Use Visio Services with SharePoint lists

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APPLIES TO: yes-img-132013 yes-img-162016 yes-img-192019 yes-img-seSubscription Edition no-img-sopSharePoint in Microsoft 365

You can connect a Visio diagram to the data in a SharePoint list and maintain that connection when you publish the diagram to SharePoint Server 2013 or SharePoint Server 2016.

To connect to the SharePoint list from Visio, you must have at least Read access to the SharePoint list. Likewise, once the diagram has been published to a SharePoint document library, viewers must have Read access to the list in order to refresh the data from the list.

Note

This scenario requires you to have Visio Services deployed. For information about how to deploy Visio Services, see Plan for Visio Services in SharePoint Server.

Publishing a diagram connected to a SharePoint list

Publishing a data-connected diagram that is connected to a SharePoint list consists of two steps:

  • Create the diagram in Visio and connect shapes in the diagram to the data in the SharePoint list

  • Publish the diagram to a SharePoint document library

To connect a Visio diagram to a SharePoint list

  1. In Visio, open the diagram that you want to connect to the SharePoint list, or create a new diagram.

  2. On the Data tab, click Link Data to Shapes.

  3. On the Data selector page, select the Microsoft SharePoint Foundation list option, and then click Next.

  4. On the Select a site page, in the Site box, type the URL for the SharePoint site where the SharePoint list is located, and then click Next.

  5. On the Select a list page, in the Lists list, select the list to which you want to connect, and then click Next.

  6. Click Finish.

Once you have connected to the SharePoint list, you can drag the data rows onto the page to link data to your existing shapes, or add new shapes. When you have completed the diagram, you can save it to a SharePoint document library and render it with Visio Services.

To publish a diagram to a SharePoint document library

  1. In Visio, click File.

  2. Click Save, and then browse to a SharePoint document library.

  3. Type a file name, and then click Save.

  4. Once the diagram has been saved to the SharePoint document library, you can view the diagram by clicking it directly or by configuring it to appear in a Visio Web Access Web Part. The diagram remains connected to the data in the SharePoint list, and the data refreshes based on the refresh settings that you have configured for Visio Services and for the Visio Web Access Web Part, if applicable.