The Dashboard Designer is a web-based UI for embedding reports, Ad Hoc views, and other BI objects into a single, interactive space. You can compile dashboards that include pre-existing elements, such as reports and views, and create new charts, tables, and crosstabs from your data sources directly from the designer.
Each element on your dashboard is called a Dashlet. Dashlets have unique names and resource IDs, and editable properties that vary depending on the Dashlet type.
Your permissions to access the repository may limit the content you can add and the location where you can save the dashboard.
This section includes:
The Dashboard Designer Interface
The following figure shows the basic layout of the Dashboard Designer.
| The Dashboard Designer UI |
|  |
The Dashboard Designer UI includes the following panels:
| • | Available Content. From here, you can drag content onto the Dashboard Canvas. This panel includes the following sections: |
| • | New Content, which lists the content elements you can create for your dashboard. |
| • | Existing Content, which lists the Ad Hoc views and reports you can access from the Repository. |
| • | Filters, which lists all filters associated with any resource added to the dashboard. |
| • | Toolbar Buttons. See table below for details. |
| • | Dashboard Canvas. This is where you create and edit your dashboard. It includes the following sections: |
| • | Title Bar, which displays the name of the dashboard (in the figure above, the name is "New Dashboard"). It also includes the Editing/Viewing button, which allows you to switch between editing the dashboard and displaying it as viewed by the end user. |
| • | Main Creation Area, where you build your dashboard. Drag elements from the Available Content panel here to get started. |
Dashlets and Dashboard Elements
Each element added to your dashboard is called a Dashlet.
To add a Dashlet to your dashboard, simply select a content element and drag it onto the dashboard canvas. Certain content, such as charts and crosstabs, open an embedded Ad Hoc editor, which is the same editor used to create Ad Hoc views. See Overview of the Ad Hoc Editor for more information.
Dashlets can include the following elements, which you can access from the Available Content panel:
| • | Chart: Allows you to create a chart using an embedded Ad Hoc editor. |
| • | Crosstab: Allows you to create a crosstab using an embedded Ad Hoc editor. |
| • | Table: Allows you to create a table using an embedded Ad Hoc editor. |
| • | Text: A free-form text entry field. Use free text items to add titles and instructional text to the dashboard. |
| • | Web Page. Any URL-addressable web content. The dashboard can point to web content. |
| • | Image: An image from the repository or that is accessible by a web address URL. For example, you might include a dashlet that displays your corporate logo. The logo's image file can either be in your repository or on the server of your corporate website. |
| • | Existing Content: Reports and Ad Hoc views accessible to you. |
| • | Filters: If a dashlet you include on the dashboard is designed to use input controls or filters, you can add that capability to the dashboard. The server maps input controls to one or more dashlets. |
| • | Title Bar: You can enable a title bar in the Dashlet Properties dialog box. The title bar includes the following elements: |
| • | The Dashlet name, as entered in the Dashlet properties. |
| • | Dashlet toolbar, which can contain the following: |
| Icon | Name | Description |
| | Maximize | Click to open the dashlet as a larger view. |
| | Refresh | Click to refresh the dashlet. |
| | Export | Click to export the dashlet and save the output to your computer. See Exporting Dashboards and Dashlets for more information. |
For more advanced functionality, you can access dialog boxes that let you edit the overall appearance of your dashboard, modify the functionality of your dashlets, and create mappings between your dashboard input controls and your dashlets.
Previewing a Dashboard
You can preview your dashboard in display mode to see how it will appear when an end-user views it.
To preview a dashboard:
| 1. | Click the Editing button and select Viewing from the drop-down list. The dashboard opens in display mode. |
| 2. | To close the preview and return to the Dashboard Designer, click the Viewing button and select Editing from the drop-down list. |
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