1. Gadgets and Dashboards
Core LIMS Training:
Gadgets and Dashboards
Welcome to Core LIMS Training. This chapter will demonstrate the features of Core LIMS Gadgets and Dashboards and will explain how they can be configured and used within the Core application

2. Course Topics Creating Gadgets Copying Gadgets Editing Dashboard Pages
Link
Smart Table
Chart
Copying Gadgets
Editing Dashboard Pages
System Home Page
Application Home Pages
Lone Dashboard Pages
Creating New Dashboard Pages
Making Dashboards Accessible
Dashboard pages are special pages within CORE LIMS that provide users with an easy to read, real time, user interface showing a graphical representation of system information and can contain links to the most popular pages within the system. Dashboard pages are configured by customizing gadgets on the dashboard page. This chapter will first discuss how to create different types of gadgets.
We will then look at how to edit an existing Dashboard page, so that our new gadget can be added to an existing dashboard.
Dashboard pages can be found in three different places in the system, the System Home Page, the Application Home Page and Lone Dashboard pages. The differences in each of these will be explained.
Finally, the lesson will conclude with a look at how to create a new Dashboard page and how to make these dashboards easily available to your users.
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3. Gadgets and Dashboards
Create Reports
(Scheduled or Live)
Gadgets
Dashboards
Gadgets can be any type of dynamic web content. It can be a table, plot, link to another web page, external widget, etc.
A report can be easily associated to a gadget (as a table or a plot).
A report is a set of results from a stored query returned in a Smart Table.
The reports can be pre-run on a schedule or dynamically run when the report is called.
Many gadgets can be combined into a single dashboard page.
Let’s take a high level look at what gadgets and dashboards are.
Gadgets can be any type of dynamic web content. They can be tables, plots, links to another web page, external widgets, etc..
Two common types of gadgets (tables and plots) can be associated to reports. The gadget defines how the data is displayed and the associated report defines the data content. The report can be either a scheduled report, where a stored query is pre-run on a schedule or a live report, where the stored query is dynamically run when the report is called. In a previous lesson we learned how to create both of these types of reports. Please review Report Formats, Lists and Custom Reports if you are not familiar with custom reports yet.
Not all gadgets need a report associated to it. For example, a link gadget is just a navigation pointer to common page that your users need to get to often.
Once you have all your gadgets created, multiple gadgets can be combined into a single dashboard page.
With that in mind, let’s look at how to create a report gadget and add it to an existing Dashboard.
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4. Creating a Link Gadget Width and height are per 100 pixels wide
Select javascript as the Content Type and Create Link/Tile Gadget for Content in order to launch the Gadget Wizard
Lets first look at how to create a the simplest type of navigation Gadget. Luckily, the gadget wizard makes this very easy to do so you do not need any advanced developer skills.
Gadgets are created by LIMS Administrators who can navigate to the pages needed from the Main Admin Panel. Locate the Super Type: Gadget and click on the List All Entity Types link to view the Gadget types.
Locate the CORE Gadget Type and click on the New button, to create a new Core Gadget.
On the Create page, fill out the appropriate properties for your new Gadget.
Give it a name, assign a project, set the version to 1. The width is the horizontal size of the gadget displayed per 100 pixels. The number must be an integer and the gadgets sizes need to be smaller than the sizes that are set for the dashboard. The maximum size of a dashboard is 12 wide.
The height is the vertical size of the gadget, again displayed per 100 pixels. The same suggestions hold true as with the width. The maximum height of a dashboard is 10 high.
The content type identifies the code format for the content of the gadget. You can write your own gadget using HTML, but if you want to let the gadget wizard write the code select javascript for this option.
The Content is the actual code that creates the interactive display for the user. If you select the Create/Link Tile Gadget, this will invoke the gadget wizard which will automatically write the code for you.
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5. Link Gadget Wizard
For the Title URL, navigate to the page you want to point to and copy the command from the browser
Replace the first part of the address with ${servletUrl} - this is a variable that will point to your local Core instance
Choose text, color, icons and Create Gadget
The LIMS will automatically write the code for you
In the Gagdet Wizard you can define what goes into the gadget.
The Title URL is where you put the page that you want the user to open when they click on the tile. If the page is within the LIMS, open another window and navigate to the desired page. Copy the address of the page from your internet browser. Since you have multiple copies of your LIMS (you should have at least a test and production environment), you will want to replace the beginning part of the address (the part before the command) with a variable so you do not need to edit the gadget every time you copy it from your test to your production system. Check the documentation for details.
The tile text is what will be displayed on the button.
You can pick a color from the color picker.
You can also select an image to put on the tile. Start by choosing whether the image will have gray or white lines. Select a category to look at a smaller group of related images. Click on the desired image to select it as an icon.
Click on the Create Gadget button.
This will close the Gadget wizard and you will see LIMS has automatically populated the content attribute with the code it needs.
You can enter a description or select the Link tag to help you find this gadget later if desired.
You do not need to select a report for a Link gadget. Click on the Create New button to save the gadget record.
At the bottom of the newly created record, you should see the gadget displayed. Click on the tile to check that it directs you to the correct page. The gadget is now ready to be put on a dashboard!
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6. 3 Common Gadgets Creating Gadgets Link Smart Table Chart CONFIDENTIAL
Now that you see how easy it is to create a link gadget, let’s take a look at another type of gadget. In a previous lesson, we made a live report. The data from that report can be put into a gadget in a Smart Table. That way you can display that data next to other gadgets in a dashboard. The gadget wizard can help us make this gadget too.
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7. Creating a Grid Gadget
Create the gadget as before, but use larger sizes and associate a report that contains the data to display
After the record is created, edit it to define how to display the report
Select the Grid Gadget in the Content section
The gadget wizard will automatically populate the code
For this type of gadget, navigate to the Create Gadget page the same way as before. Depending on how much data you have in your table, you will probably want to set larger sizes for these types of gadgets. The LIMS will automatically add scroll bars if your table is larger than your gadget size.
Remember to select javascript for the Content Type attribute.
For this type of gadget, you will not be able to launch the gadget wizard until after the report is associated so do not select Content yet. Let’s select the report we created in the previous lesson.
Click on the Create New button to save the gadget record.
Now click on the Edit icon in the main tool bar to edit the record. Select Create a Grid Gadget for the Content attribute. The gadget wizard will flash a popup window, but since there is no further input needed from you, it will automatically populate the Content window. Click on the Update button to save your changes and you can now view the gadget at the bottom of the Gadget Details page. You are now ready to put this gadget into a dashboard.
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8. 3 Common Gadgets Creating Gadgets Link Smart Table Chart CONFIDENTIAL
You can also create simple plots from the data you have in your reports and display them in gadgets on a dashboard. Let’s take a quick look at how to do that.
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9. Creating a Chart Gadget
Create the gadget as before, but use 4 for height and width
After the record is created, edit it to define how to display the report
Select the Chart Gadget in the Content section
This will launch the gadget wizard
Just as before, navigate to the Create Gadget page and fill out the basic attributes. For plots, the recommended height and width is 4. Remember to select javascript for the Content Type attribute and associate the report which contains the data to plot.
Click on the Create New button to save the gadget record.
Again, you need to edit the record to define the plot in the gadget wizard.
Select the Chart option in the Content section to launch the Gadget wizard.
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10. Chart Gadget Wizard
Once you select the chart type, you can fill out parameters to define the plot
Click Create Gadget to generate the gadget and Update to save changes to the record
View the Gadget in the Gadget Details page
You can now select the type of plot.
For this example let’s do a bar chart.
Enter titles for the chart and both the X and Y axis.
Let’s select the barcode to plot along the X axis and clearance for the Y axis.
Click Create Gadget to automatically generate the code that goes in the Content attribute.
Click Update to save the changes to the gadget record.
Scroll down to the bottom of the Gadget details page to view the plot.
It is now ready to add to the dashboard.
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11. Copying an Existing Gadget
List All Core Gadgets to find source gadget
Click on the Copy Icon in tool bar
Modify the code content as desired
If there is a Gadget that is very similar to one you would like to create that is not easily created by a gadget wizard, you can locate the existing gadget and copy it. This is especially useful if you have legacy gadgets written in HTML.
Navigate to the existing gadget record. You can find the gadget by listing all the Core Gadgets from the Main Admin panel. Click on the Copy icon in the main tool bar.
Once the gadget has been copied, the code, report name, and\or other properties can then be modified as needed for the new gadget. The new gadget will be saved under a unique name, and can then be configured on a Dashboard page.
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12. What is a Dashboard Dashboards are pages that hold one or more gadgets
They are useful ways to put key navigation buttons and reports together on a single page for a group of users
There 3 places in the LIMS to find dashboards
System Home Page
Application Home Pages
Lone Dashboard Pages
Now that we have created a few gadgets, let’s see how to add them to an existing Dashboard!
Before we do that, however, let’s first take a quick second to define what a Dashboard is within CORE LIMS. Dashboards are pages that contain one or more gadgets with dynamic content. This can be a useful way to put specific content (such as navigation buttons and key reports) together in a single page for a set of users.
Dashboards can be either set up as Home Pages, or they can be Stand Alone pages that users can access through menu items. Dashboard records are unique because you can only view dashboard attributes in the “Edit” mode. At the bottom of the Edit page you will be able to view the associated gadgets.
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13. System Home Page Core Icon will take you to the System Home Page
LIMS creates this page automatically from each user’s application access (no custom gadgets)
All users can reorder tiles (for their view) with Edit button
Admins can edit Application records to modify text or images on tiles
So how do you navigate to a Dashboard page and view the details of that page?
It depends on what type of dashboard page it is. The first type of a Dashboard page is the System Home Page. This is the first page you typically see when you log into LIMS, and can be found by clicking on the Core icon in the upper left corner of any page in CORE LIMS. This will open the System Home Page. This page contains only tiles that navigate to the applications that you have access to. This dashboard is created by the LIMS automatically and there is no dashboard details page that you can view. You can NOT add any custom gadgets (like the ones we created earlier) to this page. Any user can reorder the tiles by clicking on the edit button dragging and dropping the tiles for their personal view. Admins can edit the application records to modify the text and icons on the tiles.
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14. Application Home Pages
Navigate to an application from the Application menu
This is a read only view of the dashboard
Any custom gadgets can be put on the Application Home page
Click on Edit Application to find name of dashboard record
Type dashboard name in Quick Find Tool to edit dashboard
The second type of Dashboard Page is the Application Home Page. This page can be located by clicking on any Application in the Application Menu located in the Upper Right Corner of all pages. This will bring you to the home page for the corresponding Application that was clicked on. Here you can see the read-only view of the dashboard. Application dashboard pages can have any of the custom gadgets like the ones we made earlier.
To modify the gadgets that are on this dashboard we will need to find the dashboard Details page. If you click on the Edit Application button you can see what the name of the dashboard record is in the associations section. Type that name (spelled exactly the same, including case) into the Quick Find Tool to navigate to the Dashboard details page we need. We will show you how to add your new gadgets to the dashboard in a minute.
Before we do that, take a quick look at some of the attributes on the Edit Application page. You can see here the settings that define the look of the application tile on the System Home Page we just discussed.
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15. Stand Alone Dashboard Pages
Navigate to the dashboard from a menu or gadget
Any custom gadgets can be put on a lone dashboard
Click on Edit this Dashboard to modify details
Finally, Administrators can also configure lone Dashboard pages that users can access from a menu item in an application. Just like we created a link gadget earlier to a create employee page, you can also create a gadget to one of these lone dashboard pages that you put on a different dashboard page to link 2 dashboard pages together.
To Edit this type of dashboard, simply navigate to the lone Dashboard page. Administrators will be the only users who can Edit these page, and therefore will be the only users who will see a link on the top of the page allowing them to Edit This Dashboard. Clicking on the Edit this Dashboard link will allow the Administrator to view the details of the page in Edit Mode.
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16. Add Gadgets to a Dashboard
You can add several gadgets in any order to a dashboard page
The LIMS will automatically position them using an algorithm to minimize white space
Now that we have found the Dashboard record (whether it’s an Application Dashboard Page or a Stand Alone Dashboard Page) and are now in Edit mode, navigate to the bottom of the page and locate the section where the existing gadgets on the page are listed. To remove a gadget, click in the name field of the gadget you want to remove and from the dropdown list, select ---REMOVE---. Click on Update to save your change. You will be directed to the Dashboard page to verify your change.
To Add a new Gadget, click on the next available Select menu at the bottom to select a Gadget record by its name.
Click on Update to save your changes.
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17. Editing Dashboard Layout
Only admins can edit Application or Stand Alone dashboard layouts
Users can modify their own personal layouts on the System Home Page
Click on the Edit Icon to enable drag and drop mode
Grab the white corners with your mouse to position them
Save you positions when done
Once all the gadgets are added to a dashboard, Admins can reorder the layout for all users for any Application Home page or Stand Alone Dashboards. Click on the orange Edit button to enable editing of the layout. You should see a white triangle in the upper left corner of all gadgets. Use your mouse to grab these corners and drag and drop the gadgets into the desired location. Click the orange Save button when you are done to lock the positions.
On the System Home page, every user can do the same layout repositioning for their own personal system home page. That is the only page that currently allows users to control their own dashboards.
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18. Creating a New Dashboard Page
Navigate to the Create New Dashboard page from the Main Admin Panel
Now that we have looked at the steps to create a new gadget and add or remove it from an existing Dashboard, let’s move on to see how to create new Dashboard Page and add gadgets to that newly created page.
New Dashboards are not created often, and they are usually created by an Administrator from within the Main Admin Panel. Navigate to the Main Admin Panel and then locate the Dashboard Super Type. Click on the corresponding List All Entity Types icon to view all of the existing Dashboard Entity Types. Locate the CORE Dashboard Type and then click on New to create a new CORE Dashboard Type. Fill out the appropriate properties of the page, providing a Name, the Project to be associated with the Dashboard, the Display Name, (which is the name that will appear in the title bar of the dashboard page if the page is a Stand Alone Page.) Enter a Width and Height and optionally provide a general description that will identify the page overall. The maximum size for a dashboard is 12 width by 10 height.
Next, add the appropriate Gadgets desired on the Dashboard. These gadgets can be reports in Smart Tables, News Feeds from the Internet, links to other pages. There are many differently types of gadgets that can be added to a page. To add multiple gadgets to a new dashboard simply associate the gadgets to the Dashboard by selecting all of the gadgets at one time. Use the Control or shift key to highlight and select all of the desired gadgets to add. Sometimes it can be easier to just add a single gadget when creating a dashboard and then edit the dashboard to add additional gadgets as we demonstrated earlier.
Click on the Create button when you are done to save your newly created Dashboard. You will be directed to the dashboard page, even though it has not yet been configured to any users. You can edit the dashboard to add more gadgets or change the layout as you learned previously in the lesson.
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19. Display Dashboard as Application Home Page
Dashboards you make can be Application Home pages or lone pages that users select from a menu or gadget
To convert a dashboard to an Application Home page, you need to edit the application and associate the desired dashboard record
Once you are done creating the dashboard page, you will need to make it accessible to your users.
If the Dashboard will be configured as an Application Home Page, navigate to the application that you want to have that dashboard. Click on the Edit the Application button. Scroll down to the bottom of the record and select the name of your dashboard in the associations section. Save your changes and you should be directed see your dashboard when you navigate to that application going forward.
Select the desired dashboard record to be the application’s home page
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20. Make a Dashboard Menu
To make a menu to your dashboard, associate an application to your dashboard record
Then be sure that the Core Dashboard application menu is added to that application (if not already there)
The LIMS will automatically add the dashboard name to the menus if first 2 steps are done
If you want to make a menu for users to navigate to a stand alone dashboard, there are 2 steps. First you need to associate the dashboard to every application that needs a menu to this dashboard. Second you need to add the Core Dashboard menu to that application. For further details on adding a menu to an application refer back to the Training lesson on Application Menus. If both of these steps are configured, then the LIMS will automatically add a menu with the name of your dashboard displayed.
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21. Dashboard Review CONFIDENTIAL
Dashboard pages are a great way to provide a visual analysis of the CORE LIMS system, while providing the user with real-time data and navigation all in one location. Dashboards can be easily customized in CORE LIMS to help provide users with easy access to the key data that is most relevant to their jobs. Please take the time to review any concepts that may be unclear at this time. This concludes this Training session. If you have a full understanding of this material, then please feel free to move on to a new Training topic.
Thank You!
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