Gadgets are mini-graphs and data grids that display multiple metrics and can be placed together to create complex dashboard pages. Each gadget is designed to perform a specific type of business analysis such as zoom or compare analysis. You can configure a gadget to display specific data for specific users, and PMF stores user preferences and applies them to each page. Users can select and save various parameters determined by the gadget author to personalize the gadgets on their pages at runtime.
To utilize gadgets in your PMF dashboard pages, you can select from the gadgets already available in PMF or create your own gadgets. When you create a new gadget, you also have to create a gadget class. Overviews of all aspects of gadget design and implementation are provided in the sections that follow. For information about the forms used to design gadgets in PMF, see Manage Tab - Dashboards.
To design a new gadget, you must first create a gadget procedure, which is usually a WebFOCUS reporting or graph procedure that reports on data from the PMF data mart. (Gadgets can also be designed to extract and report on data from other sources.) All gadget procedures must have a name that begins with a gadget_ prefix.
When using a new or existing WebFOCUS report or graph procedure for a gadget, you can utilize standard WebFOCUS parameter names. There are three types of parameters gadgets can process: display fields, groupings, and filters.
Display fields, similar to PRINT or SUM fields in a WebFOCUS request, determine the data fields displayed in the gadget using parameters that indicate whether to display or hide these fields, or to use these fields as data feeds for a graph.
Each display field has the following three possible settings:
The display fields you can choose to include in a gadget are listed and described in the following table:
Display Field |
What it Displays |
---|---|
Actual |
Actual measure value (raw data). |
Target |
Target measure value (raw data). |
Pct_Reached |
Percent reached for actual/target measures. |
Pct_Used |
Cumulative percent spent for project budget measures. or Cumulative percent completed for project schedule measures. |
Indicator |
Dashboard symbol that indicates the status of a measure, objective, or perspective. For:
|
Indicator + Actual |
Combines the actual value with the indicator. |
Indicator + Target |
Combines the target value with the indicator. |
Indicator + Pct_Reached |
Combines the percent reached value with the indicator. |
Indicator + Pct_Used |
Combines the actual measure value with the indicator. |
Indicator + Actual + Pct_Reached |
Combines the actual and percent reached values with the indicator. |
Indicator + Target + Pct_Reached |
Combines the target and percent reached values with the indicator. |
High-Mid-Low: raw count totals |
Shows a raw count of the total number of measures in High (Green), Mid (Yellow), and Low (Red) status for the selected grouping and filtering. |
High-Mid-Low: percentages of totals |
Shows a percentage of the total number of measures in High (Green), Mid (Yellow), and Low (Red) status for the selected grouping and filtering. |
Grouping involves both sorting and aggregating data values. Selected detail values are sorted using the classifications built into the group, then aggregated at the level implied by the sort.
Many sort groupings are affected by other groupings selected above them. For example, if you select to group by perspective first, and then by objective, the resulting gadget shows measure level details, the measure results are grouped first by perspective and then by objectives within each perspective, and the aggregations occur at the objective level. For each gadget, you can select up to three groupings.
Each grouping has the following two possible settings:
The groupings you can choose to include in a gadget are listed and described in the following table:
Grouping Method |
What it Does |
---|---|
Perspectives |
Sorts results alphabetically by perspective name and aggregates field values at that level. |
Objectives |
Sorts results alphabetically by objective name and aggregates field values at that level. |
Measures |
Sorts results alphabetically by measure name and aggregates field values at that level. |
User Specified Dimension |
Sorts results alphabetically by level values within the dimension specified by the user and aggregates field values at that level. User specified dimension drill-downs are continuous by level, using a second drill-down on an individual value within a dimension to show data at the next dimension level. |
Time |
Sorts results alphabetically by level values within the time dimension and aggregates field values at that level. Time dimension drill-downs are continuous by level, using a second drill-down on an individual value within a time dimension to show data at the next time level, down to the lowest level. |
Gadget filters limit the displayed results to the values a user selects. For example, if a user specified the financial perspective as a filter, the results displayed would be limited to only the details linked to the financial perspective. For each gadget, you can specify up to five different filtering methods.
Each filter has the following two possible settings:
The filters you can choose to include in a gadget are listed and described in the following table:
Filter |
Limits the Output to ... |
---|---|
Scorecard |
The default scorecard for the gadget. Enables users to select a default scorecard to display in the gadget. If not selected, the default selection is the default scorecard of the user. |
Perspective |
The default perspective for the gadget. Enables users to select a default perspective to display in the gadget. If not selected, the default selection is the PMF default perspective. Note: Requires selection of the Scorecard filter. |
Objective |
The default objective for the gadget. Enables users to select a default objective to display in the gadget. Note: Requires selection of the Scorecard filter. |
Measure Series |
The default measure series for the gadget. Enables users to select a default measure series to display in the gadget. |
User Specified Dimension |
The default level value for the gadget, for a selected dimension. Enables users to select a default dimension to display in the gadget. |
Time |
The a default point in the time dimension for the gadget. Enables users to select a default time dimension value to display in the gadget. |
Red and Yellow Indicators only |
Only retrieve and display measure values, objectives, or perspectives, where the result is a very low or moderately low (red or yellow) condition. This filter blocks out any measure values with a high (green) condition. |
Red indicators only |
Only retrieve and display measure values, objectives, or perspectives, where the result is a very low (red) condition. This filter blocks out any measure values with a high (green) or moderately low (yellow) condition. |
How to: |
For PMF to call a procedure and store parameters locally for a gadget, you must first create a gadget class. The gadget class enables PMF to manage the gadget. A gadget class defines the input parameters for the gadget and controls how the parameters are saved for each user. The class also controls the parameters that each instance of the gadget can store and recall.
Before creating a gadget class, add all new gadget procedures to the WebFOCUS pmfgadgets application folder.
PMF displays the New Gadget Class Designer panel. The following image shows the panel, with sample values in the fields.
For example, if the Content Type is PMF gadget focexec, the Content Display drop-down list contains the names of all FOCEXECs that begin with gadget_ and are in the WebFOCUS pmfgadgets application folder.
For a graph that is coded according to the standard gadget specification, the width and height that you type here is dynamically passed to the gadget at run time to determine the actual width and height of the output of the graph.
The preview image appears on the Catalog chevron in Dashboard Designer. If you do not supply a preview image of your own, you can use the default preview image, preview_na.png.
PMF displays a message saying the new gadget class has been added. The Gadget Definitions navigation tree on the left is refreshed to display the new gadget class.
WebFOCUS InfoAssist can be used to develop new operational gadgets that display information from your operational data sources. A new property defines your custom-developed content as a PMF gadget, and allows you to optionally prompt to filter your content using PMF Dimensions. For more information on how to use this, see the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User’s Manual.
Note: InfoAssist integration for setting up parameter receipt requires WebFOCUS 7.7.01 or higher. If you have an earlier version of WebFOCUS, you can still handle parameters in the report code. For more information, see Mapping Parameters to an Operational Report.
How to: |
Gadgets can be defined based on standard reports in your Managed Reporting repository. This can be done from within PMF or from within the WebFOCUS MR environment, which is typically from within BID.
Note: MR Save as Gadget integration in WebFOCUS BID requires WebFOCUS 7.7.1 or higher.
Saving Managed Reporting content as a gadget will make it available from within PMF to use on features such as Dashboards. MR content can be given parameters from PMF, such as Dimensional filters or sorts, and can optionally receive Broadcasts on a PMF Dashboard.
The New Gadget Designer panel opens.
Note: If you want to pass parameters to the MR Standard Report, make sure you have added code to your report to enable it to receive PMF parameters. For more information, see Mapping Parameters to an Operational Report.
The PMF Dashboard capability allows you to directly add several types of content as gadgets. These types include:
When creating a gadget, or editing a gadget, you can select the content type from a drop-down list on the New Gadget Class Designer panel or the Edit Gadget Class Designer panel, as shown in the following image.
Content Type |
Description |
---|---|
PMF gadget focexec |
Default. Allows you to select from any FOCEXEC in your environment with gadget_ as the starting characters in the name. Typically, these are PMF gadgets. Since most of the shipped FOCEXEC gadgets are already registered in PMF, you would typically need to use this option only if you have created a custom gadget and want to register it with the system. |
Adobe Flex control |
Allows you to select from any SWF file that you have installed in any application in your application path. PMF does not search the mainstreet, pmfdata, or pmf[rdbms] app folders. Tip: If WebFOCUS is installed in a split-tier configuration, the SWF files must be installed in the same app folder on both the WebFOCUS Client and WebFOCUS server machines. |
WebFOCUS report |
Allows you to select from any FOCEXEC in your environment. Typically, you would select this option to “gadgetize” any existing WebFOCUS report. This allows you to pass standard PMF parameters to the report. For more information on how to receive and use those parameters, see Mapping Parameters to an Operational Report. |
MR report |
Allows you to integrate Managed Reporting content into PMF. Typically, you would select this option to "gadgetize" an existing WebFOCUS Managed Reporting report. This capability allows you to pass standard PMF parameters to the report. For more information on how to receive and use those parameters, see Mapping Parameters to an Operational Report. |
Web Page |
Allows you to specify any external Web application that you want to include as a gadget. You can type the entire URL for the application, including any parameters, in the URL field. |
Once you have specified the type of gadget that you are registering, you can configure the passing of parameters, as appropriate to the gadget, as detailed in Designing Gadgets.
How to: |
PMF allows you to use existing Analysis Designer templates to create Gadgets. These Gadgets can display grids with indicators that break PMF metrics, strategic objectives, or themes out Dimensionally. Each data item in the grid contains drill downs to other related PMF content, and provides the same feedback, alerting, and task capabilities as pre-built content in PMF.
The New Gadget Designer panel opens, as shown in the following image.
Note: If you are working with your own data mart and Scorecard, and that Scorecard does not have loaded Measure data yet, PMF will display an error message.
WebFOCUS |