business-intelligencetibcospotfireweb-content

Sportfire - display with external information


I recently use TIBCO Spotfire running with desktop version 6.5.

For data display, I would like to know whether it is possible to display external information (web page or web-enabled content) in a tab with analysed data. For example, an analysis tab can include map charts, raw data table, Google search page, blog, articles, and videos from web all together in a tab.

I do not know how to add or embed those web-enabled content/windows with some analysed data already, and to display them together within a single tab.

The reason I do this is because I wish those external information can be put as a reference by the side of analysed data. The external information is not necessarily interacted with the analysed data, and just for referencing purpose.


Solution

  • Your best bet is probably to get in contact with your Spotfire sales rep and ask about if and how you could get access to JSViz -- this is a framework/visualization component provided by their Professional Services to run HTML and Javascript inside Spotfire Desktop.

    The heavy weight alternative would be write something like this yourself using the C# extension APIs (i.e., a custom visualization component that more or less just contains an embedded Web Browser).

    A light weight alternative might be to just have Spotfire link to the Web page you want and have it opened in a regular browser that then has its own window (rather than a tab within Spotfire Desktop). You can do such links in many visualization components (e.g., in tables you can set a column to be a link) or you can use a TextArea with a script button that has a small IronPython script attached that starts the Web Browser.

    The Spotfire Blog also has a couple of more tips of what you can do with the TextArea to display external information there.

    Finally, consider if deploying your DXP to WebPlayer and doing a full-scale JavaScript Mash-Up there could be an alternative.