Question : Automatically update Org Chart when DB is updated

I'm using Visio 2007 to creage an organization chart.  I have successfully syncronized it with the heirchal employee structure in our ERP system which  uses an Oracle 9i DB.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results. I was also able to save it as an html file and post it on our Intranet site.  However, always wanting to take it one step further, is there a way that I can automatically update the web page when the Data in the DB is updated?  If not, then would you propose a shorter way to accomplish the update than going through the entire syncronization process in visio?  I hope that was clear.

Thanks,

Lee

Answer : Automatically update Org Chart when DB is updated

Did you use Visio 2007 data linking to connect the org chart shapes to the database? if so, you can set a parameter in Visio that will automatically refresh the drawing from the database at a time interval you define (note: the drawing must remain open for the automatic update to occur). This would take care of step 1 without requiring any programming -- just setting a Visio parameter.

As for step 2, republishing the web page, there's an example in the Visio software developer's kit of a macro that will save your drawing as a web page. You could either run the macro yourselft periodically, or you could, with a bit of extra work using a second SDK example, add the code to perform the save whenever certain events occur, e.g., when data is refreshed.

The Visio Developer Portal is here:
   http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/aa905478.aspx
You'll find a link to the SDK in the lower right of this page.

Let me know if you'd like more information about this approach.