Multi-Level Dashboard Report Example

The Subchart properties for the Create Dashboard Report action allow multi-level Dashboard reports to be created, where clicking a portion of a Dashboard report opens a lower level report for the selected chart area. This example describes how to create a multi-level Dashboard report that may be used to classify different types of vegetables. Each chart in the Dashboard report is associated with its own HTML report.

Create a Utility Workflow

The first step is to create a utility workflow that generates a Dashboard report given an input table, a Dashboard specification, and optionally, the URLs for one or more subcharts. The utility workflow should also generate an HTML report that is associated with the Dashboard report’s chart. Create a new workflow named Generate Dashboard Report, and complete the workflow as follows:

  1. Add a Create Dashboard Report action to the workflow. Set the action’s Report Name parameter to ‘Multi-Level Dashboard Report’.
  2. Use the Define Action Parameters Wizard to add two new String input parameters to the action, named ‘Subchart4’ and ‘HTMLReportURL’.
  3. Rename the Report URL dataset to ‘Dashboard Report URL’.
  4. Add a Convert Data action to the workflow, and create InTable and OutTable nodes for the action. Rename the InTable parameter to ‘Input Table’ and the OutTable dataset to ‘Dataset’. Link the ‘Dataset’ node to the Create Dashboard Report action’s Source1 property.
  5. Edit the ‘Input Table’ parameter so that it has the following columns: Classification nvarchar(120), Percentage (int). Delete the existing table row.
  6. Add a Create HTML Report action to the workflow. Create a new Report URL dataset node and rename it to ‘HTML Report URL’. Link the action’s Source1 parameter to the ‘Dataset’ node.
  7. Link the HTML Report URL dataset to the Create Dashboard Report action’s HTMLReportURL property.

The workflow should look like this:

Generate Dashboard Report workflow.

Create the Main Workflow

Create a workflow named ‘Multi-Level Dashboard Report’ and complete the workflow as follows:

Creating the Subcharts

  1. Copy the Input Table parameter from the Generate Dashboard workflow, and paste it into the Multi-Level Dashboard Report workflow four times. Label the nodes Root, Leaf, Stem and Other.
  2. Add table entries as follows:

Root

Classification Percentage
Potatoes 40
Carrots 40
Parsnips 20

Leaf

Classification Percentage
Spinach 60
Cabbage 30
Kale 10

Stem

Classification Percentage
Asparagus 100

Other

Classification Percentage
Broccoli 50
Cauliflower 50
  1. Add an XML parameter underneath the Root node. Rename the parameter to Root Spec, and paste in the following XML:

<REPORT>

<ROW>

<CELL Span="span2">

<OBJECT Param="Source1" UrlLink="HTMLReportURL">

<GRAPHIC>

<CHART_TITLE>Root Vegetables</CHART_TITLE>

<PALETTE>IntelliCorp</PALETTE>

<SHOW_X_MAJOR_GRID>false</SHOW_X_MAJOR_GRID>

<SHOW_Y_MAJOR_GRID>false</SHOW_Y_MAJOR_GRID>

<TYPE>Pie</TYPE>

<IS3D>false</IS3D>

</GRAPHIC>

<SUBCHARTS>

<SUBCHART Param="Subchart1"/>

<SUBCHART Param="Subchart2"/>

<SUBCHART Param="Subchart3"/>

<SUBCHART Param="Subchart4"/>

<SUBCHART Param="Subchart5"/>

</SUBCHARTS>

</OBJECT>

</CELL>

</ROW>

</REPORT>

  1. Copy the Root Spec node and paste it underneath the Leaf, Stem and Other nodes. Rename the copied nodes to Leaf Spec, Stem Spec and Other Spec. Edit the XML for the copied nodes and modify the <CHART_TITLE> tags as appropriate.
  2. Add a Run Workflow action underneath the Root Spec node, and complete the Workflow Binding Wizard as follows:
Field What to Do
Choose Workflow Select ‘Generate Dashboard Report’.
Workflow Parameters Select ‘Input Table’, ‘Dashboard Report URL’ and ‘Dashboard Spec’.
  1. Link the action’s Dashboard spec property to the Root Spec XML parameter, and the action’s Source1 property to the Root Table dataset. Create a new Report url dataset and rename it to ‘Root Vegetables’.
  2. Add new Run Workflow actions underneath the Leaf Spec, Stem Spec and Other Nodes. Bind the Run workflow actions and set their input and output properties as described above.

The workflow should look like this:

Multi-Level Dashboard Report Workflow.

Creating the Main Chart

  1. Copy the Root parameter and rename it to ‘All Vegetables’. Edit the table entries to provide a summary for each of the vegetable types:
Classification Percentage
Root Vegetables 25
Leaf Vegetables 30
Stem Vegetables 20
Other Vegetables 25
  1. Copy the Root Spec XML dataset and rename it to ‘All Vegetables Spec’. Edit the XML for the copied note and set the <CHART_TITLE> tag to Vegetables.
  2. Add a Run Workflow action underneath the All Vegetables Spec node, and complete the Workflow Binding Wizard as follows:
Field What to Do
Choose Workflow Select ‘Generate Dashboard Report’.
Workflow Parameters Select ‘Subchart1’, ‘Subchart2’, ‘Subchart3’, ‘Subchart4’, ‘Input Table’, ‘Dashboard Report URL’ and ‘Dashboard Spec’.
  1. Link the action’s Dashboard spec property to the All Vegetables Spec XML parameter, the action’s Source1 property to the All Vegetables Table dataset. Create a new Report url dataset and rename it to ‘Vegetables Report’.
  2. Link the action’s Subchart properties as follows:
Property Link to this Dataset
Subchart1 Root Vegetables
Subchart2 Leaf Vegetables
Subchart3 Stem Vegetables
Subchart4 Other Vegetables

The workflow should look like this:

Multi-Level Dashboard Report Workflow.

Run the workflow and view the Vegetables Report. Click a segment of the pie chart to display classification details for the selected vegetable.

OBJECT_LINK Example

The OBJECT_LINK tag in a Dashboard specification allows one or more charts from separate Dashboard reports to be displayed in a new report. To create a Dashboard report that uses OBJECT_LINK tags, create a new workflow named Object Link Example, and complete the workflow as follows:

  1. Add a Run Workflow action to the workflow, and complete the Workflow Binding Wizard as follows:
Field What to Do
Choose Workflow Select ‘Multi-Level Dashboard Report’.
Workflow Parameters Select ‘Vegetables Report’.
  1. Create a new ‘Vegetables report’ dataset and rename it to ‘Vegetables Report URL’.
  2. Add a Create Dashboard Report action to the workflow. Use the Define Action Parameters Wizard to add a new parameter named Link1 to the action. Complete the Define Action Parameters dialog as follows:
Name DisplayName Type InOut
Link1 Link1 String In
  1. Link the Create Dashboard Report action’s Link1 property to the Vegetables Report URL dataset. Create a new Report URL dataset, and set the action’s Report Name property to ‘Object Link Example’.
  2. Create a new Dashboard Spec parameter for the action, and set its XML to the following:

<REPORT>

<ROW>

<CELL Span="span2">

<OBJECT_LINK Param="Link1" LinkedParam="Source1"/>

</CELL>

</ROW>

</REPORT>

The Param value refers to the new String property linked to a Dashboard report URL. The URL will have been generated by a Create Dashboard Report action. The LinkedParam value refers to a Source property from the action that provides the data for the linked chart.

The workflow should look like this:

OBJECT_LINK Example.

Run the workflow and view the Report URL dataset.

To include object links for multiple reports, create the required number of Link properties using the Define Action Parameters Wizard, and set them to the appropriate Dashboard report URLs. For example:

<REPORT>

<ROW>

<CELL Span="span2">

<OBJECT_LINK Param="Link1" LinkedParam="Source1"/>

</CELL>

<CELL Span="span2">

<OBJECT_LINK Param="Link2" LinkedParam="Source2"/>

</CELL>

</ROW>

</REPORT>

Creating Dashboard Specifications