General operations in JDashboard

This section provides a general view of the operations you can perform in JDashboard.

Operations on dashboards

• Creating a new blank dashboard in the current web browser
  The ways to create a dashboard differ depending on whether your JReport Server is enabled with Visual Analysis.
  • When Visual Analysis is disabled, choose a method from the following:
    • Click + beside the rightmost tab on the dashboard title bar.
    • Click the New button on the side bar.
    • Click the Options button on the side bar and select New from the option list.
  • When Visual Analysis is enabled, choose a method from the following:
    • Click + beside the rightmost tab on the dashboard title bar.
    • On the dashboard title bar, leave the mouse cursor on the + button beside the rightmost tab for one second until a drop-down menu displays, then select New Dashboard from the menu.
    • On the side bar, click the New button and then select New Dashboard.
    • On the side bar, click the Options button and then select New >Dashboard.

  A blank dashboard will be created in the browser. You can then add components to customize the dashboard.

• Opening another dashboard in the current web browser
  Click the Open button on the side bar, or click the Options button and then select Open from the option list. In the displayed dialog, browse to the desired folder, select the dashboard you want to open and then click OK, or simply double-click the dashboard to open it.
• Showing, hiding and resizing the dashboard header
  To show or hide the dashboard header, click the Options button on the side bar and select Show/Hide Dashboard Header from the option list.

  Even though the dashboard header is open, its border is unseen by default. However, when you drag objects into the dashboard editing area, you will see the area is divided into two sections with the activated section highlighted in grey: the upper section is the header and the lower the body. Or you can simply press Ctrl on the keyboard to make the border between the header and body shown. Then drag the border line vertically to adjust the size of the header and body.

• Removing all filters from a dashboard
  JDashboard provides the ability to remove all the filters from the current dashboard at a time including those generated via sliders, filter controls, messages, drilling and going actions and those designed using web browsers such as Page Report Studio and Web Report Studio, except query filters and others designed and taking effect in JReport Designer. To do this, click the Clear Filters button on the side bar, or click the Options button and then select Clear Filters from the option list.
• Refreshing the current dashboard
  Click the Refresh button on the side bar to refresh the data of the current dashboard.
• Applying a theme to the current dashboard
  Click the Options button on the side bar and select Themes from the option list. In the Themes dialog, select a theme from the left panel and then click OK.
• Closing a dashboard
  For the current dashboard, click X on its name tab to close it. For the other open dashboards, hover the cursor on a name tab until X appears, then click X to close that dashboard.
• Exiting JDashboard
  If you want to exit JDashboard and release the resources, click the Options button on the side bar and select Exit from the option list. Do not use the close button on the browser window as that may not release the resources used by JDashboard.
• Asking for help
  At any time, you can click the Options button on the side bar and select Help from the option list to access the JDashboard help documents. Furthermore, you can click in any dialog to show the help document about the dialog.

Operations on objects in the dashboard header

• Editing an object
  Hover the cursor on the object and then click that appears around the object. A dialog will be displayed for you to edit the object. For a label or the dashboard title, you can edit the text related properties like font face, font color, etc. For a special field, you can change it to another special field and edit the text related properties. For an image, you can select another image to replace the current one.
• Moving an object
  Place the cursor on the object until it becomes a four-arrow icon, then drag to the desired position.
• Resizing an object
  Place the cursor on the object until an orange rectangle appears, next move the cursor on the right border, bottom border, or the bottom right corner until the cursor becomes a two-arrow icon, then drag to the desired position.
• Deleting an object
  Hover the cursor on the object and then click that appears around the object.

Operations on components in the dashboard body

• Moving a component
  Place the cursor on the component title bar until it becomes a four-arrow icon, then drag to the desired position.
• Resizing a component
  Place the cursor on the component's right border, bottom border, or the bottom right corner until the cursor becomes a two-arrow icon, then drag to the desired position.
• Editing a component
  Click on the component title bar and select Edit Setting from the drop-down list. In the corresponding edit dialog, edit the setting as required.
• Navigating component data via scroll bar
  For tables, crosstabs and charts, you can use the scroll bar to navigate their data if the container cannot display all data of the component.
• Turning component pages
  If a table or a crosstab contains more than one page, a page navigation bar specific for the component will be available right below the component. You can use the navigation bar to view the desired pages:
  • Click a number to go to that page.
  • Input a number in the text field.
  • Click Prev to go to the previous page.
  • Click Next to go to the next page.
• Customizing the auto refresh action
  For a library component that uses only one business view as the data source, if its Auto Refresh feature is enabled, you can click on the component title bar and select Refresh from the option list to adjust the refresh interval or pause the auto refresh action with the Refresh Interval dialog.
  • To change the refresh interval, click the drop-down list to select the new interval. Currently there are only 3 values available, which are ordinal multiples (starting from 2) of the default interval value defined in JReport Designer.
  • To make the auto refresh action paused, click .
  • To resume the auto refresh action after it is stopped, click .
• Going to links
  Once an object in a library component has been linked to a report, a web page, or an e-mail address, you will find the mouse cursor changes into a hand icon when hovering on the object, you can then click the object to launch the linked target.

  Note: If the trigger object of a link in a library component happens to be in some hierarchies (which means you can also perform the go-down action on the object by single click), you can click the trigger object to directly open the link in JDashboard only when the click priority of the link action is specified to be the highest for the library component at design time. If the priority of the go-down action is specified the highest, you can click the trigger object to open the link only when you have reached the lowest level of the hierarchies by going down on the object first.

• Sending messages
  If an object in a library component has been defined to send a message, by triggering the event defined for sending the message, the message will be sent out and the components defined for receiving the message will do things as defined.

  The sending and receiving of messages is defined in JReport Designer, see Delivering messages between library components in the JReport Designer User's Guide.

• Maximizing a component
  Click on the component title bar and the component will take up the whole dashboard body. By clicking the button again the component will be restored to the original size.
• Customizing the way of showing the component title bar and options on it
  Click the Options button on the side bar and select Component Title Bar from the option list. In the Customize Component Title Bar dialog, specify the way of showing the component title bar and the options on it, and then click OK.
• Deleting a component
  Click on the component title bar and select Delete from the drop-down list.
• Making use of the configuration panel
  Each library component can be equipped with a configuration panel. The configuration panel can be used to specify parameter values to its library component, to filter or sort the data of its library component, or to change properties of objects in its library component. For how a configuration panel is configured, see Using the configuration panel in the JReport Designer User's Guide.

  Once a configuration panel has been defined for a library component, you can open it in JDashboard and then perform actions as defined. To do this, on the title bar of the library component, click and select Edit Setting from the drop-down list to display the configuration panel. After specifying values in the panel, click OK to apply the values in the library component. The Cancel button is used to close the configuration panel.

  The Show Parameters Before Running option in the panel is used to control whether to show the configuration panel before rendering the library component each time the dashboard is run or refreshed. For example, if a library component uses parameters, and you would like to specify parameter values before loading the component rather than first loading the component and then changing the parameter values so as to run the component the second time to get the desired result, you can check this option to have the panel displayed by default.

• Showing component information
  Information about a component such as a library component's ID, the author and his/her e-mail address, and the description about the component are provided. To view the information, click on the component title bar and select About from the drop-down list. A panel will be displayed showing the information. You can click the OK button in the panel to close the panel.
• Automatically arranging library components in the current dashboard
  Sometimes you may drag many library components to random positions in a dashboard and would like them to look neat, there is a simple way to do this: on the side bar, click the Arrange button or click the Options button and select Arrange from the option list, the dashboard layout will then be adjusted immediately. Arrange is an instant action, clicking it once will arrange the layout once, and in this sense it benefits when you seldom need to reorder the layout. In the case when frequent reorder of dashboard layout is required, click the Options button on the side bar and click Auto Arrange on the option list. Then later each time a library component is resized, moved, removed, or added, the dashboard body will be rearranged automatically so that the library components will be placed tidy.