How to create Visio diagrams from BigQuery Data

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

Getting Started

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Connect to BigQuery 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.

Google uses the OAuth authentication standard. To access Google APIs on behalf of individual users, you can use the embedded credentials or you can register your own OAuth app.

OAuth also enables you to use a service account to connect on behalf of users in a Google Apps domain. To authenticate with a service account, you will need to register an application to obtain the OAuth JWT values.

In addition to the OAuth values, you will need to specify the DatasetId and ProjectId. See the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation for a guide to using OAuth.

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

Link BigQuery 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 BigQuery 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 BigQuery 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 BigQuery data.