MicroStrategy ONE

Creating widgets

A widget is a type of MicroStrategy Report Services control that presents data in a visual and interactive way. In Design Mode, a document designer adds widgets to a document and defines them. Analysts can then display and interact with the widget in both MicroStrategy Web and MicroStrategy Developer. For background information about widgets, see Providing Flash-based analysis and interactivity: Widgets.

To create a widget in MicroStrategy Developer, you must first insert a Grid/Graph into a document and add report objects such as attributes and metrics to it. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the name of a dataset from the Dataset Objects to the Layout area.

Each type of widget requires a specific number, type, and arrangement of report objects on the Grid/Graph that contains the widget. For example, a Grid/Graph that you want to display as a Gauge widget must have one attribute on the rows and one metric on the columns. For the requirements for a specific type of widget, refer to the topic that describes the widget. For an overview of all of the types of widgets, see Understanding and working with widgets.

Unlike other widgets, the RSS Reader and Media widgets do not require attributes or metrics on the Grid/Graph that contains the widget, unless the widget is a target of an attribute selector in the Report Services (RS) dashboard. For instructions on how to create a RSS Reader widget, see Defining RSS Reader widgets. For instructions on how to create a Media widget, see Defining Media widgets.

After you add the required objects to the Grid/Graph, you select a widget type. When the document is executed in MicroStrategy Web or in Flash View in MicroStrategy Developer, the Grid/Graph is displayed as a widget, and users can interact with it. For example, a user can choose what section of the graph to view in a Time Series Slider widget. A user can drill into the components of a bubble on an Interactive Bubble Graph widget to view the underlying data within that bubble's data.

This interaction also includes some formatting aspects of widgets. Some widget formatting can be done in either Design View in MicroStrategy Developer or Editable Mode in MicroStrategy Web, while other formatting must be done in either Flash Mode or Interactive Mode in MicroStrategy Web. (Flash View in MicroStrategy Developer and Express Mode in Web allow the Flash-type of formatting, but the changes cannot be saved.) For a complete list of formatting options for a specific type of widget, refer to the topic describing that widget.

In Design or Editable Mode in MicroStrategy Web, you can add a widget to a document and then define it by placing report objects such as attributes and metrics on the Grid/Graph.

You can also turn any existing Grid/Graph in your document into a widget, as long as the Grid/Graph meets the data requirements for the selected type of widget. For example, your document contains a Grid/Graph with the Region attribute on the rows and the Profit Margin metric on the columns. You can assign a Gauge widget to this Grid/Graph. When you open the document in Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web, the Grid/Graph is no longer displayed as a Grid/Graph but rather as a Gauge widget. Viewing the widget in Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web allows you to better visualize the metric data in the Grid/Graph.

Widgets are supported only in the document's Detail Header section. They are not supported in the Page Header/Footer, Document Header/Footer, Detail, or Detail Footer sections.

Displaying the widget

In Presentation Mode, the widget is displayed by default. However you can specify that the widget displays as its underlying Grid/Graph instead. For example, you may want to display the same data as both a widget and a Grid/Graph, to allow users to see information at a glance with the widget, and to see in-depth details with the Grid/Graph.

In Editable Mode in MicroStrategy Web, the Grid/Graph connected to the widget is always displayed. In Design View in MicroStrategy Web, the Grid/Graph is also displayed, but without data.

You can determine how the widget is displayed in other modes. The widget can display as:

  • The widget itself

  • A placeholder

  • Empty space

  • The Grid/Graph connected to the widget

For details and instructions, see Determining how widgets are displayed.

To turn a Grid/Graph into a widget

For instructions to create widgets for mobile devices, see Widgets for mobile devices. For information on customizing and using the following SDK widgets, see the MicroStrategy Developer Library (MSDL), part of the MicroStrategy SDK product:

  • Google Graph Visualization

  • Simple Grid

  • Store Layout

  • Timeline

  • USA Map

  1. Open a document in the Document Editor. How?

  2. If the document does not contain a dataset in the Datasets pane, add a dataset to the document by selecting Add Dataset from the Data menu.

    If the Datasets pane is not displayed, click Datasets at the bottom of the panel on the left. If the panel is not displayed at all, select Datasets from the View menu.

  3. Insert a Grid/Graph into the document, if one is not already in the document. For a procedure, see Displaying reports in documents: Grid/Graphs.

    The Grid/Graph you turn into a widget must follow the data and Grid/Graph requirements for that type of widget. For example, a Gauge widget requires one attribute on the rows and one attribute on the columns of the Grid/Graph that contains the widget. Therefore, any Grid/Graph you to turn into a widget must have the same objects. If it does not, the Grid/Graph is not displayed correctly as a widget in Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web. For the requirements for each type of widget, refer to the topic that describes that widget.

  4. Right-click the Grid/Graph to turn into a widget, and select Properties. The Properties dialog box opens.

  5. Click the Widget tab.

  6. Select the type of widget from the Widget drop-down list. In Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web, the Grid/Graph displays as this type of widget.

  7. You can determine how the widget is displayed in different MicroStrategy Developer views and MicroStrategy Web modes, as outlined in the steps below. For details, see Determining how widgets are displayed.

    1. To determine how the widget is displayed in HTML View and PDF View in MicroStrategy Developer, as well as when exported to PDF and Excel, select one of the following from the Alternative Display drop-down list:

      • Show grid or graph to display the Grid/Graph to which the widget is attached.

      • Show placeholder to display an empty Grid/Graph placeholder instead of the widget.

      • Hide grid or graph to hide the widget and display nothing.

    2. By default, the widget is displayed as a widget in Flash. To display it as a Grid/Graph instead, clear the Flash check box in the Display Widget As column. This setting affects the display of the widget in Flash View in MicroStrategy Developer, Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web, and when exported to Flash.

    3. By default, an Android widget is displayed as a widget on Android devices. To display it as a Grid/Graph instead, clear the Android check box in the Display Widget As column.

    4. By default, an iPhone widget is displayed as a widget on the iPhone. To display it as a Grid/Graph instead, clear the iPhone check box in the Display Widget As column.

    5. By default, an iPad widget is displayed as a widget on the iPad. To display it as a Grid/Graph instead, clear the iPad check box in the Display Widget As column.

    6. For a listing of which widget displays on which mobile device, see the MicroStrategy Mobile Analysis Help.

    7. By default, a widget is displayed as a widget in Interactive Mode and Express Mode in MicroStrategy Web. To display it according to the Alternative Display setting, clear the DHTML check box in the Display Widget Ascolumn.

  8. Click OK to return to the document.

  9. You must enable Flash Mode in the document so that you and other users can view the widget in Flash Mode in MicroStrategy Web. To enable Flash Mode, from the Format menu, select Document Properties. The Document Properties dialog box opens.

  10. In the Available display modes list on the Document tab, select the Flash check box.

  11. You can specify that this document always opens in Flash Mode when it is initially opened in MicroStrategy Web. To do this, select the Default radio button next to Flash.

  12. Click OK to return to the document.

  13. By default, many widgets automatically inherit some of the formatting of the underlying graph report. For example, the font colors and types defined for the graph report can be displayed in the widget. If you do not want the widget to inherit this formatting, clear the Inherit graph formatting check box in the Properties dialog box in Flash Mode or Interactive Mode in MicroStrategy Web.

  14. Each type of widget also has additional formatting specific to it. For example, the numbers of a Bubble Grid widget can display as dollars and cents, as percentages, or even as scientific notation. For a complete listing of all formatting available for a specific type of widget, see the section on that widget.

    Some widget formatting can be done in MicroStrategy Developer or in Editable Mode in MicroStrategy Web, while other formatting must be done in Flash Mode or Interactive Mode in MicroStrategy Web. For more information and instructions for formatting widgets in MicroStrategy Developer, see Formatting widgets in MicroStrategy Developer.

  15. Save the document.

To view and interact with the widget, you must open the document in MicroStrategy Web and switch to Flash Mode if the document does not initially open in Flash Mode. You can then format and adjust the widget.

Most widgets can also be displayed as widgets in Interactive Mode and Express Mode in MicroStrategy Web. For instructions, see Determining how widgets are displayed.

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