With NetCharts Performance Dashboards you quickly bring together and calculate the data you want into Key Performance Indicators (KPI). A KPI defines the data values (referred to as Measures) and the data labels (referred to as Dimensions) that you want to view.

This part of the tutorial will guide you through creating KPI Collections based on the tables we created in the previous section. When using the Continue button from the Data Entities screen you will be presented with the Add KPI Collection panel with the Northwind data source selected.

Select public.order_details_ext from the Data Entity drop down menu and then rename the KPI Collection Name with a friendly presentable name, Sales. Uncheck the Auto-Generate box since we will configure the KPI Collection manually.
 

 
Click the Add button to generate the Collection.

HINT: Click the green plus sign, ,on the upper right hand corner of the Configure KPI Collections panel to add addition KPI collections.

Note:The red exclamation points, ,on the Measures tab signifies that the requisite number of fields has not been chosen. Once the appropriate number of fields has been chosen, the red exclamation point, ,will disappear.

Choosing KPI Measures

Once the KPI Collection has been generated, we need to choose our Measures, the specific data values we want to measure in our KPI.
 

 
Use the scroll bar in the Filter Parameters window, and locate the Final Order Price field (which is under Entity Label: order_details_ext), and click on Final Order Price. In the Options window, change the Name: field to read Total Sales, keep the Function as Sum of and click the Add button.
 

 
This will provide us with the total value of each order.
 
Next we want to count the number of orders and the number of products. To do this we will select the Order ID (under Entity Label: order_details_ext), change the Name to Number of Orders, set the Function to Count of unique, and click the Add button.
 
Next select the Product ID (under Entity Label: order_details_ext), change the Name to Number of Products , set the Function to Count of, and click the Add button.
 
Finally, we want to get the Average Unit Price by selecting Unit Price, changing the Name to Average Unit Price, set the Function to Average of,  and click the Add button.
 
Your KPI collection dialog should look like the following:
 

Choosing KPI Dimensions

Next we need to define the labels, known as Dimensions, for the data we selected by clicking the Dimensions tab.
 

 
Use the scroll bar in the Filter Parameters window, and locate the orderdate field from the ordersEntity. Select orderdate and then in the Options window change the Name to Date, then choose the Function Format as MMMYYYY (the default setting) from the drop down menu, and click the Add button.
 

 
Similarly, add the productname field and Name it Product Name. Then add the country field and Name it Country. Next locate and add the companyname field and Name it Company Name, locate and add region and Name it Region, and finally locate orderdate again, select MMDD as the format, and click the Add button.
 
Since we just added orderdate we want to give it a name and a new function, specifically Month Name. This is easy to do after you add values. Simply double click on the orderdate field in the Name column, and change the name of the field to Month. Next double click on the Format as MMDD field in the Function column and from the drop down select Month Name. A small red arrow in the upper left hand corner will appear to indicate the content has been changed.
 
Your Configure KPI Collections panel will look like the following:
 

Choosing KPI Filters

Next we will define the filters that can be used with the KPI. Click the Filter tab.
 

 
The Filter tab, used for adding filters, works the same as the other tabs. Now go ahead and add and rename the following fields. Simply rename the fields in the Name field of the Options window.

1. city renamed City
2. country renamed Country
3. customerid renamed Customer ID
4. region renamed Region
5. productname, renamed Product Name
6. orderdate, renamed Year and choose Year for the Function
7. orderdate, renamed Month and choose Month Name for the Function
8. orderdate, renamed Date and choose no (None) Function

Once you are done, your Filter tab will look as follows:
 

Choosing Drilldown Fields

Now we will select the data that will be displayed on the drilldown page from the KPI. To do this click the Drilldown Fields tab.
 

 
Using the same method up to this point, add and rename the following fields:

1. orderid renamed Order ID
2. companyname renamed Company Name
3. contactname renamed Contact Name
4. shipaddress, renamed Address
5. city renamed City
6. country renamed Country
7. orderdate, renamed Date and choose MMDDYY

Once you are done, your Drilldown Fields tab will look as follows:
 

 
Here we realize we would prefer to have the Date field as the first field. To move fields simply click on the Date field name and drag the Date field before the City field.

HINT: When dragging a field the mouse cursor will display a “1 selected row” message indicating the field was selected and being moved.

 
The final Drilldown Fields tab will look as follows:
 

 
At this point we have completed the process of creating a KPI. Click the Finish button to continue. The Configure KPI Collection panel will gray out and display a Please wait… message.
 

 
When the KPI collection is saved you will be returned to the Getting Started page.
 

 
You are now ready to create a dashboard.