Quick Start with Syncfusion Dashboard Platform

This quick start guide helps you deploy Syncfusion Dashboard Server application in an on-premise server, create a dashboard with your business data, and share it to your team to analyze business insights.

Overview

Syncfusion Dashboard Platform is an end-to-end solution for creating, managing and sharing interactive dashboards. This platform comprises the following products, each of which addresses specific business needs.

Product Type and used for
Syncfusion Dashboard Server (Windows) A web application installer to host dashboard server in on-premises web server in Windows environment.
Syncfusion Dashboard Server (Microsoft Azure) An Azure package to host dashboard server as app-service in Azure environment.
Syncfusion Dashboard Mobile A mobile app supported in iOS and Android devices to connect dashboard server application hosted in on-premises or in cloud and view dashboards.

Syncfusion Dashboard Server plays a vital role across all these packages. It lets you connect to data, compose dashboards, visualize widgets, organize and share dashboards efficiently with your team, and collaborate. It has a user-friendly editor, called as web designer, which is integrated within Dashboard Server to create and edit dashboards.

Prerequisites

The minimal hardware and software requirements required to deploy and run the Syncfusion Dashboard Server are listed in the following table.

Package System Requirements Software Requirements
Syncfusion Dashboard Server (Windows)
  • Operating System : Windows Client OS 7+ | Windows Server OS 2008 R2+
  • CPU : 1 GHz or faster, 32-bit or 64-bit processor
  • Memory : 1 GB RAM for 32-bit, 2 GB RAM for 64-bit
  • Hard drive : 300 MB of free space (only installation files)

NOTE

If the web browser is IE11, please ensure the following points:

  • Disable the Enterprise mode if it is found enabled. For more details, refer here.
  • Turn off the Compatibility Settings for the intranet sites. For more details, refer here.

Deploy Syncfusion Dashboard Server

Download the package

For evaluation purpose, download the required package you need from the Downloads page.

The licensed users can download the package from this page.

Downloads will be available in the following two formats: EXE and ZIP. You can choose any of them. If you choose ZIP, you have to extract the zipped folder to get the EXE.

NOTE

Mobile app can be downloaded directly from Google Play Store for Android devices and App Store for iOS devices.

Install the package

Step 1:
Place the installer EXE in a physical location in the server machine (On-premises or Cloud VM), and double-click to install. Now, the file extraction wizard launches. On its completion, installer wizard opens.

Installer Extraction Progress

Step 2:
Enter your Syncfusion account credentials to unlock the Setup. Alternatively, you can use the unlock key sent to your mail once you downloaded.

Login to install

Step 3:
Check and accept license agreement terms and conditions and click Next.

Dashboard Server Install Settings

Step 4 (optional):
Configure the installation location by replacing the default location, if needed.

Step 5:
Select the web server (IIS or IIS Express), where the Dashboard Server and User Management Server applications need to be hosted.

NOTE

If you have User Management Server application installed already here or in a different machine (accessible from this one), you can skip its installation alone by clearing the check box selection near Install User Management Server (x.x.x.x) and then choosing Next.

User Management Server Settings

Step 6:
Configure the port number by replacing the default port number, if needed, and then click Next. Now, the installation begins.

Installation Progress

Step 7:
Finally, the installation completes with the following screenshot. To immediately launch the dashboard server configuration screen in web browser on closing the wizard, select the check box in the wizard screen, and then click Finish to close the wizard.

Installation Complete

You can also launch the dashboard server later through the program shortcut added in the desktop during installation.

Configure server applications

Step 1:
In the dashboard server application launched, configure the database to manage the users, and click Proceed.

UMS Database Configuration

Step 2:
Configure the storage medium (files or blob) to store the resources of User Management Server, and click Proceed.

UMS Storage Configuration

Step 3:
Configure the user information and credential details to create a system administrator account in the User Management Server, and click Proceed. Now the user management server configuration is completed.

Configuring System Administrator

Step 4:
Configure the database to manage the dashboard server resources, and click Proceed.

Server Database Configuration

Step 5:
Configure the storage medium (files or blob) to store the resources of dashboard server, and click Proceed.

Server Storage Configuration

Step 6:
Choose Yes to include the sample resources, and click Proceed. This includes the sample dashboards and data sources into the server that comes as a part of the installer.

Including Sample Dashboards

On successful configuration, you will be redirected to the login page.

User Login Page

Step 7:
Enter the username or email and password to log on to the dashboard server. Now the dashboard server home page opens.

Dashboard Server Homepage

Create your first dashboard

Step 1:
In the homepage, navigate to the top-right corner, and click the down arrow button next to the + icon to open a drop-down list.

Menu listing actions

Step 2:
Hover the mouse over the Create > menu item to open the submenu, and choose Dashboard in it. Now a blank dashboard opens.

Blank dashboard

Step 3:
To create a data source for widgets configuration, click the database icon at the right side panel next to the gear icon. Now, the DATA SOURCES panel opens.

Datasources Panel

Step 4:
Select CREATE NEW to open the data connections listing panel.

Data Connections

Step 5:
Choose the connection type that matches your data store and configure the database and related details.

NOTE

For files and web services type connection, you need to configure a Microsoft SQL Server database as intermediate data store for data extraction and processing. To do this,

  1. Click My Dashboards at the top to navigate to server page.
  2. Choose the gear icon (Settings) at the bottom of the left side panel. This opens the Site Settings page.
  3. Navigate to the Data Store tab, configure the SQL Server database and server detail, and click Save.
  4. Click the Refresh icon in the DATA SOURCES panel in dashboard editor to reflect the supported files and web services in the listing.
    You can also navigate to this page directly by clicking the Settings link at the bottom of the data connections listing panel.
    Refer to here for the data connections listing categorized by direct and in-memory modes.

DataStore Settings

Step 6:
Choose the required tables and select Connect. Now, the data source design view window opens with the selected tables listed in tree view panel at the left.

Table Schema

Datasource Editor

Step 7:
Drag the required table(s) from the tree view panel to the table design view. If you drop more than one table, join editor opens to define the relationship between tables. This editor can also be opened explicitly from the toolbar at top.

Alternatively, you can switch to the code view using the toggle button in toolbar. Paste your select query and execute to fetch the data for data source preparation.

Code Editor

NOTE

  • Switching from design view to code view will retain the current state in design view unless you execute the query through the Play button in toolbar in code view.
  • Switching from code view to design view is allowed only when you wipe out the query in the code view window.
  • Code view supports native queries for direct mode connections. For in-memory mode connections, Microsoft SQL Server queries alone were supported.

Step 8 (optional):
To rename a column and change its type, click the gear icon near to it in the dropped table and select corresponding menu items.

Formatting Column

Step 9 (optional):
To exclude a column from consideration, select the eye icon near to that column in the dropped table to disable.

Hide Column

Step 10 (optional):
To create calculated columns, open the expression designer from the toolbar menu item and create columns with or without expression functions.

Expression Editor

Step 11 (optional):
To restrict the incoming data based on some filter criteria, open the Filter window from the toolbar menu item and create filter conditions.

Data Filters

Step 12:
Define a name and a suitable description (optional) for the data source and click Save in the toolbar.

Step 13:
Drag the required widgets from toolbox to the designer surface and resize as needed.

Drag and Drop Widget

Step 14:
To configure data to a widget, select that widget and click the gear icon at the top-right corner of the focused widget. This opens the PROPERTIES panel. Switch to the ASSIGN DATA tab.

Opening Assign Data Pane

Step 15:
Choose data source from the drop-down list at the top to show its columns for widget configuration.

Step 16:
Configure the appropriate columns in corresponding sections.

NOTE

The sections change based on the widget type and kind.

Configuring value to the chart

Step 17 (optional):
In the configured columns, based on its type (measure or dimension) and the section placed, the following operations can be handled as needed by clicking the gear icon near each column.

  • Changing aggregation
  • Filtering data at widget level
  • Sorting data items
  • Formatting data display

Formatting Display Values

Step 18:
Configure other required widgets in similar fashion, and click Preview at the title bar to visualize the configured widgets in the dashboard. After configured, click Close Preview at the top to close the preview window.

Step 19:
Click Publish next to the Preview button in the title bar to publish the dashboard to the server view part. Now the Publish As Dashboard window opens.

Step 20:
Choose a Category to publish and a Name for the dashboard with optional Description.

NOTE

If you do not have any categories listed, create a new category by pressing the + button near the Category field.

Step 21:
Define the Privacy Settings to either Private, Public or Unlisted for the dashboard based on the level of its access you need to give others. Click Publish.

Step 22:
Click Yes in the Confirm Publish Dashboard message window. Your dashboard will be saved, listed in the Dashboards listing in the Server view, and opened.

Share your dashboard

Step 1:
Click Share at the top of your dashboard. Now Share with others dialog opens.

Share dialog

Step 2:
From the auto-complete dropdownlist, select one or more users and groups you would like to share this dashboard with.

Step 3:
Choose the access level (Read or Read, Download or Read, Write, Download or Read, Write, Delete, Download) to be given for the selected users and groups and click Done. Now, your dashboard will be shared.

Step 4:
Select the Comment icon at the top-right corner (below the user avatar), and start collaborate with others who were given access to your dashboard. For every comment, respective users will get an email.

Collaborate with others

Next steps

Now, you have learned how to start with Syncfusion Dashboard Platform from creating a new dashboard to a meaningful visualization tool that reveals insights over your business data for you and your team to make better decisions.

Resources

These self-help resources will assist you in getting quick answers for your queries and better understanding of concepts and functionalities supported in Syncfusion Dashboard Platform.

Sample Demos

The different sets of dashboards are designed and published in the demo server website for dashboard platform users to demonstrate various features in the Syncfusion Dashboard Platform. You can view the dashboards from the following link.

https://dashboardserver.syncfusion.com/

Tutorial videos

Short video tutorials help you explore the Syncfusion Dashboard Platform quickly. These can be viewed from the following link:

https://www.syncfusion.com/products/dashboard/videos

Frequently asked questions

Common queries in Dashboard Platform were answered with required explanation and illustrations and organized as Knowledge Base articles. Refer to the following link for KB articles:

https://www.syncfusion.com/kb/dashboard

Also, queries raised by different users along with suggested solutions in Dashboard Platform by Syncfusion team can be viewed from the following link:

https://www.syncfusion.com/forums/dashboard

Technical Blogs

Blogs on topics related to remarkable functionalities, overview of features in a public release, trending features coming sooner in Dashboard Platform can be found from the following link:

https://blog.syncfusion.com/

Road map

Refer to the following link to learn about the road map plan of the upcoming dashboard platform:

https://www.syncfusion.com/products/roadmap/dashboard

Release history

The release information of all the public versions of the Dashboard platform can be referred in the following link.

https://www.syncfusion.com/products/release-history/dashboard

Whats new

The following page holds the features releases in the latest public version of the Dashboard platform:

https://www.syncfusion.com/products/whatsnew/dashboard

Create a support ticket

If you have questions specific to Dashboard Platform and you have not found answers throughout the resources, you can raise a support ticket to Syncfusion. To create a support, refer to the following link:

https://www.syncfusion.com/support/directtrac/incidents/newincident

While creating a support ticket, try to provide detailed explanation of your requirement with appropriate screenshots or videos. For reporting any bug, consider providing the exact replication procedure and necessary log files. It will help our support team to reach you earlier with a better solution.

Submit your feedback

Your feedback is valuable to us. Please submit your suggestions or comments for product enhancements in future releases. To provide feedback, refer to the following link:

https://www.syncfusion.com/feedback/dashboard-platform