Types of dashboards and gadgets

Dashboards belong to one of the following types:

n	Operational dashboards display BIRT design and document files, or external files and web pages located on external servers. The following gadget categories are used for operational dashboards:

n	Report gadgets display entire BIRT document and design files. Reportlet gadgets display only the bookmarked portion of BIRT document and design files.

n	Extras gadgets display external web pages, embedded HTML and JavaScript code, Google gadgets, external images and video on the dashboard.

n	Analytic dashboards present one or more data sources using data visualizations and data selection gadgets. The following gadget categories are used for analytic dashboards:

n	Data visualization gadgets use charts, cross tabs, tables, and flash gadgets to help users analyze, explore and drill-through data.

n	Data selection gadgets help users to select data using lists, calendars, check boxes. Other gadgets link to these selections to filter the data that is displayed to the user.

n	Mixed dashboards that display operational and analytic gadgets together

Dashboards are either private dashboards that are only available to the user that created them, or shared dashboards for other users to access. Private dashboard files reside in a user’s personal dashboard file or in a folder with sharing disabled. Shared dashboard files reside in the shared folders where users access them using the dashboard gallery.

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