How to create Visio diagrams from Redshift Data

Automate the process of entering data into Visio diagrams and keeping your diagrams up to date with the CData ODBC Driver for Redshift. The driver surfaces Redshift 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 Redshift data.

Connect to Redshift 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.

To connect to Redshift, set the following:

• Server: Set this to the host name or IP address of the cluster hosting the Database you want to connect to.
• Port: Set this to the port of the cluster.
• Database: Set this to the name of the database. Or, leave this blank to use the default database of the authenticated user.
• User: Set this to the username you want to use to authenticate to the Server.
• Password: Set this to the password you want to use to authenticate to the Server.

You can obtain the Server and Port values in the AWS Management Console:

1. Open the Amazon Redshift console (http://console.aws.amazon.com/redshift).
2. On the Clusters page, click the name of the cluster.
3. On the Configuration tab for the cluster, copy the cluster URL from the connection strings displayed.

Connect Redshift 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 Link Data to Shapes.
3. Select the ODBC option and select ODBC DSN.
4. Select the DSN for Redshift, select the table you want to import, and finish the wizard. This article uses Orders as an example.

Link Redshift 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 Redshift entities to shapes:

1. Click Brainstorming Shapes and drag a main topic onto the drawing page. Enter Orders 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.
7. Drag a few other Redshift entities onto the drawing page and add association lines back to the main topic, Orders. New topics have the same configuration: Numeric columns displayed in data bars stand out in contrast to other Orders entities.

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