Table Plan (a.k.a. "Seating Chart") - struggling with the basics

Hi,

I'm pretty new to Visio (using 2003 vers) besides org charts so bear with me
please!

What I am trying to do is incredibly simple:

- Draw a floor plan of ten round tables each with ten chairs (which I CAN do)
- Associate / link the each table to its associated chair (which I cannot do)
- Given each table a unique ID e.g. 'table_A'
- Assign each chair around each table a number 1-10 (same for every table)
according to its position (e.g. chair#1 at 12oclock, chair#4 at 8oclock, etc)
- Combine the table ID and chair ID to create a unique identifier for each
unique chair (100 in total)
- Label these 100 chairs with Firstname / Surname from an Excel file
containing our guest list

It seems to me this should be trivial with such a powerful tool but I am
going around in circles:

- I've tried importing data but I get an error saying my Excel file does not
contain any data
- I have had no luck linking chairs to tables to create a unique id
- I have tried the "link to database" option but it seems complex, I don't
know what ODBC is or whether I need it (I doubt it)

There's no need for anything other than a one-way refresh; I just want to be
able to move the table IDs around in the Excel guest list, then refresh the
chart.

Simple, surely? What am I doing wrong? It's for a wedding and I am running
out of time!

Thank you,

Alastair

The perceived 'trivial' linking of data between shapes and data sources is
one of the primary advantages in v2007 professional where it is part of the
product.
al


"Alastair M" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm pretty new to Visio (using 2003 vers) besides org charts so bear with
me
please!

What I am trying to do is incredibly simple:

- Draw a floor plan of ten round tables each with ten chairs (which I CAN
do)
- Associate / link the each table to its associated chair (which I cannot
do)
- Given each table a unique ID e.g. 'table_A'
- Assign each chair around each table a number 1-10 (same for every
table)
according to its position (e.g. chair#1 at 12oclock, chair#4 at 8oclock,
etc)
- Combine the table ID and chair ID to create a unique identifier for
each
unique chair (100 in total)
- Label these 100 chairs with Firstname / Surname from an Excel file
containing our guest list

It seems to me this should be trivial with such a powerful tool but I am
going around in circles:

- I've tried importing data but I get an error saying my Excel file does
not
contain any data
- I have had no luck linking chairs to tables to create a unique id
- I have tried the "link to database" option but it seems complex, I don't
know what ODBC is or whether I need it (I doubt it)

There's no need for anything other than a one-way refresh; I just want to
be
able to move the table IDs around in the Excel guest list, then refresh
the
chart.

Simple, surely? What am I doing wrong? It's for a wedding and I am running
out of time!

Thank you,

Alastair