How do I get a Popup Form to Get Shape Data from Microsoft Access

P

ProfessorSax

(cross-posted in General Questions)

I am building an enterprise architecture model of a large enterprise. The
basic
model is much like the DoD Enterprise Architecture framework or the Federal
Enterprise Architecture Framework models. In those models there is a data
dictionary that resides in a table in an Access database, defining the
entities in the model. I use Visio to model the enterprise, using custom
Visio stencils. Each master in the stencil could be applicable to a number
of entities in the data dictionary. Each master is a group of three shapes:
(1) Outline, which is the appropriate rectangle, Hexagon, etc for the entity
type, and encloses the other two shapes
(2) NodeName, which is a text block to capture the data dictionary's
NodeName for the entity
(3) Identifier, which is a text block to capture the data dictionary's ID
for the entity

What I'd like to do is this: When the user drags a shape on one of the
Visio pages, open a form with a drop-down pick list from the data dictionary
(the Access table or it could be a query) to allow the user to choose the
desired entity, or if none exists, define it in Visio and export the results
to Access, defining a new entity. After selecting or defining the entity, I
also want the text I selected or supplied to show up on the text blocks in
the appropriate subshape of the grouped Visio shape.

The Master has Custom Properties NodeName and Identifier, but I haven't
figured out the Event programming to transfer their values to the text blocks.

Finally, what is the best approach to getting a form that's bound to the
Access database? Could I add References from Access to the Visio References
and create, basically a form bound to the Access table? Or is it better to
have the Access dabase open, use one of its forms, and somehow export the
results back to Visio? Or can I create a form within a Visio project (VBA)
and somehow bind it to the table or query in the Access database?

I am running Access 2003, Visio 2003, and have the full Developer's Edition
of Microsoft Office with the MSDN extras, etc.
 

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