Object Inspector

Overview

The Object Inspector dockable displays the style and properties of the selected shapes, and dataset of the charts when an object from the Active Dashboard is selected.

To open the Object Inspector dockable:

Go to View > Active Dashboards in the Active Console.
Click Show Object Inspector in the Active Dashboard canvas.

You can still edit the object's attributes through its Properties dialog. For more information, see Configure basic shape properties.

Use Object Inspector with no object selected

When there is no object selected, you can use the Object Inspector dockable to modify the style and properties of the Active Dashboard canvas.

The Style tab has the following options:

Field	Description
Fill Colour	Sets the background colour of the Active Dashboard canvas.
Grid line Colour	Sets the colour of the grid lines.
Zoom Factor	Expands or shrinks the canvas view. Default: 100 Unit: Percentage (%)
Grid Size	Sets the size of the grid lines (horizontal and vertical lines). Default: 20
Visible Grid lines	Enables or disables the grid lines (horizontal and vertical lines). Default: Enabled
Snap to grid	Moves the selected object to the nearest intersection of lines in the grid. Default: Disabled

The Properties tab allows you to modify these settings:

Field	Description
Allowable Actions	Controls the following actions and selections in the Active Dashboard canvas: Selection and moving of objects. Edit menu items. Active control points, area selections, and show tooltip on hover. By default, all of these options are enabled.
Exporting	Modify settings when exporting the Active Dashboard canvas.
Status Bar	Enables or disables the status bar in the Active Dashboard canvas. Default: true
Startup Settings	Clears the historical data. Default: Disabled

Configure objects using the Object Inspector dockable

When you select an object, the Object Inspector dockable shows the Style tab of the selected object. This tab contains the appearance and text layout settings for the applicable objects. Modifying the object's properties on the Style tab applies the changes in real-time.

Note: Selecting multiple objects simultaneously might disable the other options you can modify on the Style tab of the Object Inspector dockable. The settings that are available vary depending on the selected object.

The Style tab of the selected object allows you to modify these settings:

Field	Description
Labels	Modifies the object's name and tooltip.
Position & Size	Configures the following settings: X and Y position. Width and height. Aspect ratio. Lock size. Note: For some objects, you can only modify the size and position settings. The other settings are not editable.
Shape Style	Changes the size of the selected object.
Fill	Sets the colour and transparency of the selected object.
Border	Configures the following settings: Enables or disables the border. Changes the colour, thickness, style, and transparency of the border.
Text	Sets the style, size, colour and transparency of the text.

For more information on the dashboard object properties dialog, see Configure basic shape properties in Active Dashboard Palette.

To add or edit a modifier and link using the Object Inspector:

Go to View > Active Dashboards in the Active Console.
Click Show Object Inspector in the Active Dashboard canvas.
Click Show Object Inspector in the Active Dashboard canvas.
Select any object from the Active Dashboard Palette screen.
Drag and drop the selected object into the Active Dashboard canvas. Selecting the object enables the Modifiers and Links section in the Object Inspector dockable making the Add and Delete buttons become clickable.
Edit the Modifiers and Links sections on the Properties tab.
Press Enter to save the changes.

Modify object properties

Selecting multiple objects simultaneously may disable the other options that you can modify on the Properties tab of the Object Inspector dockable.

The Tooltip, Atomic Group, and Move to front on selection options only apply to some objects.

Configure numeric fields

The fields that require a numerical value on the Properties tab do not accept an empty value. If you configure these fields and leave them empty, the Object Inspector automatically generates a value that depends on how you delete the initial value. The value will only change after you click outside of the Properties tab.

The screenshot below shows some properties of a Line Chart. The fields that require a numerical value are Axis Font Size, Axis Height, Axis Width, and Max Labels.

In this example, you want to configure the Axis Height field which has a value of 60.00:

If you put your text cursor at the start of the value, before |60.00 as shown in the screenshot, and you press forward Delete to delete the text before the text cursor, then this converts the value to 0.00 after clicking outside of the Properties tab.

If you put your text cursor at the end of the value, after 60.00| as shown in the screenshot below, and you press Backspace to delete the text to the left of the text cursor, then this converts the value to 6.00 after clicking outside of the Properties tab.

This behaviour is important for you to consider when configuring any properties of an object with numeric fields.

Configure the dataset of the object

When a Widget type object is selected, the Dataset tab appears in the Object Inspector dockable.

Widget objects include:

Bar Chart
Active Pie Chart
Active Chart
Active Gauge
Half Gauge
Spark Chart

The Dataset tab has the following options:

Field	Description
Connection Configuration	Displays the name of the chart and identifies the path where the data item came from.
Aesthetic Configuration	Modifies the aesthetic settings of the selected chart, including its type, style, and transparency.
Interpolation	Adjusts the target and maximum number of displayed data points. Default: Enabled
Modifiers	Adjusts the multiplier value in the selected chart.

Note: The Style and Properties settings for charts have different options compared to the other objects that you can modify in the Object Inspector dockable. In addition, the settings available vary depending on the selected object.