Since Xcelsius version 3.0 I have tirelessly explained to customers how to manipulate a toggle button to achieve push button functionality. I am happy to say that those days have finally come to an end!

With Xcelsius 2008 SP3, they have introduced a push button component. For a new user who just needs a pushbutton or gurus who have long used icons for transparent hotspots, this is a long awaited addition. In addition to simplifying pushbutton capabilities, this component will allow you to push an entire data range into a destination with the click of a button.

If you ever used transparent icons as hotspots, this will be the new component for achieving the same functionality with less work. In the example below, I saved myself

As you can see in the example, I have shown all 3 examples. The first button pushes a single value into the yellow destination. The second button has a range as the source data and destination. Finally the third image has a transparent pushbutton overlaid. The other nice thing about this component is it will NOT insert on load, so if you have multiple push buttons that insert into the same destination, you no longer have to play with the order in the object browser to get the right result.

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I included the Xcelsius help SWF inside of the dashboard so you can see for yourself how this component is configured. This component should have gone into my top 10, since I have already used it several times with lots of success. Thank you Xcelsius development team for making my life easier and giving me new out of the box functionality to write about!

Xcelsius 2008 SP1 features an Add-On manager, located in the File menu. This is where you install Xcelsius plugin components.

To install add-ins,

• First, make sure you are running Xcelsius 2008 with a minimum of Service Pack 1 installed.
• While in Xcelsius, select File>Manage Add Ons.
• Click Install Add On
• Navigate to your hard drive and select an .XLX file.
• Click "Close" in the add on manager.
• Click "Save and Close" which will save the add-ons and close Xcelsius.
• When re-opening Xcelsius, your add ins will be available in the Components window, within the specific folder described in your add on documentation.

There is also a link within the Add On manager to the On-Demand store where. There are some Xcelsius add ons for free, and others that you pay for. The direct link to the store is: http://www.ondemand.com/information/xcelsius.asp

This week, Centigon Solutions Inc. released a collection of plug-in components for Xcelsius 2008. Though I am biased because of my involvement with Centigon Solutions, as an Xcelsius power user, I can’t imagine building dashboards without these components. Here is my analysis based on extensive use of these components. I will write a few articles illustrating how to get maximum utility from these components and how I have utilized them. For more information about the Centigon Solutions components, visit:

Xcelsius Add Ons Components

Dynamic Sort: My Excel sort workaround was one of the most downloaded templates and still was an ugly workaround to ranking data. The Dynamic Sort component provides the sorting/ranking capabilities we have longed for and does it extremely well. Every dashboard I build has required some level of ranking and sorting and now we can do it on the fly inside of the SWF.

Background Builder: Most of you do not have the luxury of working with a graphic designer for each dashboard project you produce, leaving you with the standard out of the box backgrounds that come with Xcelsius. While these are clean, we always want more. Background builder is a single component packaged with over 20 designs and textures that can be configured with detailed appearance properties. Bevel and drop-shadow properties are two of the many properties that allow for complete control over your design with little work. Now for most dashboards, I don’t need my graphic designer to produce great looking results.

Reverse Selector: This component is a simple solution to a long lasting problem that never had a workaround: We needed a way to re-use single value components, and input text components to control multiple cells. In the countless calculator applications that I have constructed, I always end up stacking many sliders on top of each other to get the same results, which takes for ever to setup, and limits the possibilities for complex calculators. Reverse selector fills this gap by introducing a new concept that literally works like a reverse selector. This new component evaluates 1 single cell, and inserts into multiple cells within a range based on an index/position number.

GMaps Plugin Beta: This is a great start to what will be an amazing addition to the Xcelsius product. This component is in the infancy stages as a completed component. Even as a beta, this component offers capabilities not possible with other mapping solutions for Xcelsius.

Click here to view these add ons for Xcelsius

Xcelsius 2008 introduced a global dual axis chart capability that works quite well. I put together a simple example below, illustrating the technology. A dual axis chart is relevant when you are trying to draw indirect correlations between two different measures. I have never seen an effective use of dual axis charts where same measure is displayed on both y axis. The Y Axis toggle in Xcelsius is locate in the general tab for most vertical oriented charts.

Here are a few best practices that make these charts easier to visually digest in Xcelsius:

1. Always include vertical axis labels for the left and right Y axis.
2. Always show the legend on the top or bottom of the chart to ensure there is enough room for both vertical axis labels and titles.
3. Use colors that make it easy to differentiate between each series.

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Xcelsius 2008 features a robust color scheme management. Those of you who used the style creator in Xcelsius 4.5, you may have written off the Color Scheme builder, but I have found it extremely useful. It is quite obvious that the Xcelsius dev team put a lot of time and effort into making the global aesthetics management much more powerful with Xcelsius 2008. The one thing they did not provide is some type of indication of what the base colors do. Here is a reference to how changing the colors in the Color Scheme window will affect your dashboard. As you explore the Advanced Settings, changing the base colors will trickle down, and then you can have granular control over individual components. At the end of the day, I have found this to be a valuable time saver when developing multiple dashboards for the same customer.

1. Text Color
2. Default Button Colors, Chart Background Colors, Map Color
3. Canvas Color, Chart Axis Color
4. Background Component Color, Chart Gridlines Color, Mouse Over Color
5. Chart Series 1 Color, Single Value Marker Color, Active Selector Color
6. Chart Series 2 Color
7. Chart Series 3 Color
8. Chart Series 4 Color
9. Chart Series 5 Color
10. Disabled Items, Single Value Track Color