I am still pretty new to DBI, and although I can see that it is possible to do many things in DBI, it not apparent to me how to do some of those things.
For example, I would like to know, step-by-step, how to create the visualization (in the boxes) on the left side in the attached dashboard ( a Dundas sample).
A support person sent me the files for the sample, but our system admin was not able to install it - said the version is different.
Can you please add the attachement or image again - can't see it in the origianl post. Thanks.
Hi there Sandi!
This visualization in the boxes on the left side of each goal, is actually comprised of a few different visualizations that are then grouped together on the Dashboard.
Firstly the Lager number as well as the smaller number in the top right corner of the box, are both Data Label Visualizations. Data Labels, as their name suggests, visualize data point values within a label.
You can create your Data Label by dragging and dropping your necessary measures and dimensions onto your Metric Set, and then selecting Re-Visualize->Data Label from the Toolbar going along the top of the page.
You can the adjust the properties of your Data Label to get it looking just as you would like.
Once you have created your two data lables, you can add a Rectangle Component to your Dashboard to represent your "box". You can add this by selecting Components->Rectangle from the Toolbar at the top of the page.
You can then edit the properties of the rectangle, deleting the defualt colour value it has, so all the remains is just the outlining boarder. Once you have done this, you can re-size and re-position you box to fit around your two data labels.
You can continue to add any additional visualizations to you box, similar to how the sample also includes the spark line within it.
I hope this helps answer your question!
Thanks, Danny. I suspected that every element in that graphic had to be created separately. Lots of steps - guess it goes faster with more practice.
I have tried that approach but when the dashboard is resized those elements seem to move about and not re-size correctly. I do know that you can size by percentage but the math is tricky especially if you make later changes. How do you folks handle this?
You can set the resize property of the dashboard to 'scale'. This means the things stay in the same place, just that they get smaller/larger but stay proportional to everything else.
Thanks, I was making it harder by set proprtional size for the elements.
Addtionally for those who are interested, here are some steps on how to achieve that Sparkline that is shown in that sample:
First you can start off by creating your line chart
Next you can add in multiple rectangle components with alternating colours for each one of the periods on your chart's horizontal axis
You can easily align them however you would like by selecting them all, either with Ctrl + click or by clicking and drawing a square around them
Then selecting the Arrange option from the Toolbar
Once you have gotten your rectangles aligned you can hide the axis on your line chart to make it into a simple Sparkline. This can be done by selecting the line chart, going to it's properties, selecting one of it's axis, and setting it's visibility off
Finally you can now place your Sparkline on top of your rectangles
If you want to group all of these elements together to ensure they resize and reposition with respect to one and other, you can again select all of these elements, and choose the "Group" option from under the Arrange menu in the Toolbar
Thanks, this additional info is very helpful!
If you were using the responsive resize mode, you would have to rely on a template grid to control the sizing and layout. It takes some extra work when compared to the scale resizing mode, but can substentially increase the usability of your dashboards on smaller screen sizes.
You should be able to find most of the information about the responsive mode in this article:
Responsive layout dashboard mode
Sandi said, "A support person sent me the files for the sample, but our system admin was not able to install it - said the version is different."
I ran into this with a demo project dbie that was built on a newer version of BI and a newer version of SQL.
In my case I was able to upgrade to the newest version of BI pretty easily.
For the database, I got SQL 2014 Express ( free ) and loaded it onto my local machine. Please note that the SQL error message is cryptic or non-existant for this case. Then set up a user account for BI. There was a little more configuration if I recall correctly, but not much.
Then I used BI's import process and viola!
I recommend, if you can, try what I did. I learned a ton from the sample project and I know you will, too.
I appreciate your suggestion, but in our case, we have the most recent version of DBI and SQL Server 2014.
The CCT.dbie was apparently built on an older version of both, so still not sure what to do.
I wish there was a way to set up a training database with the samples presented in the last webinar. It would be a great learning experience to see how they were actually done.
when importing a dbie file that was generated in an older version the import process should ask you if you want to upgarde the dbie file to your current version - is that not the case for you? I know it's a bit more complicated in the case of importing a newer sql server database backup into an older version but it sounds like that isn't the case for you.
Yes, I would want to upgrade the dbie file to our current version but how would we do that?
I just tried importing CCT.dbie with SQL Server 2016 and didn't have any issues.
Could you get the actual error message from your system admin? would also help to know the exact version of Dundas BI you are using, just in case.
I just spoke to our sys admin and he said he tried to import it as a sample and got the message samples already installed. Could you please outline the steps for him please?
simply try the standard import of dbie files by going to the Admin --> import / export -- > import and just follow the steps there. He can always contact support if there are more questions on that but it should be pretty straightforward.
