As a thought you might want to consider XML and schemas. Should be able to
do a nice updatable org chart using XML tags.
--
Manticorr


"Al Edlund" wrote:

Since orgcharts are just another form flowcharts, it's not a stretch for
those with an interest in programming to take the example in the visio sdk
and build their own. The orgchart is essentially an addon to visio and as
such tends to change from version to version. Visio 2007 (and the rest of
the office stuff) is being released later this year and has a lot of new
data driven functionality (including I suspect a revised orgchart to play
with).
al

"merlin" wrote in message
...
There are definitely mentions of using ODBC to keep org chart shapes
updated with changes. If it's not done through the wizard then where do I
need to look?

As the org chart wizard isn't very tidy and doesn't allow pre-formatting
as such, I'd have to say this is a nearly useless facility without a
refresh of some kind.


"Al Edlund" wrote in message
...
the org chart wizard does not have a refresh, it's starts new every
time - so any customization gets lost....
al

"merlin" wrote in message
...
Thanks for that - it should help my IT guys.

At home I've just managed to import from excel via odbc and create a
visio drawing (not an org chart) by following the MS knowledge base
article. One of the things I was doing wrong was not to define a table
of data in my excel sheets.I've also been able to update it but I had to
go back through the wizard because I couldn't find a refresh option that
worked.

Now I need to achieve the same with an org chart, however, the way the
data is linked to the chart seems to be different and whereas there are
various refresh options in some drawing types, I can't find any for org
chart.

You've been very helpful up to now - I hope you still have the patience
to see this through with me!



"Al Edlund" wrote in message
...
Try this for a start definition
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...bcoverview.asp

odbc (open database connectivity) are programming interfaces to allow
access to different data sources. They are a form of 'driver' and come
in different version depending on the vendors that supply them for
their products (ms generic, excel, access, oracle, db2, etc.).

for other than ms products support odbc drivers often come with the
product.. ms usually ships some basic ones with the operating systems
and office products. You can also check ms downloads for updates.

when network sharing data the two primary security groups are the
networking group (firewalling of application required flows) and data
center (user rights on servers). For this you will have to check in
your own organization

"merlin" wrote in message
...
OK. I'm crawling closer to cracking this.

I think I understand now that ODBC is a common interface that I have
to set up between two programs - in this case Visio and Excel. The
actual process of setting it up is eluding me.

1) is ODBC an actual file or is it something you do to the excel
and/or visio file?

2) if it's a file then where does it have to go. Can I choose or is
there a special location for it?

3) When I crack this I'll be doing it at work (practising on my laptop
at home at the mo) so can this file be on a network drive or does it
have to be local to my pc on the hard drive (I try to avaiod that). My
choice of network drives are a 'global' shared drive and a 'home'
personal drive.

4) will I need administrator rights to achieve this?

Sorry for the volume of questions. This has turned out to be more
complex than expected but I not going to give up on it!



"Al Edlund" wrote in message
...
two things. a.) what you saw with layout using the orgchart wizard is
normal b.) consider changing the name of excel file in your odbc
setup to point to the file that you just created and see if that file
works.
al

"merlin" wrote in message
...
OK I tried that. It worked fine exporting and importing (except the
subordinate shapes imported and displayed in a different order, how
annoying is that). The excel file looks similar to mine.

This isn't a great surprise because I haven't had trouble importing
data from an excel file, it's the ODBC compliant import function
that's causing an error.

"Al Edlund" wrote in message
...
Consider trying this. Create an orgchart with visio and then export
it as excel. Compare what Visio saves to what you are trying to
give it.... Then see if Visio can import the file that you just
saved.

al

"merlin" wrote in message
...
OK - I'm a bit closer. The encryption error was indeed the file
protection (could have taken forever to find that out).
I'm now getting the error 'There are no tables or views in the
data source'.

I created a test excel sheet with a list of data on sheet 1 with a
heading at the top of each column in the top row.
I saved that and closed it.
Then I went in to Visio (it was already open and on a blank sheet)
Org ChartImport Org Chart DataInfo That's already storedODBC
compliant data source
browse to my testfile and select.
Then I get the error.

Help!




"Bill Morein [MSFT]" wrote in
message ...
Is your Excel file password protected? The ODBC drivers do not
support encrypted files.

You can also try importing the Excel data in Excel using ODBC.
Kind of a strange use, but it works and you don't need to mess
around with Access.

--
Bill Morein
http://blogs.msdn.com/wmorein
Visio
Microsoft Corporation


"merlin" wrote in message
...
Although I'm quite proficient with excel, I've never had to use
Access so I would be well out of my depth there.

Are there any common set-up mistakes I might look at?

"Al Edlund" wrote in message
...
when playing with odbc, setup is often one of the first
missteps. I like to use Access to test my odbc setups by having
it import using the odbc pointer (not the excel import). When
it get's the tables correct I can then move on.
al

"merlin" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to link an org chart's shapes with an excel
spreadsheet using the ODBC function.

I think I've followed all the steps in the Wizard and the help
pages but I just get an error 'can't decrypt data' (or
something like that). Can anyone suggest what I'm doing wrong?
Is there maybe something else to set up or something else I
should have installed?