Microsoft KB Archive/263143

= Visio2000: How to Link a Visio Drawing to a Specific Region Within an Excel Worksheet =

PSS ID Number: 263143

Article Last Modified on 5/8/2001

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Visio 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visio 2000 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Visio 2000 Technical Edition
 * Microsoft Visio 2000 Enterprise Edition

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This article was previously published under Q263143



For a Microsoft Visio 2002 version of this article, see 296528.

For a Microsoft Visio 5 version of this article, see 296527.



SUMMARY
This article describes how to embed a link in a Microsoft Visio drawing to a named region within a Microsoft Excel Worksheet.



About Linking and Embedding
Embed an object in your Microsoft Visio drawing if you want to keep all the data that you want to work with in one file, or if you want to transfer the file to other computers. You can embed data from programs that support the OLE 2 standard.

For example, if you want to distribute Excel worksheet data along with a Visio diagram, you can embed a Microsoft Excel worksheet into the drawing.

When you embed data from another program, Visio becomes the container for that data. The object embedded in the Visio drawing becomes part of the Visio file and, when you edit the data, you open the object's program from within the Visio drawing.

In addition, you can link the embedded data to maintain a connection between the embedded objects from other programs and their original files. You can view the links and choose whether to update an object manually or automatically as you update the linked file in its original program. You can also change the file reference for the linked object.

Example
To embed and link a named portion of an Excel worksheet into a Microsoft Visio drawing, follow these steps:
 * 1) Open your worksheet in Microsoft Excel.
 * 2) Select the range of cells that you want to link to.
 * 3) On the Insert menu, point to Name, and then click Define.
 * 4) In the Define Name dialog box, type a unique name in the Names in Workbook box, and then click OK.
 * 5) Save the Microsoft Excel Workbook.
 * 6) Start Microsoft Visio and open your drawing.
 * 7) On the Insert menu, click Object.
 * 8) In the Insert Object dialog box, click Create from file and then click Browse. Navigate to your Excel workbook, select it, and click Open.
 * 9) Click to select the Link to File check box, and then click OK.

NOTE: Selecting the Link to File check box establishes a dynamic connection between the Visio drawing and another program's file. When changes occur in the original file, you can update the linked file so that the most current version of the object appears in the linked file.
 * 1) Select the Excel worksheet. On the Edit menu, click Links.
 * 2) In the Links dialog box, click Automatic under Update, and then click Change Source.
 * 3) In the Item Name box, type the name defined in step 4, and then click Open
 * 4) Click Update Now, and then click Close.

Now, only the named area of the Excel worksheet is dynamically linked to the Visio drawing.

You can perform a similar process with a Microsoft Word document. In Word, you can use a unique bookmark name to identify a portion of a document.

