The Interactive Sales Report was designed to be run with input controls. When you add a report that has input controls to a dashboard, the controls don’t appear on the dashboard until you explicitly add them, one-by-one. When the report runs, dashboard users provide input using the control. Data based on the user input appears in the dashboard. For example, using the input control, you select Mexico. The report on the dashboard shows orders from Mexican companies.
To add controls to the dashboard:
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1.
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If the Sales Dashboard created in Creating a Simple Dashboard is not open, locate the /Dashboards folder in the repository. Right-click the dashboard name and select Open in Designer from the context menu. |
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The Open in Designer submenu opens a dashboard or an Ad Hoc report for editing in the Dashboard Designer or Ad Hoc Editor, respectively.
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The Sales Dashboard appears in the designer, as shown in the figure “A Simple Dashboard with Sample Reports”, and the input controls for the report appear in the Special Content folder.
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In the Available Content list, open the Special Content > Single Report Controls folder. |
The input controls associated with the Interactive Sales Report appear.
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3.
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Right-click Country and select Add to Dashboard. |
The Country input control and its label appear above the Interactive Sales Report on the canvas.
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If you want to place the input control in a location other than above the report, drag it from the Available Content list to the desired location. You can delete, reposition, and resize the input control or its label independently.
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4.
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Click in the text box to display the available countries. In this input control, you have the following options: |
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The three countries: Canada, Mexico, and USA. |
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All, which selects all available values in the input control. |
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None, which deselects all available values in the input control. |
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Inverse, which deselects any selected values, and selects the unselected values. |
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Use the options to select Mexico from the values list, and click Close. The data displayed in the Interactive Sales Report changes, but is not updated in the Accounts report, as the Accounts report does not refer to an input control named Country. |
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Add the Product Family and Product Department controls to the dashboard, as described above. |
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Ctrl-click to select the all three input controls and their labels. |
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You can use a selection rectangle or Ctrl-click to select multiple frames and items on the canvas.
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8.
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Drag the controls below the Interactive Sales Report. |
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Draw a selection rectangle to select the Product Family input control and its label, and drag them directly beneath the Country input control. |
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Draw a selection rectangle to select the Product Department input control and its label, and drag them directly beneath the Product Family input control. |
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Click the Product Family label, and change it to Type. Change the Product Department label to Department. |
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In the Available Content panel, navigate to Special Content > Dashboard Controls, and drag the Submit and Reset buttons underneath the input controls on the canvas. |
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By default, a dashboard automatically updates when you change the values in its input controls. When the dashboard includes the Submit button, the server doesn’t update the dashboard until you click the Submit button.
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13.
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Click Save > Save Dashboard. |
The dashboard is saved to the repository.
