How to create Visio diagrams from SuiteCRM Data

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

Connect to SuiteCRM 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 must be set to valid SuiteCRM user credentials. Additionally, specify the URL to the SuiteCRM application, for example http://suite.crm.com.

Note that retrieving SuiteCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you store the metadata locally as described in the Caching Metadata section of the data provider help documentation.

Connect SuiteCRM 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 SuiteCRM, select the table you want to import, and finish the wizard. This article uses Accounts as an example.

Link SuiteCRM 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 SuiteCRM entities to shapes:

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

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