Excel 2007 has new functions within
SmartArt menu, such as hierarchy (organization charts & tree branches), Process and Cycles (kinds of flow charts and stream mappings)...
It's easy to draw them by using the "text pane" on its left-hand side, which is where you can enter and modify text in the different parts of the graphic and add or remove text objects.
It doesn't take time to change the look and feel of the graphic by moving to the Design tab on the ribbon and choosing one of the styles offered.
But there is no obvious way to make these diagrams becoming "data graphics" where each format (size, color, pattern) is meaningful.
To succeed to do so (
making the SmartArt becoming data-driven by using BeGraphic), you have to:
- with your mouse, click on the SmartArt object border (without selecting any sub-object inside the SmartArt)
- on your keyboard, do a Ctrl-A (to select all sub-objects)
- on your keyboard, do a Ctrl-C (to copy them)
- with you mouse, select a free cell away from where is the current SmartArt object
- on your keyboard, do a Ctrl-V (to paste all new sub-objects as freeforms)
- with you mouse on one of the new freeforms, make a right-click to use the "ungroup" function (to get independant freeforms)
- with your mouse, select each freeform that has to be data-driven, then use the BeGraphic function "SET PARAMETERS" to link it to its source cells
- to see the BeGraphic action (cell-driven automation), click on the "launch automation" button (inside BeGraphic ribbon)