Hi Gary -
There are some help topics on Office Online which discuss the use of the
Database Wizard and shape linking. You can see a list of topics here :
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/visio/CH010191751033.aspx. I'm not sure
where you would see a windo popping up to edit the Database file, since I
don't recognize that as a Visio dialog.
As for the File > Print > Cancel work around, that applies to the problem
with the Database Modeling template/solution on 64-bit platforms only, and
is not related to the Database Wizard at all.
Try starting with the step-by-step under the topic "Link an existing
drawing to a database" here :
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/visio/HP850505771033.aspx
Follow either the 'Database Wizard' steps or the 'Link to Database' steps.
One thing to note about connecting to Excel worksheets - you can create a
Named Range in an Excel worksheet that defines the data rows/columns. To
do this, open your Excel worksheet, and highlight the block containing your
data - including header row, if you have one. For instance, in the Visio
install directory, there is an OrgData.XLS worksheet containing sample data
for the Organization Chart solution. (Look in C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Office\Visio11\Samples\1033, the default English install directory for
samples) If you highlight the data block (A1:H52) and then click on Insert
Name > Define, you can assign a name to the block of cells, to identify
it for use later as a 'Table' with the Database Wizard. (Access makes an
easier sample data source, as it uses tables natively). Save the Excel
worksheet and close it before attempting to use the Wizard again, by the
way.
Trick #2 is to define your own ODBC connection to the specific Excel
worksheet, so that you don't have to constantly tell the wizard which Excel
file to use. These steps should work for you on WindowsXP - may need to
modify if you have a different OS. Note that Vista UAC will not allow
users to create SYSTEM data source names - but USER types will perform well
if you are the only user accessing the files.
1. Open the Control Panel, and open the Administrative Tools.
2. Launch the Data Sources (ODBC) applet.
3. Select the User DSN tab if not already selected.
4. Click Add, and then select the Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls) from the
list available. (Do NOT pick the one labeled Microsoft Excel-Trieber)
5. Click Finish.
6. In the "ODBC Microsoft Excel Setup" dialog type a name for your
connection. (Something like MyExcelFile)
7. Click the Select Workbook button and browse to the Excel file and
select it.
8. Click OK to save the connection settings. You should see your new DSN
listed in the User data Sources window.
Now, when you run through the Link to Database wizard, you should be able
to use your specific "MyExcelFile" (or whatever you named it) connection in
the 'Name' drop down, and have your Named Range show up in the Table/View
selector. These two steps should get you where you are trying to go.
Barb Way
Product Support - Visio
Microsoft Corporation
[This posting is provided "As Is" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.]
--------------------
Hello folks,
I am trying to link data in an Excel (2003) spreadsheet to a Visio 2003
(SP3) drawing and have spent hours with no luck. Each time I try to
complete
the "Link to Database" Wizard I click "Ok" and nothing happens, the
database
wizard just sits there and never completes.
I also have an issue where a window keeps popping up saying the Database
file is ready for editing and when I click Read/Write an Empty and broken
Excel screen pops up showing nothing.
It seems my Visio is badly bugged up, I have tried the File->Print->Cancel
trick I found in the forum and it didn't help.
Lastly, as I said I played with this for hours (approaching 10 hours now)
and I am wondering, is linking excel to Visio an easy task or is it
actually
a convoluted and overly complex task? (I am an old Clipper/VB/C programmer
so
I have a good deal of knowledge)
Thanks in advance,
Gary
