Dashboard BuilderTM for Microsoft® AccessTM

     Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Can I use Dashboard BuilderTM in products I sell?
Absolutely.  Please purchase the Dashboard Builder Redistribution license, which grants you unlimited license to package UI Builder within your own applications.  You must maintain all OpenGate Software copyright notices, however.  Contact us for pricing at orders@opengatesw.net

Configuring Dashboard Builder

Can I embed Dashboard Builder in my own database?
Yes.  When you launch the full version of Dashboard Builder, you will be asked whether you would like to add Dashboard Builder directly to your own Access database (rather than just linking tables). You can embed dashboards within your own forms, or just launch them from within your own Access database.

Can I use the same configuration for multiple users that have my database on different PCs?
Yes.  Refer to the UI Builder tip "How to deploy user-level menus using a single back-end database."

SQL Where Statements

Where can I learn about creating SQL statements?
OpenGate Software recommends you begin with a free online tutorials, a few are listed below:  http://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_where.asp


Why does Dashboard Builder change my quotation marks and wildcard characters after I enter them?

Dashboard Builder changes " to ' and * to % to be compatible with the data access components used to collect your datThis is a normal part of Dashboard Builder's operation and should not be cause for concern.

Can I create metrics that join multiple tables?

You will need to first create and save a query that joins the tables you need, then create a metric that uses that query as the Data Source.

Deploying as a runtime file
Can I deploy Dashboard Builder to users with a runtime version of Access?
Yes, Dashboard Builder is fully compatible with the as a runtime database, which can help cut down on the number of Access licenses you need.  

Deploying with Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL Server

Can I deploy Dashboard Builder with an Access database linked to Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL?
Yes.  Dashboard Builder is compatible with linked tables connected to Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL databases.  Please note that Dashboard Builder is not compatible with ADP format databases, which interoperate with Microsoft SQL Server databases in a vastly different manner than linked tables.

Troubleshooting

I am using a query with a dashboard metric, and no data is returned.
If you are using a "Like" SQL statement that uses the wildcard character *, please change your SQL statement in the query you are referencing to the following:  "WHERE [YOURFIELD] LIKE '*SOMETHING' OR [YOURFIELD] LIKE '%SOMETHING'"  You must add both the * and % forms of the Where clause for the query to behave as expected both when you open it directly, and when it is used by Dashboard Builder.