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Accessing Dashboards from Your Application

This page describes how to access InterSystems IRIS® data platform Business Intelligence dashboards and the User Portal from your application. You would establish these connections, as part of the Business Intelligence implementation process.

Accessing a Dashboard

To access a dashboard, the URL has the following form, using the <baseURL> for your instance:

http://<baseURL>/csp/samples/_DeepSee.UserPortal.DashboardViewer.zen?DASHBOARD=dashbdname.dashboard

Where samples is the namespace in which the dashboard is defined and dashbdname is the name of the dashboard, including the folder to which it belongs, if any.

More generally, use a URL of the following form:

http://<baseURL>/csp/samples/_DeepSee.UserPortal.DashboardViewer.zen?parmstring&parmstring&parmstring...

Where parmstring is a parameter, followed by an equals sign, followed by a value. For example:

DASHBOARD=Drill%20Options.dashboard

As shown previously, use an ampersand (&) to combine multiple parameter strings. For example:

DASHBOARD=Drill%20Options.dashboard&NOMODIFY=1

URL Encoding

Certain characters have reserved meanings in a URL and others are disallowed. To include such a character in parmstring, replace the character with the URL-encoded version (also called percent-encoded). The easiest way to do this is as follows:

  1. Identify all the strings that could potentially include reserved or disallowed characters.

  2. For each such string, do the following in sequence:

    1. Convert to UTF-8 encoding

    2. Create a URL-encoded version of the string.

    If you are performing these transformations on the server, you can use an ObjectScript function such as $ZCONVERT or $TRANSLATE. For example:

    set UTF8db=$ZCONVERT(dashboardname,"O","UTF8")
set escapeddb=$ZCONVERT(UTF8db,"O","URL")
set url=baseurl_"DASHBOARD="_escapeddb

    If you are performing these transformations on the client, use a suitable client function. For example, if the client uses JavaScript, use the encodeURI()Opens in a new tab function.

Or use other logic such as the $TRANSLATE function. Some of the most commonly used characters are these:

Character URL-Encoded Version
space character %20
& %26
, %2C

You can find lists of URL-encoded characters on the Internet; one resource is Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percent-encodingOpens in a new tab).

Available URL Parameters

You can use the following case-sensitive parameters within the dashboard URL. Note that for some parameters, you can use either a plain-text version or an encrypted version. For example, the dashboard URL can include an encrypted version of the dashboard name.

DASHBOARD
DASHBOARD=dashbdname.dashboard

This parameter specifies the dashboard to display. You must specify either this parameter or the XDASHBOARD parameter.

dashbdname is the name of the dashboard, including the folder to which it belongs, if any. For example:

DASHBOARD=Dashboards/Dashboard%20with%20Filters%20and%20Listing%20Button.dashboard

Here %20 represents a space character; see URL Encoding, earlier in this page.

XDASHBOARD
XDASHBOARD=encryptedvalue

Encrypted version of the DASHBOARD parameter. You can use parameter only within the context of a web session. You must specify either this parameter or the DASHBOARD parameter.

To create encryptedvalue, start with the name of the dashboard, including the folder to which it belongs, if any. For example:

Dashboards/Dashboard with Filters and Listing Button.dashboard

Do not include URL escaping; for example, leave a space as a space character.

Then use the Encrypt() class method of %CSP.PageOpens in a new tab to encrypt this value. Use the value returned by Encrypt() as the value of the XDASHBOARD parameter.

EMBED
EMBED=1

If this parameter is 1, the dashboard is displayed in embedded mode. This is equivalent to setting NOTITLE=1, NOMODIFY=1, NOBORDER=1, and WORKLISTS=0.

XEMBED
XEMBED=encryptedvalue

Encrypted version of the EMBED parameter. You can use parameter only within the context of a web session.

To create encryptedvalue, start with the value you would use for EMBED. Then use the Encrypt() class method of %CSP.PageOpens in a new tab to encrypt this value. Use the value returned by Encrypt() as the value of the XEMBED parameter.

NOTITLE
NOTITLE=1

If this parameter is 1, the dashboard is displayed without a title area. The title area is the top area, as in the following example:

The Dashboard Title area, showing the Menu button, the Home, About, and Logout links, the Username, and the license info.

NOMODIFY
NOMODIFY=1

If this parameter is 1, the dashboard cannot be modified. This option removes items from Menu. It also suppresses the edit options on widgets, so that a widget includes only minimize, maximize, and remove options in the upper right.

NOBORDER
NOBORDER=1

If this parameter is 1, the dashboard is displayed without the border.

RESIZE
RESIZE=boolean

Specifies whether the widgets can be resized and moved. If boolean is 1 (the default), the widgets can be resized and moved. If boolean is 0, they cannot.

WORKLISTS
WORKLISTS=n

Where n is 0, 1, or 2. This parameter specifies the number of worklist areas to display on the left.

XWORKLISTS
XWORKLISTS=encryptedvalue

Encrypted version of the WORKLISTS parameter. You can use parameter only within the context of a web session.

To create encryptedvalue, start with the value you would use for WORKLISTS. Then use the Encrypt() class method of %CSP.PageOpens in a new tab to encrypt this value. Use the value returned by Encrypt() as the value of the XWORKLISTS parameter.

SCHEME
SCHEME=schemename

Specifies the color scheme for the dashboard (if you do not want to use the default). For schemename, specify a scheme as listed in the General tab of the Settings page. See Specifying Basic Settings.

SETTINGS
SETTINGS=name1:value1;name2:value2;name3:value3;...;

Where name1, name2, name3, and so on are names of dashboard settings, as described in the next section, and value1, value2, value3, and so on are the values for the settings.

You can include this parameter multiple times in the URL.

For example, to pass values to a specific widget in a dashboard, use the following variation:

basic_dashboard_url&SETTINGS=TARGET:widgetname;name:value;name:value;name:value;...;

To pass values to all widgets in a dashboard, use a URL of the following form, noting the exclusion of the TARGET parameter used in the previous example:

basic_dashboard_url&SETTINGS=name:value;name:value;name:value;...;

To pass values to multiple widgets in a dashboard, use the following variation:

basic_dashboard_url&SETTINGS=...;&SETTINGS=...;&SETTINGS=...;...;

A setting for a specific widget always takes precedence over settings for all widgets. Otherwise, the settings are applied in the order in which they are specified; if one setting is inconsistent with another setting, the later setting takes effect. These settings do not take precedence over any user settings.

XSETTINGS
XSETTINGS=encryptedvalue

Encrypted version of the SETTINGS parameter. You can use parameter only within the context of a web session.

To create encryptedvalue, start with the value that you would use with SETTINGS. Then use the Encrypt() class method of %CSP.PageOpens in a new tab to encrypt this value. Use the value returned by Encrypt() as the value of the XSETTINGS parameter.

IRISUsername and IRISPassword
IRISUsername=myuser&IRISPassword=mypass

Where myuser is an InterSystems IRIS username and mypass is the corresponding password. Include these parameters if the user has not yet logged in to InterSystems IRIS.

AUTOSAVE
AUTOSAVE

Requests the autosaved version of the dashboard. For information on the autosave feature, see Specifying Basic Settings.

Options for the SETTINGS Parameter

For the SETTINGS URL parameter, you can use settings given in the following list. Any SETTINGS string either applies to all widgets or applies to a specific widget. Include as many SETTINGS strings as you need. For example:

basic_dashboard_url&SETTINGS=...;&SETTINGS=...;&SETTINGS=...;...;
Note:

When InterSystems IRIS parses a SETTINGS parameter, it assumes that any semicolon is a delimiter between two different settings strings. To include a semicolon and not have it treated as a delimiter, you must replace it with %3B%3B (this sequence is two URL-encoded semicolons; it is necessary to use two URL-encoded semicolons because of how the parsing is performed).

TARGET
TARGET:widgetname

Specifies the widget to which this set of settings applies. If you want the settings to apply to all widgets, omit this parameter from the SETTINGS string.

FILTER
FILTER:filter_name.filter_values

Specifies how to filter the given widgets. The arguments depend upon the details of the target widget as follows:

Scenario filter_name filter_values
Target widget displays a pivot table URL-encoded version of [dimension].[hierarchy].[level] URL-encoded version of the allowed filter values that are shown in Allowed Default Values for Filters in Configuring Settings
Target widget displays a KPI URL-encoded version of the name of a filter defined in that KPI URL-encoded version of an allowed value for this filter, as defined in the KPI

For information on creating URL-encoded strings, see URL Encoding.

Notes:

  • You can use the special token $$$FILTERS in place of filter_name.filter_value. This is useful if you use the URL in a custom navigate action (which accesses another dashboard from a given dashboard; see Displaying a Different Dashboard). In this scenario, $$$FILTERS is replaced with the current filter values of the original dashboard. For example:

    FILTER:$$$FILTERS

    The target dashboard should include the same filters.

  • You can use multiple filter specifications; to do so, separate them with a tilde (~). For example:

    FILTER:filterspec1~filterspec2

    Where each filterspec is filter_name.filter_values

  • To use multiple members of the same filter together, use a set expression that lists those members; see Allowed Default Values for Filters in Configuring Settings. (If you include the same filter multiple times within the SETTINGS string, the system uses the last value that you provide; this is probably not the behavior that you want.)

Passing a FILTER parameter in a SETTINGS string with no TARGET parameter may cause "Dimension not found" errors due to certain widgets being based on cubes which lack the dimension being filtered for.

VARIABLE
VARIABLE:variable_name.variable_value

Specifies the value of the given pivot variable. For information on pivot variables, see Defining and Using Pivot Variables.

You can use the special token $$$VARIABLES in place of variable_name.variable_value. This is useful if you use the URL in a custom navigate action (which accesses another dashboard from a given dashboard; see Displaying a Different Dashboard. ). In this scenario, $$$VARIABLES is replaced with the current values of the given pivot variables, as specified in the original dashboard. For example:

VARIABLE:$$$VARIABLES
ROWCOUNT
ROWCOUNT:n

Specifies the maximum number (n) of rows to display; this applies only when members are displayed as rows.

COLCOUNT
COLCOUNT:n

Specifies the maximum number (n) of columns to display; this applies only when members are displayed as columns.

ROWSORT
ROWSORT:measure

Specifies the measure by which to sort the rows. Here measure is the MDX identifier for the measure. For example:

ROWSORT:[MEASURES].[mymeasure]

Note that you cannot omit the square brackets of these identifiers (in contrast to other uses of MDX in Business Intelligence).

COLSORT
COLSORT:[MEASURES].[my measure]

Specifies the measure by which to sort the columns. Here measure is the MDX identifier for the measure; see ROWSORT.

ROWSORTDIR
ROWSORTDIR:sortkeyword

Specifies how to sort the rows. Here sortkeyword is one of the following:

  • ASC — Sort in ascending order but preserve any hierarchies.

  • DESC — Sort in descending order but preserve any hierarchies.

  • BASC — Sort in ascending order and break any hierarchies.

  • BDESC — Sort in descending order and break any hierarchies.

COLSORTDIR
COLSORTDIR:sortkeyword

Specifies how to sort the columns. See ROWSORTDIR.

PORTLET
PORTLET:portlet_setting.value

Specifies the value for a portlet setting, to override any configured value for that setting. As with the other SETTINGS options, this setting is applied to all widgets listed by the TARGET parameter (or all portlet widgets if TARGET is not specified).

Here portlet_setting must be the name of the setting as defined in the portlet, and value must be the URL-encoded version of an allowed value for this setting. For information on creating URL-encoded strings, see URL Encoding, earlier in this page.

You can use multiple portlet specifications; to do so, separate them with a tilde (~). For example:

PORTLET:portletspec1~portletspec2

Where each portletspec is portlet_setting.value

For information on defining portlets, see Creating Portlets for Use on Dashboards.

To see an example, display the dashboard Widget Examples/Custom Portlet, which displays a round clock, and then add the following to the end of the URL in the browser:

&SETTINGS=PORTLET:CIRCLE.0~SIZE.200

Then press Enter. You should see the clock change into a square, slightly larger than it had previously been.

For example, the following limits the column count to 3 for most widgets but limits the column count to 1 for the widget RegionVsYear.

&SETTINGS=TARGET:RegionVsYear;COLCOUNT:1;&SETTINGS=COLCOUNT:3;
Note:

These settings are not supported for custom widgets or custom controls.

Accessing Other Business Intelligence Pages from Your Application

Your application can also provide direct links to other Business Intelligence web pages, such as the Analyzer and User Portal.

The URLs for the Business Intelligence web pages have the following general structure.

http://<baseURL>/csp/samples/_Package.Class

Where samples is the namespace in which you are running Business Intelligence and _Package.Class is the name of the package and class that defines the page, with an underscore instead of a percent sign at the start of the package name. When you access the Analyzer or other Business Intelligence pages, this URL is shown in the toolbar or your browser.

You can use any of the applicable URL parameters with these pages; see Available URL Parameters, earlier in this page. When you use the URL for the Analyzer, you can also specify the PIVOT URL parameter, which indicates the pivot table to display. For example:

http://localhost:8000/csp/samples/_DeepSee.UI.Analyzer.zen?PIVOT=Pivot%20Features%2FConditional%20Formatting.pivot

Note that if you use the URL for the Analyzer, and you specify the AUTOSAVE URL parameter but not the PIVOT parameter, the Analyzer displays the most recently viewed item.

Keeping the Cubes CurrentNext section
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