Connect the ASP.NET Web Forms Dashboard Control to an OLAP Data Source

• Dec 24, 2019
• 2 minutes to read

This tutorial shows how to add the DashboardOlapDataSource to data source storage and make it available to users.

1. In the Default.aspx.cs (or .vb) file, create a public method that returns the configured dashboard’s data source storage (DataSourceInMemoryStorage) and define the OLAP data source.

   C#

   using System;
   using DevExpress.DashboardCommon;
   using DevExpress.DashboardWeb;
   
   public DataSourceInMemoryStorage CreateDataSourceStorage() {
       DataSourceInMemoryStorage dataSourceStorage = new DataSourceInMemoryStorage();
   
       DashboardOlapDataSource olapDataSource = new DashboardOlapDataSource("OLAP Data Source", "olapConnection");
       dataSourceStorage.RegisterDataSource("olapDataSource", olapDataSource.SaveToXml());    
   
       return dataSourceStorage;
   }
   

   VB.NET

   Imports System
   Imports DevExpress.DashboardCommon
   Imports DevExpress.DashboardWeb
   
   Public Function CreateDataSourceStorage() As DataSourceInMemoryStorage
       Dim dataSourceStorage As New DataSourceInMemoryStorage()
   
       Dim olapDataSource As New DashboardOlapDataSource("OLAP Data Source", "olapConnection")
       dataSourceStorage.RegisterDataSource("olapDataSource", olapDataSource.SaveToXml())
   
       Return dataSourceStorage
   End Function
   

2. Call the ASPxDashboard.SetDataSourceStorage method to configure the data source storage. Use the created CreateDataSourceStorage method as the SetDataSourceStorage parameter and handle the ASPxDashboard.ConfigureDataConnection event to pass the connection parameters to the OLAP data source.

   C#

   using DevExpress.DashboardWeb;
   
   protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
       // ...  
   
       // Configures the data source storage.
       ASPxDashboard1.SetDataSourceStorage(CreateDataSourceStorage());
       ASPxDashboard1.ConfigureDataConnection += ASPxDashboard1_ConfigureDataConnection;
   }
   

   VB.NET

   Imports DevExpress.DashboardWeb
   
   Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
       ' ...          
   
       '  Configures the data source storage.
       ASPxDashboard1.SetDataSourceStorage(CreateDataSourceStorage())        
       AddHandler ASPxDashboard1.ConfigureDataConnection, AddressOf ASPxDashboard1_ConfigureDataConnection
   End Sub
   

3. Provide the connection parameters at runtime in the ASPxDashboard.ConfigureDataConnection event handler.

   C#

   using DevExpress.DataAccess.ConnectionParameters;
   
   private void ASPxDashboard1_ConfigureDataConnection(object sender, ConfigureDataConnectionWebEventArgs e) {
       if (e.ConnectionName == "olapConnection") {
           OlapConnectionParameters olapParams = new OlapConnectionParameters();
           olapParams.ConnectionString = "Provider=MSOLAP;Data Source=http://demos.devexpress.com/Services/OLAP/msmdpump.dll;"
               + "Initial catalog=Adventure Works DW Standard Edition;Cube name=Adventure Works;Query Timeout=100;";
           e.ConnectionParameters = olapParams;
       }
   }
   

   VB.NET

   Imports DevExpress.DataAccess.ConnectionParameters
   
   Private Sub ASPxDashboard1_ConfigureDataConnection(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ConfigureDataConnectionWebEventArgs)
       If e.ConnectionName = "olapConnection" Then
           Dim olapParams As New OlapConnectionParameters()
           olapParams.ConnectionString = "Provider=MSOLAP;Data Source=http://demos.devexpress.com/Services/OLAP/msmdpump.dll;" & "Initial catalog=Adventure Works DW Standard Edition;Cube name=Adventure Works;Query Timeout=100;"
           e.ConnectionParameters = olapParams
       End If
   End Sub
   

The OLAP Data Source is now available in Web Dashboard:

Users can bind dashboard items to data in the Web Dashboard’s UI. See Bind Dashboard Items to Data in the Web Dashboard’s UI for more information.

Example

The example shows how to make a set of data sources available for users in the Web Dashboard application.

Note

A complete sample project is available on GitHub: How to Register Data Sources for ASP.NET Web Forms Dashboard Control