Analytics

Dashboards consist of a series of tiles each of which provides a visual representation of information derived from various data sets. The following types of dashboard are available:

• Personal: fully configurable by users with appropriate permissions but are only visible to the creating user.
• Global: visible to all users but only configurable by those users with specifically assigned rights.
• Published: used to share data with external applications rather than being displayed within the Blue Prism client (only configurable by those users with specifically assigned rights).

A Default Dashboard is installed automatically and is the dashboard that will be visible on the Home screen for users who have not specifically set an alternative. The Default Dashboard is a special global dashboard which can be modified but not deleted.

Dashboards are essentially a saved view of a collection of tiles. Subject to being granted appropriate permissions, users can create, and edit existing dashboards within the Dashboard tab.

Create a dashboard

A new dashboard can be created from the Dashboards tab in the Dashboard section. Selecting the right-click option Create Personal Dashboard, Create Global Dashboard or Create Published Dashboard will create either a new Personal, Global or Published Dashboard.

• Personal Dashboards
• Dashboards created by the logged-in user and only visible to that user
• The Dashboard permission “Design Personal Dashboards” controls access to this dashboard type
• Global Dashboards
• Dashboards made available to all users who have the appropriate permissions in the Analytics security group
• The Dashboard permission “Design Global Dashboards” controls access to this dashboard type
• Published Dashboards
• Dashboards not available for setting as the user's Home Page
• Tile data periodically retrieved by selected BP Server instances and made available to external applications via event logs
• The Dashboard permission “Design Published Dashboards” controls access to this dashboard type
• When enabled the BP Server will check for published dashboards every 30 seconds; the tile with the longest refresh interval will be used to determine whether or not to refresh all the tiles on the dashboard, and output their results to the Windows event log.

Edit a dashboard

To edit a dashboard the appropriate Dashboard permission must be assigned to the user’s role (see Permissions).

Once a dashboard is selected in the Dashboard panel the Edit option becomes available from the right-click context menu for a role with the correct permissions.

Selecting the Edit function will place the selected dashboard into Edit Mode, which will allow for changes to be made to the design of the dashboard content.

Dashboard edit mode

Edit Mode is indicated by the appearance of vertical lines on the dashboard and by the dashboard name field having a highlighted border. No operations outside of the dashboard can be done while the dashboard is in edit mode. A dashboard will remain in edit mode until the dashboard is saved or the editing is cancelled.

Whilst editing a dashboard the following operations are possible:

• Adding a tile
• Sizing and removing tiles
• Moving a tile in a dashboard
• Adding a dashboard title
• Saving the dashboard
• Cancelling edit mode

The following operations are only possible when a Dashboard is in edit mode. A dashboard cannot be copied while it is in edit mode.

Add a tile to a dashboard

To add a tile to a dashboard select the Tile Library tab to display the list of available tiles. Drag and drop a tile onto the dashboard. Tiles can be dropped into any of the blank sections where no tile currently exists.

If a tile is dropped either side of another existing tile, then it will take the place of that tile and cause the adjoining tile to be moved to the location indicated by the positional arrow. Positioning is dependent upon the size of the tile.

Size and remove tiles

When a tile is right-clicked in edit mode then a context menu is shown revealing options to select the size of tiles, or remove them:

• Small – the tile occupies one square of the grid
• Medium – the tile occupies two squares of the grid
• Large – the tile occupies one row of the grid
• Remove – the currently selected tile is removed from the dashboard
• Remove All Tiles – all tiles in the dashboard are removed

Move a tile in a dashboard

A tile can be dragged and dropped into any other position on the dashboard grid. Small sized tiles will fit into a single grid space, whilst medium and large sized tiles may need to occupy two or three tile spaces.

When tiles are moved surrounding tiles will be automatically moved to fit alongside them. A positional arrow indicator will be shown during the drag operation to point to the destination space when the tile is dropped on to the dashboard.

Add a title to a dashboard

Whilst the dashboard is in Edit Mode the title area is editable, and this is indicated by the field being white with a highlighted blue border.

Save the dashboard

When no further editing is required then the Dashboard can be saved using the Save button in the dashboard's drop down menu. Any changes made during the editing operations will be retained. The dashboard will no longer be in Edit Mode when the Save button is clicked. This is indicated by the title reverting to the full colour of the currently selected colour scheme.

Cancel edit mode

Selecting the Close option in a dashboard’s drop-down menu will close the dashboard. Any un-saved changes will reveal a prompt message asking whether any current changes should be discarded. Select ‘Yes’ to discard changes, cancel editing the dashboard, and revert the dashboard to its previous saved state. Select ‘No’ to continue working with the dashboard in edit mode.

Copy a dashboard

A dashboard can be copied by selecting a dashboard which is not currently being edited. Once selected choose either the Copy As Personal Dashboard, Copy As Global Dashboard or Copy As Published Dashboard functions from the right-click context menu.

Once a selection has been made to a dashboard then the copied dashboard will be placed into the appropriate dashboard group and given the name Copy of dashboard name. The copied dashboard will then be opened in edit mode.

Delete a dashboard

To delete a dashboard select it, then select Delete Dashboard from the right-click context menu.

A dashboard that is set as the current Home Page dashboard for all users cannot be deleted. The Default dashboard also cannot be deleted. A dashboard cannot be deleted while it is in edit mode.

Set the home page

Any Personal or Global dashboard can be selected to be shown on the user's Home Page. If a Personal Dashboard is chosen for the Home Page then it will only be seen on that page by the current user. If a Global Dashboard is chosen for the Home Page then it will be seen by all users.

To set a new Home Page dashboard select the dashboard from the list available in the Dashboards panel. From the right-click context menu select Set as My Home Page. The dashboard will be shown at the top of the list of dashboards, and will be shown on the Home screen for the appropriate users.

Permissions

The Dashboard permissions control a user’s ability to work with tiles, or design global and personal dashboards.

Permission settings are available through the System screen, and are contained in the Security section under Users. In the Users screen select the link Manage User Roles to access the Manage Roles configuration screen.

The following permissions are available:

• Create/Edit/Delete Tiles – users will be able to create/edit/delete/organise tiles
• Design Global Dashboards – users will have read-only access to the tile library, and will be able to create/edit/delete global dashboards
• Design Personal Dashboards – users will have read-only access to the tile library, and will be able to create/edit/delete their own personal dashboards
• Design Published Dashboards – users will have read-only access to the tile library, and will be able to create/edit/delete published dashboards
• View Dashboards – users will be able to access the Dashboard tab and click on the available dashboards. They will be able to select a dashboard for displaying on their own Home page. They won’t have access to the tile library or the ability to create/edit/delete dashboards.

Users without any Dashboard permissions will see the Default Dashboard when logging into Blue Prism.