Dashboard Configuration for SXP Employee

First published on 08/10/2023 at 6:54 pm

Dashboards for SXP Employee provide an at-a-glance view of your company's data. Dashboard widgets allow query-based data views you can easily configure for custom layouts specific to your data reporting needs.

There are several phases of configuring dashboards:

1. Create a dashboard that will be assigned to users. Multiple dashboards may be created (for example, a sales dashboard and a support dashboard).

2. Create a widget to assign query data, allowing it to display on a dashboard.

3. Configure push notifications for widgets to be automatically updated when data changes in SAP Business One. Otherwise, you must manually refresh the dashboard.

4. Enable dashboard access for a web user by assigning the 'Dashboard' or 'Dashboard Admin' role to the user.

5. Log in as a user to configure the dashboard layout. Orient widgets on a dashboard to configure its web layout.

Create a Dashboard

Dashboards display widgets together to give a sense of data for a specific business area. For example, one dashboard could be for sales reps to show them their ongoing sales versus targets, while another dashboard could be for a service team to display metrics related to open service calls.

You can create multiple dashboards on the same system and apply user roles to display only the dashboard for its intended audience.

The 'Add Dashboard' screen must be configured first.

To create a dashboard:

1. In SAP Business One, go to SXP Manager AddOn > Manage Dashboards.

2. Add a dashboard using the + button on the upper-right, or edit an existing dashboard by using the existing dashboard’s golden arrow.

3. Create a unique dashboard name so admins recognize what it’s for.

4. If desired, allow date filtering in the dashboard to filter data based on the defined date range.

5. Assign roles to the dashboard. This will allow all selected roles to view the dashboard and its widgets.

6. If desired, apply optional filter settings. This will allow the user to further refine their view of the widget data.

7. Add widgets. See the section 'Create a Widget' below for more details.

8. Save the dashboard when it’s ready. Press 'Add' or 'Update' to apply changes.

9. Configure the layout on the web. See 'Configuring Dashboard Layout' for instructions.

Create a Widget

Dashboard widgets offer configurable, query-based views of your data. Widgets are easily configured out of the box, with distinct layouts specific to your data reporting needs.

You can add widgets to existing dashboards, so if you haven't created a dashboard, do so with the instructions in the 'Create a Dashboard' section above.

To create or edit a widget:

1. In SAP Business One, go to SXP Manager AddOn > Manage Dashboards.

2. Select the dashboard using the golden arrow.

3. Add a new widget using the + button, as shown in the screenshot below, or use an existing widget’s golden arrow to edit that widget.

   Use the + button to add a new widget.

4. Fill in the widget details as described below:

5. Press the add/update button to save the widget to the dashboard.

Widget Query Formats

Bar widgets

Bar widgets display a single series of data in a vertical bar chart. This widget type is good for comparison data (e.g., year-over-year values) or other data you want to see side by side.

Bar widget with sales data.

Bar Widget Query Format

This query format is used by the bar, donut, and pie chart widgets.

These queries should have at least 2 columns. The first column is the label column and the second is the value column. Additional fields beyond the first two are ignored. Each row in the query will display a data segment (such as a bar or pie piece).

See your installed version of the query B1WebAPI_Dashboard/SalesByRep for a sample with data. In SAP Business One, go to Tools > Queries > User Queries > B1WebAPI_Dashboard > SalesByRep.

Bar widget query parameters

None

Donut widgets

Refer to the pie chart widgets below.

Gauge widgets

A gauge widget displays a value relative to a target. Gauge widgets are good for displaying data related to a known target (e.g., sales progress month-to-date versus monthly targets) or metrics with a known “good” versus “bad” value (e.g., open service calls per analyst).

Gauge widget with sales data.

Gauge widget query format

The gauge widget only uses the first row of the query results. It pulls the target value from a column named ‘Target’ and the value to display from a column named ‘Actual’.

See your installed version of the query B1WebAPI_Dashboard/SalesRevGrowthYTD for a sample with data. In SAP Business One, go to Tools > Queries > User Queries > B1WebAPI_Dashboard > SalesRevGrowthYTD.

Gauge widget parameters

• Decimal places: Defines how many decimal places will be displayed on the gauge. The query may include more precision.
• Display yellow: [Y|N] Yes (Y) will show a third region in yellow on the gauge. No (N) will display only red and green regions.
• Yellow threshold: This value must be between 1-100. It defines the percent of the target value that should display yellow. For example, if the target is 10 and the yellow threshold is 80, yellow will be displayed between 8 and 10.
• Larger better: [Y|N] Yes (Y) will show green for larger numbers, while No (N) will show green for smaller numbers.
• Max: Upper bound of the gauge.
• Min: Lower bound of the gauge.

Geo chart widgets

The geo chart displays regional data by province or state on a shaded country map. The country codes are based on the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 standard en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2.

Geo chart widgets are useful for regional data (e.g., national sales data) or where location is important (e.g., location-based service call coverage).

Geo chart widget with US sales data.

Geo chart widget query format

A minimum of two columns are expected for the query. The first must be the country and province code for the region in the format [ISO 3166-1 country code]-[ISO 3166-2 subregion code] (e.g., US-CA for California).

The second column must be numeric and will decide the shading. Additional columns will be included in the hover text.

See your installed version of the query B1WebAPI_Dashboard/SalesMapUSA for a sample with data. In SAP Business One, go to Tools > Queries > User Queries > B1WebAPI_Dashboard > SalesMapUSA.

Geo chart widget parameters

Region: Defines which region will be displayed by the geo-map.

Grid widgets

Grid widgets display a grid based on the query results. Optionally displays a link column. The URL template param is used to build the HREF for a link column by substituting the link column value in the string format string (see blog.stevex.net/string-formatting-in-csharp/ for details).

Grid widget with sales data.

Grid widget query format

Each column in the query is displayed in order with the column name matching the alias for the column. If the link column attributes are set, these columns will be extracted to create a link column in their place.

Because space is limited in a dashboard, restrict the query to 3-6 columns.

Grid widget parameters

• Link column name: Defines which column is used in the link URL.
• Display column name: Defines which query column is used for the link text.
• URL template: Defines the template for the URL. {0} is used as a placeholder that will be replaced by the link column name.
• Link column title: Defines the label a user will see for the link column.

Key performance indicator (KPI) widgets

These widgets display KPI results, highlighting how the actual value compares to the target value. A previous value can also be displayed for comparison to the current period.

Good examples for using KPI widgets include data about targets versus actuals. For example, sales-to-date versus target sales (e.g., a value that's more than 15% below a sales target would be yellow, more than 25% below target would be red), or hours to close a service call versus commitments (e.g., 10% below commitment target is yellow, but above commitment target is red)

KPI widget with unreached targets in red.

KPI widget with close targets in yellow.

KPI widget with targets exceeded in green.

KPI widget query format

The KPI widget only uses the first row of the query results. It pulls the target value from a column named ‘Target’ and the value to display from a column named ‘Actual’. If there's a column called ‘Previous’, it will also be displayed.

You can use a supplementary table ZEDS_KPI_TARGETS (portal dashboard KPI targets) to set target details, which can then be queried, as in the dashboard widget “My Sales > Sales Revenue MTD by Rep” (using query B1WebAPI_Dashboard/SalesRevCurrentMonthKPI_ByRep).

KPI widget parameters

• Decimal places: Defines how many decimal places will be displayed on the KPI. The query may include more precision.
• Format: [Currency|Percent|Number]
• Display yellow: [Y|N] Yes (Y) will show a third view in yellow on the KPI. No (N) will display only red and green views.
• Number suffix: Optional
• Larger number better: [Y|N] Yes (Y) will show green for larger numbers, while no (N) will show green for smaller numbers.

Line chart widgets

Line chart widgets display one or more data series as lines on a chart. These are ideal for displaying trends over time.

Line chart widget with sales data.

Line chart widget query format

• Column 1 should be called ‘Category’. It contains the name of the series.
• Column 2 should be called ‘Label’. It contains the name of the period.
• Column 3 should be called ‘Total’. It contains the value to be charted. Each row represents a data point with all series displayed together in a single query.

Line chart widget parameters

• Height in pixels: This numeric value determines how tall the graph is in the browser.
• Min value (blank for auto): Starting value for the line chart. Leave blank for an automatic calculation of the minimum value based on the report data.
• Max value (blank for auto): Upper value for the line chart. Leave blank for an automatic calculation of the maximum value based on the report data.

Pie chart widgets

Pie chart widgets are good for displaying data out of a hundred percent.

An alternative view of a “pie” chart is the “donut” chart. The donut widget provides a slightly different visualization for the same type of data.

Pie chart widget with sales data.

Donut widget with sales data.

This uses the 'Bar Widget Query Format' details listed above.

Widgets at a glance

Dashboards at a glance

Three dashboards are provided out of the box.

Widget query reference

Available out-of-the-box queries and their descriptions are below.

User Dashboard Access

By default, users don't have access to dashboards. To see the 'Dashboards' menu, a user must have the Dashboard or Dashboard Admin role assigned to their user.

To enable user access to dashboards:

• In SAP B1, open the employee’s HR record at Human Resources > Employee Master Data.
• Edit the user’s details by pressing the user’s 'InterConnect User Setup' button.
  • The user must already be configured because simply adds access to an existing user.
  • If the user isn't configured, set them up as described in 'Managing Users for Employee Portal'.
• Ensure the 'Dashboard' or 'Dashboard Admin' role is checked. Also ensure any dashboard-specific roles are assigned to the user, as configured on the dashboard admin.
• Update the user to apply changes.
• On the web, log out and log back in to see the dashboard link.

B1 Access to Dashboards

Once an employee user is configured for web access, they can log into B1 to see their assigned dashboards within the B1 client (assuming they have a B1 user ID associated with their employee record).

To view the dashboards within the SAP Business One client:

• Configure the web user as described above.
• Log into SAP Business One with the configured B1 user.
• Start SXP Manager Add-On.
• Open SXP Manager AddOn > Portal Dashboard (marker 1 below) and wait a few seconds while the B1 client logs into the Portal dashboard.

  

If the B1 user can’t see this menu option, ensure the Portal has the appropriate roles and B1 user ID assigned.

• Select and view Portal dashboards (marker 2 below).

   

  

Configure Dashboard Web Layout

Once you've created dashboards and assigned widgets to them, they can be displayed on the web. Users with the 'Dashboard Admin' role can manage dashboard layouts on the web.

1. Log into SXP Employee as a user with a dashboard admin role.

2. On the dashboard page, use the dropdown on the upper left (marker 1 on the screenshot below) to select the dashboard to be edited.

    

   

3. Press the settings button (marker 2 in the screenshot above) to open the dashboard settings.

4. Drag widgets from the side panel to add them to the dashboard. (Drag them from the dashboard to the side panel to remove them from the dashboard.)

   

   

   

5. Resize widgets to make them take up more or less space on the dashboard. You can use this to make complicated charts larger or condense up to 4 widgets into the same row. (But not all widgets can be resized.)

    

   

   

6. Move widgets into position if they've been pushed to new rows due to automatic resizing.

   

7. Delete empty rows when you don't need them for new widgets.

   

8. Press the 'Save Layout' button to apply changes.

   

9. Review the dashboard layout to confirm new widgets are displaying the desired info.

   

    

At this point, the dashboard is configured and ready for general use.

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