Creating Exportable Flash DataPlayers (version 2.4+)

From version 2.4, Omniscope Professional and Enterprise Editions include the DataPlayer View, a combined tool and viewer that enables anyone to create exportable, interactive Flash .SWF files we call DataPlayers. Using the DataPlayer View, some or all of the data in the .IOK/.IOM project file can be encapsulated in an exportable 'dashboard' consisting of multiple interactive Flash files combining the data, dynamic visualisations and query devices. Users can interactively filter the data held within the DataPlayer in real time. For more information and examples of live DataPlayers, consult the DataPlayers section of the website.

DataPlayers can be embedded into offline documents and web pages with full interactivity, and do not require user to have the the Omniscope free Viewer installed. Refreshing the data in the Omniscope file, then updating the DataPlayer View will create a new exportable Flash 'dashboard' file, which can be posted to the web or exported into existing documents, over-writing the previous versions. Unfortunately, due to limitations in Flash, DataPlayers cannot be scaled up to include multi-millions of cells (rows x columns) as Omniscope .IOK/.IOM files can. Although the upper limit is increasing over time, currently it can be difficult to get good performance in DataPlayers with over about 15,000 rows. More on DataPlayer scaling and performance.

Adding a DataPlayer View

DataPlayer View is opened like any other, using the Add View menu on the main toolbar, or by switching from another view. Ticking the option Open in new window at the bottom of the Add View menu will allow you to manage the DataPlayer window independently.  It is good practise to create a separate Report Page tab for the DataPlayer View, which aids in creating the DataPlayer(s) and refreshing them later on.

Upon opening a DataPlayer View, Omniscope will attempt to generate a Bar View DataPlayer using the Filtered data (IN) data set and the Side Bar filter devices and ordering shown are replicated in the filter panel which by default is on the right side of the DataPlayer.  Using the menu items available on the View Toolbar, you can refine this opening DataPlayer, and add other DataPlayer View types, and change the Side Bar filter settings to influence the filter panel generated in the DataPlayer(s)

WARNING: If you have more than 10-15,000 records in the filtered IN data set, limitations in Flash may interfere with full rendering of the initial DataPlayer.  It is best to first define either an Aggregation or a Named Query (or both) such that the number of records to be encapsulated in the DataPlayers is reduced to under about 15,000 depending on row count.

Once the initial Bar View DataPlayer is generated, you will notice the various interactive elements of the DataPlayer. Clicking on the filters in the side panel reduces the record count, as displayed in the barometer at the bottom.  Clicking the Reset button restores all the records in the defined data set. Clicking on the details button displays (potentially aggregated) record level details (in an expandable table view) which opens at record level to display all fields as configured.

CAUTION: The DataPlayers displayed in the DataPlayer View are fully interactive, and thus it is possible to set filters, change selection drop-downs etc. just as end-users of the DataPlayer will. However, these changes are NOT PERSISTENT.  The next time the DataPlayer View is opened and the DataPlayer re-generated, all settings will revert to the settings established in the View Toolbar settings menus, described in detail in the in the DataPlayer View reference section.

DataPlayer View Toolbar overview

This section was a brief introduction to the process of creating and exporting DataPlayers from defined data and filter settings in your Omniscope files.  More detail on configuration options for all view types are available in the DataPlayer View reference section.

Next section: Connecting to remote data