InDesign CS5 -- dynamic charting workflow?

Question

Hi,
I searched the forum but I feel like I haven't quite found my answer.  Basically, my organization, in the past, has produced a dynamic 'demographic fact sheet' document for communities in the Denver, Colorado USA region. (example: http://www.drcog.org/communityprofiles/PDFs/ArapahoeCounty.pdf)  This was previously done with an Access database and a mail merge in Microsoft Publisher (I know, I know), but we would like to bring this process into CS5, since our graphic designers work in InDesign CS5 and would like to redesign the look and feel of this document while automating this workflow so that it isn't as time-consuming as manually copying and pasting charts for each community.
What kind of workflow would most easily produce a document like this?  It is essentially a mixture of charts and graphs along with some dynamic text.  I've read about Data Merge and XML, but I'm not sure about the charting and graph part of this -- most of the information I've found online talks about using Illustrator to make dynamic charts, but I'm not quite sure how to put everything together.  Basically, I'd like the process to work like it did with Publisher and Access, if possible.  We basically set up a template and then based on the data, Publisher generated a document that showed the appropriate data  (and correct values in graphs/charts) for every community.  The graphic designers have the CS5 Design Premium package, so they do have access to Illustrator and other Adobe apps if these are necessary.
The data is stored in an enterprise database now (not Access), so extracting it to a CSV or other type of format is not a problem.
InDesign is not my area of expertise, but I want to help with the process as much as I can.
Thank you so much for any insight or recommendations!
Jonathan

Answer 1

This type of project would be too data intensive for Indesign. ID's data merge and ID's xml capabilities would not be sufficient either. Not to say that Indesign could not be used to create content, but the data portion would have to be driven with a 3rd party solution, something like XMPie.This type of solution typically is postioned at the print end and ties all the components: content created from ID, variable image, variable text, data export file to create custom chart, etc. to produce a finished customized print piece.