Create New External Report Type v7
Each External Report Type is based on the Plugin connection used as its Data Source.
When any new External Report is created, its Report type is assigned to it by the user. Report Type determines generic settings of the External Report; i.e., source of images, download ability, drill down authentication. A new Report Type should be created for each plugin you plan to use as a Data Source for External Reports.
The list of plugins supported by Metric Insights can be found here.
Security on External Report Types is External Content Security
1. Create New External Report Type
Access Admin > Plugins > External Report Types
Click [+New External Report Type] to open Add External Report Type popup.
In this article, Tableau is used as an example. The Add External Report Type popup includes a core set of configurations and can also feature a few options that are Plugin-specific.
External Report Type Editor includes an expanded list of settings that are described below.
Plugin-specific settings are briefly outlined in the end of this article.
2. Provide Information Essential for Creating External Report Type
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Name: Provide a descriptive phrase. We recommend including the name of the Plugin to be used as a Data Source into the name.
- Type of External report was intended to be a dropdown list of settings that are usually common for customer or a specific plugin so as not to overload External Report Editor. There are no constraints as to the text used to Name the Type. Upon adding new Plugin, usually a default Report Type is assigned for that Plugin with recommended settings.
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Tile icon: [Upload Image] and choose the picture with the logo of the service for which you create a Report Type. If you need to update the existing picture, there is no need to delete a previous one, simply re-upload it with the same procedure.
- From your directory, you may select a file in one of the following types to be used on a Homepage tile for this External Report Type : 'jpg', 'jpeg', 'png', 'gif', 'bmp'.
- [Save] resizes the selected image to 14 x 14 px.
- Plugin Data Source: Define which of the source Plugins supported by Metric Insights should be used to fetch images for Reports of this type.
- Generic Icon: Placeholder image. If for some reason no image has been generated for the External Report of this type, the placeholder image selected in this field is going to be shown.
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Display Drill-through Link: Define if you want the BI tool URL appear in External Report Editor.
- Override Drill-through Link Text and Drill-Through Link Text: Define if you want to and provide the label for the BI tool URL.
- [Tableau only] Intermediate Page: Select "Tableau JWT" in case you want to use JSON Web Token Authentication for Tableau Plugin.
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Drill-Down Authentication: Specify whether drill-down authentication is to be enabled for the Plugin. If the user is authenticated on the server of the corresponding plugin, credentials will not be required to preview the report in MI Viewer.
- NOTE: This option is currently supported for Tableau, Power BI, and MI Portal Pages. To request it for other Plugins, contact Metric Insights support team at [email protected].
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Auto generate URL: Available for specific Plugins.
- If enabled, a link to the source of External Report in External Report Editor is going to be automatically generated based on the selections in the fields above.
- If disabled, a full URL must be provided manually.
- External URL Default Append: Specify additional parameters to be appended to the URL when a user drills through to the BI tool.
- Viewer URL Default Append: Specify additional parameters to be appended to the Viewer URL when External Report is configured for display in Viewer.
- Allow iframe Embedding: If disabled, restricts the ability to view External Report in iframe by hiding it in External Report Editor.
- Size Shall Respect Report's Aspect Ratio: Specify if the system should auto-adjust the iframe height depending on the size of the collected image.
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Display on Mobile App: Defines if External Report can be viewed in native apps on mobile devices.
- Enable Deep Link to BI Tool's Native Mobile App: Enables links that send users directly to a mobile app on tap. A limited number of tools are supported.
- Allow Report Notification Subscriptions: If disabled, the Notifications icon (envelope icon) will not be displayed in Report Viewer.
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[Tableau only] Enable Workbook Download Link: Enabling this setting will allow for downloading the source Tableau Workbook from Viewer.
- Download File Label: Provide an alternative label for the file download link, if needed.
- Allow PDF Download: If disabled, restricts downloading the External Report image as PDF by hiding this option from Viewer.
- Allow PowerPoint Download: If disabled, restricts downloading External Report as PPT by hiding this option from Viewer.
- Enable "Share" Link: If disabled, the Share icon will be hidden from Viewer.
- Crop Tall Images to Default Size: Specify if you want to crop images collected for Elements to default size (1200 х 600 px) if they are too tall to be properly displayed in Homepage tiles.
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[Tableau only] Pre-verify User Access through Tableau API: Enabling this setting allow Metric Insights to verify authorization to Plugin Element before trying to display it.
- NOTE: This option requires the Plugin to be configured correctly. See Set Discoverability & Custom Access Requests.
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Dimension usage pattern: Follow your BI tool's standards to embed Dimension Values into External URL.
- NOTE: This mechanism is used in rare cases when a BI tool does not support External Filter functionality, and must instead use Dimensions.
3. Plugin-Specific Settings
Tableau:
- Intermediate Page: Select "Tableau JWT" in case you want to use JSON Web Token Authentication for Tableau Plugin.
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Enable Workbook Download Link: Enabling this setting will allow for downloading the source Tableau Workbook from Viewer.
- Download File Label: Provide an alternative label for the file download link, if needed.
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Pre-verify User Access through Tableau API: Enabling this setting will allow Metric Insights to verify authorization to Plugin Element before trying to display it.
- NOTE: This option requires the Plugin be configured correctly. See Set Discoverability & Custom Access Requests.
Power BI:
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Display Tabs in Viewer: Specify if Power BI's tabs should be available on the left side of Viewer.
- NOTE: These tabs function in place of the Power BI tabs. If this setting is turned off, global/sticky filters will not work.
- Display Filter Pane: Specify if Power BI's Filter Pane should be available in Viewer.
- Display Action Bar: Specify if Power BI's Action Bar should be available in Viewer.
- Display Personal Bookmarks: Specify if Power BI's Personal Bookmarks should be available in Viewer.
Qlik Sense:
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Append dimension filter to External URL formatted for: Defines how Metric Insights will pass parameters (filters) to Qlik Sense in the URL – as a standard GET parameter (standard embedding) or by incorporating them into the URL (alternative).
- NOTE: To properly pass the parameters to Qlik Sense, select "alternative: pass as URL parameter to Qlik Sense UI".