shape data

[Spechty]

I am looking to create network diagrams in Visio 2007. I have created a
stencil with the all the servers that are in my network, so I can use them
for various drawings, and I dont have to enter info several times.
What I would like to do is apply shape data to the servers, equipment ect.
I have created a shape data set with the fields I would like to display. But
it will not apply to the shapes in the stencil, nor the shape in the drawing.
The shape data shows fields that I have removed or renamed in the data set,
like product description, room ect.

Once I get a stencil set up I would like to save the equipment data to a DB
(SQL) so my info is in one place and I dont have to update additions, changes
ect, in several places.

How can I update the shape data, or am I doing something wrong?

 

[Al Edlund]

Eric Rockey did some discussions on data linking in his blog, you might
check over there for some pointers

http://blogs.msdn.com/eric_rockey/

al

 

[Spechty]

Al,

thanks for the link. but there was not any info that I was looking for in it.

I just want to apply a data set tha I set up to shapes in a stencil. Then
after the info is filled in to the shape data, I can export it to a DB. then
any other diagram I create after that all I do is drag the shape off the
stencil and the data is there if I go to the shapes properties.

 

[Al Edlund]

There's an example in the v2007 sdk that shows how to link shapes with a
recordset that also might be of help. As I remember it's a link to an excel
sheet, but it's not too big of a stretch to adapt to sql.
al

 

[Spechty]

Al,

Thank you for the reply.

Maybe I dont understand.
I want to fill in the shape data before I link to a database.
I would like to set up my stencils to have the data in them, so I can later
export them to SQL.

Or do I need to populate a DB first with the stencils shape data? Like
start in Excel then export it to SQL when it is ready?

 

[Al Edlund]

I apologize, I didn't understand your job flow. I'm not sure that what you
are attempting might be the best way to do it with my understanding of how
visio works. What visio has implemented is a database wizard that can map
data between the drawing and datasources, it's not intended to map between
stencils and datasources. One of the reasons for this is when you drop a
shape on a drawing, it makes an intermediate stop at an internal stencil
(the document stencil) which is the real shape put to the drawing.

Changing data in the master stencil has no effect on any drawing that may
have been already created, so you will have to go back to all of the
drawings and manually change them as well since they are not linked to the
stencil ....

v2007 and it's ability to link a shape to data via recordsets is a very
simple and fast mechanism to link between shapes on a page and data sources
so that you don't have to do a lot of manual data entry.

That's why the logic has been to link the drawings to the data.



al

 

[Spechty]

Al,

Thank you for the reply.

I apologize If I wasnt clear.

I think I understand now. I cannot create a stencil with my servers and
their data and link it to a datasource (SQL). The data is linked from a
drawing.

What I thought I could do was create a stencil with all of my servers, and
equipment ect. in it. Create a shape for each item, then add the data to
each shape. BIOS, serial number, OS version, ect.

I would then like to export the data to an SQL server for any other data
collection in the future. That way if I create multiple drawings I can just
pull the equipment from my stencil and the data for that particular piece of
equipment will be in the drawing.

If it comes from the drawing, would I have to create a drawing with all the
data then export it to SQL, then for each subsiquent drawing I have to import
data from SQL into the drawing?

I am able to get data into shapes in my stencil. Although I want to and
cannot apply a single data set to all the shapes in the stencil, I have to
do each one individually, after I set the stencil to be edited, I have to
change each master shape then save the stencil. Which then closes the
stencil.