Creating and Managing Data Links

Use the DataLink command to create and manage data links.

The DataLink command displays the Data Link Manager which groups all the tools necessary for creating, editing, and managing data links.

The Data Link Manager Dialog Box

The toolbar groups all the tools necessary for creating, editing, and managing data links.

Button	Description
	Creates a new data link
	Changes the link to external data file of the selected data link
	Renames the selected data link
	Deletes the selected data link
	Opens the data file linked to the selected data link
	Controls the preview generation in the Preview area.

List of Links

Displays the list of existing data links defined within the current drawing.

You can do the following:

• Right-clicking an item in the list displays a context menu.
• Clicking a data link displays a thumbnail preview in the Preview area.
• Double-clicking a data link displays the Edit Data Link dialog box.

Options for working with data links

Creating a Table Based on an Microsoft Excel File

The workflow for creating a table based on an existing Microsoft Excel file includes the following steps:

• Establish a data link to the spreadsheet or cell range
• Create a table based on an existing data link

To establish a data link to an external file:

1. Do one of the following:
   • On the ribbon, select Insert > Extraction and Linking Data > Data Link.
   • Type DataLink.
2. In the Data Link Manager dialog box, click .
3. Type the name for the data link and press Enter.

   Using the same name as the data file can help you organize your data links better.

4. In the Setup Data Link dialog box, click Browse and specify the files to be linked to.
5. From the File Path drop-down list specify how to store the path to the data file.
   • Relative path. Uses the file path according to the location of the file relative to the host drawing. Use a relative path when you share your drawings with your colleagues.
   • Full path. Uses the full path of the file, including the root directory.
6. In the Link range area, do the following:
   • To link to the entire spreadsheet, click Entire sheet and select the sheet from the Link sheet drop-down list.
   • To link to a cell range, click Cell range and specify the range of cells to link to your table.

     Examples:

     • Rectangular range: A2:C3
     • Entire column: A:A
     • Set of columns: A:F
7. Optionally, click to specify how to import data from the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. See Additional Options dialog box.
8. Optionally, click to preview the sheet or the specified cell range.
9. Click OK.

   The data link is created. All data links that you create are available in the Insert Table dialog box.

To create a table based on an existing data link:

1. Click Draw > Table (or type Table).
2. In the Insert Table dialog box, do the following:
   • In Insert options, select Insert from a data link. You can select an existing data link from the drop-down list. Alternatively, click and create a new data link using the Data Link Manager.
   • Make all other necessary settings as for a regular table. See Creating Tables.
3. Click OK.
4. In the graphics area, specify the insertion point.

Additional Options Dialog Box

The options in this dialog box let you specify how to import data from the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet into the table on your drawing.

Retain data formats and formulas

Imports all data from the Microsoft Excel preserving data formats and formulas.

Retain data formats, solve formulas in Excel

Imports data formats and calculates formulas from the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Convert data formats to text, solve formulas in Excel

Imports all data formats such as currency, time, and percentage as text and calculates formulas defined in the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Allow writing to linked data

Enables the DataLinkUpdate command to update the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet according to the changes you make to the linked data in the drawing.

Inherit spreadsheet formatting

Lets you use formatting changes from the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in the table from your drawing.

• Update table formatting on each sync with spreadsheet. Specifies whether formatting from the original Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is taken into account. When disabled, the formatting that you specified in the Insert Table dialog box is used.
• Inherit table formatting only once on creation. Uses the formatting from the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet only when creating the initial table. Any later update ignores format changes that you made in the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Access

Command: DataLink

Menu: Insert > Data Link

Ribbon: Insert > Extraction and Linking data