How does Visio 2003 decide the sort order in and Org Chart (using.

[HW]

When creating an org chart in Visio 2003 using the wizard from an excel file,
how does Visio determine the sort order of the names in the boxes. It is not
in Alpha ORder or in the order in the spreadsheet.

 

[Mike Mueller [MSFT]]

The ordering of subordinates in a wizard-created organization chart is
random.

 

[Bob Sweet]

I had wondered the same thing until I determined it was sorting the first
column of information located within the spreadsheet. My first column
contained unique employee ID's and the employees names were in columns D & E.
when I sorted by the employee # I noticed it was the same listing as in
Visio. I have since placed the employees last name in the first column and
all apears fine now.

 

[Mike Mueller [MSFT]]

Actually, there is no predictable order to the subordinates created by the
wizard. Any correlation between the order in your spreadsheet and the order
the boxes appear in the diagram is purely coincidental.

What actually happens is the following:
The wizard drops a shape for each employee in a random location.
The shapes are connected based on the reporting relationships defined in
your spreadsheet.
The Organization Chart layout function is called. This function arranges
each set of subordinates in a predetermined layout. The order in each set is
determined from the location of each shapeprior to layout in relation to the
other shapes in the set.

Note that once this initial layout has taken place, the layout code will
remember the relative order of a shape with respect to its peers unless you
change the order by moving the shape or invoking a move left/right command.

Hope this helps.