Widgets provide the user with a visual and interactive look for their data. In this section, with MicroStrategy 10 we will discuss DHTML widgets. We will also talk about replacing Flash widgets with other components, such as graph or selectors.
The following screenshot shows the types of DHTML widget available with MicroStrategy 10:
Perform following steps to create widgets:
Design Mode
.This is a calendar selector that lets the user view data based on the date selected. The date selection widget displays a calendar where the user can select the date for which data is needed.
The minimum requirement for the date selection wizard is at least one date attribute.
To create a date selection widget:
Now to connect the selector to the target, right-click the attribute to be used as the selector, and choose Use As Selector.
A graph matrix widget allows the user to analyze trends in various metric dimensions. Basically, a graph matrix is composed of several area graphs. The graphs should have either three attributes in a row and one metric in a column, or two attributes in a row and one attribute and one metric in a column.
For example, in the following widget, the rows of the report display two attributes, sales territory region and product category, and the column displays one attribute, calendar year, and one metric, total sales:
In Flash (deprecated) view the graph location is displayed as follows:
A separate graph is displayed for each combination of objects. To view a document in Flash view:
A heat map widget represents different attribute elements using combinations of colored rectangles. In a heat map:
The minimum requirement for a heat map is at least one attribute in a row and two metrics in a column. Based on the attributes selected, the rectangles are created and grouped.
In the following example, we show the total profit and sales made by a product in different regions on a yearly basis. To do this, we have selected three attributes, product, year, and region, and two different metrics, total product and total sales.
The following is the DHTML view of the heat map:
A map widget provides data for location-based analysis. We will discuss this widget in detail in the section covering the integration of ESRI maps with MicroStrategy.
Network widgets allow the user to identify an individual item and the relationship between these items. With this widget, the user can choose from one of the following three layout options:
The minimum requirements for a network widget are two attributes, which act as starting and ending nodes for the edges, and three metrics, used to size the edges and nodes, and color the edges.
Let's say the user wants to identify the relationship between the products sold in different regions based on profit, cost, and revenue; the following network graph displays this:
A different representation is used to display the relationship between attributes and metrics:
And now the linear representation of attribute and metric connectivity:
A survey widget lets the user create a survey in the database. The user can answer survey questions, which are then stored in the data source. This widget allows the user to dynamically generate and maintain surveys.
Prerequisites for creating a survey widget are as follows:
To create a survey widget:
questionID
, questiontitle
, answertitle
and so on:
A timeline widget provides the ability to look at data from different time frames on a single page, allowing the user to quickly spot repeating trends.
The minimum requirements for a timeline widget are as follows:
Let's say an HR department wants to understand the trends for employee retention by seeing the start date and end date for an employee, and how long the employee stayed with the company; this is achieved using a timeline:
In MicroStrategy 10, use the following rules to replace Flash widgets with a graph:
Flash widget |
Graph |
Funnel |
Funnel |
Interactive bubble graph |
Bubble |
Interactive stacked graph |
Vertical Area (change the graph sub-type to Stacked in the Graph toolbar) |
Time series slider |
Vertical Area |
Flash widget |
Selector |
Date selection |
Calendar |
Fish eye |
Listbox |