Modifying Simply Ask Natural Language Query Generated Widgets with Scripting
Sisense's Simply Ask feature empowers users to create visualizations instantly by asking natural language questions, simplifying data exploration without needing technical expertise or manual widget configuration. This Natural Language Query (NLQ) capability accelerates data exploration and insights generation without needing to manually create new Sisense widgets through the standard UI for each question or data relationship of interest. However, these automatically generated widgets differ from standard widgets in that they do not trigger typical widget scripting events, which poses a challenge for applying custom modifications. This limitation can hinder the application of standard dashboard and widget scripting customizations directly to these widgets. Fortunately, it is possible to modify NLQ-generated widgets programmatically by using JavaScript to manipulate the HTML of the fully rendered widgets without relying on Sisense-specific widget scripting events. This approach involves observing changes in the Simply Ask modal DOM and applying custom code when new widgets are rendered. This article explores how to implement such customizations, providing code examples and notes to help customize NLQ-generated Simply Ask widgets.UserReplaceTool - Automating Dashboard Ownership Transfers - Useful for Deleting User Accounts
Managing and deleting user accounts in Sisense can create manual processes when users leave an organization or change roles. A frequent issue is the reassignment of dashboard ownership to prevent losing Sisense dashboards when a given user account is deleted, as deleting a Sisense user will delete all dashboards owned by that user. The UserReplaceTool addresses this task by automating the transfer of dashboard ownership of all dashboards owned by a given user, ensuring continuity and data integrity. UserReplaceTool is a Python-based, API-based Tool solution designed to seamlessly transfer the ownership of dashboards and data models from one user to another in Sisense. This tool simplifies and automates this process, allowing organizations to reassign dashboard ownership without manual processes or the risk of losing dashboards and widgets. All components are accomplished by using Sisense API endpoint requests.Quickly Add Unique Identifier to Blox Action Buttons Without Modifying Blox Template
A customer recently had the unusual request for a method to select and distinguish, via a CSS selector used within a custom Javascript action, for a specific Blox buttons in a existing Blox widget that contained multiple identical buttons, identical in inner text and all other parameters, without adding any new lines to the Blox template to add unique identifiers.Using "useGetWidgetModel" to Embed an Existing widget in ComposeSDK
Loading Widget Metadata with the useGetWidgetModel function Leveraging the useGetWidgetModel ComposeSDK function provides a middle ground way of embedding existing Sisense widgets. It allows automating return of widget metadata from an existing Sisense widget, facilitating dynamic modifications within ComposeSDK. This method balances somewhat the autonomy of entirely recreating a widget as a native ComposeSDK widget and rendering a widget directly as a Dashboard Widget.Converting an Existing Sisense Widget to a Dynamic ComposeSDK Widget Component
Using either the widget Sisense API's, or the Sisense widget JS API object, it is possible to determine all components and parameters of a widget required to create an equivalent dynamic ComposeSDK widget component. This approach allows the extraction of all components and parameters of a widget, enabling the creation of an equivalent dynamic ComposeSDK widget component without directly referencing or relying on a specific widget or dashboard ID. The metadata of an existing widget contains all the information needed to create a dynamic version of an existing Sisense widget. It is also possible to use an existing widget ID and dashboard ID to render an existing widget in ComposeSDK, but this does not take full advantage of the capabilities of ComposeSDK to generate new widgets directly.Solutions to commonly found issues when setting up a new Sisense ComposeSDK project during beta
Solutions to commonly found issues when setting up a new Sisense ComposeSDK project during beta The first two solutions involve issues with installing ComposeSDK dependencies during the beta period while the ComposeSDK dependencies are hosted on GitHub, and GitHub is the preferred method for access. When ComposeSDK exits the beta period, the dependencies will be available on other sources that will not require a custom authentication token. Problem - Errors when installing Compose SDK dependencies from GitHub Solution - Make sure a GitHub token is active in your environment configuration, and that your GitHub account is fully active and accessible. If a custom GitHub token is used, ensure the custom token has "Read Repository" permission. Alternatively, you can use a standard full-access GitHub token. Make certain the entire token is included when copied into the terminal. Problem - SSL errors when downloading ComposeSDK dependencies from GitHub Solution - When downloading from a VPN network, you may experience this error. You can resolve this by making the following npm config change with this command: npm config set strict-ssl false In Yarn, the equivalent command is: yarn config set "strict-ssl" false -g Problem - CORS errors in the browser console when connecting to a Sisense server with ComposeSDK Solution - Add the hosting domain to the Admin > Security Settings page. Also, make sure CORS is enabled. A common issue is a trailing slash at the end of the URL when copied from the URL directly; these must be removed when setting CORS exemptions. Include the first part of a domain (the subdomain, such as subdomain.domain.com) as well as the port number if included. Anything in the URL after the first slash is not required and is not part of the domain. Problem - Sisense authentication errors when connecting to a Sisense server with ComposeSDK Solution - Do not include "Bearer" at the beginning of the token parameter; this is not required in ComposeSDK and is added automatically by ComposeSDK. When "Bearer" is present explicitly, it will be repeated twice in the header. Make sure the entire token is copied and test the token using a program such as Postman or Curl and any documented Sisense API if you are unsure if the token is valid.Update and add new Highcharts modules for use in Sisense plugins
Update and add new Highcharts modules for use in Sisense plugins The JavaScript library framework Highcharts is natively included in Sisense and is utilized in many native Sisense widgets as well as in numerous Sisense plugins. Although Sisense typically does not alter the Sisense Highcharts library version with every release, the versions of Highcharts included in Sisense may change when upgrading to a new major version release. Highcharts can load additional chart types and other types of functionality via JS module files that contain code-adding features such as additional chart types, which can be used within plugins along with additional code to create additional widget types. If a plugin utilizes a Highcharts module, you can source the module directly in the "plugin.json" file's source parameter, as shown in this example: "source": [ "HighchartModule.js", ], To determine the current Highcharts version being used in your Sisense version, you can use the "Highcharts" command in the web console while viewing any page on your Sisense server. After identifying the current Highcharts version, you can find the corresponding module hosted on the Highcharts code hosting website using the following URL format: https://code.highcharts.com/${Highcharts_Version}/modules/${module_name}.js For example: https://code.highcharts.com/6.0.4/modules/heatmap.js You can save this module and upload it to the plugin folder or replace the older module JS file simply by copying and pasting the code directly. Be sure to update the "plugin.json" file to point to the new module file if the file name has changed or if this is the first time the module is included. Simply sourcing the module file in the "plugin.json" file is sufficient to load the module into Highcharts; no further code is required to load the module.
