Dynamic link to external config files

[Bill Clark]

Using Visio Pro v2002. I want to create a drawing that has several text
fields (or links or whatever that will do the job) that are linked to
different configuration files on my network and will show changes as I open
the drawing. For example: I want one field on my drawing to link to my
Autoexec.ncf file on one of my Novell servers. When I open the drawing, I
want to see the CONTENTS of the .ncf file, not just a link with the name of
the .ncf file. And when I change the original .ncf file on the server, I
want the changes reflected in my drawing when I next open it. How can I do
this? TIA

Bill

 

[Al Edlund]

Well,
Step one - identify what your underlying communication strategy is going to
be. If they were MS servers I'd go with WMI. Since you have Novell you might
want to consider using Telnet.
Step two - identify a toolset to get to the data independent of Visio. I use
PowerTCP's Telnet client (in both a VB6 and VB.Net implementation) and
handle the remote interface that way.
Step three - Identify how you want Visio to trigger on the opening.
Persistent events tied to a custom stencil work o.k.
Step four - decide if you want to do it as a standalone application that
calls Visio and opens the drawing, or you want to write it as an Addon. In
VB6 (since I didn't need the data to come out of the drawing) I used a
standalone to query and update, when I needed to integrate I started using
v2003 and VB.NET as an addon.
Since your playing with text files and doesn't sound like your using any
significant graphics function, you might want to reconsider doing it as a
visio app.
Al

 

[Bill Clark]

Whoa!! Man, I didn't think it would be that complicated to get something
like this. OK, I did some research after posting and ran across a company
called AmazingVisio and they have a product called EasyLink that appears to
do what I want. Has anyone had any dealings with this company and/or
product? Big thanks to your reply Al, I just don't think I have that much
time/skill to go with your suggested route.

Bill

 

[Al Edlund]

Bill,
If you work the problem through it's basically 'just' remote viewing of a
file on the server and then wanting to post it to something (visio). So the
underlying challange is the automation of the viewing process. There are a
number of network protocols that could be used, all of them open you to some
sort of set of security exposures. Finding a third party tool that meets
your needs, and budget, is often a lot easier than writing your own.
Al