VCL Dashboards: Getting Started
- 4 minutes to read
Review the following tutorials to get started with the TdxDashboardControl component.
Prerequisites
Note
- ExpressReports will require the purchase of our VCL Subscription + OR an active VCL Subscription (regular) with any active .NET subscription that includes DevExpress Reports for ASP.NET/JavaScript (these subscriptions include: Reporting, ASP.NET & Blazor (includes DevExtreme), DXperience, or Universal).
- ExpressDashboards will also require the purchase of our VCL Subscription + OR an active VCL Subscription (regular) with an active Universal Subscription that includes DevExpress Business Intelligence (BI) Dashboard.
Ensure that your development environment meets ExpressDashboards and ExpressReports prerequisites:
- Microsoft Windows 10 or newer.
- Embarcadero RAD Studio IDE 12.3 or newer (Community Edition IDEs are not supported).
- DevExpress VCL v26.1.x.
- The EdgeView2 SDK package installed from the GetIt package manager.
BI Dashboard Project and Form Templates
The VCL Template Kit ships with automatically installed Project and Form templates for the ExpressDashboards Suite. These templates are designed to reduce time spent on repetitive project and form setup as well as improve onboarding for new VCL developers and boost productivity in experienced teams.
Tip
Refer to the following help topic for detailed information: Use BI Dashboard Project and Form Templates.
Tutorials
Basic Tutorial. Follow this tutorial to 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.
Featured Components: TdxDashboardControl | TdxBackendDataConnectionManager | TdxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection
Follow this tutorial to create a dashboard and bind it to data using standard FireDAC components (TFDQuery and TFDConnection) shipped with the RAD Studio IDE.
Featured Components: TdxDashboardControl | TdxBackendDataConnectionManager | TdxBackendDataSetJSONConnection
Follow this tutorial to create a dashboard, bind it to a parametrized stored procedure, and pass dashboard parameters to that procedure using the Dashboard Designer dialog at design time.
Featured Components: TdxDashboardControl | TdxBackendDataConnectionManager | TdxBackendDatabaseSQLConnection
Step-by-Step Instructions on Database Management Systems
The following topics contain dedicated step-by-step instructions on using all supported database management systems for TdxDashboard/TdxDashboardControl components:
- VCL Data Sets and Data Sources
- The TdxBackendDataSetJSONConnection component allows you to bind TdxDashboard/TdxDashboardControl and TdxReport components to one or multiple datasets (TdxMemData, TFDTable, TFDQuery, and other TDataSet descendants) like any other data-aware VCL control (TcxGrid, for instance).
- In-Memory/Remote Web Service
- The TdxBackendInMemoryJSONConnection component allows you to bind TdxDashboard/TdxDashboardControl and TdxReport components to JSON data defined in code or loaded from a remote Web API service endpoint.
- SQLite
- SQLite is a file-based relational database engine.
- Microsoft SQL/Azure Databases
- Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL Database are proprietary relational database management systems developed by Microsoft.
- PostgreSQL
- PostgreSQL is an open-source database management system.
- Oracle Database
- Oracle Database is a proprietary multi-model database management system developed by the Oracle Corporation.
- MySQL
- MySQL is an open-source relational database management system developed by the Oracle Corporation.
- Firebird
- Firebird is an open-source SQL relational database management system.
Sample GitHub Projects
This section lists all public GitHub repositories (DevExpress-Examples) that demonstrate the primary usage scenarios for VCL Dashboards:
Store Dashboard Layouts
- This example stores a dashboard layout in a BLOB field of a memory-based dataset (TdxMemData).
Filter Dashboard Data
- This example demonstrates a dashboard that displays sales data for a selected country. The selected country is passed to the underlying SQL query as a hidden dashboard parameter. This sample project uses the TdxCustomDashboardControl.Parameters property to access and modify the target dashboard parameter.
Generate & Export Dashboard Content Without User Interaction
This example bypasses the DevExpress Dashboard Viewer dialog and generates a dashboard using the DevExpress Dashboards backend. You can use the demonstrated technique to implement REST/Web API backends, Windows Services, workflows, and scheduled jobs for the following usage scenarios:
- Bulk export dashboards to PDF, DOCX, image, and other formats.
- Share, email, and print dashboard documents without user interaction.
- Implement custom dashboard management UIs.
Related Compiled Demo
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.
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\