The Objects Pane :: SAS(R) BI Dashboard 4.3: User's Guide

The Library View

Overview

In addition to listing the dashboards, the Library view contains the objects that you combine to create a dashboard:

indicator data (see Indicator Data)
ranges (see Ranges)
indicators (see Indicators)

It also contains additional objects to control the display of information within a dashboard and dashboards. For more information, see The Layout Templates View, The Static Content View, and Dashboards.

You create a new object by selecting the type of object from the New drop-down list.

The Library view contains a library tree in which you store the objects. To refresh the list, click Refresh icon

. To limit the library tree to display only a certain type of object, select the type of object from the Show drop-down list.

To search for a saved object:

Click .

The Search dialog box appears.
Type all or part of the object's name, and then choose whether to include object descriptions and keywords in the search.
(Optional) Select the type of object.
Select the location, and then choose whether to include subfolders in the search.
(Optional) Specify the creation or last modified data, and then click the calendar icons to specify the date range.
Click Search.

Any objects that are found appear in the table to the right.
Select an object, and then click OK.

Organizing the Folders in the Library Tree

SAS BI Dashboard enables you to create folders and subfolders within the Library tree to organize SAS BI Dashboard objects. This ability to organize SAS BI Dashboard objects enables you to create folder structures that can be secured based on your business rules or needs.

SAS recommends that you carefully consider how SAS BI Dashboard objects will be stored, and then communicate that strategy to dashboard users.

One strategy is to create a folder for each department in your organization. Each department would then store their SAS BI Dashboard objects and other SAS objects (such as reports and information maps) within the folder. Within a department’s folder, you should consider how dashboard objects are related, and you should use a consistent folder structure that enables dashboard users to more easily understand how various objects are associated.

For example, you could create a folder structure like this for the Finance department:

example Library tree for the Finance department

A similar, and less complex, strategy is to create a folder for each type of SAS BI Dashboard object within each department:

example Library tree organized by object type

The Layout Templates View

The Layout Templates view contains objects that control the flow of the indicators that are displayed in a dashboard.

The horizontal and vertical flow containers automatically flow (in the indicated direction) the indicators that they contain. Wrapping occurs when the indicators exceed the container's width or height.

The Static Content View

The Static Content view contains objects that display a label or an image. A label or an image can be a link. For more information, see Manage Dashboard Contents.