new Link Data to Shapes and Data Graphics in Visio 207 Professional; secondly, it only does direct reports with just one type of layout; and thirdly, you cannot refresh the diagram easily. Therefore, I thought it would be interesting to overcome some of these obstacles using the new features of Visio 2007 Professional and with a little code.
Visio installs a sample OrgData.xls Excel spreadsheet in the folder <Program Files>Microsoft OfficeOffice12SAMPLES1033 by default, so I have copied this file and slightly amended it.
I was recently asked if it is possible to use SharePoint calendars with Visio Timeline Shapes automatically. My first reaction was “not without code”, but a closer inspection reveals that you can use Visio 2007 Professional Link Data to Shapes quite easily….
Firstly, I found the WSS Demo site http://www.wssdemo.com/application/default.aspx to be useful. [This is no longer available]
In Visio 2007 Professional, you can use Data / Link Data to Shapes … to get data from Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services:
My friend and colleague, Chris Roth, has made lots of maps available in Visio, his latest being Germany ( http://www.visguy.com/2008/03/01/map-of-germany/ ). Well, we Brits hate being outdone by a German-American, so I have decided to make my UK Map shapes for Visio publicly available at UK Geography Structure.vsd .
I created the UK map several years ago by converting from PDF to SVG to Visio, and each of the counties and boroughs have a single rectangular Master, Admin Area. I used code to replace the rectangle geometry with the actual shape geometry. This means that, although they are all different, they have the same Master, thus making it easier to propagate any changes, such as Shape Data rows.
Visio shapes can have multiple hyperlinks, but it can be a chore to add them with the Insert / Hyperlinks … command. Fortunately, Visio 2007 Professional has the Data / Link Data to Shapes … command.
If you were to have a data source, such as an Excel spreadsheet, that contains hyperlinks (see the example below)…
A recent newsgroup post asked how to find a row in a Visio DataRecordset for a given criteria. Well, I have used the IT Asset Management sample in Visio 2007 Professional to demonstrate how this can be done with a VBA function.
Of course, you may wish to improve the user interface because I limited myself to using an InputBox, and I have assumed that there is only one column defining the primary key of the DataRecordset.
The sub function, FindRow, listed below first checks whether the External Data window is open, and then gets the active DataRecordset. The code then reads the columns of the DataRecordset and prompts for a selection of the number of the column that you wish to search for a value in.
