Overview of the Dashboard Designer
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 |
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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. |
Icon | Name | Description |
| Preview
| Click to display current dashboard as viewed by the end user. |
| Save/Save As | Hover cursor over icon to open a menu of save options. |
| Undo | Click to undo the most recent action. |
| Redo | Click to redo the most recent undone action. |
| Undo All | Click to revert the dashboard to the most recently saved state. |
| Filter Manager | Click to open the Filter Manager. See The Filter Manager for more information. |
| Dashboard Properties | Click to open the Dashboard Properties box. See Dashboard Properties for more information. |
| Show/Hide Grid | Click to display or hide a grid. |
| • | 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"). |
| • | 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.
Dashlets can include the following elements, which you can access from the Available Content panel:
| • | Chart: Allows you to create a chart within the Dashboard Designer. |
| • | Crosstab: Allows you to create a crosstab within the Dashboard Designer. |
| • | Table: Allows you to create a table within the Dashboard Designer. |
| • | 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 and include it in a frame in a web page. For example, you might include a frame that points to the logo on your corporate website; when that logo changes, the dashboard automatically updates to reflect the branding change. |
| • | Existing Content: Reports and Ad Hoc views accessible to you. |
| • | Filters: If a report 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 frames. Controls can also be manually mapped to custom URL frames. |
| • | 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. |
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 to see how it will appear when an end-user views it.
To preview a dashboard:
| 1. | Click |
| 2. | To close the preview and return to the Dashboard Designer, click |
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