Data Graphics

[rabalam]

This is a two part question?

I have created a spreadsheet that I have been able to successfully merge into a Visio 2007 document. I have successfully link data graphics to various stencils. I am having a coupe of problems.
If I understand the reasoning behind data graphics and linking to an external source (i.e. excel spreadsheet) is that you can change the data in the spreadsheet and not have to update the Visio document other than to do a refresh and the data should updates. This is very useful if you have a standardized build which our company does makes pushing out configurations and Visio diagrams very efficient.

My problems are as follows.
1. When I update my spreadsheet and then return to Visio2007 and proceed with a refresh of the data my link gets deleted. This leads to/or is the cause of my second issue.
2. Once my link get broken from issue 1. I have to re-link the data back to the object this then sets the data graphic back to its default which then I have to hand edit the bubbles/callouts and move them back to the desired position.
This exercise kind of defeats the purpose of linking to the spreadsheet. Has anyone else seen this behavior? Am I missing a step when defining my data graphics or linking to my spreadsheet.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

Thx,

~g

 

[VisioMVP]

I am not sure why your links are breaking, but if you assign a unique key, like a product id to a shape data and then use that product id in the spreadsheet, you should be able to automatically link the data based on the key. |This is under the data menu.
I have been able to do this a few times this morning and the refresh works without losing the links.

John... Visio MVP - Visio.MVPs.org