The Refresh button, on the dashboard toolbar, initiates a round trip to the server to bring the latest data back to the dashboard. A dashboard will automatically refresh when a process is run or an item is added to a numbered list.
There are other ways to refresh a dashboard. The methods described in this topic provide some alternative options for refreshing a dashboard.
The ways in which these alternative methods are implemented will depend on:
- the kind of data you’re dealing with;
- the situation in which the dashboard is being used; and
- how the target user will interact with the dashboard.
Synchronization
If Synchronize Selection is enabled for dashboard elements that share a dimension, when you click a dimension in one of those elements, the entire dashboard refreshes.
This is useful in a context where you click on one element to drive another, such as drilling into a hierarchy. The refresh triggered in this method is implicit — there is no obvious refresh option on the dashboard — a refresh is initiated by clicking on a shared dimension in either dashboard element.
This method requires that the dimension the two elements have in common is on either a row or column.
- Choose the data that you want to publish as an element on a dashboard.
- From the View menu, select the relevant Publish … to Dashboard command and choose a dashboard. The menu option you choose will depend on the kind of data you’ve chosen to publish.
- Apply Synchronize Selection to the new dashboard element.
- Choose further data, perhaps from a different module, that contains a dimension shared with the data in the first dashboard element.
- From the View menu, select the relevant Publish … to Dashboard command and publish to the dashboard selected in step 2.
- Apply Synchronize Selection to the dashboard element.
- Arrange the dashboard elements on the dashboard in Dashboard Designer.
- Click the Save and Exit button on the dashboard toolbar.
Use a line item as a ‘button’
This is a variation of the previous method. However the detail of the second dashboard element is hidden, leaving a single line item that works as a ‘button’ to refresh the entire dashboard.
This is more useful where users require an explicit refresh option on the dashboard itself.
- Choose the data that you want to publish as an element on a dashboard.
- From the View menu, select the relevant Publish … to Dashboard command, and choose a dashboard.
The menu option you choose will depend on the kind of data you have chosen to publish. - Apply Synchronize Selection to the dashboard element.
- Choose further data, perhaps from a different module, that contains a dimension shared with the data in the first dashboard element. (Another approach is to add a new line item and name it with the label of the button, for example, Refresh Dashboard.)
- Pivot the data to put line items on columns.
- Hide all rows and columns, except the name of the line item shared with the data in the first dashboard element.
- In Column Settings, set the Width for Row Labels to 6 pixels and the width of the remaining line item to a value that accommodates all the characters in the name.
You will now have a single field, with the name of the line item emboldened.
- From the View menu, select the relevant Publish … to Dashboard command, and publish to the dashboard selected in step 2.
- Apply Synchronize Selection to the dashboard element and deselect Show Module name, Show Label, and Show Page Selector.
- Arrange the dashboard elements on the dashboard in Dashboard Designer and select Save and Exit from the dashboard toolbar.
Click on the ‘button’ (line item) to refresh the dashboard.
Create a button to open the dashboard to which it is published
This method involves creating a button, in Actions, that will reopen the dashboard to which it is published, effectively refreshing the dashboard.
This method does not rely on synchronization and provides an explicit refresh button on the dashboard. Don’t forget, you cannot have two Action buttons on a dashboard that have the same name.
In this example, the dashboard is called Sales Forecasting and the button is called Refresh.
- In Model Settings > Actions, select New Action > Open Dashboard.
The Open Dashboard dialog displays. - Enter a name for the button (Refresh) in the Button Name field.
- Select the name of the dashboard to be refreshed (Sales Forecasting) in the Default Dashboard to Open field and click OK.
- In Actions > Other Actions, select the button you just created (Refresh)
- From the View menu, select Publish to Dashboard and choose a dashboard (Sales Forecasting).
The Dashboard Designer displays with the new button at the bottom of the dashboard. - Drag the button to the preferred location and select Save & Exit on the dashboard toolbar.
Click the Refresh button to re-open the dashboard and refresh the data.