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WHITE PAPER: HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM DASHBOARD USING
CRYSTAL XCELSIUS
1
How to Create a Custom
Dashboard Using Crystal
Xcelsius
White Paper: How to Create a Custom Dashboard Using Crystal Xcelsius
How to Create a Custom Dashboard Using Crystal Xcelsius
Content
How to Create a Custom Dashboard Using Crystal Xcelsius ............................................................ 2 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Prerequisites........................................................................................................................................ 3 Terms .................................................................................................................................................... 3 About the steps to create a dashboard using Crystal Xcelsius ....................................................... 3 Basic architecture ............................................................................................................................... 3 Creating a dashboard .......................................................................................................................... 4 To import the Excel spreadsheet .......................................................................................................... 4 To build the visual model...................................................................................................................... 4 To preview the work area ...................................................................................................................... 5 To publish the dashboard ..................................................................................................................... 5 Creating a CCS 9.0.1 custom dashboard ........................................................................................... 5 Introduction
This document outlines the process of publishing a dashboard. You import a snapshot of an Excel file that lets you build a
visual model. You link the component to the Excel data and then publish the model as a Flash or SWF file. The SWF file is a
vector-based graphics format designed to run in Macromedia Flash player.
Crystal Xcelsius is designed to work with Excel XLS files. The Excel spreadsheets can be any size, but the amount of data in
your dashboard can affect the overall performance.
Prerequisites
This white paper is for the technically-oriented user. You should have a solid understanding of the following technologies:
Excel
Xcelsius
A basic understanding of how to navigate and how to create formulas.
A basic understanding of Xcelsius and experience in creating dashboards in Xcelsius. You should be familiar with
the work area.
You do not need knowledge of how to program in Flash.
A significant part of creating an Xcelsius dashboard is the format of the data in the Excel spreadsheet. Xcelsius emulates a
range of Excel cells and you must know how to create formulas and select ranges within Excel.
Terms
The following Xcelsius-specific terms are used throughout the white paper:
Work area
The Xcelsius authoring environment that is used to design and create dashboards and data
Xcelsius File
presentations.
The XLF file that is created during the development of an Xcelsius dashboard or data presentation. The
file is the working development file that is used in the work area.
The source spreadsheet that contains the data that is represented in the dashboard.
Excel model
Visual model
Dashboard
Component
The design of the dashboard in the work area. The visual model is a blank area on which you add the
components that visually represent the data that you import from the Excel model. The visual model is
saved as an XLF file.
The dashboard is the finished product of the Xcelsius development. After you have created the visual
model and saved it as a Flash file, then you have created a dashboard.
The object that gives the dashboard its utility and purpose. You build the visual model by adding a
component and then linking the component to the data from the Excel model.
About the steps to create a dashboard using Crystal Xcelsius
You should understand how Xcelsius works with Excel and why you should connect to an external data source.
The first step to creating an Xcelsius dashboard is to import an existing Excel spreadsheet into the Xcelsius work area. The
imported spreadsheet has all of the data, formulas, formatting, mapping and any other features and loads the information
into an Xcelsius-embedded Excel spreadsheet as an XLF file. You do not need the original Excel spreadsheet after you import
it.
After you create the dashboard in the work area, Xcelsius converts it into a Flash (SWF) file. The finished dashboard does not
contain the entire spreadsheet. The SWF file only contains the range of cells and any dependencies that you have selected for
each component.
When a user opens the dashboard, all of the necessary data is either contained within the dashboard or is dynamically
retrieved by connecting to an external source. By connecting to an external source you cause the data within the dashboard
components to refresh. This refresh enables the dashboard to access the latest data available.
Basic architecture
The design architecture diagram illustrates the process and technologies that are used to build the Xcelsius dashboard and
generate a Flash file. The data can be imported into Excel by any method. After the data is in Excel, the data is imported into
Xcelsius. Do not connect to the external source during the design phase because the data is self-contained within the work
area.
Figure 1 Design Architecture
After the completed dashboard has been deployed, the connectivity to the back-end data source is required if you want to
dynamically refresh the data with the Flash file.
Creating a dashboard
You can follow these steps to create a dashboard using Xcelsius. For these steps, you must have data in an existing Excel
spreadsheet. We create a dashboard with a pie chart component. A pie chart represents the distribution or the proportion of
each data item over a total value that is represented in the overall chart.
To import the Excel spreadsheet
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Open Crystal Xcelsius. Close any windows within Xcelsius to create a blank work area. To import an Excel file, select Data > Import Model. In the Import Model dialog box, click the ellipsis to display the Open dialog box. Navigate to the Excel spreadsheet. Click Open. In the Import Model dialog box, click OK. To build the visual model
After you import the spreadsheet, you must add components.
A component can be from the following categories:
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Charts Single Value Selectors Maps Library Art & Background Other Text Web Connectivity 1. Select View > Components > Charts 2. Select the Pie Chart and click on the work area to add the component. 3. Right‐click the Pie Chart and select Properties from the menu. 4. The Properties window may have different tabs based on the components selected. The General tab controls the minimum required properties for the component to function. The tab contains the Data Source link properties that link the component to the Excel model. Provide a name for the pie chart in the Chart title text box. 5. Provide a description in the Chart subtitle, or make it blank. 6. In the Data Range box, click the Cell Reference icon. 7. A representation of the Excel model is activated with a dialog box that you use to select the desired range. Select a data range. 8. Click OK. To preview the work area
You can test the visual model to be sure that the components display the intended data. Xcelsius lets you test your
dashboard by enabling a Macromedia Flash (SWF) preview mode. The preview lets you validate your visual model and to
test the look and feel of the dashboard.
1. Click Preview. 2. To exit the Preview mode, click Preview. To publish the dashboard
When you are satisfied that the dashboard is working, you publish the dashboard.
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Select File > Export. Select Macromedia Flash (Shockwave), which is an SWF file. In the Export dialog box, provide the name and location of your dashboard. Open the SWF file to view the dashboard. The SWF file activates your default Web browser. Creating a CCS 9.0.1 custom dashboard
In the Control Compliance Suite 9.0.1 environment, you can create a custom dashboard. You can create a dashboard that
displays the count of the checks where the result is pass, fail, and NA for a selected set of assets.
The Asset_Std_Summ table of the reporting database has the following columns:
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Checks_Passed
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Checks_Failed
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Checks_NA
In Excel 2003 or above, you navigate to Data > Import External data and then select New Database Query. Then import the
results into Excel as a query in the XML format. With the results, follow the steps to create a dashboard with a pie chart that
displays the current results.
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