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V25.2
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    VCL Dashboards (Dashboard Designer & Viewer) for Delphi/C++Builder

    • 4 minutes to read

    DevExpress VCL Business Intelligence Dashboard (ExpressDashboards) is a visual component designed to display multiple interconnected data analysis UI elements within an automatically arranged layout. Interactive data analysis elements (dashboard visualization items) include grids, charts, maps, gauges, etc.

    The VCL Dashboard implementation is based on the DevExpress JavaScript Dashboard Designer and Viewer for native VCL apps (using modern WebView and ASP.NET Core/JavaScript wrappers). All required .NET and JavaScript dependencies are embedded into one self-contained EXE file transparently.

    Note

    Our ExpressDashboards Suite is available as a Community Technology Preview (CTP). Please review our pre-release software notes if you plan on using ExpressDashboards.

    DevExpress Dashboards for Delphi/C++Builder: A Dashboard Content Example

    Tip

    The ExpressDashboards Suite requires the new VCL Subscription+ or an active VCL Subscription with any .NET subscription that includes DevExpress BI Dashboards for ASP.NET Core/JavaScript (relevant subscription SKUs include BI Dashboards, ASP.NET and Blazor (includes DevExtreme), DXperience, and Universal). A 30-day trial is also available for ExpressDashboards.

    Getting Started

    Review the following tutorials to get started with the TdxDashboardControl component:

    Create a Dashboard Using the Designer Dialog
    Create a simple dashboard application: set up a memory-based data source, load JSON data, create Bubble Map and Chart dashboard items, and bind them to data.

    Prerequisites & Deployment

    Ensure that your development environment meets ExpressDashboards and ExpressReports prerequisites:

    1. Microsoft Windows 10 or newer.
    2. Embarcadero RAD Studio IDE 12.3 or newer (Community Edition IDEs are not supported).
    3. DevExpress VCL v25.2.x. (You must own a VCL Subscription+ license or DevExpress VCL and Universal licenses).
    4. The EdgeView2 SDK package installed from the GetIt package manager.

    Tip

    Refer to the following topic for detailed information: VCL Reports/Dashboards App Deployment.

    ExpressDashboards Component

    The ExpressDashboards Suite ships with the TdxDashboardControl component that includes fully-functional Web-based Dashboard Designer and Dashboard Viewer dialogs available both at design time and runtime.

    Non-Interactive Dashboard Content Export

    The TdxDashboard class implements a dashboard model container with dedicated APIs for template (layout) management, content export operations, etc. You can create a TdxDashboard class instance to generate and export dashboard content without direct user interaction.

    Tip

    This scenario can be useful for console applications, REST/Web API backends, Windows Services, workflow/scheduler jobs, etc. Refer to the TdxDashboard class description for detailed information on non-interactive dashboard export and a code example.

    DevExpress VCL Backend Components

    TdxBackendDataConnectionManager
    An auxiliary component designed to manage data connection components available as sources for TdxDashboard/TdxDashboardControl and TdxReport components.

    Data Connection Components

    TdxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection

    A component designed for interaction with local (in-memory) or remote JSON data accessible through a Web API service endpoint.

    Refer to the following help topic for step-by-step instructions on using the TdxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection component as a data source for TdxDashboard/TdxDashboardControl and TdxReport.

    TdxBackendDataSetJSONConnection

    A component designed to work with data in one or multiple VCL-compatible datasets (TDataSet descendants).

    Use the TdxBackendDataSetJSONConnection component if you need to use TdxDashboardControl/TdxDashboard and TdxReport components together with VCL-compatible data sources.

    TdxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection

    A DevExpress XPO-based component designed to fetch data from the following relational databases:

    SQLite | Microsoft SQL Server/Azure SQL | PostgreSQL | Oracle Database | MySQL | Firebird

    Tip

    This component is based on the DevExpress XPO ORM engine (powered by ADO.NET).

    TdxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection has built-in support for Microsoft SQL/Azure SQL and SQLite engines (you can use them without additional dependencies and extra configuration).

    Refer to the following topic for a complete list of supported database engines and corresponding connection string examples: VCL Backend: Supported Database Engines.

    View Example: Store Dashboard Layouts in a Database View Example: Pass a Hidden Dashboard Parameter to a SQL Query View Example: Generate Dashboards in a Backend/Service Application

    To see the TdxDashboardControl component in action, run the BI Dashboards Designer/Viewer demo in the VCL Demo Center installed with compiled DevExpress VCL demos. Click different items in the sidebar on the left to switch between demo features.

    Download: Compiled VCL Demos

    Tip

    You can find full source code for the installed compiled Report demo in the following folder:

    %PUBLIC%\Documents\DevExpress VCL Demos\MegaDemos\Product Demos\ExpressDashboards

    See Also