Keywords: OLAP Reporting | Dashboard | Management information | KPI's | Benchmarking | Trend monitoring

Product overview

Webdashboard Designer, "Create, Upload & Share."

Webdashboard Designer was created for the Webdashboard to easily create new dashboards. The Webdashboard has the following 3 main roles:

• Implementers: Installs the Webdashboard and creates the XML dashboard definitions by using the Webdashboard Designer (feautred on this page). They have extensive knowledge/expertise concerning OLAP cubes and have rights to access the servers.
• Administrators: maintains the Webdashboard through a management page. He/she can also upload XML definition files to create new dashboards.
• Users: Log in to the system and get one or more dashboards for their use.

Implementers use the Webdashboard Designer to quickly create a new dashboard XML definition. The XML is uploaded to the server and added to the “Dashboards”. After install you get the main screen:

This XML contains the following elements:
Connection, Info, Time, Dimensions, Views, Measures and Tools.

The Webdashboard Designer displays a screen per element. We will quickly show you these elements accompanied with screenshots.

Click on the icon to view the documentation page (user & technical documentation).

Connection

Before we begin to create a dashboard we have to establish a connection to the OLAP Server. This is a prerequisite to continue with the other parts. You can check your connection by clicking on the “Test connection” or “Test database”. Make sure you use a Domain account and that this account is also in use by the Webdashboard.

Info

All general dashboard display settings are set in this screen. If you start a new Dashboard the default settings will be applied. You can alter the settings accordingly. Extra information about each options is again displayed in the lower part of the screen.

Time

Every dashboards needs to have a time dimension, this will appear for each user in the Webdashboard Menu “Periods”. This dimension is used to display the data and create the graphs. On the right part you can select the periods and alter them. You can also create a new one and add it to the “Added periods” part. Click on the arrow (?) to save your settings. If you added an incorrect period you can select it and press “Delete”.

Dimensions

Similar to the Time dimension are the regular dimensions, they are displayed on the left side of the Webdashboard.
You can select the different dimensions on the right part of the screen and alter them or add a new one. Each field again displays a short help text in the bottom part of the screen. If you are unsure about the options you can leave them on their default value. Click on the arrow (?) to save your settings. If you added an incorrect period you can select it and press “Delete”. You can also order the dimensions by pressing the vertical arrows.

Views

Views appear in the Webdashboard on the right side of the screen and are connected to Dimensions. Not every view has to be connected to all the dimensions. The structure of your cube is important on setting the views. In the next part “Measures” you can fill your views with the measures from the OLAP cube. Create the different views you want or alter/sort them if needed by using the different arrows. The Delete options is again available to remove a view. Keep in mind that this also removes the measures underneath it. Make sure you add the different dimensions to the Added views by simply selecting them in the Dimensions list.

Measures

Each view displays one or more measures. These measures originate out of an OLAP cube. By clicking on a measure you automatically select it. You can alter the name and if it should be a KPI or not. Make sure you don’t compare numbers with percentages in your chart. The horizontal arrows are used to save and the vertical arrows are used to sort the measures. Again you can Delete parts (measures) that are not needed.

Tools

Users will get this as an extra option to navigate to. Usually it’s a link to Reporting Services, PerformancePoint Server or perhaps a static PDF. Enter your desired tool and categories them accordingly. The arrows will again help you to save and order.

 

Copyright © 2008 by In Summa