It is a common request (i.e. mirror some external data to custom properties
in visio dynamically/near real time). unfortunately it requires medium =>
good programming skills across both products (source and destination).
There is also the requirement that the source product support some form of
software event notification to trigger the changes.
here are two tips I kept on linked drawings
al
From Page 759 of Microsoft Visio Version 2002 Inside and Out book.
1) Tools / Macros/ Visio Extras / Database Wizard
2) Click Next
3) Select "Create A Linked Drawing or Modify An Existing One", and click
Next
4) Select "Add Database Actions And Events To a Drawing Page", and click
Next
5) Choose your Visio Drawing and page
6) Check the "Refresh linked shapes on document open", and click Next
7) Click Finish
This from another user
I tried this out a while back and was disappointed because you have to do
this for every page that contains a linked shape and my visio document
contained more than a hundred pages. So wrote a macro that loops through
all pages refreshes them with the database. I'm sure there is a way to make
the macro run when the document opens although I don't know what it is off
hand. Hope this helps.
' DatabaseRefresh
'
' This macro loops through all pages of your visio document and
' performs a Database Refresh by executing the Addon for refreshing
' the database ("Database Refresh").
Public Sub DatabaseRefresh()
Dim pg As Visio.Page
Dim OriginalPg As Visio.Page
' Record the original page
Set OriginalPg = ActiveWindow.Page
' Loop through each page of the document
For Each pg In ThisDocument.Pages
' Set the page to be the active page
ActiveWindow.Page = pg.Name
' Execute the "Database Refresh" Addon
Application.Addons("Database Refresh").Run ""
' Increment the page counter
Next pg
' Set the active page back to the original one so the
' user doesn't end up on the last page
ActiveWindow.Page = OriginalPg.Name
End Sub
