2.2 Using a Dashboard
Style Intelligence dashboards encourage end-users to freely explore and experiment, guiding users toward asking questions that return valuable and actionable information.
This section illustrates how end-users can interact with a sample dashboard to generate new knowledge. The example uses the sample Viewsheet from the previous section, Creating a Dashboard. To explore data using this Viewsheet, follow the steps below.
If the server is already running, just point a browser window to http://localhost:8080/sree/Reports.
1. Launch the User Portal from the Windows 'Start' menu: Start > All Programs > Style Intelligence > Style Intelligence Server. This opens the browser to the server home page.
For more information on the User Portal, see End User.
2. Select the 'User Portal' link to open the Portal.
3. In the Portal, select the Report tab.
4. In the left pane of the Portal, expand the 'Repository' tree and the 'My Reports' node. Click the 'Sample Viewsheet' to open this dashboard.

As a user, you can interact with the Viewsheet by manipulating the graphical controls. The Viewsheet in this example has a Selection List, Range Slider, and Table.
• The Selection List lets you to specify which states are displayed.
• The Range Slider lets you focus on a specific time period. The period can be as short as two months or as long as the full available range.
• The Table displays the results of your selections.
Note: The dashboard interface operates in a slightly different way on Apple iPads and iPhones. See Using Dashboards on a Mobile Device in End User for details.
Often, components of a Viewsheet have their own toolbars and modification options. For example, the Selection List has its own toolbar. Hover the mouse over the element's title bar to see the available tools.
To begin the analysis, use the Viewsheet to address the following task: “We want to see which clients are in Colorado.”
1. Select Colorado (CO) in the Selection List. (Use the scroll bar on the right side of the Selection List, if necessary). The table now shows the results for Colorado.

“Ok, but we want to see only January 2011 through January 2012.” Change the time period:
2. Hover the cursor over the right side (or left side) of the Range Slider until a two-sided arrow appears.
3. Hold down the mouse button and drag the right edge of the bar to the left. Shrink the bar until the date listed is '2011 January – 2012 January', and release the mouse.

The table automatically updates to display the new data selection. Use the scroll bar on the right edge of the table to scroll through the data.
“The data is all there, but we want to see it sorted according to the name of the company, rather than by the date of purchase.” Change the sorting column:

4. Hover the mouse over the right side of the 'Company' header cell in the table. The 'Sort Column' button appears in the header cell.
5. Click the 'Sort Column' button once to sort the column in ascending order (indicated by an up-arrow). The table is now alphabetically sorted by company name.

“Now, we want to see the purchases for January 2012 through January 2013.” Shift the date range:
6. Place the cursor in the center of the Range Slider bar, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the slider bar until the date selected is '2012 January – 2013 January'.

The table is immediately refreshed with data only for the range you selected.
“Who was our best customer in the first half of 2012?” Look at the results for all states over this six month period:
7. In the Selection List, click the 'Clear Selection' button to remove the existing filter.
8. On the Range Slider, drag the right edge of the slider bar until only '2012 January – 2012 June' is displayed.

9. To sort the table according to total purchases, hover over the right side of the 'Total' header cell in the table. Click the 'Sort Column' button twice to sort the results in descending order.

“We want to show this data to our colleagues in the meeting later.”

10. Click the 'Export' button in the top toolbar to open the 'Export' dialog box. The dialog box provides two tabs, Content and Location.
11. Make the desired selections, and click 'OK'.

For more information about interacting with Viewsheets in the User Portal, see Visualization Dashboards in End User.
See Also
Using a Deployed Report, for information on viewing a report in the Portal.
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