Re: ODBC with Excel in 2003

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

"merlin" <merlin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1151772292.26373.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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" <edlund@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OChqfHRnGHA.764@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Try this for a start definition
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/odbc/htm/dasdkodbcoverview.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" <merlin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1151744299.2584.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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" <edlund@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:O1KXVmqmGHA.4836@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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" <merlin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1151442560.25195.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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" <edlund@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ey85UdimGHA.2112@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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" <merlin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1151436639.20509.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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 *** with a list of data on *** 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 ***)
Org Chart>Import Org Chart Data>Info That's already stored>ODBC
compliant data source>
browse to my testfile and select.
Then I get the error.

Help!




"Bill Morein [MSFT]" <wmorein@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:AA3C3144-06F8-4527-9E67-964EA4ADECD5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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" <merlin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1151268793.70358.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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" <edlund@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23CjC8oFmGHA.4268@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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" <merlin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1151229539.24140.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'm trying to link an org chart's shapes with an excel
spread*** 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?






















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