You can create a frame that displays URL-addressable content. Such mashups can help you leverage data from many sources in a single, integrated view. By default, the server assumes that you want to use the HTTP protocol for custom URL frames. However, you can specify that it use the FILE protocol by entering file:// at the beginning of the value in the URL. In this case, the server uses the FILE protocol, and looks for the file you specify in the server’s WEB-INF directory. This is helpful for including images.
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The Custom URL dialog box uses the iframe HTML tag to define an inline frame that can loads the URL. If you experience a problem using the Custom URL, check the following possible causes:
For more information, see the Troubleshooting chapter of the JasperReports Server Administrator Guide. |
To add a custom URL:
| 1. | If the dashboard you saved in “Adding Controls to a Dashboard” isn’t open, locate the Sales Dashboard, typically in the /Dashboards folder, right-click Sales Dashboard, and select Open in Designer from the context menu. |
The Sales Dashboard appears in the designer, as shown in “A Simple Dashboard with Sample Reports”.
| 2. | In the Available Content panel, double-click Special Content > Custom URL. |
The Custom URL dialog box appears.
| 3. | Enter the URL of the web page you want the frame to display. For example, enter www.bing.com/news: |
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Custom URL Frame Definition |
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The text of the URL is sent to the browser of the dashboard user, and therefore is not secure. Do not include sensitive information such as passwords in the URL. |
| 4. | Click the check box next to Country to select that input control, and in the URL Parameter Name field, replace the default text (Country) with the letter q. This URL Parameter Name field is case-sensitive. |
The server maps the Country input control to Bing’s q (query) parameter.
The Product Family and Product Department input controls also appear in the Custom URL dialog box. If www.bing.com/news accepted a parameter that was compatible with these input controls, you could check their check boxes to associate the URL with these input controls, as well.
| 5. | Click OK to close the custom URL dialog box. |
| 6. | Select a new value from the Country input control, click Submit. |
The server passes the Country value to www.bing.com/news, displaying the news related to the selected country. The news displayed in the custom URL frame changes.
| 7. | Resize the custom URL frame so that only the first article’s synopsis appears. |
| 8. | Drag the custom URL frame to the left to align its left edge with the right edge of the input controls. Use the arrow keys to move selected content one grid space at a time. Press the Ctrl key to move the selected content a single pixel at a time. |
| 9. | Right-click the custom URL frame, and click Auto-refresh Interval on the context menu. |
The menu expands to display options for how frequently the server should refresh the frame’s content. Smaller values make the server update the frame more often. By default, a frame is never automatically refreshed (that is, its Auto-refresh Interval is set to Manual Only).
| 10. | Click 5 Minutes beneath the Auto-refresh Interval on the context menu. |
Auto-refresh affects only the end user view of the dashboard. In the designer, the frame is never auto-refreshed.
| 11. | Click Save > Save Dashboard. |
The dashboard is saved to the repository.
