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Procedure documentationTutorial Part 2: Creating a Simple Tile

 

This tutorial explains the creation of tiles and dashboards in Dashboard Builder. In this step, based on a BW query as a data supply, you create a simple tile, which outputs the daily telephone costs of a fictitious company.

Prerequisites

This procedure is part of a tutorial on Dashboard Builder.

You create this tile within the Tutorial: Using BW Queries as a Data Source, in which, in Dashboard Builder, you create tiles and drilldown views that use BW queries as their data source.

Note Note

Ensure that you have already performed the preceding steps of the tutorial.

End of the note.

Procedure

  1. Start the Dashboard Builder, as described in Dashboard Builder.

  2. First create a new dashboard for this tutorial. Proceed as follows:

    1. Choose the Add Dashboard pushbutton at the bottom left-hand side.

    2. Enter Tutorial as the name of the dashboard and choose Not Assigned Dashboards as the category. Confirm your selection.

    3. Enter a transport request if you want to transport the dashboard along your system landscape (see Transporting a Dashboard). However, this is not usually necessary within this tutorial, in this case, choose the Local Object pushbutton and confirm this selection by choosing OK again.

  3. Choose the + pushbutton Custom Tile to open the tile configuration window. You are now on the screen Add New KPI.

  4. Fill the input fields as follows:

    Field

    Entry

    Note

    Name

    Today's Costs

    Subhead

    All Subsidiaries

    Description

    Today's Telephone Costs; All Subsidiaries

    Visualization

    Number-Based

    The tile is to output a single number value; accordingly, you will configure the query later on.

    Size

    1x1

    This is the relative size of the tile.

    Unit

    Euros

    Data Source Type

    BW Query

    Data Source Name

    ZTUT_DASHBOARDBUILDER_1

    You enter the name of the query that you created in the previous step.

    Detail Page Template

    Drilldown Views

    You will create this view later on in this tutorial (see Tutorial Part 4: Creating a Drilldown View).

  5. After you have entered the name of the query, choose Enter. The query is read and other configuration options are displayed.

  6. The Available Fields list contains the characteristics that you defined as Free Characteristics when creating the query (Tutorial Part 1: Creating a BW Query). You want to display the costs for the current day; therefore, filter the Calendar Day field to the current day's date.

    To do so, from the context menu of the Calendar Day field, choose the entry Start of the navigation path Filter Next navigation step Select Filter Value End of the navigation path. Enter the current date as the filter value.

  7. The Filter table displays all filters, including the Calendar Day field with the current date. So that the values for this date are not displayed every day, rather that the values of each current date are displayed, convert the filter to a rolling time slot by choosing the pushbutton to the right of the date. Instead of the actual date, the value Today is output.

  8. As defined in your query, the table Rows contains the entry Source (meaning the respective subsidiary), so multiple numbers (one per subsidiary) are output. If you now choose Save, an error message is output, stating that dimensions in a row are not permitted for number-based tiles.

    Therefore, remove the value Source from the table Rows by selecting the row and choosing the Delete Element pushbutton.

  9. Save the tile. If necessary, like for the dashboard, enter the assignment to a package and a transport request, and choose OK.

Result

You have created a tile with its own BW query as the data supply in Dashboard Builder. This always issues a number, namely the company-wide telephone costs of the current day. In the next step, you will create another tile in which the values are displayed as a chart (see Tutorial Part 3: Creating a Tile with a Chart).