When you open data in the Visual KPI Designer, it is equivalent to opening worksheets that contain the configuration data that determines how that data appears as it populates your Visual KPI sites.
When you open a worksheet using one of the Object Types (Groups, KPIs, Charts or Tables), you are working with data that appears immediately on your site. Each of these Object Types configures data that appears on your site and correlates with the main menu items you see in your Visual KPI website: Groups, KPIs, Charts and Tables.
Using the Visual KPI Designer, you can open existing data and configure it, or create and configure new data.
Whether you create a new object, or open existing objects via search, the objects will be added to any already open data, unless you select the Replace Worksheet contents checkbox.
Open Existing Data
When you connect the Visual KPI Designer to an existing Visual KPI site, your groups, KPIs, and any charts and tables data can be accessed and configured. You can even delete data and it will immediately disappear from your site.
When you open worksheets that display existing data configurations, you can choose to open one piece of data, all data, or selected data based on search parameters. Let’s take a look at opening existing data.
The second icon in the Object Toolbar allows you to open existing data.
Note: if you have a large number of objects, such as KPIs on your site, be careful about choosing to open all KPIs. You may end up with a very long list. It may be better to search for specific data or groups of data.
Open Data with a Simple Search
Once you click the Open icon, you’ll have several search options. Use a simple search to find specific items.
- Select Groups, KPIs, Charts or Tables relative to the data you want to search and open.
- Click the Open icon in the Object Toolbar.
- Select Simple.
- Type a search term in the Name= field. You can use the wildcard (*) to search for all items containing the term you enter.
- Click OK to open the search results. If Groups are already configured, your search results may appear as Groups.
- Select the Group you want to open, or drill down until you find specific objects. Select the checkbox for Groups or objects you want to open in the worksheet.
Note: Right-click to open everything below a level. For example, if you click a Group to open, it will only open the top level. Right-click to open all of its descendants.
- Click OK to open the selected objects and close the search window, or click Apply to open the selected objects and continue searching. Clear deselects all selected items, and Cancel closes the search window.
Search by Group
To open entire groups or search for items by viewing groups, you’ll search using the By Group tab:
- Select the By Group tab.
- Select the Group you want to open or drill down until you find specific objects. Select the checkbox for Groups or objects you want to open in the worksheet.
- Click OK to open the selected objects and close the search window, or click Apply to open the selected objects and continue searching. Clear deselects all selected items, and Cancel closes the search window.
Open Data Using Advanced Search
You can search KPIs or Groups using a query, or advanced search parameters, such as Attributes, Operators and Values, or any combination of these parameters.
- Use the Advance search option that appears below the toolbar, or click the Open icon and select the Advanced Search tab.
- Use the pull-down menus to select any combination of Attributes, Operators and/or Values to narrow your search. Select the And/Or radio buttons to help narrow your search.
