Defer Update

In Dashboard Designer application, while configuring and formatting widgets, the query is generated and executed every time to refresh the widget with the changes.

For example, if you drop the Order ID field in the widget, change the summary type from Sum to Count, and apply the measure formatting. Now, three queries will be generated and executed in your server for dropping the Order ID field, changing the summary type, and applying the measure formatting. The widget will also be refreshed three times.

If you enable the defer update, you can avoid the multiple calls to the database server and you can manually update the widget with single call to the database server. It also helps you reduce the overall dashboard designing time.

How to enable/disable the defer update

By default, the defer update option is disabled in the Dashboard Designer application. You can turn on/off the defer update using the Preferences option provided in the Edit menu.

  1. To enable the defer update, click Preferences.... The Preferences window opens.

Open prefernces window

  1. Select the Enable Defer Update check box. Clearing this check box disables the defer update and makes the designing of dashboard widgets normal (i.e., widget will be refreshed for every change).

Enable defer update

NOTE

The defer update state will be preserved while opening the Dashboard Designer application next time.

IMPORTANT

You can disable/enable the defer update anytime during the dashboard report design.

Configuring widgets with defer update

While configuring the dashboard widgets/filter panel, the widget should be manually updated by users. The update button is provided in the control preview area in the widgets tab.

Click Update to fetch the data and refresh the widgets.

The following screenshot shows configuring the widget with defer update in enabled state.

Enable defer enabled view

The following screenshot illustrates manually refreshing the widget using the update button.

Update button

The following screenshot shows the refreshed view of the widget.

Update button

NOTE

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+ L to refresh the widget.

Automatic widget refresh criteria

Data fetching is mandatory in the following cases, so the widget will be automatically refreshed, if it is not updated manually.

• Switching the internal tabs in the widgets/filter panel tab.

• Closing the widgets/filter panel.

• Previewing the dashboard.

• Turn off the defer update from enabled state.

IMPORTANT

You should update the widgets manually using the update button before switching the tabs or saving the report to ensure the changes applied properly and to avoid any unexpected errors in automatic update.

Defer update in preview data grid

The data preview grid in the data source tab fetches and displays the raw data by clicking the Update button.

preview grid

After fetching the data, it will show the raw data as shown in the following screenshot.

update button in preview grid

While performing any changes in the data source like applying initial filter, creating expression, changing the data type, etc., the data in the preview grid will not be automatically updated. To preview the updated data for the applied changes, click Update in the preview grid.