Introduction

Data visualization may be the most important topic when we are talking about dashboard creation. It enables us to view data, compare values, and make analyses in a clear and effective way. A dashboard is the ideal platform to present these visualizations.

Data can be presented in a graphical way; for example, with lines, bars, colored areas, gauges, or just with a simple red/green indicator. But on the other hand, in some cases, it may be more effective to use a simple list of values instead of these graphs. This totally depends on the purpose of the dashboard.

SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards provides a great toolkit with lots of visualization components. This chapter will discuss these components and show you how to use them.