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) |
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NOTE
If the web browser is IE11, please ensure the following points:
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.
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.
Step 3:
Check and accept license agreement terms and conditions and click Next.
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.
Step 6:
Configure the port number by replacing the default port number, if needed, and then click Next. Now, the installation begins.
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.
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.
Step 2:
Configure the storage medium (files or blob) to store the resources of User Management Server, and click Proceed.
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.
Step 4:
Configure the database to manage the dashboard server resources, and click Proceed.
Step 5:
Configure the storage medium (files or blob) to store the resources of dashboard server, and click Proceed.
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.
On successful configuration, you will be redirected to the 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.
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.
Step 2:
Hover the mouse over the Create > menu item to open the submenu, and choose Dashboard in it. Now a blank dashboard opens.
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.
Step 4:
Select CREATE NEW to open the data connections listing panel.
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,
- Click My Dashboards at the top to navigate to server page.
- Choose the gear icon (Settings) at the bottom of the left side panel. This opens the Site Settings page.
- Navigate to the Data Store tab, configure the SQL Server database and server detail, and click Save.
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
Step 9 (optional):
To exclude a column from consideration, select the eye icon near to that column in the dropped table to disable.
Step 10 (optional):
To create calculated columns, open the expression designer from the toolbar menu item and create columns with or without expression functions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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:
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: