By the end of this section you will be able to:

Create a dashboard with multiple elements
Apply filters on dashboard charts
Apply sort orders on dashboard grids

Create a dashboard with multiple elements

The following video illustrates how to create a dashboard with multiple elements:

To recap the steps in the video:

In the repository browser, find - Dashboards
Press Add Dashboard
Set the dashboard name to Debt Overview
Press

Create the dashboard by using some stream views you created earlier, and by creating a new view:

Open the configuration form for the stream Overall Debt Levels
Drag the view Debt levels by payment means onto the dashboard pane
Right click on the chart Debt levels by payment means in the dashboard and select Dashboard Options → Add Horizontal Bar
Drag Debt levels by payment means 2 into the space
Right click on the chart Debt levels by payment means in the dashboard and select Dashboard Options → Add Vertical Bar
Drag the icon from the stream configuration form for Overall Debt Levels onto the space
Choose view type Grid, and drag on all attributes from the stream to create the new view
Go into App mode to see the results

Remove dashboard elements

Open the dashboard Debt Overview
Right click on the view Overall Debt Levels_1 and select Dashboard Options → Remove Element from Dashboard

Removing a dashboard element only removes the view from the dashboard, it does not delete the view.

Add view

Since we have only removed the dashboard element, the view we created still exists. We will add it back into the dashboard:

Open the stream configuration form for Overall Debt Levels
Find the view Overall Debt Levels_1, and drag it into the empty space in your dashboard
Go into App mode - you should see that the dashboard is the same as before

Set dashboard to maximise on opening

Set your dashboard to that it automatically maximises when it is opened:

Right click on any view in the dashboard and go to Dashboard Options → Show Dashboard Details
In the dashboard configuration form, tick Open Maximised
Close and open the dashboard, it will now be maximised

Apply filters on dashboards

You will now filter one of the views Debt levels by payment means to show only the last 40 days:

Right click on the view Debt levels by payment means in your dashboard
From the context menu, select Dashboard Options → Show Dashboard Details.
PhixFlow displays the configuration form for the dashboard. In the form:
Go to the Dashboard Elements section.
The table of elements has a lot of columns. Use the scroll bar to view them. If you want to see more of the column headings, you can drag the column dividers.
In the table of elements, double click Debt levels by payment means
PhixFlow displays the configuration form for this dashboard element
- In the Data Retrieval Options section, select the Use Custom Default Filter box
- In the Default Filter drop-down list, select Last 40 days
- Press to save your changes and close the dashboard element form.
PhixFlow has updated Dashboard Elements table with the new information.
Press to save your changes to the dashboard and close form.
Now check the result of the filter

Using background filters

Over the next two exercises you will create a dashboard that supports investigation into debt issues. First, you will create a view with a background filter:

Open the configuration form for the view Overall Debt Levels.
You can do this directly from the stream configuration form for Overall Debt Levels by double-clicking on the view
- In the Basic Settings section, set the Background Filter to Last 40 days
- Save your changes to the view
Create a new dashboard, called Debt Investigation
- Drag the view Overall Debt Levels onto it
- You will see that the data has the Last 40 days filter applied.
  The chart on the left shows the filtered data. The chart on the right shows the unfiltered data.
In the dashboard, press and add a new filter:
- Name: Cash Only
- Conditions: PaymentMeans equals CASH
The resulting data set will contain records with PaymentMeans = CASH and within the last 40 days (34 records showing)

To verify this, open the Default View on the stream Overall Debt Levels and apply the Cash Only filter; all CASH rows will be shown (100 records)

A background filter will always be applied – in addition to any other filter applied to the view. Once a background filter is applied on a view, it is not possible to see the data without this filter. In this way a background filter differs from a default filter – default filters can be overridden by users if they simply select a different filter, or even clear the filter entirely.

A background filter can be set on a view, as in this exercise, or in the dashboard element properties for the view on a dashboard.
When you set up the view assess whether you will always want the background filter to apply in all circumstances; or whether the background filter needed will vary across different dashboards.

Using prompt for value filters

To complete the dashboard for investigating debt issues, you will now create a filter that will allow users to display one of the types of payment (cash, direct debit or cheque). To do this you will set the filter to prompt for a value.

Step 1 Create the filter

In the workspace, open the Debt Investigation dashboard.
Add a filter to the dashboard Debt Investigation:
- Name: select Payment Means
- Conditions:
  - Where ALL the following are true
  - PaymentMeans equals _prompt.PaymentMeans
  - Press the ABC button - this will now say fx
- Press to save your changes.
Creating the filter also applies it, so in the dashboard, PhixFlow displays a box prompting you to enter a value.
Enter CHQ and press .
The prompt is case-sensitive, so make sure you enter capital letters.
The data will refresh to show one blue data line for cheques (34 records).

Step 2 Apply the filter by default

Anyone using this dashboard can now apply the select Payment Means filter. However, we want PhixFlow to automatically use this filter and prompt a user to enter a payment means, e.g. CHQ, CASH or DD.

In the workspace, open the Debt Investigation dashboard.
Right-click the dashboard and select Unlock the layout.
Right-click the dashboard again and select Show the Stream View Configuration.
PhixFlow opens the stream view configuration form for Overall Debt Levels:
- In the Basic settings section, in the Default Filter drop-down list, select the option select Payment Means.
- Press to save your changes.
In the workspace, PhixFlow displays the prompt.

Step 3 Check the setting works

In the workspace, close the dashboard.
In the repository list, find the Debt Investigation dashboard and double-click the name to open its configuration form.
In the form toolbar, click Display to open the dashboard in the workspace.
The dashboard opens and PhixFlow opens the filter prompt.

Every time that this dashboard is opened the user is prompted to enter a value. To change the filtered data, CHQ, CASH or DD click the filter icon to redisplay the prompt.

22 Building dashboards