Applies to
Microsoft Visio® 2002

Anyone who manages space in an organization knows how important it is and — in the face of frequent moves and reorganizations — how difficult it can be to track who sits where.

Tracking people, however, can be as simple as dragging shapes around on a drawing page if you build a space plan diagram using Visio Professional that reflects the physical spaces you manage. With a space plan diagram, you can:

• Quickly populate offices and cubicles with their occupants by importing people information from a spreadsheet or database.
• Reassign people to new offices and cubicles simply by dragging shapes representing the people from one space to another.
• Assign people who don't yet have an office or cubicle to appropriate spaces.
• Automatically update the space plan diagram when information about people in the spreadsheet or database changes.

Tracking people using a Visio space plan involves the following tasks:

• Prepare the information about people
• Import information about people into a space plan
• Locate people in the space plan
• Move people around
• Assign unassigned people to spaces
• Store e-mail aliases and other information in the space plan
• Update the space plan diagram when information changes

Prepare the information about people

After you build a space plan diagram that reflects the spaces you manage, you are ready to prepare information about people so you can import it into the diagram.

You can import people information from a variety of sources, including:

• Microsoft Excel worksheets
• Microsoft Active Directory® directory service
• Microsoft Exchange
• Any ODBC data source (for example, Microsoft Access)

Whether you're obtaining people information from a large human resources database or creating a small worksheet for your own use, keep the following in mind:

• At a minimum, your data source must include a column (or field) that contains the names of the people you are adding to your space plan.
• If some people have already been assigned to specific spaces, the data source can also include a column that contains room numbers. Room numbers in this column must match the room numbers in your space plan diagram. For people not yet assigned to spaces, leave the room column blank.
• When two or more people share a space, use the same room number for each person.
• If your data source includes information from more than one building, when you import the information about people into your space plan diagram, you must identify the column that contains building name or number.
• If other fields in your data source contain valuable information about people, such as their departments or cost centers, you can import that information into your space plan diagram as well and store it as properties associated with the shapes that represent the people.

  Note  You can use these properties to track assets. For example, you can store as properties information about the computer make, model, and asset number allocated to each person. However, you can also track assets by importing asset information separately into your space plan diagram.

• To be able to automatically update the space plan diagram when information in your data source changes, be sure your data source includes a key field that identifies each person uniquely. For example, a key field might contain each person's e-mail alias or employee number.

  Note  Identifying a key field when you first import information about people also allows you to re-import data (if, for example, you decide you want to store additional information in shape property fields) without duplicating the people that the space plan diagram already contains.

Import information about people into a space plan

After you prepare the information about people, you are ready to import it into your space plan diagram.

To import people information into a space plan diagram

1. In Visio Professional, open the space plan diagram that reflects the spaces you manage.
2. On the Plan menu, click Import Data.
3. On the first page of the Import Data wizard, in the Category list, click Person, and then click Next.
4. In the Source list, click the type of data source from which you are importing information about people. If necessary, locate the data source by clicking Browse, selecting a file, and then clicking Open. Click Next.
5. On the Choose the columns that contain the name and location information screen, do the following:
   • In the Name list, click the name of the column in your data source that contains people's names. The information from the cells in this column appears on the Person shapes in the diagram and on the icons that represent people in the Explorer window (to see the Explorer window, on the Plan menu, click Explorer).
   • In the Space ID list, click the column in your data source that contains the room number.
   • In the Building ID list, click the column in your data source that contains the building name or number, if your data source includes a column for building information, or click <None>.
   • In the Key list, click a column in your data source that contains information that uniquely identifies each person. If each person's name is unique, for example, you could choose the employee name column. If some people's names are the same, you could choose the e-mail alias or the employee number column.

   Click Next.

6. Fields lists the columns or fields that your data source includes. Properties lists the property fields that are associated by default with Person shapes. By matching Fields with Properties, you can store data from the columns in your data source in the Person shapes in your space plan diagram.

   To store data from a column in your worksheet, such as cost center, department, or e-mail address, in each Person shape in your diagram, under Fields, click the column name. Under Properties, click the property name that matches the field or, if no field matches, click <New>, and then click Add. When you have finished adding matching fields and properties, click Next.

7. If your data source includes building information, in the Building ID box, click the appropriate building.
8. To see a report of where your imported information was placed, under Options, click Show Report, and then click Finish.

   

   In the Import Data Report, you can see at a glance which people were placed into office or cubicle spaces and which people are still unplaced.

   Note  The report opens in a Web browser window. If you close the window, the report disappears. To keep a copy of the report, on the Web browser's File menu, click Print.

Locate people in the space plan

When you import people information into your space plan diagram, Visio Professional translates it into Person shapes, creating one Person shape for each person listed in your data source. Where these Person shapes appear in your diagram depends on whether or not the person whom the shape represents is already assigned to a space.

People assigned to spaces

• For each person who is assigned a specific room number in your data source, Visio places a Person shape labeled with the person's name within the corresponding Space shape in the space plan diagram.

  

  Person shapes are simple ovals. You can modify the oval by changing the size of the text or the thickness of the line.

  Note  People assigned to room numbers that don't exist in the diagram will be treated as if they have not been assigned spaces.

• When two or more people are assigned to the same space, Visio places their Person shapes one on top of the other within the same space shape.

  

  To see all the shapes, drag the top shape away from the shapes underneath.

• You can also use the Explorer window to view and rearrange the Person shapes associated with people assigned to spaces. If you don't see the Explorer window, on the Plan menu, click Explorer.

  

  In the Explorer window, Person shapes assigned to spaces are listed hierarchically under the drawing page on which they are placed, and then:

  • On the Category tab, under the category (Person) to which they belong.
  • On the Space tab, under the room number of the space to which they are assigned.

Tip  Person shapes on the drawing page are all automatically assigned to a layer called Person. This means that you can hide or lock some or all of the other shapes on the page to view or work on the Person shapes separately. To view or lock layers, on the View menu, click Layer Properties.

People not assigned to spaces

For each person who is not assigned a specific room number in your data source, Visio places a Person shape labeled with the person's name in the Unplaced Data category in the Explorer window.

Note  People assigned to room numbers that don't exist in the diagram also end up in the Unplaced Data category.

If you don't see the Explorer window, on the Plan menu, click Explorer.

Any Person shapes left in the Unplaced Data category in the Explorer window at the time you close your space plan diagram will disappear from the diagram. To avoid having to re-import the information, before you close your diagram, drag the unassigned Person shapes out of the Explorer window and place them anywhere on the drawing page.

Move people around

After you import people information into your space plan diagram, you can quickly move people from one office to another by dragging Person shapes from one Space shape to another. You can move a person in either of two ways:

• In the Explorer window.
• On the diagram itself.

To move a person in the Explorer window

1. In the space plan diagram where you want to move a person, if the Explorer window isn't already open, on the Plan menu, click Explorer.
2. Click the Spaces tab.
3. To expand the Page-1 (or other page, if the diagram has multiple pages) icon, click the plus sign (+).
4. Click the plus sign (+) next to the space Shape icon that contains an icon representing the person you want to move.
5. Drag the person icon onto a new Space shape icon.

   Changes that you make in the Explorer window are reflected in the diagram.

To move a person on the diagram

1. In the space plan diagram where you want to move a person, select the Person shape that represents the person you want to move.
2. Drag the Person shape from its current Space shape and into the new Space shape.

   Changes that you make in the diagram are reflected in the Explorer window.

Tips

• You can also move a person by dragging the person's icon from the Explorer window into a new Space shape on the diagram.
• In a space plan diagram, if an office space is too small to hold a Person shape, you can associate the Person shape with the office space by dragging the yellow diamond from the Person shape and gluing it to the blue x at the center of the office space.

  

Assign unassigned people to spaces

After you import people information into your space plan diagram, you can quickly assign people not yet assigned to office spaces by dragging Person shapes from the Unplaced Data category in the Explorer window into spaces in the Explorer window or on the drawing page.

To assign an unassigned person to a space in the Explorer window

1. In the space plan diagram where you want to assign a person, if the Explorer window isn't already open, on the Plan menu, click Explorer.
2. On the Spaces tab, to see icons representing unassigned people, click the plus sign (+) next to Unplaced Data.
3. To see icons representing the spaces into which you want to place unassigned people, click the plus sign (+) next to the Page-1 (or other page, if the diagram has multiple pages) icon that the spaces are on.

   Icons representing occupied spaces have plus signs next to them. Icons representing unoccupied spaces have no plus signs.

4. Drag an icon representing an unassigned person onto an icon representing an unoccupied space (or an occupied space if the person will be sharing an office).

   Changes that you make in the Explorer window are reflected in the diagram.

To assign an unassigned person to a space in the diagram

1. In the space plan diagram where you want to assign a person, if the Explorer window isn't already open, on the Plan menu, click Explorer.
2. On either the Space or Category tab, to see icons representing unassigned people, click the plus sign (+) next to Unplaced Data.
3. From the Explorer window, drag the icon representing the person into a Space shape in the diagram.

   Changes that you make to the diagram are reflected in the Explorer window.

Store e-mail aliases and other information in the space plan

When you import information about people into a space plan diagram, you can store some of that information — such as cost centers, departments, and e-mail aliases — as properties in the shapes that represent the people in the diagram.

You can view any person's stored properties by selecting the shape representing the person and then, on the View menu, clicking Custom Properties Window.

To store data about people in a space plan diagram

1. Follow the steps for importing information described earlier in this article.
2. In Step 5 of that procedure:
   • If you are re-importing information that you previously imported, and <None> appears in the Key list, click Cancel. (If you continue to import, you will bring in duplicates of the people already in your diagram.) In your space plan diagram, delete all the Person shapes, and then return to Step 1 of this procedure and follow instructions for importing information for the first time.
   • If you are re-importing information that you previously imported, and a column name from your data source appears in the Key list, click Next.
   • If you are importing information for the first time, follow instructions for the Name, Space ID, and Building ID lists. In the Key list, click a column in your data source that contains information that uniquely identifies each person, and then click Next.
3. Under Fields, choose the column (or field) from your data source that includes data that you want to store in Person shapes. Under Properties, choose the existing shape property field in which you want to store the data (if no field matches, click <New>), and then click Add.
4. Repeat Step 3 of this procedure until you have added all the property fields you want, and then click Finish.

Update the space plan diagram when information changes

When you import information about people into a space plan diagram, you can establish a connection between the data source that contains the people information and the space plan diagram. After that connection is established, you can reflect changes that you make to the data source in the diagram simply by choosing a command.

For example, if several people change offices and the data source contains the people's new office numbers, you can update the diagram to reflect the moves. Or, if some people switch departments, you can update the department property associated with the Person shapes in the diagram.

To see whether you established a connection with information that you already imported

1. In the space plan diagram where you want to see whether you established a connection, follow the steps for importing data described earlier in this article.
2. In Step 5 of that procedure:
   • In the Key list, if <None> appears, you did not establish a connection. Click Cancel. In your space plan diagram, delete all the Person shapes in your diagram, and then use the following procedure to establish a connection.

     Tip  To quickly delete all Person shapes from a diagram, on the View menu, click Layer Properties. In the Layer Properties dialog box, click Visible to uncheck and hide all the layers. Then scroll down to Person and click in the Visible column opposite Person to place a check mark and show the Person layer. Click OK. On the Edit menu, click Select All, and then press DELETE. On the View menu, click Layer Properties. In the Layer Properties dialog box, click Visible, and then click OK.

   • In the Key list, if a column name from your data source appears, you did establish a connection. Use the following procedure to update the diagram.

To establish a connection between the data source and diagram

1. Follow the steps for importing data described earlier in this article.
2. In Step 5 of that procedure:
   • On the Choose the columns that contain the name and location information screen, in the Key list, be sure to click a column in your worksheet that contains information that uniquely identifies each person. If each person's name is unique, for example, you could choose the employee name column. If some people's names are the same, you could choose the e-mail alias or employee number column.
3. Complete the process for importing data.

To update the diagram when the data source changes

1. On the Plan menu, click Refresh Data.
2. In the Refresh Data dialog box, select the Person check box.
3. Under Update, choose whether to update data on all the pages in the diagram or just on the current page.
4. Under Options, choose whether to remove Person shapes that no longer have any information associated with them and whether to show a report of the changes you made.
5. Click OK.