How to create Visio diagrams from Email Data

Automate the process of entering data into Visio diagrams and keeping your diagrams up to date with the CData ODBC Driver for Email. The driver surfaces Email data as an ODBC data source that can be accessed by applications with built-in ODBC support like Microsoft Office. This article shows how to create a simple diagram to start brainstorming about Visio projects linked to Email data.

Connect to Email as an ODBC Data Source

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid credentials. The Server must be specified to retrieve emails and the SMTPServer must be specified to send emails.

Connect Email Data to Diagrams

Follow the steps below to use the Data Selector Wizard to import data into your diagram.

1. Open Visio and click File -> New. Open the Brainstorming template.
2. On the Data tab, click Custom Import and select Other OLEDB or ODBC data source. 👁 Selecting a data source
   
3. Select the ODBC option and select ODBC DSN.
4. Select the DSN for Email, select the table you want to import, and finish the wizard. This article uses Mailboxes as an example.

Link Email Entities to Shapes

Follow the steps below to create a simple diagram that shows how to create shapes from your data, one of the ways to link Email entities to shapes:

1. Click Brainstorming Shapes and drag a main topic onto the drawing page. Enter Mailboxes as the text of the main topic.
2. Click Topic.
3. Select a row in the External Data window and drag it onto the drawing page.
4. Right-click the Topic shape and click Data -> Edit Data Graphic.
5. Click New Item.
6. In the Data Field menu, select a column. In the Displayed As menu, select how to display them. 👁 A data graphic for a column.
   
7. Drag a few other Email entities onto the drawing page and add association lines back to the main topic, Mailboxes. New topics have the same configuration: Numeric columns displayed in data bars stand out in contrast to other Mailboxes entities. 👁 Brainstorming with external data. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

You can refresh your diagram from the Data tab, synchronizing your shapes with the external Email data.