Spreadsheet widgets

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Spreadsheet example

This page is about the spreadsheet data-driven widgets included into Elementi 2018 and later. For previous versions, see links below.

Introduction

Spreadsheets are commonly used to store data in tabular form (i.e data cells arranged into rows and columns), like sport scores, employee birthdays, production results, price lists, poll results, restaurant menus, etc. The spreadsheet widgets can be used to display the content of such files within digital signage projects.

Starting with Elementi 2018, you can now seamlessly integrate your SharePoint lists and Excel graphs on your displays. This helps you share more of your data in a meaningful way with just the right audience.

The following spreadsheet data source types (further called "channels") are supported:

  • CSV spreadsheet file
    This is a delimited text file that uses a comma (though other separators can be used as well) to separate values. Almost all spreadsheets and database management systems can export data as CSV file - some examples include: Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, OpenOffice.org Calc, LibreOffice Calc, Numbers (spreadsheet), etc. The CSV file can either be imported into the Elementi project (total autonomy) or be located on a web server and retrieved from there by the HMP via Ethernet; it cannot be located on your PC or on a network shared folder.
  • Google Sheets
    This is part of a free, web-based software office suite offered by Google within its Google Drive service. The suite allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating with other users in real-time. The Google Sheet data is retrieved from Google servers by the HMP via Ethernet.
  • Microsoft Excel file
    This is part of the Microsoft Office suite of applications, servers, and services developed by Microsoft; a web-based version is also available. Both newer and older Excel file formats are supported as data source. The data is retrieved by Elementi from the Excel source file and included (in CSV format) with the content at the time of publish on the HMP; to synchronize further changes within the Excel file, you need to re-publish the project on the HMP. The Excel file itself cannot be used by the HMP, thus it cannot be imported into the Elementi project, nor be referenced from a web server.
    A tutorial about how to display an Excel file is available.
  • Excel Online
    This is part of the Microsoft Office Online suite of applications, servers, and services developed by Microsoft; This allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating with other users in real-time. Only xlsx online documents are supported.
    The Excel Online data is retrieved from Microsoft servers by the HMP via Ethernet.
  • SharePoint Online Lists (added in Elementi 2018)
    This is part of the Microsoft SharePoint Online platform that integrates with Microsoft Office 365. A list in SharePoint Online is a collection of data that gives you and your co-workers a flexible way to organize items, create calendars, to-do lists, and time lines. The SharePoint Online List data is retrieved from Microsoft servers by the HMP via Ethernet

Video tutorials

Spreadsheet widgets

Under the "Spreadsheets" folder of Elementi 2018 Widgets tab, you can find many widgets that automatically display data extracted from a spreadsheet data source:

Spreadsheet widgets in Elementi 2018
  • Menu
    Displays a menu based on data retrieved from a CSV spreadsheet, a google sheet, and Excel file or Excel online.
  • Media Menu
    Displays a menu with images based on data retrieved from a CSV spreadsheet, a google sheet, and Excel file or Excel online.
  • Price List
    Displays some price list based on data retrieved from a CSV spreadsheet, a google sheet, and Excel file or Excel online.
  • Way Finding
    Displays some way finding information based on data retrieved from a CSV spreadsheet, a google sheet, and Excel file or Excel online.
  • Opening Hours, Today Opening Hours
    Displays opening hours.svg information based on data retrieved from a CSV spreadsheet, a google sheet, and Excel file or Excel online.
  • Text Bar
    Displays text content using a fixed number of lines and applying a bottom-to-top & line-by-line scrolling effect whenever the entire text doesn't fit into the widget area.
  • Text Ticker
    Displays text content using a continuous horizontal scrolling effect. The font size is adjusted automatically for the text to fit into the widget area.
  • Text Roll
    Displays text content using a continuous vertical scrolling effect. The font size is adjusted automatically for the selected number of lines to fit into the predefined area.
  • Slideshow
    Displays slides composed of text & media layers, which are automatically filled out with data retrieved from the CSV spreadsheet. The slides are displayed one after another, with or without a transition effect in between, similarly to a playlist.
  • Horizontal Table, Vertical Table, Table, and Grouped Table
    Displays slides composed of multiple cells of text & media layers, which are automatically filled out with data retrieved from the CSV spreadsheet. The slides are displayed one after another, with or without a transition effect in between, similarly to a playlist.
  • Chart (added in Elementi 2018)
    Extracts charts created within Excel and displays them as images.
Note Notes:
  • For proper display of the data, make sure that the spreadsheet file is encoded using UTF-8 - otherwise, non-Latin characters might not display correctly.
  • These widgets can only be used on a single screen when creating multiscreen content.

Configuration

Each of the widgets above can be customized using the options provided under "Properties" tab - for more details, go to the dedicated page of each widget type, linked above.

"Data Properties" dialog for spreadsheet widgets - CVS file channel

To edit the properties related to the data source, click the Data Properties button. This opens the "Data Properties" dialog, which offers the following parameters:

  • Channel
    Select the spreadsheet data source type between:
  • URI
    Enter the URI to the CSV file.
  • Account, Workbook, Sheet
    Select the workbook and the sheet containing the data to retrieve.
  • Refresh
    Specify the period after which the widget should refresh the spreadsheet data - either select one of the provided options ("When document opens", 5m, 10m, ... , 24h) or enter a number, optionally followed by s (implicit), m or h; the minimum accepted value is 60 seconds. Using "When document opens" will refresh the data only when the widget is re-opened.
    This parameter is useful especially when the widget is running in a loop.
    For Excel File, this is set to "On publish" and cannot be changed.

The following parameters are not available for the SharePoint Online channel:

  • Cell range
    Enable this option and specify the range of cells (e.g., A1:B3) to be kept from the data set.
  • Transpose
    Enable this to convert a vertical range of cells to a horizontal range, or vice versa.
  • The table has a header
    Specify whether the first row of data contains the column headers.
  • Specify output
    Enable this when the spreadsheet file does not have column headers on the first row, and enter the column names and their index in the table below.
Note Note:
The data source configuration can be tested by clicking on the "Test..." button.

CSV File channel

"Data Properties" dialog for spreadsheet widgets - CVS file channel

When the channel option is set to "CSV File", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the following parameters:

  • Channel, Refresh, Cell range, Transpose, The table has a header, Specify output
    See details above.
  • URI
    Enter the URI to the CSV file - this can be a local path into the project or a remote HTTP(S) address.
  • Separator
    Select the column separator used within the CSV data, from the following: comma (,), semicolon (;), pipe (|) and tab.
  • CSV fields are not quoted
    Enable this when the data fields inside the CSV file are not quoted. When not checked, automatic quote detection is done.

Excel File channel

Note  
Added in Elementi 2016. Using this channel requires that the Excel application is installed on the PC.
"Data Properties" dialog for spreadsheet widgets - Excel file channel

When the channel option is set to "Excel File", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the following parameters:

  • Channel, Cell range, Transpose, The table has a header, Specify output
    See details above.
  • Workbook
    Click on the browse button and select the Excel file to import.
  • Sheet
    Select the workbook sheet containing the data to import.
  • Refresh
    This is set to "On publish" and cannot be changed.
Note Note:
The local changes to the Excel file cannot be automatically synchronized on the HMP - the spreadsheet data is retrieved from the Excel source file and included with the content at the time of publish on the HMP; to synchronize further changes within the Excel file, you need to re-publish the project on the player.

Google Sheets channel

Note  
Added in Elementi 2016.
"Data Properties" dialog for spreadsheet widgets - Google sheet channel

When the channel option is set to "Google Sheets", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the following parameters:

  • Channel, Refresh, Cell range, Transpose, The table has a header, Specify output
    See details above.
  • Account
    Select one of the connected Google accounts, or click "Connect account..." if none was previously connected.
  • Workbook
    Click on the browse button and select the Google sheet to use.
  • Sheet
    Select the sheet containing the data to import.
Security is a fundamental element to consider when giving access to your personal data and we've created our data-driven widgets with that in mind. To ensure secure access and permission control, without exposing any user credentials, Cockpit must authorize any request for third-party data. For that, you need to do the following:
  1. Create a Cockpit account, if you don't have one.
  2. Register your Elementi license into your Cockpit account.
  3. Add your players into your Cockpit account.
  4. Connect your Google account to your Cockpit account.
See more about secure data access.

Google channel connection

When selecting this channel in the "Data Properties" dialog, your existing Google accounts are automatically retrieved from Cockpit and displayed in the "Account" drop-down box. If you need to connect a new account, follow these steps:

  1. Select "Connect account..." option .
  2. Click the link displayed within the "Connect account..." dialog to open it in a browser.
  3. If you are not signed into your Cockpit account, you are asked to do that.
  4. Cockpit then checks that your Elementi license is registered into your Cockpit account; if not, you are asked to do that.
  5. You are then redirected to the Google website. Log into your account there, if you are not already.
  6. Then, you need to authorize the SpinetiX app to access the specified information of your Google account.
  7. Once done, you are redirected back to Cockpit channels page and you can find your account listed under "Connected Accounts".
  8. Then, return to Elementi and click the "OK" button within the "Connect Account..." dialog.
  9. The list of accounts is refreshed and you can select the new one from the "Account" drop-down box.
Note Note:
The Google account can be disconnected at any time from Cockpit from the "Channels" page.

Excel Online channel

Note  
Added in Elementi 2017.
"Data Properties" dialog for spreadsheet widgets - Excel Online channel

When the channel option is set to "Excel Online", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the following parameters:

  • Channel
    Select the spreadsheet data source type between "Excel File", "CSV File" (default), and "Google Sheets".
  • Account
    Select one of the connected Microsoft online accounts, or click "Connect account..." if none was previously connected.
  • Workbook
    Click on the "Change..." button to browse your OneDrive account and select the Excel sheet to use.
  • Sheet
    Select the sheet containing the data to import.
  • Refresh
    Specify the period after which the widget should refresh the spreadsheet data (this is useful especially when the widget is running in a loop); either select one of the provided options ("When document opens", 5m, 10m, ... , 24h) or enter a number, optionally followed by s (implicit), m or h; the minimum accepted value is 60 seconds. Using "When document opens" will refresh the data only when the document is re-opened.
  • Cell range, Transpose, The table has a header, Specify output
    Same as above.
Security is a fundamental element to consider when giving access to your personal data and we've created our data-driven widgets with that in mind. To ensure secure access and permission control, without exposing any user credentials, Cockpit must authorize any request for third-party data. For that, you need to do the following:
  1. Create a Cockpit account, if you don't have one.
  2. Register your Elementi license into your Cockpit account.
  3. Add your players into your Cockpit account.
  4. Connect your Microsoft Online account to your Cockpit account.
See more about secure data access.

Microsoft Online channel connection

When selecting this channel in the "Data Properties" dialog, your existing Microsoft Online accounts are automatically retrieved from Cockpit and displayed in the "Account" drop-down box. If you need to connect a new account, follow these steps:

  1. Select "Connect account..." option .
  2. Click the link displayed within the "Connect account..." dialog to open it in a browser.
  3. If you are not signed into your Cockpit account, you are asked to do that.
  4. Cockpit then checks that your Elementi license is registered into your Cockpit account; if not, you are asked to do that.
  5. You are then redirected to the Microsoft Online website. Log into your account there, if you are not already.
  6. Then, you need to authorize the SpinetiX app to access the specified information of your Microsoft Online account.
  7. Once done, you are redirected back to Cockpit channels page and you can find your account listed under "Connected Accounts".
  8. Then, return to Elementi and click the "OK" button within the "Connect Account..." dialog.
  9. The list of accounts is refreshed and you can select the new one from the "Account" drop-down box.
Note Note:
The Microsoft Online account can be disconnected at any time from Cockpit from the "Channels" page.

SharePoint Online

Note  
Added in Elementi 2018.
"Data Properties" dialog for spreadsheet widgets - SharePoint Online channel

When the channel option is set to "SharePoint Online", the "Data Properties" dialog offers the following parameters:

  • Channel, Refresh
    See details above.
  • Account
    Select one of the connected Microsoft online accounts, or click "Connect account..." if none was previously connected.
  • Site
    Click the "Change..." button to search and select the SharePoint site to use.
  • List
    Select the list containing the data to retrieve.
Security is a fundamental element to consider when giving access to your personal data and we've created our data-driven widgets with that in mind. To ensure secure access and permission control, without exposing any user credentials, Cockpit must authorize any request for third-party data. For that, you need to do the following:
  1. Create a Cockpit account, if you don't have one.
  2. Register your Elementi license into your Cockpit account.
  3. Add your players into your Cockpit account.
  4. Connect your SharePoint Online account to your Cockpit account.
See more about secure data access.

SharePoint Online channel connection

When selecting this channel in the "Data Properties" dialog, your existing Microsoft Online accounts are automatically retrieved from Cockpit and displayed in the "Account" drop-down box. If you need to connect a new account, follow these steps:

  1. Select "Connect account..." option .
  2. Click the link displayed within the "Connect account..." dialog to open it in a browser.
  3. If you are not signed into your Cockpit account, you are asked to do that.
  4. Cockpit then checks that your Elementi license is registered into your Cockpit account; if not, you are asked to do that.
  5. You are then redirected to the Microsoft Online website. Log into your account there, if you are not already.
  6. Then, you need to authorize the SpinetiX app to access the specified information of your Microsoft Online account.
  7. Once done, you are redirected back to Cockpit channels page and you can find your account listed under "Connected Accounts".
  8. Then, return to Elementi and click the "OK" button within the "Connect Account..." dialog.
  9. The list of accounts is refreshed and you can select the new one from the "Account" drop-down box.
Note Note:
The Microsoft Online account can be disconnected at any time from Cockpit from the "Channels" page.

Blue-Pack spreadsheet widgets

Menu

Description

Menu widget

The Menu widget let you display a menu on the screen. The menu can be composed of text with a description and a price for each item.

The data can be stored in any of the spreadsheet data source format (i.e. CSV file, Excel file on the computer, Excel online or Google sheet) and will be updated automatically by the widget once published on the HMP.

To use your own data source instead of the sample file:

  • Download the sample csv file from
    https://download.spinetix.com/content/elementi/feeds/sample_feeds_menu.csv
  • Select your data source channel (CSV file, Excel file, Excel online or Google sheet)
  • Create a new document (a CSV file, an Excel file, an Excel online document or a Google sheet).
  • Copy the data from the csv file into you document and replace the "lorem ipsum..." by your own data.
  • Update the data source channel and location to use your data instead of the sample file.

Properties

Menu widget properties

The following properties, found under "Properties" tab, can be used to customize the widget:

  • Data
    Click on the Data Feed Properties button (it opens the Data Properties dialog for Spreadsheet). This let the user select the location of the data source.
  • Locale
    Select the locale used for displaying dates and numbers.
  • Slide duration
    Enter the number of seconds each tweet is displayed on the screen.
  • Transition
    Click on the Transition Properties button (it opens the "Transition Properties" dialog) and select a transition effect and its properties.
  • Looping
    Select whether the widget ends after the last tweet or loops to the first one.
  • Number of rows
    Enter the number of rows of data to display on a single slide.
  • Number of columns
    Enter the number of columns of data to display on a single slide.
  • Item per page
    Number of menu item to be displayed on a single page.
  • Delay per cell
    Enter the number of seconds to wait before displaying the next cell.

Data structure

Menu widget Data structure

The data is composed of five columns:

  • category
    Category to be displayed on the top of the page.
    It is possible to use a dedicated line for the category to increase readability of the data, or to repeat the category each line if desired.
  • title
    Name of the item. The name should fit on a single line.
  • description
    Description of the item. Up to three lines of text are supported.
    Price of the item. The currency and formatting will be automatically derived from the chosen locale.

Media Menu

Description

Menu widget

The Menu widget let you display a menu on the screen. The menu is composed of images with a description and a price for each item.

The data can be stored in any of the spreadsheet data source format (i.e. CSV file, Excel file on the computer, Excel online or Google sheet) and will be updated automatically by the widget once published on the HMP.

To use your own data source instead of the sample file:

  • Download the sample csv file from
    https://download.spinetix.com/content/elementi/feeds/sample_feeds_media_menu.csv
  • Select your data source channel (CSV file, Excel file, Excel online or Google sheet)
  • Create a new document (a CSV file, an Excel file, an Excel online document or a Google sheet).
  • Copy the data from the csv file into you document and replace the "lorem ipsum..." by your own data.
  • Update the data source channel and location to use your data instead of the sample file.

Properties

Media Menu widget properties

The following properties, found under "Properties" tab, can be used to customize the widget:

  • Data
    Click on the Data Feed Properties button (it opens the Data Properties dialog for Spreadsheet). This let the user select the location of the data source.
  • Locale
    Select the locale used for displaying dates and numbers.
  • Slide duration
    Enter the number of seconds each tweet is displayed on the screen.
  • Transition
    Click on the Transition Properties button (it opens the "Transition Properties" dialog) and select a transition effect and its properties.
  • Looping
    Select whether the widget ends after the last tweet or loops to the first one.
  • Height
    Height of the widgets
  • Number of rows
    Enter the number of rows of data to display on a single slide.
  • Number of columns
    Enter the number of columns of data to display on a single slide.
  • Delay per cell
    Enter the number of seconds to wait before displaying the next cell.

Data structure

Menu widget Data structure

The data is composed of five columns:

  • category
    Category to be displayed on the top of the page.
    It is possible to use a dedicated line for the category to increase readability of the data, or to repeat the category each line if desired. A new cell will be created for each category.
  • title
    Name of the item. The name should fit on a single line.
  • description
    Description of the item. Up to three lines of text are supported.
  • price
    Price of the item. The currency and formatting will be automatically derived from the chosen locale.
  • uri
    Address of the image to be displayed. This column is only used for the category with name "[media]".
    It is possible to use absolute uri (i.e. http://myserver/path/img.jpg) or local file from the project (i.e. /media/img.jpg)

Price List

Description

Price List widget

The Price List widget let you display a set of price list on the screen. The price list is composed of a name and a price and it can be grouped into categories.

The data can be stored in any of the spreadsheet data source format (i.e. CSV file, Excel file on the computer, Excel online or Google sheet) and will be updated automatically by the widget once published on the HMP.

To use your own data source instead of the sample file:

  • Download the sample csv file from
    https://download.spinetix.com/content/elementi/feeds/sample_feeds_price_list.csv
  • Select your data source channel (CSV file, Excel file, Excel online or Google sheet)
  • Create a new document (a CSV file, an Excel file, an Excel online document or a Google sheet).
  • Copy the data from the csv file into you document and replace the "lorem ipsum..." by your own data.
  • Update the data source channel and location to use your data instead of the sample file.

Properties

Price List widget properties

The following properties, found under "Properties" tab, can be used to customize the widget:

  • Data
    Click on the Data Feed Properties button (it opens the Data Properties dialog for Spreadsheet). This let the user select the location of the data source.
  • Locale
    Select the locale used for displaying dates and numbers.
  • Slide duration
    Enter the number of seconds each tweet is displayed on the screen.
  • Transition
    Click on the Transition Properties button (it opens the "Transition Properties" dialog) and select a transition effect and its properties.
  • Looping
    Select whether the widget ends after the last tweet or loops to the first one.
  • Number of rows
    Enter the number of rows of data to display on a single slide.
  • Number of columns
    Enter the number of columns of data to display on a single slide.
  • Item per page
    Number of menu item to be displayed on a single page.
  • Delay per cell
    Enter the number of seconds to wait before displaying the next cell.

Data structure

Price List widget Data structure

The data is composed of five columns:

  • category
    Category to be displayed on the top of the page.
    It is possible to use a dedicated line for the category to increase readability of the data, or to repeat the category each line if desired.
  • title
    Name of the item. The name should fit on a single line.
  • price
    Price of the item. The currency and formatting will be automatically derived from the chosen locale.

Way Finding

Description

Way Finding widget

The Way Finding widget let you display a list of events taking places in various locations/rooms on screen. Each event has a name, a description and some locations. Moreover arrows icons are used to indicate the direction of the room

The data can be stored in any of the spreadsheet data source format (i.e. CSV file, Excel file on the computer, Excel online or Google sheet) and will be updated automatically by the widget once published on the HMP.

To use your own data source instead of the sample file:

  • Download the sample csv file from
    https://download.spinetix.com/content/elementi/feeds/sample_feeds_way_finding.csv
  • Select your data source channel (CSV file, Excel file, Excel online or Google sheet)
  • Create a new document (a CSV file, an Excel file, an Excel online document or a Google sheet).
  • Copy the data from the csv file into you document and replace the "lorem ipsum..." by your own data.
  • Update the data source channel and location to use your data instead of the sample file.

Properties

Way Finding widget properties

The following properties, found under "Properties" tab, can be used to customize the widget:

  • Data
    Click on the Data Feed Properties button (it opens the Data Properties dialog for Spreadsheet). This let the user select the location of the data source.
  • Slide duration
    Enter the number of seconds each tweet is displayed on the screen.
  • Transition
    Click on the Transition Properties button (it opens the "Transition Properties" dialog) and select a transition effect and its properties.
  • Looping
    Select whether the widget ends after the last tweet or loops to the first one.
  • Number of rows
    Enter the number of rows of data to display on a single slide.
  • Number of columns
    Enter the number of columns of data to display on a single slide.
  • Delay per cell
    Enter the number of seconds to wait before displaying the next cell.

Data structure

Way Finding widget Data structure

The data is composed of five columns:

  • location
    Name of the location/room
  • title
    Title of the event.
  • description
    Description of the event. Up to two lines of text are supported. If the description is longer, an animation will be used to display all the text.
  • direction
    One of the following: left, right, bottom, top, bottom-right, bottom-left, top-left,top-right, controlling the arrow to be displayed. The notation north,west, etc and N, W, etc are also supported.

Opening Hours

Opening Hours widget

This widget allows displaying the opening hours information on the screen, using a vertical layout.

To use this widget, follow these steps:

  1. Download the sample file (a CSV file with a data structure as detailed below) from SpinetiX sever: https://download.spinetix.com/content/elementi/feeds/sample_feeds_opening_hours.csv .
  2. Open / import the file within Excel, Excel Online, Google Sheets, or any text-editor application.
  3. Edit the data according to your needs.
  4. If using Excel / Google applications, make sure to set the type of cells containing the hours as plain text to avoid the automatic change to date type.
  5. Save the changes.
  6. Configure the widget to use your file.
Note Note:
In some cases, more rows than the ones entered are shown displaying "CLOSED" - that's probably due to some spaces left and deleting those non-empty rows would solve the issue. Alternatively, specify a cell range containing only the useful data.

Configuration

Opening Hours widget properties

The following properties, found under "Properties" tab, can be used to customize the widget:

  • Data
    Click the Data Feed Properties button and configure the widget to use the file created above.
  • Closed Text
    Enter the text to be displayed for closed days.
  • Header text
    Enter the text to be displayed as header.

Data structure

Opening Hours widget Data structure

The data file is composed of five columns:

  • days
    Enter the text to be displayed for that line - it can be anything from a week day (like MON, Monday etc.), multiple days ("Mon, Wed" or "Monday, Wednesday"), or a range of days (like MON - TUE). As there's no detection of the date format, any text can be used here.
  • open
    Enter either 0 to have the predefined "closed" text shown, or 1 to show the opening hours.
  • opening_time
    Enter the opening time (as plain text).
  • closing_time
    Enter the closing time (as plain text).

Today Opening Hours

Today Opening Hours widget

This widget is displaying an analog clock, the opening hours for the current day or the text "CLOSED", and the opening hours for the entire week. The opening hours for the current day are automatically detected based on the specified locale.

Today Opening Hours widget Data structure

Before using this widget, you need to prepare the data - for that follow these steps:

  1. Download the sample file (a CSV file with a data structure as detailed below).
  2. Open / import the file within Excel, Excel Online, Google Sheets, or any text-editor application. The widget expects these columns within:
    • days
      Enter the text to be displayed for that line - it can be a week day ("Mon" or "Monday"), multiple days ("Mon, Wed" or "Monday, Wednesday") or range of days ("Mon-Wed" or "Monday-Wednesday"), both lower case or upper case, and in any language; the selected locale must match the language used in the spreadsheet for today's data to be detected correctly.
    • open
      Enter either 0 to have the predefined "closed" text shown, or 1 to show the opening hours.
    • opening_time
      Enter the opening time. The cell type must be set as plain text to avoid the automatic change to number / date type.
    • closing_time
      Enter the closing time. The cell type must be set as plain text to avoid the automatic change to number / date type.
  3. Edit the data according to your needs. The column names ("days", "open" etc.) must not be changed / translated.
  4. Save the changes.
Today Opening Hours widget properties

Next, configure the widget using the options found under "Properties" tab:

  • Data
    Click the Data Feed Properties button and configure the widget to use the file created above.
  • Locale
    Select the locale used for displaying dates and numbers.
  • Closed Text
    Enter the text to be displayed for closed days.
  • Header text
    Enter the text to be displayed as header.
Note Notes:
  • If the opening and closing times are not displayed as entered, make sure to set the cell type as plain text to avoid the automatic change to number / date type.
  • If today's hours are not correctly detected, the text entered under "days" is probably not correctly interpreted as week day/s - this is especially the case when using other language than English. The widget is looking for the full ("EEEE") or the 3-letter abbreviated ("EEE") weekday name. See date format pattern for more details.
  • In some cases, more rows than the ones entered are shown displaying "CLOSED" - that's probably due to some spaces left and deleting those non-empty rows would solve the issue. Alternatively, specify a cell range containing only the useful data.

Chart widget

Added in Elementi 2018. Last modified in Elementi 2018 Update 2.

Excel chart widget

The "Chart" widget helps you make stunning digital dashboards in minutes from the charts you create and use in Excel Online as part of Office 365 or in your Excel app on your desktop.

While the existing chart widgets and gauge widgets use spreadsheet data to build a predefined type of graph on the fly, this widget extracts a chart already created in Excel and displays it as an image - complex graphs can thus be easily integrated.

Properties

Chart widget properties

The widget can be customized using the options found under "Properties" tab:

  • Data
    Click the Data Feed Properties button to open the Data Properties dialog and select the location of Excel file source. The following options are provided:
    • Channel
      Select between Excel File and Excel Online (added in Elementi 2018 Update 2).
      If former, Excel application must be installed on the PC running Elementi.
      If later, select one of the connected Microsoft online accounts or click "Connect account..." if none was previously connected.
    • Workbook
      Click on the blue button and select the Excel file containing the chart to import.
    • Sheet
      Select the sheet containing the chart to import.
    • Chart
      Select the chart object to import.
    • Refresh
      If Excel Online is selected, specify the period after which the widget should refresh the chart.
      For Excel file, this is set to "On publish" and cannot be changed. For more details, see the note below.
  • Image template
    Click the Elementi Icons Layer Properties.png button to open the "Layer Properties" dialog and modify the properties of the image layer used to display the selected chart.
Note Note:
If Excel File is selected, the Excel application must be installed on the PC running Elementi to be able to import charts within this widget. Furthermore, the local changes to the Excel file cannot be automatically synchronized on the HMP - the chart is retrieved from the Excel source file and included with the content at the time of publish on the HMP; to synchronize further changes of the Excel file, you need to re-publish the project on the HMP.

Troubleshooting

  • You get this message: Problem detected with target device. Widgets using channels will not work properly. Are you sure you want to continue?
    This happens when trying to publish a project containing data from third-party providers (Microsoft or Google) and one or more of the target HMPs have not been added to Cockpit.
    To solve the issue, open the HMP Control Center and add the player to Cockpit using the same account as the one used to registered the Elementi license into Cockpit.
  • Multiscreen usage.
    These widgets can only be used on a single screen when creating a multiscreen project; for multiple screens, a data feed widget must be used instead.
  • The date/hours are not correctly displayed.
    When using Excel or Google applications, make sure to set the type of cells containing the dates/hours as plain text to avoid the automatic change to date type.

See also

This page was last modified on 31 October 2023, at 15:25.