Create an ASP.NET Core 3.0 Dashboard Application

Oct 15, 2019
5 minutes to read

This tutorial describes how to integrate the Web Dashboard control into an ASP.NET Core 3.0 web application.

Note

Download the completed project: Create an ASP.NET Core 3.0 Dashboard Application

Prerequisites
Steps 1-7. Create an ASP.NET Core Web Application
Step 11. Add and Configure the Web Dashboard
Steps 12-13. Create a Dashboard
Steps 14-16. Switch to the Viewer Mode
Restrictions and Limitations
Next Steps

Prerequisites

.Net Core 3.0 framework.
Visual Studio 2019 v16.3 or later

Steps 1-7. Create an ASP.NET Core Web Application

In Visual Studio, create a new ASP.NET Core Web Application project.
Specify the ASP.NET Core 3.0 platform, select Web Application (Model-View-Controller), and click OK.
Open the NuGet Package Manager and set the package source to All. Install the following packages:

DevExpress.AspNetCore.Dashboard v19.1.7 and later
BuildBundlerMinifier

Right-click the project in the Solution Explorer and select Add | New Folder from the context menu. Rename the created folder to Data and create the Dashboards folder inside it.

Open the Add New Item dialog (Ctrl+Shift+A), add the npm Configuration File (package.json) to the project, and add the following npm packages:

{
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "name": "asp.net",
    "private": true,
    "license": "MIT",
    "devDependencies": {
        "devextreme": "19.1-next",
        "@devexpress/analytics-core": "19.1-next",
        "devexpress-dashboard": "19.1-next",
        "jquery-ui-dist": "^1.12.1",
        "globalize": "1.4.2",
        "devextreme-cldr-data": "1.0.2"
    }
}

Right-click package.json and select Restore Packages.

Create the bundleconfig.json file in the root directory and add the following configuration:

[
    {
        "outputFileName": "wwwroot/css/site.min.css",
        "inputFiles": [
            "node_modules/devextreme/dist/css/dx.common.css",
            "node_modules/devextreme/dist/css/dx.light.css",
            "node_modules/@devexpress/analytics-core/dist/css/dx-analytics.common.css",
            "node_modules/@devexpress/analytics-core/dist/css/dx-analytics.light.css",
            "node_modules/@devexpress/analytics-core/dist/css/dx-querybuilder.css",
            "node_modules/devexpress-dashboard/dist/css/dx-dashboard.light.min.css"
        ]
    },
    {
        "outputFileName": "wwwroot/js/site.min.js",
        "inputFiles": [
            "node_modules/jquery/dist/jquery.js",
            "node_modules/jquery-ui-dist/jquery-ui.js",
            "node_modules/knockout/build/output/knockout-latest.js",
            "node_modules/ace-builds/src-min-noconflict/ace.js",
            "node_modules/ace-builds/src-min-noconflict/ext-language_tools.js",
            "node_modules/ace-builds/src-min-noconflict/theme-dreamweaver.js",
            "node_modules/ace-builds/src-min-noconflict/theme-ambiance.js",
            "node_modules/cldrjs/dist/cldr.js",
            "node_modules/cldrjs/dist/cldr/event.js",
            "node_modules/cldrjs/dist/cldr/supplemental.js",
            "node_modules/cldrjs/dist/cldr/unresolved.js",
            "node_modules/globalize/dist/globalize.js",
            "node_modules/globalize/dist/globalize/message.js",
            "node_modules/globalize/dist/globalize/number.js",
            "node_modules/globalize/dist/globalize/currency.js",
            "node_modules/globalize/dist/globalize/date.js",
            "node_modules/devextreme-cldr-data/supplemental.js",
            "node_modules/devextreme-cldr-data/en.js",
            "node_modules/devextreme/dist/js/dx.all.js",
            "node_modules/@devexpress/analytics-core/dist/js/dx-analytics-core.min.js",
            "node_modules/@devexpress/analytics-core/dist/js/dx-querybuilder.min.js",
            "node_modules/devexpress-dashboard/dist/js/dx-dashboard.min.js"
        ],
        "minify": {
            "enabled": false
        },
        "sourceMap": false
    }
]

Replace the Startup.cs file’s content:

using DevExpress.AspNetCore;
using DevExpress.DashboardAspNetCore;
using DevExpress.DashboardWeb;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using Microsoft.Extensions.FileProviders;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;

namespace WebDashboardAspNetCore3 {
    public class Startup {
        public Startup(IConfiguration configuration, IWebHostEnvironment hostingEnvironment) {
            Configuration = configuration;
            FileProvider = hostingEnvironment.ContentRootFileProvider;
        }

        public IConfiguration Configuration { get; }
        public IFileProvider FileProvider { get; }

        // This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to add services to the container.
        public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services) {
            // Configures services to use the Web Dashboard Control.
            services
                .AddDevExpressControls()
                .AddControllersWithViews()
                .AddDefaultDashboardController(configurator => {
                    configurator.SetDashboardStorage(new DashboardFileStorage(FileProvider.GetFileInfo("Data/Dashboards").PhysicalPath));
                    configurator.SetConnectionStringsProvider(new DashboardConnectionStringsProvider(Configuration));
                });
        }

        // This method gets called by the runtime. Use this method to configure the HTTP request pipeline.
        public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env) {
            if(env.IsDevelopment()) {
                app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
            } else {
                app.UseExceptionHandler("/Home/Error");
                app.UseHsts();
            }
            app.UseHttpsRedirection();
            app.UseStaticFiles();
            // Registers the DevExpress middleware.
            app.UseDevExpressControls();
            app.UseRouting();
            app.UseAuthorization();
            app.UseEndpoints(endpoints => {
                // Maps the dashboard route.
                EndpointRouteBuilderExtension.MapDashboardRoute(endpoints, "api/dashboards");
                endpoints.MapControllerRoute(
                    name: "default",
                    pattern: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
            });
        }
    }
}

Open the path below and copy the nwind.xml database to the project’s Data folder.

C:\Users\Public\Documents\DevExpress Demos 19.1\Components\Data\nwind.xml

Open the appsettings.json file, create the ConnectionStrings object, and add the nwind connection string to register the data connection:

{
  "Logging": {
    "IncludeScopes": false,
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Warning"
    }
  },
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "nwind": "XpoProvider=InMemoryDataStore;Read Only=true;Data Source=Data\\nwind.xml;"
  }
}

Step 11. Add and Configure the Web Dashboard

Open the Index.cshtml file and replace its content with the code below:

@{
    Layout = null;
}
<!-- Add the namespace usages. -->
@using DevExpress.AspNetCore
@using DevExpress.DashboardWeb
@using DevExpress.DashboardAspNetCore

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <!-- Add bundled resources. -->
    <link href="~/css/site.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />
    <script src="~/js/site.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <!-- Add the Web Dashboard with the "clientDashboardControl1" name to a View, specify its size, and set the Working Mode to Designer. -->
    <div style="position: absolute; left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;">
        @(Html.DevExpress().Dashboard("clientDashboardControl1")
        .WorkingMode(WorkingMode.Designer)
        .Width("100%")
        .Height("100%")
        )
    </div>
</body>
</html>

Steps 12-13. Create a Dashboard

The designer application is now ready. Build and run the project.

Your application should look as follows:
Create your first dashboard in the Web Dashboard.

Steps 14-16. Switch to the Viewer Mode

Once you create and save a dashboard, you can switch your Dashboard Designer application to the Viewer mode.

In a project, open the Views | Home | Index.cshtml file.

Update the BuilderFactory.Dashboard helper method’s code as follows:

@(Html.DevExpress().Dashboard("clientDashboardDesigner1")
    .WorkingMode(WorkingMode.ViewerOnly)
    .Width("100%")
    .Height("100%")
)

Run the application. The ASP.NET Core Dashboard control displays the dashboard from ~/Data/Dashboards.

Restrictions and Limitations

OLAP mode supports only XML for Analysis (XMLA) with MSMDPUMP.
The content of a dashboard or specific dashboard items is saved in Windows Metafile format when they exported to PDF or image formats. .NET Core does not support Windows Metafile format. Refer to the Manage Exporting Capabilities topic for more information on how to circumvent this limitation.
Export to image is disabled for .NET Core because of a problem in the Libgdiplus library that is used to export data in ASP.NET Core Dashboard. See T685212 and T685811 for more information.

Next Steps

Create Dashboards on the Web

Describes how to create and configure dashboards in the Web Dashboard.
ASP.NET Core Dashboard Control

Provides instructions on how to integrate the Dashboard control into an ASP.NET Core application.

Controls

Tools

Controls and Extensions

Tools

Maintenance Mode

Controls

Tools

Controls and Extensions

Tools

Maintenance Mode

Prerequisites

Steps 1-7. Create an ASP.NET Core Web Application

Step 11. Add and Configure the Web Dashboard

Steps 12-13. Create a Dashboard

Steps 14-16. Switch to the Viewer Mode

Restrictions and Limitations

Next Steps