Ensuring Accurate PDF Export Headers When Programmatically Modifying Dashboard Filters in Sisense
When working with Sisense dashboards, programmatically modifying filters upon dashboard load via dashboard scripts for a specific user or circumstance is possible. However, an issue can sometimes occur when exporting these dashboards to PDF immediately after such modifications: the filter header displayed at the top of the exported PDF displaying the current dashboard filter state may not accurately reflect the current state of the dashboard filters. This article explains the cause of this issue and presents a solution to ensure that PDF exports display the correct filter information in the header.
Introducing Sisense Fusion 2021.11 — Easy-to-use UI, seamless installations, and More!
Dig into the latest features to discover what the new features in Sisense’s analytics platform can do for you. Learn how to install Sisense using Provisioner and Helm, copy theme identifiers, define a time for support access users, and test email server configuration.
Add SQL Charts from Notebooks to a Dashboard
Sisense is happy to announce added functionality that allows users to add SQL charts to a Dashboard directly from Notebooks. This update significantly reduces the steps required to share insights and eliminates task switching between Notebooks, Dashboards, and Models while maintaining data security and data continuity.Connection Tool - Programmatically Remove Unused Datasource Connections, and List All Connections
Managing connections within your Sisense environment can become complex over time, if there are a large number of connections, and connections are often added, and replace earlier datasource connections. In some scenarios unused connections can accumulate, potentially cluttering the connection manager UI with no longer relevant connections. Although unused connections typically represent minimal direct security risk, it's considered best practice to maintain a clean, organized list of connections, and in some scenarios it can be desired to remove all unused connections. Sisense prevents the deletion of connections actively used in datasources, safeguarding your dashboards and datasources from disruptions. However, inactive or "orphaned" connections remain after datasources are deleted or a connection is replaced, potentially contributing to unnecessary UI complexity in the connection manager UI. Connections can be of any type Sisense supports, common types include various SQL connections, Excel files, and CSV files, as well as many data providers, such as Big Panda. This tool can also be used to list all connections, with no automatic deletion of unused connections.Customizing the Sisense User Interface with Interactive Buttons and Icons
Sisense plugins and scripts enable extensive customization of the Sisense user interface, allowing developers to add interactive elements such as buttons and icons to enhance functionality and user experience. A common use case of plugins involves adding clickable icons or buttons that trigger specific plugin features or open custom UI elements. This article outlines the process for adding these interactive elements using a practical example.Loading Amchart5 and Other External Libraries via Script Tags in Plugins
This article explains how to load external libraries, such as Amchart5, into Sisense plugins by dynamically adding script tags to the page header to load the library. This method can avoid potential issues associated with other loading techniques but also offers flexibility such as using an external CDN to reduce plugin size and file count. Previous articles have discussed how to load external libraries and modules for Sisense plugins via adding the file to the plugin folder, and adding the file to the "source" parameter array in the plugin.json.Passing Filters via URL Parameters for Dashboards with Separate Datasources
Sisense includes a native included feature and format for passing URL filters via URL parameters, as documented here. By default, this functionality copies filters in full, including the datasource parameter of the filter, and includes every filter automatically. It results in very long URL's, and includes many parameters that are not always required, as the full filter object is included. Previous Knowledge Base articles articles have discussed how similar behavior can be recreated customized via scripting for more flexible usage. However, those approaches applied only to member-type filters, excluding other filter types and multi-level dependent filters. The code shared below demonstrates a more flexible filter modification via URL modification approach. It includes both creating URL parameters and reading URL parameters for filter modification, whether this code is in a script or plugin. This method applies to all filter types and can be used to transfer filters between dashboards using different datasources. This code works in both dashboard and widget scripts as well as plugins. If your datasources use different dimension names, this code can be adopted to map and match the aligned dimensions.Redirect users to different dashboards based on dashboard filters
This article discusses and shares the full code of a dashboard script that redirects users to a different dashboard ID based on the user's filter selections or initial loaded filter state. In the particular example shared in this article, the script checks whether the selected date filter (either from a members filter or a from/to filter range) includes an earlier date than the earliest date in the current dashboard's datasource. If this is the case, the script redirects the user to a specified alternate dashboard, preserving any additional URL segments and query parameters in the URL. Any other type of filter state can also be used to determine on when the script should redirect, including non-date filters using similar scripts.Plugin - RemoveImageDownload - Removing Items From Sisense Menus
This article discusses a plugin (and an equivalent dashboard script) that removes the “Download as Image” option from Sisense menus. This same approach can be applied to remove any other menu option in Sisense by adjusting the relevant code. Organizations may want to hide or remove specific menu items for several reasons: Security: Prevent certain menu options from being used. Enforcing Best Practices: Remove menu items not used in the standard recommended workflow Streamlined UI: Hide unused menu items to simplify the user experience. Plugin Overview RemoveImageDownload plugin removes the “Download Image” option from all standard Sisense menus which include the:Plugin CustomMultiLevelFilter - Modify Filter Reset Behavior of Multi-level Dashboard Filters
Plugin – CustomMultiLevelFilter – Modify Filter Reset Behavior of Multi-Level Dashboard Filters This article discusses a plugin and equivalent dashboard script that override how Sisense default handles changes to multi-level dashboard filters. By default, Sisense automatically resets all lower filter levels to “Include All” whenever a higher-level filter is changed. This is intended to ensure that the combined effect of multiple levels always returns non-zero results. However, this behavior is not always preferred, especially if there are many levels in the filter and reapplying each level’s previous state is time-consuming. This plugin addresses that by preserving lower-level filter settings whenever a higher-level filter changes, reverting the Sisense-forced resets that occur automatically. Plugin Overview The CustomMultiLevelFilter plugin equivalent dashboard script intercepts Sisense’s forced “Include All” resets in multi-level member filters. It differentiates genuine user-initiated changes from automated resets. Once installed, the plugin listens for filter changes, identifies whether the changes are user-driven or automated reset, and reverts the automated filter changes ones. The main javascript file in the plugin, main.6.js can be used unmodified as a dashboard script, the code can simply be copied as a standard dashboard script as an alternative to the plugin. Key Behaviors Detect & Revert Lower-Level Resets: When a higher-level filter is updated, Sisense sets lower filters to “Include All.” The plugin prevents this and restores the previously selected members or exclude settings if it identifies a forced reset scenario. Timing Threshold: A configurable time window allows the plugin to classify filter changes that arrive quickly (and change only to “Include All”) as Sisense-forced resets rather than genuine user actions. Temporary Plugin Pause for “Reset Filters”: If the user explicitly clicks the Reset Filters button, the plugin stops reverting changes for a short window, ensuring that a intended full filter reset to the default state. Below is the README file included with the plugin, which details installation steps, configuration, and known limitations. # Custom Multi-Level Filter Revert Plugin ## Description This plugin detects and reverts Sisense’s automatic “forced resets” on multi-level filters to lower-level filters when a higher-level filter is changed, preserving only genuine, intentional user filter changes. When a higher-level filter is switched from membership to another membership or to **Include All**, Sisense may automatically reset lower-level filters to **Include All**. This plugin reverts those lower-level filters back to their previous member or exclude state. If the **Reset Filters** button is clicked, the plugin deactivates its revert logic for a short interval, allowing the reset to occur without plugin intervention. A timing threshold is provided to accommodate delayed Sisense queries (JAQL calls) that might trigger a secondary filter-change event. If a second event arrives within that threshold and sets only member filters to **Include All**, it is treated as an automatic forced reset rather than a user-driven change. ## Installation 1. **Download the plugin:** - Extract the compressed archive to `/opt/sisense/storage/plugins/` - Or, in **Admin > System Management > File Management**, upload the extracted folder to the `plugins` directory. 2. **Wait for the plugin to load.** 3. **Refresh the dashboard.** ## Configuration Two time-related variables, defined near the top of the main JavaScript file, influence this plugin’s behavior: 1. **autoResetThresholdMS** (initial default: 3000) Sets how long after the first filter change event a second event is considered a forced reset. Any filters changed from membership to **Include All** within this period are reverted. 2. **resetButtonIgnoreMS** (initial default: 500) Defines how long revert logic is ignored after the **Reset Filters** button is clicked. This ensures an intentional complete filter reset to the dashboard default filters is not reversed by the plugin. These values can be adjusted to accommodate different JAQL response times and user interaction patterns. If a dashboard has the dashboard object parameter `dashboard.disableFilterPlugin` set to true, the plugin will be disabled on this dashboard. This can be placed in the dashboard script. ## Limitations - The plugin only affects multi-level filters. Single-level filters are not altered. - The plugin specifically manages member-type multi-level filters and is not designed for other types of filters. - Reloading the dashboard clears stored filter states, causing any accumulated data of filter states stored by this plugin to be lost for the new session. - Adjusting `autoResetThresholdMs` involves a tradeoff. A higher value may risk treating rapid user actions as forced resets, while a lower value may allow some actual Sisense-forced resets to slip through. - Sisense can issue multiple query results in quick succession for multiple levels, causing filters to be attempted to be set to **Include All** several times within the threshold. The plugin will detect and revert these resets repeatedly, which is normal for multiple asynchronous JAQL calls in sequence. - The plugin does not block intentional user actions to set a filter to **Include All**. Only resets matching the time-based criteria are reverted. How the Code Works Below is a brief walkthrough of the main JavaScript logic included in the plugin: Plugin Initialization The code runs inside the prism.on("dashboardloaded", ...) event functions, ensuring it only applies once the Sisense dashboard is fully loaded. It sets up two timestamps—lastFilterChangeTimestamp and resetButtonClickedTimestamp—used to track recent filter changes and reset-button clicks. Event Handlers initialized: Captures the initial state (instanceid + levels) of every multi-level filter. This provides a baseline for comparison whenever filters are changed. filterschanged: The core logic: If the Reset Filters button was clicked recently (within resetButtonIgnoreMs ms), the plugin skips the revert logic (letting the user’s reset stand). Otherwise, the plugin checks how long since the last filter change: If the change occured within autoResetThresholdMs, and all changed levels went resetting from a “member” selection to “Include All,” the plugin classifies it as a forced reset and reverts to the old state. If exactly one filter level changed, it is assumed to be a genuine user action, so no filter change is performed. If multiple levels are changed at the same instant, only the earliest changed level is kept, and any subsequent levels changed to “Include All” are reverted. Storing & Updating State After reverting (or confirming) changes, the code updates a global window.oldFilterStates object so that the next filterschanged event knows the final “current” filter state. If the dashboard is reloaded, this state is not preserved, and the plugin starts over with loaded filter state. This is identical to standard Sisense filter behavior. Usage of autoResetThresholdMs This threshold helps differentiate between genuine user actions and Sisense’s auto-resets. If Sisense triggers a forced reset a few seconds after the original user action (due to slow JAQL calls or large data sets), it still arrives within the threshold and gets reverted automatically. Working with the Reset Button The user may want to revert all filters back to the set default filter state. Clicking the Reset Filters button triggers a short ignore window (resetButtonIgnoreMs). During this period, the plugin allows any Sisense-forced resets to persist, ensuring the user’s explicit intention of a full reset is honored. Example Code Snippets Detecting Multi-Level Filters // Filters that have multiple levels (item.levels) // are tracked by storing their instanceid and level states if (item.levels && item.levels.length) { window.oldFilterStates[i] = { instanceid: item.instanceid, levels: JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(item.levels)) }; } Classifying Filter States function getFilterType(filterObj) { if (!filterObj) return "none"; if (filterObj.all) { return "all"; } if ( (filterObj.members && filterObj.members.length > 0) || (filterObj.exclude && filterObj.exclude.members && filterObj.exclude.members.length > 0) ) { return "member"; } return "none"; } Reverting Forced Resets The updateDashboard function is discussed in detail in this community article. if (timeSinceLastChange < autoResetThresholdMs) { // Check if all changed levels are member -> all if (allAreMemberToAll) { // Revert them changedLevelIndices.forEach(function (lvl) { newLevels[lvl].filter = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(oldLevels[lvl].filter)); }); // Update Sisense args.dashboard.$dashboard.updateDashboard(args.dashboard, ["filters"]); args.dashboard.refresh(); } } Using This Plugin as a Basis for Your Own This plugin combines custom JavaScript logic and Sisense’s plugin framework to alter default behavior. It can serve as a template for other Sisense plugins that need to: Listen for Sisense events such as initialized or filterschanged. Maintain custom state across events. Conditionally override or revert Sisense UI actions. Apply custom CSS or logic to the Sisense UI elements. With Sisense’s open plugin architecture, this approach can be adapted to create specialized behaviors for filters, widgets, or dashboards. The CustomMultiLevelFilter plugin addresses a frequently requested feature: preserving lower-level filters when higher-level filters change. By leveraging Sisense’s event hooks and carefully distinguishing user actions from forced resets, it gives users greater control over multi-level filtering scenarios—especially in dashboards with deep hierarchies or many filter levels. [ALT text: A digital interface displaying product details, including fields for Brand (ABC), Category (GPS Devices), Quantity (1), Age Range (35-44), and Visit ID (45698). The text is highlighted in yellow against a white background.] [ALT text: A user interface display showing a form with fields labeled "Brand," "Category," "Quantity," "Age Range," and "Visit ID." The brand is listed as "ABC," the category is "GPS Devices," the quantity is "1," the age range is "35-44," and the visit ID is "45698." Various fields are highlighted in yellow, and there is an edit icon visible in the corner.] How did the plugin work for you? What other type of plugin are you looking to learn more about? Let me know in the comments!
