General Operations in JDashboard
This topic provides a general view of the operations you can perform in JDashboard.
Below is a list of the sections covered in this topic:
- Operations on JDashboard
- Operations on Dashboards
- Operations on Objects in the Dashboard Header
- Operations on Components in the Dashboard Body
Operations on JDashboard
- Applying a theme to JDashboard
Select the Options button on the toolbar and select Themes from the option list. In the Themes dialog, select a theme from the left panel and then select OK. - Exiting JDashboard
If you want to exit JDashboard and release the resources, select the Options button on the toolbar 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 select the Options button on the toolbar and select Help from the option list to access the JDashboard help documents. Furthermore, you can select in any dialog to show the help document about the dialog.
Operations on Dashboards
- Creating a new blank dashboard in the current web browser
The ways to create a dashboard differ depending on whether your Logi JReport Server is enabled with Visual Analysis.- When Visual Analysis is disabled, choose a method from the following:
- Select + beside the rightmost dashboard tab.
- Select the New button on the toolbar.
- Select the Options button on the toolbar and select New from the option list.
- When Visual Analysis is enabled, choose a method from the following:
- Select + beside the rightmost dashboard tab.
- Put the mouse pointer on the + button beside the rightmost dashboard tab for one second until a drop-down menu displays, then select Dashboard from the menu.
- On the toolbar, select the New button and then select New Dashboard.
- On the toolbar, select the Options button and then select New > Dashboard.
A blank dashboard tab will be added in the browser. You can then add components to customize the dashboard.
- When Visual Analysis is disabled, choose a method from the following:
- Opening another dashboard in the current web browser
Select the Open button on the toolbar, or select the Options button and then select Open from the option list. In the appearing dialog, browse to the desired folder, select the dashboard you want to open and then select OK, or simply double-click the dashboard to open it. - Showing, hiding and resizing the dashboard header
To show or hide the dashboard header, select the Options button on the toolbar 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 gray: 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 one time including those generated via 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 Logi JReport Designer. To do this, select the Clear Filters button on the toolbar, or select the Options button and then select Clear Filters from the option list. - Refreshing the current dashboard
Select the Refresh button on the toolbar to refresh the data of the current dashboard. - Customizing the way of showing the component title bar
You can customize the way of showing the component title bar and icons on it for each component in the current dashboard. - Select the Options button on the toolbar and select Component Title Bar from the option list. The Customize Component Title Bar dialog appears.
- Select a library component from the component box on the left.
- Specify the way of showing its component title bar and the icons on it: Always Show, Show When Mouse Over or Never Show. Icons on the component title bar allow you to edit a component so it is recommended not to select the Never Show option.
- Repeat the above steps to customize the component bar for other library components in the dashboard.
- If you want to apply the profile settings for the component title bar, check Use Profile, then the settings defined for the component title bar in the JDashboard profile will be used for all library components in the dashboard.
- Select OK to apply the changes.
- Viewing in-memory cube status
If the Show Status When Using Cube Data option is enabled in the server profile, you will find the Cube Status button on the toolbar, by selecting which you can view the information about whether the data components in the current dashboard apply in-memory cubes and the reasons if not in the Cube Status dialog. - Setting a dashboard as the server home page
Setting a dashboard as the Logi JReport Server console home page allows for a faster and easier access to the frequently visited dashboard with its latest data. When you log onto the Logi JReport Server console, you will be directed to the Home tab right away which displays the dashboard. Later you can select the Home tab on the system toolbar of the Logi JReport Server console to switch to the dashboard directly. The Home tab is available after you have set a dashboard as the server home page.Before you can set a dashboard as the server home page, you need to first enable the feature in the server profile by checking the Use a Dashboard checkbox for the option Home Page. Then:
- Open the dashboard that you are going to view a lot and make sure it has been saved.
- Select the Options button on the toolbar and you can see Set as Server Home is enabled in the option list. Select the option to set the dashboard as the home page.
Operations on Objects in the Dashboard Header
- Moving an object
Place the mouse pointer on the object then select the mouse button and it becomes a four-arrow icon, then drag to the desired position. - Resizing an object
Place the mouse pointer on the object until an orange rectangle appears, next move the pointer on the right border, bottom border, or the bottom right corner until the pointer becomes a two-arrow icon, then drag to the desired position.
- Editing an object
Hover the mouse pointer on the object and then select the Edit button that appears around the object.- For a label or the dashboard title, you can edit the text related properties like font face, font color, and so on in the Edit Label dialog.
- For a special field, you can change it to another special field and edit the text related properties in the Edit Special Field dialog.
- For an image, you can select another image to replace the current one in the Edit Image dialog.
- Deleting an object
Hover the mouse pointer on the object and then select the Delete button that appears around the object.
Operations on Components in the Dashboard Body
- Resizing a component
Place the mouse pointer on the component's right border, bottom border, or the bottom right corner until the pointer becomes a two-arrow icon, then drag to the desired position. - Navigating component data via scrollbar
For tables, crosstabs and charts, you can use the scrollbar 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:- Select a number to go to that page.
- Input a number in the text box.
- Select Prev to go to the previous page.
- Select Next to go to the next page.
- Going to links
When an object in a library component is linked to a report, a web page, or an e-mail address, you can right-click the trigger object and select Show Linked Target from the shortcut menu to launch the linked target. If the select priority of the link action is specified to be the highest for the library component at design time, you can also directly select the trigger object to open the link. - Automatically arranging 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 toolbar, select the Arrange button , or select the Options button and then select Arrange from the option list, the dashboard layout will then be adjusted immediately. Arrange is an instant action, selecting 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, select the Options button on the toolbar and select 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 neatly. When Auto Arrange is checked, it functions similarly as responsive view.
- Automatically scaling dashboard components according to browser window
When JDashboard is in view mode, it can be responsive to any size of browsers on any mobile devices or computers. Dashboard contents excluding the dashboard header can automatically scale and fold according to the current browser window size, as long as the window is smaller than the designed dashboard size. Information presented is always legible and the layout perfectly adapts to best utilize the available display screen. This is called responsive view. It is always available to mobile devices. When JDashboard runs on computers, you can specify whether it is applied by default in the JDashboard view mode and how components are folded via the View Dashboards in Responsive Mode option in the JDashboard profile.
When running JDashboard on computers in the view mode, if Responsive View is enabled, you can open or close it as follows:
- Select the Open Responsive Mode button or the Close Responsive Mode button on the toolbar.
- Select the Options button on the toolbar and select/deselect Responsive View.
The following operations require using the component title bar or icons on the bar, which could always display on the component or display when mouse over, depending on your customization.
- Moving a component
Place the mouse pointer on the component title bar, select the mouse button and it becomes a four-arrow icon, then drag to the desired position. - Maximizing a component
Select on the component title bar and the component will take up the whole dashboard body. By selecting the button again the component will be restored to the original size. - Editing the title of a component
Double-click on the component title bar and it will become editable. Input the new title and select Enter on the keyboard to confirm the change. - 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, select on the component title bar and select About from the drop-down menu. A panel will be displayed showing the information. You can select the OK button in the panel to close the panel. - Deleting a component
Select on the component title bar and select Delete from the drop-down menu. - Making use of the configuration panel
The configuration panel can be used to specify parameter values to its library component, and if defined to filter or sort the data of the library component or change properties of objects in the library component. - Automatically refreshing a library component
JDashboard supports automatically refreshing the data components as well as objects that are not bound with data in a library component based on specified interval and conditions.To automatically refreshing the data components in a library component:
- Do either of the following:
- Select on the component title bar and point to Auto Refresh on the drop-down menu. All the business views used by the data components in the library component are listed on the submenu. Select the name of a business view. In this way, all the data components using the specified business view will be automatically refreshed when the auto refresh action takes place.
- Right-click a data component in the library component and select Auto Refresh from the shortcut menu. In this way, other data components in the library component which use the same business view as the specified data component will also be automatically refreshed when the auto refresh action takes place.
The Auto Refresh dialog appears.
- Select to enable the auto refresh action, then specify the refresh interval by inputting the time interval in the combo box that follows or selecting the drop-down list to select a value.
When the auto refresh action is started, to make it stopped, select .
- If you only want to fetch incremental data for each auto refresh, check the Incremental Fetch checkbox, then select the Incremental Condition button to specify the condition in the Incremental Condition dialog.
The dialog has the basic and advanced modes for you to define the incremental condition using either simple expressions or complex expressions.
- To define the incremental condition using simple expressions:
- Make sure the dialog is in the basic mode.
- Select the field on which the filter will be based from the field drop-down list.
- From the operator drop-down list, set the operator with which to compose the condition expression.
- Type the values of how to filter the field in the value text box, or select one or more values from the drop-down list. You can also select the button and then select a parameter from the drop-down list to
- If you want to add another condition line, from the logic operator drop-down list,
- To add a condition line of the AND relationship with the current line, select AND, then define the expression as required.
- To add a condition line of the OR relationship with the current line, select OR, then define the expression as required.
Repeat this to add more condition lines if required. To delete a condition line, select on its left.
- To define the incremental condition using complex expressions:
- Switch the dialog to the advanced mode.
- Select the Add Condition button to add a condition line.
- From the field drop-down list, select the field on which the filter will be based.
- From the operator drop-down list, set the operator with which to compose the filter expression.
- Type the values of how to filter the field in the value text box, or select one or more values from the drop-down list. You can also select the button and then
- To add another condition line, select the Add Condition button and define the expression as required. Then select the logic button until you get the required logic to specify the relationship between the two filter expressions. The logic can be AND, OR, AND NOT, or OR NOT.
- Repeat the above steps to add more condition lines if necessary.
To group some conditions, select them and select the Group button, then the selected conditions will be added in one group and work as one line of filter expression. Conditions and groups together can be further grouped. To take any condition or group in a group out, select it and select Ungroup. It is the equivalent of adding parenthesis in a logic expression.
To adjust the priority of a condition line or a group, select it and select the Up or Down button.
To delete a condition line or a group, select it and select the Delete button.
- To define the incremental condition using simple expressions:
- To specify a unique key for the components, manually input the unique key or select to open the Unique Key dialog to specify one. Once a unique key is defined, each time when the data components automatically updates themselves, the data that has the same unique key value as the previously loaded data records will be filtered and only data with different unique key value will be added to the data components. For instance, if you add the fields Country and Product ID as the unique key, when a record with the product ID 1 in USA has already been loaded into the data components, no more records of this product ID in USA will be added to them because they have the same unique key value. The most common usage is with a time field so when a time is part of the unique key the data in the data components will be updated each time new records are added to the database with more recent times.
- In the Value Number text box, specify the number of values for incremental fetch.
- Select OK to save the changes.
- Do either of the following:
- Select on the component title bar, select Auto Refresh from the drop-down menu, and then choose Others from the submenu to open the Auto Refresh dialog.
- Select to enable the auto refresh action, then specify the refresh interval by inputting the time interval in the combo box that follows or selecting the drop-down list to select a value.
When the auto refresh action is started, to make it stopped, select .
- Select OK to save the changes and close the dialog.
To open the configuration panel of a library component in JDashboard and perform actions, select on the component title bar and select Edit Setting from the drop-down menu to display the configuration panel. After specifying values in the panel, select OK to apply the values to the library component. The Cancel button is used to close the configuration panel.
To automatically refreshing the objects in a library component that are not bound with data:
Tip: If the auto refresh action is configured on a library component at design time in Logi JReport Designer, when you open the Auto Refresh dialog for the library component in JDashboard, the settings specified at design time will be loaded into the dialog by default. You can edit the settings as you want and when you save the dashboard, the auto refresh configuration will be saved into the dashboard.