Creating/using a dashboard template
by David Lai, Xavier Hacking
SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.1 Cookbook
- SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.1 Cookbook
- Table of Contents
- SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards 4.1 Cookbook
- Credits
- Foreword
- About the Author
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Acknowledgments
- About the Reviewers
- www.PacktPub.com
- Preface
- 1. Staying in Control
- Introduction
- Using the Object Browser
- Searching for components
- Grouping the canvas components
- Making the spreadsheet more readable with colors
- Making the spreadsheet more readable with comments
- Making the spreadsheet more readable with borders
- Using named ranges
- Copying the format of one cell to another cell or range
- Debugging the spreadsheets
- Navigating between worksheets
- 2. Data Visualization
- Introduction
- Adding a line chart to your dashboard
- Using a bullet chart
- Using sparklines
- Using a combination chart
- Using a waterfall chart
- Using a pie chart
- Using a scatter plot chart
- Using a bubble plot chart
- Using a radar chart
- Using an OHLC chart and a candlestick chart
- Sorting series
- Zooming in on charts
- Scaling the y-axis
- Using a tree map
- Showing a trend without a chart
- Displaying raw data
- Illustrating single values
- 3. From a Static to an Interactive Dashboard
- Introduction
- Selecting your data from a list
- Drilling down from a chart
- Using the Filter selector component for hierarchies
- An alternative hierarchy selection method
- Using the Hierarchical Table
- Using Filtered Rows
- Using maps to select data of an area or country
- Adding a Mac OS X-looking dock to your dashboard
- Resetting your data (the reset button)
- Making selections from a custom image (the push button and image component)
- Inputting data values
- Using the Play Selector / Play Control component
- Opening up a Web Intelligence report using dashboard parameters
- Selecting calendar dates
- Using sliders to create a what-if scenario
- 4. Dynamic Visibility
- 5. Using Alerts
- 6. Advanced Components
- 7. Dashboard Look and Feel
- Introduction
- Changing the look of a chart
- Adding a background to your dashboard
- Using color schemes
- Sharing a color scheme
- Working with themes
- Making component colors dynamic
- Dynamic XY positioning and sizing of components
- Using the Panel Container
- Using the Tab Set container
- Making tables look pretty
- Using quadrants smartly
- Creating/using a dashboard template
- 8. Dashboard Data Connectivity
- 9. Exporting and Publishing
- 10. Top Third-party Add-ons
- Introduction
- Managing add-ons in SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards
- Connecting to CSV files with the CSV Connector
- Integrating Google Maps with the CMaps plugin
- Connecting to Salesforce.com with DashConn
- Presenting micro charts in a Tree Grid
- Integrating Web Intelligence with Antivia XWIS Advantage Express
- Advanced printing with Xcelsius Dashboard Printer
- SUCCESS with graphomate charts
- 11. Performance Tuning
- 12. Increasing Productivity
- Introduction
- Using the Spreadsheet Table component to debug
- Time-saving tips during dashboard development
- How to do it…
- Global Fonts
- Grouping from the Object Browser versus grouping with a Canvas Container
- Editing multiple components at once
- Using the alignment, sizing, and spacing buttons
- Using the arrow keys for precise placement of components
- Using the Grid to help with relative positioning
- Copying objects from another dashboard
- How to do it…
- Fixing corrupt XLF files
- A. Real-world Dashboard Case Studies
- B. Additional Resources – Supported Excel Functions and System/Software Requirements
- C. The Future of Dashboarding with SAP Design Studio
- Index
To ensure consistency among dashboards within an organization, it is good to create a dashboard template. This also saves time on having to redevelop recurring objects.
Set up a dashboard that contains components and colors that would be common among dashboards in the organization. In our example, we have a common background and color scheme, as shown in the following screenshot:
- Go to File | Save as….
- Browse to
<Installation Path>Xcelsius 4.0assets emplate. - Create a folder with a name or category of your choice.
- Save the file with a filename of your choice.
- Exit and reopen SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards.
- Go to File | Templates… or press Ctrl + T.
- Select the folder that you created from the category selection.
- Select the dashboard that you saved earlier.
As you can see, dashboard templates are stored in <Installation Path>Xcelsius 4.0assets emplate. Once you create a dashboard template, you can easily access it without having to remember the exact directory you have stored the template in.
Unfortunately, this method works only on local machines unless there is a network shortcut at <Installation Path>Xcelsius 4.0assets emplate directory. Because of this, it is quite cumbersome to set up; however, once set up, it works great.
An alternative is to create a dashboard template directory in a shared network area, then create a shortcut to that directory on your desktop. From there, you can then open the dashboard template and work on it.
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