If you have personnel data stored in an electronic data file, or have accurate employee data in your Microsoft Exchange Server Directory, you can automatically generate a chart using the Organization Chart Wizard.

This article describes how to:

• Structure your data files
• Run the Organization Chart Wizard
• Customize SAP/R3 data to generate organization charts
• Use a macro to generate organization charts from ERP data

And provides:

• Tips on using the Organization Chart Wizard

Formats the Organization Chart Wizard can read

The Organization Chart Wizard can read data in a variety of formats, including:

• Microsoft Excel (.xls).
• Microsoft Exchange Server Directory (the data in the Microsoft Exchange e-mail Address Book).
• Tab- or comma-delimited text (.txt).
• Org Plus (.txt).
• The file format for a database created in an open database connectivity (ODBC)–compliant database application, such as Microsoft Access.

You can also produce customized reports from databases created using enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, such as SAP, that the wizard can read to generate an organization chart.

Structure your data files

Required data

To successfully generate an organization chart from your personnel data file, the Organization Chart Wizard must be able to identify:

• Each employee uniquely.
• Each employee's name. (The way names appear in your data file is the way they'll appear on the organization chart position shapes.)
• Which person each employee reports to.

The Employee ID field in this data file contains numbers that uniquely identify each employee. If no employees have the same name, Name can serve as the unique identifier. The Reports To field must contain managers' unique identifiers. Leave the Reports To field blank for the person at the top of the chart.

Note   If you choose to create an organization chart from the Microsoft Exchange Server Directory, the Organization Chart Wizard automatically locates and reads the appropriate file. Remember that the organization chart that the wizard generates can only be as accurate as the data in the Directory file.

Optional data

Your data file probably includes a number of fields in addition to Unique Identifier, Name, and Reports To. For example, you might have fields for position title, phone number, department, and more. The Organization Chart Wizard lets you decide what you want to do with this data. You can choose to:

• Display one additional piece of data, along with employee name, on the position shapes in the organization chart.
• Store some or all of the data in property fields associated with the shapes so that others have access to the data.
• Leave the data in the data file but ignore it for purposes of the organization chart.

Run the Organization Chart Wizard

After you have structured your data file so the wizard can use the information it contains, you're ready to generate an organization chart.

1. On the File menu, point to New, point to Organization Chart, and then click Organization Chart Wizard.
2. On the first screen, click Information that's already stored in a file or database, and then click Next.
3. Follow the instructions on the wizard pages. Click the question mark (?) for help on a particular page.

Tips on using the Organization Chart Wizard

Customize SAP/R3 data to generate organization charts

To customize personnel data from SAP/R3 files so that the Organization Chart Wizard can use it to create an organization chart, do the following:

1. Structure your files so that the wizard can read them.
2. Decide what time period you want the organization chart to reflect: present, past, or future. Be sure to choose settings that will generate a report based on this time period.
3. In SAP/R3, create a report from the Human Resources Master Data. Choose the following infotypes and fields:
   

   Infotype	Field
   Key field infotype	Personnel # field
   Org Assignment infotype	Description of Position field Position # field
   Personal Data infotype	Last Name field First Name field

4. In SAP/R3, create a second report from the organization management data. Choose the following infotypes and fields:
   

   Infotype	Field
   Object Name infotype	Object ID field Object Name field
   Relationships infotype	Relationships Between Objects field (specify the Reports To relationship) Relationship Specification field, if you want to specify Active or some other type of relationship Type of related object field ID of related object field

5. Generate flat data files from these reports and import the files into Microsoft Excel or another ODBC-compliant database application.
6. In the first report file, concatenate the Last Name and First Name fields into one Name field if you want both names to appear on organization chart shapes. Delete the Last Name and First Name fields.
7. Run a query that compares Position # fields in the first and second reports to generate a new field in the first report called Manager Position #.
8. Run a query that compares the Manager Position # field with the Position # field in the first report to generate a new field called Manager Name.
9. Check the data in the first report for errors that will cause problems for the Organization Chart Wizard. For example, make sure that the Manager Position # field for the person at the top of the organization chart is empty and that no duplicate Personnel ID numbers or Manager Position numbers exist.
10. Save the first report so that the Organization Chart Wizard can read the data it contains to generate an organization chart.
11. When the wizard prompts you to choose fields from your data file that correspond to Name, Reports To, and Unique ID, choose the fields that contain names, manager position number, and Personnel ID numbers, respectively.

Use a macro to generate organization charts from ERP data

If you maintain your organizational data in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, such as PeopleSoft or SAP/R3, you can develop a solution that:

• Enables you to quickly generate an organization chart from a data file without having to work your way through the Organization Chart Wizard screens.
• Makes it possible for users who don't use Visio software to generate organization charts automatically from data.

To develop the solution, create a macro or executable file that runs the Organization Chart Wizard from the command line. The macro or executable file must include the statement:

_Organization Chart Wizard.exe <arguments>

where the arguments specify how to build the organization chart. The following table lists the arguments you can use. If an argument name includes spaces, put the name in quotes.

Organization chart solution arguments