Each web part type includes settings specific to the type of information it is designed to display. Most part settings are very simple while others have more sophisticated settings for expressing calculated values and conditional formatting. The following sections cover the function and use of each type of web part.
Edit1 The Chart Web Part
 The Chart Part |
The chart web part displays information in the form of IssueNet snapshot chart and trend chart formats. Chart parts can also be connected to other web parts to provide drill down reports where clicking on a measure in the chart will load another part with the items from that measure.
To add a chart part, select Chart from the blank parts in the Catalog, click
Add, and fill out the part properties. The most basic properties of the chart part are
Fill and
Chart Format.
 Chart Editor |
The Fill property determines how Insight will populate the chart part with data. There are two options for Fill:
- From connection objects– This option allows the part to populate the chart with objects from another part it is connected to. For example, an issue distribution by priority chart could have a connection to another chart that displays the trend of open and closed issues over the last week. Using the from connection objects option would allow you to have the distribution chart populated by a measure in the trend chart when the user clicks on a measure in the trend chart.
- From query results– This option populates the chart based on the results of a query. The queries in the list are based on the public queries in the IssueNet database. If you need a new query to get the results you require you to populate your chart, you will need to use the query builder in IssueNet Administrator to create the new query. Keep in mind that the sort of items on the object table part described in a later section is determined by the sort order set in the query.
The Chart Format box allows you to choose the chart format which will format the data supplied by the options you chose for the fill. The list of chart formats is based on the trend chart and snapshot chart print formats defined in the IssueNet database. If you a new chart format to get the type of display you require you will need to use the chart designers in the IssueNet Administrator to create them.
Edit1.1 Chart Part Appearance Options
 Chart Appearance Options |
Once you have supplied values for the Fill and Chart Format properties, the chart part is ready to display information. You can click
Apply and
OK to view the results. However, there are several appearance properties you will want to consider setting:
- Title– Title text that will be displayed in the title bar of the part if a title bar is displayed
- Chrome Type– Sets the options for title bar and border display. The default value displays both the border and the title bar.
- Direction– Sets the left or right justification of the web part in its zone. The default value is Left to Right.
- Height and Width – Sets the height and width of the part using a variety of standard units
- Hidden– Hides the part from view when selected
- Chrome State – Allows the part to be loaded in a minimized state
- Zone– Sets the zone in which the part is located. The zone can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
- Zone Index – Sets the order of the part within its zone. The zone index can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
Once you have finished adding a chart part you can edit it by clicking
Edit on the tool bar and selecting edit from the menu in the part’s title bar, you can also connect the part to another web part.
Edit2 The Object Table Part
 The Object Table Part |
The object table part allows you to display a tabular report on a dashboard page. The object table has a number of features which allow you to display a wide variety of information in different formats:
- The items the table displays can be based on a query or based on the results from a connection to another part
- Each row in the table can provide data to another part to allow drill down reports to be based on a user’s selection in the object table
- You can choose the order and type of columns displayed by the object table
- The columns in the object table can include the data values, basic calculated values, and counts and aggregates of related objects
- Columns in the object table can use conditional formatting to provide visual indicators when certain criteria are met
To add a chart part, select Object Table from the blank parts in the Catalog, click
Add, and fill out the part properties.
The most basic property of the Object Table part is the
Fill, which determines how Insight will populate the object table with data. There are two options for Fill:
- From connection objects– This option allows the part to populate the object table with objects from another part it is connected to. For example, if you want to be able to click on a measure in a pie chart and see the items that populate that measure, you will want to add an object table and connect it to the pie chart.
- From query results– This option populates the object table based on the results of a query. The queries in the list are based on the public queries in the IssueNet database. If you need a new query to get the results you require to populate your chart, you will need to use the query builder in IssueNet Administrator to create the new query.
Edit2.1 Adding Columns to the Object Table
To add a column to an object table click on the Add button in the object table editor. There are four kinds of columns you can add:
- Class Icon – A class icon column displays the icon for the object type in each row of the table. Typically you will want to add a class icon column as the first column of the table. As the first column, the class icons will appear on the left and provide an intuitive visual indicator of different object types that appear in the list. For example, using the class icon would make it easy to see the difference between a request and a problem report in a table that displayed different kinds of issues.
- Primary Object Property – A primary object property column displays values of properties of the objects that fill the table. If you have set the table to be filled with issues, then you would use a primary object property column to display the issue status or issue ID. A typical object table of issues might have three primary object property columns – one for issueID, one for subject, and one for status.
- Relationship Count – A relationship count property displays a count of object related to the objects that fill the table. For example, you could use a relationship count column to display the number of tasks related to each issue displayed in an object table.
- Relationship Aggregation– A relationship aggregation column takes a property of items related to the items that fill the table and performs a basic calculation. For example, using a relationship aggregation column you could display the sum or the average of the estimated work for the tasks related to each issue in an object table. Similarly, in an object table of projects you could use relationship aggregation to sum the estimated work for all of the tasks in each project.
Edit2.2 Object Table Column Properties
All columns you add to an object table share three common properties:
- Header Text Override- When you add a column, the default text in the column header is based on the display name of the property as defined in the IssueNet platform. The header text override allows you to specify a different value for the header text of the column.
- Data Format String Override- The data format string override property allows you to use the techniques of .NET composite formatting to format the display of data in a column. Since the capabilities and techniques available through composite formatting are beyond the scope of this guide you may refer to an MSDN article on Composite Formatting.
- Conditional Style- Conditional style is a powerful feature which allows you to take full advantage of the capabilities of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to provide visual indicators when values in columns meet certain criteria. For example, suppose that a common dashboard report is an object table of new issues in which the issues are sorted in descending order by create time. The sort allows users to quickly scan for the most recent items. However, the users also want to be able to quickly identify urgent priority issues as well. The solution is to add a conditional style that provides a visual indicator of urgent issues in the list.
The first step is to add a style which will define how the column cells will appear. In this case we will make the background of the cells that have the priority value “Urgent” red. To add the style logon to the Insight Administration pages by logging on as a member of the Administrators group and clicking on the Administration link in the top right of the Insight page. Once you have logged onto the Administration pages, click on the Appearance tab. In the Appearance tab, add your style to the style sheet.
In this example the following style is added to color the background of the cell red.
.redcell
{
background-color: Red;
}
Once you have added the style, click the
Update button and you are ready to use the style to format a column. In the web part editor, select the operator you want to use to compare the column value, enter the value you want to compare the column value to, and in the style class box enter the name of the style. In this example you would enter “redcell” in the style class box. Once you have entered the operator, value and style class you are ready to click apply and view the results.
Because the style is based on standard CSS you have a wide range of appearance options.
Edit2.3 Relationship Aggregation Columns
Relationship aggregation columns have two properties which determine what the column will aggregate and what function will be used. To illustrate how these two properties are used, consider the example of a column in a table of projects which lists the sum of the estimated hours for all of the tasks in each project. To add a column of this type you would specify:
- Relationship– This property specifies the type of related object that will be used for the aggregation. In this example tasks would be specified because the estimated work property of the tasks is the property that will be aggregated.
- Related Query– This is a query based on the relationship type which allows you to narrow the range of items included in the aggregation. For example, for our sum of estimated work it might be advantageous to exclude completed tasks. To exclude completed tasks, you would, for example, pick a query which returned only those tasks where the current state is not equal to ‘completed”
- Aggregation Type– This property specifies the function that will be performed on the values. In this example, Sum is picked to have the column display the total hours.
- Aggregation Property – This is the property on which the function will be performed. In this example Estimated Work is selected because the purpose of the column is to display a sum of the hours recorded in the Estimated Work property of the tasks per project.
Edit2.4 Appearance Options
Once you have finished adding columns, the object table is ready to display information. You can click Apply and Ok to view the results. However, there are several appearance properties you will want to consider setting:
- Title– Title text that will be displayed in the title bar of the part if a title bar is displayed
- Chrome Type– Sets the options for title bar and border display. The default value displays both the border and the title bar.
- Direction– Sets the left or right justification of the web part in its zone. The default value is Left to Right.
- Height and Width– Sets the height and width of the part using a variety of standard units
Hidden – Hides the part from view when selected
- Chrome State– Allows the part to be loaded in a minimized state
- Zone– Sets the zone in which the part is located. The zone can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
- Zone Index– Sets the order of the part within its zone. The zone index can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
Once you have finished adding an object table part you can edit it by clicking
Edit on the tool bar and selecting edit from the menu in the part’s title bar. You can also connect the part to another web part.
Edit3 The Object Property Grid Part
 The Object Property Grid Part |
The object property grid is a part designed to display detailed information about individual objects in a tabular format. An object property grid part can be used to display a list of objects. However, its most common use is in drill down a report where clicking a row or measure in one part loads the object property grid with the object details.
For example, an object property grid could be connected to an object property table which displayed urgent priority issues. The connection between the object table and the object property grid would allow the user to click to display the details for each issue.
To add an object property grid part, select Object Property Grid from the blank parts in the Catalog, click
Add and fill out the part properties. The most fundamental property of the Object Property Grid is the
Fill.
The Fill property determines how Insight will populate the object property grid with data. There are two options for Fill:
- From connection objects – This option allows the part to populate the object propertygrid with objects from another part it is connected to. For example, if you want to be able to click on a row in an object table and see the details for that item, you will want to add an object property grid and connect it to the objects table.
- From query results- This option populates the object property grid based on the results of a query. The queries in the list are based on the public queries in the IssueNet database.
Edit3.1 Adding Properties to the Object Property Grid
Once you have specified the Fill, you can begin adding properties to the grid. The properties you add determine the values displayed when the object property grid loads items. To add properties select property names in the left hand
Members box and use the arrow controls to add and remove them from the right hand box. Once you have added properties you can use the
Move Up and
Move Down button to determine the order in which the properties will be displayed.
You can also specify a label format string. The label format string allows you to determine the format of the property labels. The label format string is preformatted with a basic label. “{0}” sets the label text based on the display name of the property as defined in the IssueNet platform. You can add additional characters to add addition formatting such as a colon for a suffix or brackets.
Edit3.2 Object Property Grid Appearance Options
Once you have finished adding properties, the object property grid is ready to display information. You can click
Apply and
OK to view the results. However, there are several appearance properties you will want to consider setting:
- Title– Title text that will be displayed in the title bar of the part if a title bar is displayed
- Chrome Type – Sets the options for title bar and border display. The default value displays both the border and the title bar.
- Direction– Sets the left or right justification of the web part in its zone. The default value is Left to Right.
- Height and Width– Sets the height and width of the part using a variety of standard units
- Hidden– Hides the part from view when selected
- Chrome State– Allows the part to be loaded in a minimized state
- Zone– Sets the zone in which the part is located. The zone can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
- Zone Index– Sets the order of the part within its zone. The zone index can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
Once you have finished adding an object property grid you can edit it by clicking Edit on the tool bar and selecting edit from the menu in the part’s title bar.
Edit4 The Gauge Part
 The Gauge Part |
The gauge part provides a simple and intuitive element for displaying aggregates and simple calculated values. The gauge can display a count of objects. It can also display simple calculated values based on object properties. Like other Insight web parts, the data the gauge operates on can be supplied by a query or by a connection to another web part. This section covers the configuration of the gauge part.
 The Gauge Editor |
To add a gauge part, select gauge from the blank parts in the Catalog, click
Add and fill out the part properties. The most fundamental propery of the gauge is the
Fill.
The Fill property determines how Insight will populate the gauge with data. There are two options for Fill:
- From connection objects – This option allows the part to populate the object propertygrid with objects from another part it is connected to. For example, if you want to be able to click on a row in an object table and see the details for that item, you will want to add an object property grid and connect it to the objects table.
- From query results- This option populates the object property grid based on the results of a query. The queries in the list are based on the public queries in the IssueNet database.
Once you have set the Fill, you can set the options specific to how the gauge displays information:
- Start Value and End Value- These properties allow you to set the maximum and minimum values on the gauge. You will want to set these values based on the kind of values you expect the gauge to display. For example, if the gauge is going to display a cound of open issue and you typically have 50, then a start value of 0 and an end value of 100 would be suitable.
- Label Interval– This property allows you to set the interval at which the gauge will display a numerical label. You will want to set the interval to suit your start and end values. For example, if you have a start value of 0 and an end value of 100, 10 would be a suitable value, but 200 would not.
- Tick per Label- This property sets the number of incremental tick marks between each label interval. Select a ticks per label interval that divides each interval into intuitive increments.
Edit4.1 Gauge Part Appearance Options
Once you have finished setting the gauge properties, it is ready to display information. You can click
Apply and
OK to view the results. However, there are several appearance properties you will want to consider setting:
- Title– Title text that will be displayed in the title bar of the part if a title bar is displayed
- Chrome Type – Sets the options for title bar and border display. The default value displays both the border and the title bar.
- Direction– Sets the left or right justification of the web part in its zone. The default value is Left to Right.
- Height and Width– Sets the height and width of the part using a variety of standard units
- Hidden– Hides the part from view when selected
- Chrome State– Allows the part to be loaded in a minimized state
- Zone– Sets the zone in which the part is located. The zone can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
- Zone Index– Sets the order of the part within its zone. The zone index can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
Once you have finished adding an object property grid you can edit it by clicking Edit on the tool bar and selecting edit from the menu in the part’s title bar.
Edit5 The Dashboard Message Part
 The Dashboard Message Part |
The dashboard message part allows you to post a message on the dashboard page. This is useful for announcments and instructions.
To add a dashboard message part, select dashboard message from the blank parts in the Catalog, click
Add, and fill out the part properties. The text property is the only property specific to the message part. You can enter the message in Plain Text or HTML format. If you choose the HTML format option, you may apply custom CSS styles by adding the style fo the Insight stlye sheet in the Appearance tab of the Insight Administration pages and then applying the style to the message.
Edit5.1 Dashboard Message Appearance Options
Once you have finished setting the message, it is ready to display information. You can click
Apply and
OK to view the results. However, there are several appearance properties you will want to consider setting:
- Title– Title text that will be displayed in the title bar of the part if a title bar is displayed
- Chrome Type – Sets the options for title bar and border display. The default value displays both the border and the title bar.
- Direction– Sets the left or right justification of the web part in its zone. The default value is Left to Right.
- Height and Width– Sets the height and width of the part using a variety of standard units
- Hidden– Hides the part from view when selected
- Chrome State– Allows the part to be loaded in a minimized state
- Zone– Sets the zone in which the part is located. The zone can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
- Zone Index– Sets the order of the part within its zone. The zone index can also be set by dragging the part on the dashboard.
Edit6 Connecting Web Parts
One of the most useful features of a dashboard is the ability to click on an item in a chart or table and have the dashboard display detailed information based on the selection. For example, when viewing a chart that displays issues by priority it useful to be able to click on a specific measure, such as “Urgent” issues, in the chart and havethe issues for that measure displayed in a table. These kinds of drill down reports allow users to quickly navigate to the information that is most useful to them.
Insight allows you to configure a wide variety of drill down reports using connections between web parts. Connections allow parts to send each other data based on the user’s selection. With the exception of the Dashboard Message part, any part can send or receive information. In addition, multiple parts can be connected serially to allow multiple levels of drill down. For example, you can configure a chart of issues by priority to be driven by a selection in chart of issues by status, and then connect the issues by priority chart to an object table which would load the selected issue into an object property grid. Through multiple levels of drill down a user can quickly navigate from a very high level report to very specific information.
 The Connections Editor |
To connect parts open a dashboard, click on the button to modify shared scope or user scope, click the
Connect button from on the menu bar. Once you have clicked the Connect button to enter connect mode, click on the part menu of the part you want to connect and select Connect.
Once you have selected
Connect, the
Connections dialog will open. In the Connections dialog you can click on the links to connect the current part to a consumer or a provider. A consumer is a part which will receive data from the current part. A provider is a part which will send data to the current part. For example, if you want to connect a chart to an object table, you could open the Connections dialog from the chart and then click
Create a connection to a Consumer. Accordingly, you could open the Connections dialog from the object table and click
Create a connection to a Provider.
Once you have selected the type of connection you want to create, the Connections dialog will display the parts available to connect to. Once you click Connect, the two parts will exchange data based on their relationship as consumer and provider.
Once parts are connected Insight will create the measures in charts and the rows in object tables as links. Clicking on a region in one part will send data to its connected part based on the data the region represents.
Edit7 Tips for Building Insight Dashboards
Perhaps the best feature of Insight is that it makes building dashboards easy. With no scripting or web design, you can create multiple dashboards with sophisticated features. To make the process of building dashboards even easier and help further refine their features and appearance, keep the following tips in mind when building and configuring dashboards:
- When building a new dashboard, consider cloning one you have already built.
- If you have groups of related dashboards on your Insight homepage consider using dashboard connectors to indicate the relationships. Dashboard connectors make it easy for user to quick identify the dashboards they are most interested in.
- When using object tables add a class icon column as the first column in the table. In lists which include multiple types of items the class icon makes is easy to identify particular types of items.
- When using object tables the sort order of the items in the table is based on the sort order added to the query used to supply the table with data. If the object table is provided its data by another part the sort order is determined by how the data is sorted by the provider part. Remember to add sort order criteria to your queries when editing them in the IssueNet Administrator.
- When using object tables use data format string overrides to make the display of information intuitive to your users. Shortening a date format is a common use of a format overrides.
- When using object tables use conditional format to provide your users with visual cues to the most critical information. Conditional formats are easy to apply and support an unlimited number of formatting options.
- If you want a part such as an object table to be loaded with information based on a query by default but also respond to a connection to another part such as a chart, specify the Fill property as From Query Results and also connect it to a provider part. The query will populate the default view and the part will repopulate itself with new results when its provider part is clicked on.