Looks like everyone in the BI world wants a Drag and Drop Dashboard Builder. Here is another giant, IBM Cogono launching their Dashboard tool. They call it Go! Dashboard (Yes, the ! is intentional). Found this interesting Demo video. I will be exploring more about the core features soon. Till then get introduced by this demo video.
Xcelsius “Location Intelligence Component” from MapInfo
Xcelsius Custom Components are surely attracting the big players now. One among them is MapInfo. MapInfo recently announced the release of a Custom Component for Xcelsius 2008.
““Adding location intelligence to our business intelligence dashboard empowers users with a more detailed, comprehensive view of location-based information,”. “By integrating the Pitney Bowes MapInfo LIC with Xcelsius, enterprises can add location analysis to enhance their existing visualization capabilities to make more-informed business assessments about new markets, customers and competition.”–Donald MacCormick, Chief Transformation Officer at Business Objects, an SAP company.
Click here for the full press release
What is Location Intelligence:
Here is an interesting video from MapInfo:
Want to know more:
Here is a complete Wiki from Wikipedia. Learn More >>
Xcelsius Web 2.0 components add-on!
Are you a Web 2.0 addict and an Xcelsius Developer at the same time? Your Prayers have been answered. BusinessObjects labs has released an Xcelsius Add-On component pack with 6 new components. Although its a prototype, fresh out of labs and cannot be used on production environments, I think it will be a great add-on for the developers to Play with and get used to it before they are launched in the next release or hot fix. That’s exactly what I’m doing right now. After the initial smoke tests, I found that the components are still sluggish and taking a lot of resources. Not many options in the properties tab. Waiting to see the production version. I will be doing a thorough testing of these new boys and will be posting a video series on videos page soon. Watch out. Below are the components: (You can download the ZIP file from BO Labs website)
Tag Cloud:
You must have seen tag clouds on various blogs. A tag cloud (or word cloud) is a set of related tags with corresponding weights. The weights are represented using font sizes. This is a great add-on for visual representation of data.
Simulating Tool Tip functionality in Xcelsius
Often Dashboard design requirements demand functionality that does not come as a Out of box solution in Xcelsius. One such example is a tool tip. However, developers find their alternatives with the existing components and their properties. In this example I will show how we can use simple components in Xcelsius to simulate Tool Tip functionality. Some of you will be amazed to see how easy it is to do this.
I always have a hard time explaining tricks. I always fear that I might miss something important. Hence these days I’m creating videos for everything. Check the Videos page for previous videos. Below is what I’ve achieved. Hover over the word “Crystal Xcelsius” in bold to see the Tool Tip.
Download Source Files:
It’s Interactive:
Watch:
Book Alert: Xcelsius 2008 Dashboard Best Practices – I’ve Got mine!
The Wait is Over! Finally the book has arrived in the stores. The much awaited “Xcelsius 2008 Dashboard Best Practices” book is now available on Amazon. Go grab it now. Continue reading →
