Creating an Active Technologies Dashboard

In this section:

How to:

You can create an active dashboard by inserting active dashboard prompts into a document to act as filters on the reports of the dashboard. You can also cascade (chain) prompts to populate based on the selections of the previous prompts. The output format of the active dashboard must be active report, active Flash, or active PDF in order to add active dashboard prompts.


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Active Technologies Dashboard Prompts

The active dashboard prompts group contains buttons to click to insert active dashboard prompts into your dashboard. This group is only visible when the output format of the dashboard is set to active report, active PDF, or active Flash. You access the active dashboard prompts on the Format tab, in the Output Types group. The active dashboards prompts group is shown in the following image.

Active Dashboard Prompts group

The following are the types of active dashboard prompts that you can use to apply filters to an active dashboard:


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Target Reports

When you bind a field to an active dashboard prompt, the default target report is the report from which you dragged the field. You can add or remove target reports from an active dashboard prompt through the active dashboard properties dialog box. For more information on using the active dashboard properties dialog box, see Using Multiple Reports as Targets and Sources.

A report must meet one of the following requirements to be a target report:

If a report is eligible to be a target report because the field has the same user-entered title and the title is changed, the report is automatically removed as a target.


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Procedure: How to Add an Active Technologies Dashboard Prompt to a Dashboard

This procedure describes how to begin to create a dashboard by creating one report and binding a single prompt to one of the fields of the report.

  1. Open InfoAssist in Document view.
  2. On the Format tab, in the Output Types group, select an active output type (active report, active Flash, active PDF).
  3. On the Insert tab, in the Reports group, click Report.

    A placeholder appears on the canvas.

  4. Drag fields onto the canvas, or into the Query pane, to create the report and start building the dashboard.
  5. On the Insert tab, in the active dashboard prompts group, select a dashboard prompt to insert into the document.

    For example, the following image shows a radio button prompt added to the dashboard.

    An active dashboard prompt appears in the upper-left corner of the canvas. If you have left the report in the upper-left corner of the canvas, then you will have to drag the prompt off the report, as shown in the following image.

    Active Dashboard With Blank Prompt

  6. Select the report and bind one of its data source fields to the prompt in one of the following ways:
    • Query pane: Select the report. From the Query pane, drag the field that you want to bind onto the prompt.
    • Report on the canvas: Right-click the report and click Edit Report. The report becomes editable. Highlight the column that contains the data that you want and drag it on the prompt.

    Once you have bound the field to the prompt, the values of the field appear in the prompt.

    Note: Once an active dashboard prompt is added to the canvas, the document is locked in an active output format. You cannot change out of active report, active Flash, or active PDF format if there are prompts present on the canvas. To switch to a non-active output format, all prompts must be removed.

    The following image shows an active dashboard in which the Product Category field of the report has been bound to a radio button prompt.

    Field Bound to a Radio Button Prompt

    The following image shows an example of a dashboard at run time. The active report has a radio button prompt bound to the Product Category field. Since it is a radio button, and Televisions is selected, only Regions that have sold televisions appear on the report.

    Dashboard at Run Time


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Using Multiple Reports as Targets and Sources

How to:

You can add multiple reports and charts to a dashboard. Each report can have multiple prompts associated with it.



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Procedure: How to Build a Dashboard With Multiple Reports as Targets and Sources

The following procedure describes how to set up active dashboard prompts for two reports on a dashboard. In the example that is used, the first report contains information about the categories of electronics products sold in various regions. The Region field will be bound to a group of radio buttons. Each radio button will represent a particular region in which the electronics are sold. When you select a radio button for a region, for example, NorthEast, the report will be filtered by your selection.

The second report contains information about the gender and age group of electronics consumers. The Gender field will be bound to a drop-down list. The list will display the values, male and female. When you select a gender from the drop-down list, the report will be filtered by your selection.

  1. With InfoAssist open in Document view, and at least two reports on the canvas, add two active dashboard prompts, as described in How to Add an Active Technologies Dashboard Prompt to a Dashboard.

    The following image shows a dashboard with the region report and the gender report described in the introduction. Next to the region report is a radio box. Next to the gender report is a drop-down list prompt. The prompts are not yet bound to any report fields.

    Dashboard With Unbound Prompts

  2. Right-click the active dashboard prompt you want to bind a field to and click Properties.

    For example, in the following image, the right-click menu for the radio button prompt is open.

    Radio Button Right-Click Menu

    The active dashboard properties dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.

    The Prompts list displays the two prompts (radiobuttons_1 and combobox_1) that were added to the dashboard in step 1. The prompt titled radiobuttons_1 is highlighted because it was selected in step 2.

    Active Dashboard Properties Dialog Box With Radio Button 1 Prompt Highlighted

  3. From the Report drop-down menu, select the report that contains the field you want to bind an active dashboard prompt to.

    In this example, shown in the following image, the radio buttons list (radiobuttons_1) has been selected as the prompt for the region report (table_1).

    Active Dashboard Properties Dialog Box With Report Selected

    The next step describes how to bind the Region field from the region report to the radio buttons list to filter that report.

  4. From the Field drop-down menu, select the field to which you want to bind the active dashboard prompt.

    In this example, the Region field has been selected for the radio buttons list (radiobuttons_1), as shown in the following image.

    Active Dashboard Properties Field Menu

    The following image shows Region as the selected field for the radio buttons list. The region report (table_1) is a target report because it is the one from which you selected the field. In addition, table_2, the gender report, now appears in the Candidate Reports list.

    Active Dashboard Properties Dialog Box With Candidate Reports List and Target List Populated

  5. Click OK.

    The prompt is now bound to the field on the dashboard.

    In the following image, the radio buttons list is bound to the Region field. It displays all regions by which a user can filter the report.

    Radio Button List Bound to a Field

    The following steps describe how to bind the Gender field in the gender report (table_2) to the drop-down list prompt.

  6. Right-click the next active dashboard prompt to which you want to bind a field and click Properties.

    For example, in the following image, the drop-down list prompt on the gender report is selected.

    Selected Drop Down List Prompt

    The active dashboard properties dialog box opens again, as shown in the following image.

    Active Dashboard Properties Dialog Box With Combo Box 1 Highlighted

    Notice that combobox_1, the prompt selected on the dashboard, is selected in the Prompts list.

  7. From the Report drop-down menu, select the report that contains the field you want to bind an active dashboard prompt to.

    In this example, shown in the following image, the drop down list (combobox_1) has been selected as the prompt for the gender report (table_2).

    Table 2 Report Selected for Combo Box

    The next step describes how to bind the Gender field from the gender report to the drop down list to filter that report.

  8. From the Field drop-down menu, select the field to which you want to bind the active dashboard prompt.

    In this example, the Gender field has been selected for the drop-down list (combobox_1), as shown in the following image.

    Gender Selected from Field Drop Down Menu

    Once the Gender field has been selected, table_2 (gender report) appears in the Target list and table_1 (region report) appears in the Candidate Reports list.

    Active Dashboard Properties Dialog Box With Gender Field Selected

    Note: To move a report from the Candidate Reports list box to the Targets list box, select it and click the Add to List arrow. To remove a report from the Targets list box, select it and click the Remove from List arrow. You can select multiple reports by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking each one.

  9. Click OK.

    The prompt is now bound to the field on the dashboard.

    In this example, the drop-down list is bound to the Gender field. A user could filter the gender report by male or female.

    The following image shows the final dashboard with two reports and two prompts.

    Dashboard with Combo Box Bound to a Field

    In this example, the region report has been filtered by the NorthEast region and the gender report has been filtered by Female.

    Two Reports Filtered By Two Different Fields



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Procedure: How to Change the Field

You can change the field to which the active prompt is bound.

  1. With InfoAssist open in Document view, bind an active prompt to a field, as described in Using Multiple Reports as Targets and Sources.
  2. Right-click the active dashboard prompt that you want to configure, and click Properties.

    The active dashboard properties dialog box opens.

  3. From the Field menu, select a different field, as shown in the following image.

    active dashboards prompts with new field

    A warning message alerts you that changing the source field for the prompt will remove the existing prompt and any children prompts from the cascades. The warning message is shown in the following image.

    active dashboard properties warning message

  4. Click OK to close the warning.
  5. Click OK to close the active dashboard properties dialog box.

    The active dashboard prompt is updated with the new source field.

    In the following example, the check box prompt is updated with electronics products, as shown in the following image.


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Procedure: How to Change the Filter Condition
  1. With InfoAssist open in Document view, bind an active dashboard prompt to a field, as described in How to Add an Active Technologies Dashboard Prompt to a Dashboard.
  2. Right-click the active dashboard prompt that you want to work with, and from the right-click menu, select Properties.

    The active dashboard properties dialog box opens.

  3. From the Condition drop-down menu, select the filter condition for the active dashboard prompt. The options are Equal to, Not equal to, Less than, Less than or equal to, Greater than, and Greater than or equal to.
  4. Click OK.

    The filter condition is applied to the active dashboard prompt.


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Procedure: How to Add Multiple Prompts to a Dashboard
  1. With InfoAssist open in Document view, and at least one report on the canvas, add at least two active dashboard prompts, as described in How to Add an Active Technologies Dashboard Prompt to a Dashboard.

    The following image shows a dashboard with a list prompt and a radio button prompt.

    Dashboard With a List Prompt and a Radio Button Prompt

  2. Bind the fields to prompts that you have added, as described in How to Add an Active Technologies Dashboard Prompt to a Dashboard.

    In the following image, the list prompt has been bound to the Product Category field and the radio button prompt has been bound to the Region field. The two prompts work independently of each other to filter the dashboard in different ways.

    Independent Prompts

    The following image shows the dashboard indicating the quantity of stereo systems sold for all regions.

    Dashboard of Stereos Sold for All Regions

    The following image shows the dashboard indicating the electronics products sold in the NorthEast region.

    Dashboard of Electronics Sold in Northeast


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Procedure: How to Cascade Prompts

When you have more than one prompt on the canvas, you can cascade prompts to populate based on the selections of the previous prompts. Cascading prompts have a parent-child relationship, in which the parent filters the available options of the child.

An active prompt can be the parent of more than one other prompt, but cannot be a child of more than one prompt.

  1. With InfoAssist open in Document view, bind at least two active prompts to fields, as described in Using Multiple Reports as Targets and Sources.

    In the following image, a report has been created to show the quantity of electronics sold by states within a region. Two prompts, a radio button to select the region, and a check box to select the state, have been added to the report. The objective is to be able to select a region, and then cascade down to the state level.

    Report of Electronics Sold by States in a Region

  2. Right-click the active dashboard prompt that you want to configure, and click Properties.

    The active dashboard properties dialog box opens.

  3. Click Cascades.

    By default, a cascade named Cascade1 appears in the Cascades section of the active dashboard Properties dialog box.

    • You can click the Create a new cascade Create a new cascade button button to create a new cascade.
    • You can click the Delete selected cascade Delete selected cascade button button to delete the selected cascade.

    The following image shows that the Region field is associated with the radio button prompt and the State Code field is associated with the check box in the Available Prompts list.

    Active Dashboard Properties  Dialog Box With Region Field Associated With Radio Button and State Code Field Associated With Check Box

  4. Select the cascade to which you want to add prompts.
  5. From the Available Prompts list box, select the prompt that you want to add.
  6. Click the Add to List arrow to move the selected prompt to the Selected Prompts list box, as shown in the following image.

    Selected Add to List

    Note: You can remove prompts from the Selected Prompts list box by selecting them and clicking the Remove from List arrow.

  7. Add any additional prompts you want to be part of the cascade by repeating steps 5 and 6.

    By default, the hierarchy of the prompts is determined by the order in which they are added to the Selected Prompts list. The cascade of the prompts is from top to bottom. The prompts that come first in the Selected Prompts list are the parents of the lower prompts.

  8. You can change the hierarchy of the prompts by selecting a prompt in the Selected Prompt list box and clicking the Move Up and Move Down arrows, as shown in the following image.

    Selected Prompts Up and Down Arrows

  9. Click OK.

    The cascade is created.

  10. Run the report.

    The following image shows the report with the region radio box and the state check box.

    Report with Region Radio Box and State Check Box

    The following image shows the dashboard output with the region prompt cascading down to the state level.

    Region Prompt Cascading to State Level

    Note: If you set up more than one cascade, the cascade that you interact with last is the one that filters the report.


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