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Any support queries should be submitted by email containing full details of the problem, the server details and any other information you think useful together with a contact name and telephone number to support@dynistics.com
If you are interested in the obtaining a trial copy of Dynistics Active Dashboards please contact our sales team on 0121 506 9072 or send an email to sales@dynistics.com. The sales team will be able to provide you with a fully functional 30 day evaluation copy of the software.
Active Dashboards has been thoroughly tested and is supported by the following web browsers:
Active Dashboards can retrieve and present data from SQL, OLEDB, ODBC or XML data sources. Active Dashboards have been thoroughly tested on the following:
Active Dashboards is a server based product which we recommend installing centrally on a server within you organisation. In order to run, Active Dashboards requires that the web server has Microsoft IIS and the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installed. Active Dashboards does not require any external access to the internet but does require access to which ever server / computer contains your data source. Users access Active Dashboards software via their web browser so you do not have to install software on any of the client machines.
The Administration Tool is not designed to be used as a multi developer tool.
The Administration Tool does not maintain an exclusive lock on dashboard definition files and writes updates to a single set of files. As such if more than one person is saving update at the same time it is possible for one set of changes to overwrite/discard another.
Please click on one of the following links to view the Active Dashboard EULA:
Active Dashboards v4.3 onwards EULA
Active Dashboards pre v4.3 EULA
In the first instance carefully check the settings and attributes that you have assigned to the chart to check for simple errors. In particular check that all fields listed in the Required Values section have been entered.
If the item does not generate the chart definition may be invalid and this results in the display of an error message in the chart preview area in the Administration tool.
Check that connections to the data source are available to the server and Dashboard application.
If this is not sufficient to allow you to fix the problem then in the Administration Tool select from the View menu the option ‘Application Trace’. This option causes a browser window to open which provide access to highly detailed information regarding any errors encountered in generating the dashboard content. An error in this trace will be displayed in red. The last item refreshed will be displayed as the last item in the list on this page.
If still in doubt the matter should be raised via email to support@dynistics.com including a copy of the relevant application Trace detail.
Active Dashboards has been thoroughly tested and is supported by the following operating systems:
Currently Active Dashboards is supported on Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). Active Dashboards is an ASP.NET application and requires the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 to be installed on the web server.
Active Dashboards provide several ways to seamlessly integrate into your existing system:
It is possible to change the logos and title text used within the product so that the dashboards can be re-branded to match any existing scheme.
It is possible to create custom pages for Active Dashboards. This allows you to show the dashboard items within any web page that you like. For example if you have an existing website or intranet, you can embed the charts into the pages for an enhanced user experience.
If you want to use Active Dashboards with existing software, it is also possible to pass parameter values from the software to Active Dashboards. This could be in the form of user information, client ids etc. There are several methods available.
If you are trying to retrieve and display data from an ODBC data source and have successfully connected to the data source but the dashboards you have created don't display then read on.
The most common set-up errors that you need to check are:
Web Application:
Administration Tool:
This issue is most commonly due to the access permissions for the folder into which the Active Dashboards are being saved (or are trying to be saved!) not having the correct read/write/modify permissions.
To enable all development/changes to be saved the Administration tool which is usually installed on a single PC must have read/write/modify permissions to the following folder:
..\dashboards\ActiveDashboards\App_Data
Your Network Administrator should be able to check your current settings and grant the required permissions.
This problem is most commonly due to the proprietary ODBC or OLEDB driver not being installed.
When using a database that requires its own proprietary ODBC/OLEDB driver (e.g. FoxPro, Sage) it must be installed on both the PC on which the Administration Tool is installed and the Web Server.
If you are using a trusted connection for the SQL data source you need to have a trusted connection to the target database.
Contact your Network Administrator to check that the user account used to connect to the web server is recognised by SQL Server/Windows has having a trusted connection.
Yes although it is not an ideal source over a network and you may receive errors if it opened by a user whist the dashboard is trying to read from it.
Excel is accessed through ODBC and queries can be created in the usual way via the Active Dashboard Visual Query builder provided that the data you want to query is comprised in an Excel ‘Named Range’. The named range is treated as a table within the Visual Query builder and it is helpful if the first row contains column headings as this is then treated by the Visual Query builder as if they were the field names in a table.
Yes. Starting in Version 4.1 there are now three ‘Access modes’ within Active Dashboards, ‘Levels’, ‘Groups’ and ‘Active Directory Groups’.
If ‘Active Directory Groups’ is selected then Active Dashboards will read the current Active Directory to obtain a list of all available groups and then allow individual dashboards, groups of dashboards, items and the ability to drill down on items to be aggregated into the relevant Active Directory Groups.
When a user then opens Active Dashboards the ‘Active Directory Groups’ of which the user is a member determines what dashboard(s), item(s) and drill down(s) are displayed and available to him/her.
Access to the application and in fact to individual dashboards and items (including the ability to drill down) within the installation can be controlled in 4 ways:
Anonymous Access: This allows anyone to access all dashboards and items within the installation.
User Access Levels: There are 11 User Levels ranging from 0 (the lowest) to 10 (the highest). Each level allows users to access Dashboards and Items with an access level at or below the level allocated to the user.
User Access Groups: This allows the aggregation of individual dashboards, groups of dashboards, items and the ability to drill down on items within user defined groups. Users are then allocated to one or more groups which are then used to determine what dashboard(s), item(s) and drill down(s) are displayed and available to him/her.
Active Directory Groups: If Active Directory is being used then Active Dashboards can use the groups set up on the network within Active Directory in the same manner as the User Access Groups above.
The Save All facility within the Administration Tool saves the contents of all changes made (since the last Save) on EVERY tab.
If you change something in one tab within the Administration Tool and realise it is not correct you must either cancel the change or reload the application before making any other changes you may want to save.
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