VISIO document and embedded database

[David LACASSAGNE]

Hello,

When I look at the way some standard VISIO solutions (like UML
diagrams) are implemented, I noticed that they use some kind of
internal database (partially hidden) included in the document.

Are there documents describing this kind of implementation ?

I know it is possible to create a master containing an Access
database, but how access to it ? By database wizard ? By Jet engine ?

What are the limitations ? What is the best solution ?

Can someone provide me some examples (with associated code) ?

Regards,

David.

 

[David LACASSAGNE]

It seems that the standard VISIO solutions (like UML diagrams) do not
use a database but IStorage APIs (using VisXData.dll).

This subject seems to be decribed in the "VISIO 2002 Developer's
Survival Guide" but only on 2 pages (I have looked at the TOC).
Is it worth buying this book only for this subject ?

Can someone provide me an example of implementation of IStorage with
Visio and VBA ?

Are there other solutions to save my data in the VISIO document file ?

David.

 

[Mark Nelson [MS]]

Certain Visio solutions like UML store their data in binary storage blobs
inside the Visio document. This is done by creating an ActiveX control that
can hold the data and then placing an instance of the control on a page in
the drawing. There are some definite risks using this technique, such as
the user deleting the page that the control sits on.

More recently Visio introduced SolutionXML as a way for developers to store
data with the drawing. This is a much better solution if you can describe
your data using XML. Binary data blobs are still not directly supported
through Visio's API.

 

[David LACASSAGNE]

Thanks, this helps a lot !

I missed this solution, because I tried to adopt the same behavior
than standard Visio solutions.

David.