Creating Active Dashboards With Active Reports
by Adam Lotrowski

Since its debut in March 2006, Active Reports has evolved from another report output type to a whole new way of reporting. In the last WebFOCUS Newsletter article I introduced using Active Reports to create Active Dashboards in the PDF layout. Now I will demonstrate a more enhanced capability to create Active Dashboards in the HTML Layout tool.

Active Dashboards are best suited to develop a complete view of a business activity or processes by packaging multiple charts and tables into a single perspective. The dashboard can be sent to users as standalone dashboard pages or be incorporated in corporate dashboards.

A typical use case is to display different scenarios on separate pages. The example in Screen 1 shows a corporate revenue overview, inventory summary, and regional performance scorecards displayed on their own tabs within the Active Dashboard, so that users can quickly switch from one scenario to another by clicking on each of the tabs.

The Active Dashboard permits the following user interactions: apply global filters by using the dropdown box or alternative control, as well as interactions with each active control on the page. Screen 1 shows three dropdowns chained together that are bound to the Active Reports on the Corporate Revenue tab.

The first represents all the columns presented, the second presents a list of logical operators (equals, not equals, etc), and the last, based on the column selected in the first dropdown, lists all the available values. By making selections in order to filter the reports on the Corporate Revenue tab, the Active Dashboard and all bound Active Reports will be updated (without making a request back to the server). Every type of Active Report visualization is being demonstrated: the pie, bar and line chart, tabular report aside from the pivot table. Lastly, paging through each of the layout buttons in the upper-left corner will present each reporting scenario filtered by region.

Developing Active Dashboards

Active Dashboards simply builds on users’ previous knowledge of Active Reports as well as the HTML Layout Painter.

1. Active Reports are embedded into a HTML Layout Painter page.
2. HTML Layout controls bind to multiple Active Reports in order to filter, modify and/or sort Active Dashboards.
3. Tab controls are used to represent different business scenarios.
4. Synchronization is used to make Active Dashboards more efficient by querying one result set that is shared by multiple Active Report objects.
5. In working with the HTML Layout Painter’s “Save as Fex” functionality, Active Dashboards with (or without) Active Dashboard controls will be able to be scheduled with ReportCaster and have the ability to burst what is created.
6. Active Dashboards can be saved for offline analytics.

WebFOCUS 7.6.2 boasts a number of Active Reports enhancements, including the ability to set an Active Report’s initial presentation style. This allows Active Reports to render by default as a grid report, pivot table or chart. With these three types of visualizations packaged into the Active Report output type, Active Reports can now be integrated with HTML Layout reports, presenting grids, pivot tables, and charts all within the same page.

Screen 1

Screen 2

In addition, WebFOCUS 7.6.4 will enhance Active Dashboards so that all embedded Active Report visualizations can be globally filtered from charts and grid reports. Moreover, an Active Report can be synchronized with other report components. At run-time, synchronization executes the base Active Report and based on the result set returned, reuses the data retrieved to populate all other report components synchronized to the base Active Report. In order to do this, an Active Report must be prepared with all columns that are to be used in each synchronized report component. Last, HTML Layout controls can be used to mimic Active Report menu options, to globally modify multiple Active Reports in HTML Layout created pages by binding HTML Layout controls to Active Dashboards.

Creating Active Dashboards
Here are the steps involved in creating Active Dashboards:

Active Report Preparation: Active Report’s initial presentation style should be set to a grid report, pivot table or chart type.

Embedding Active Reports: Active Dashboards begin with embedding Active Reports that can be imported, referenced or synchronized.

Active Dashboard Controls: Arrange HTML Layout controls on HTML Layout canvass in order for the end-user to sort, filter and/or change presentations styles to one or more Active Reports in the Active Dashboard.

Save Active Dashboard as a Procedure: By saving the Active Dashboard created in the HTML Layout Painter, it can then be ran as a procedure. The benefit to running the Active Dashboard as a procedure is that it can be scheduled with ReportCaster and end-users can save the Active Dashboard for local and offline analytics.

The final result is Active Dashboards, a visual analytic tool that binds multiple Active Reports with Active Report controls to globally filter, modify and/or sort each scenario that can be separated by tabs. And since all the reports are a type of Active Report, they each retain their own individual single menu functionality, pivoting or charting capabilities. This allows each Active Report to be modified and saved individually or as the entire Active Dashboards, which produces a small portable HTML file.