Data sources & Data component

A key part of daily management is tracking and visualizing the company's most business-critical KPIs. In Boards on Fire, there are several flexible ways to work with KPIs, with the Data Component serving as the foundation.

Using the Data Component, you can easily enter numerical values, display metrics such as on-time delivery or scrap rate using gauge charts, and monitor production performance over time with clear bar charts. It is a powerful tool for collecting, analyzing, and presenting data directly on your digital boards, creating insight and focus in your daily improvement work.

Setting up a data source 

The Data Component requires a data source that stores information in the database. To create a new data source, go to the Data Sources tab.

You will now see a list of all saved data sources. To create a new one, click the green "+ Add" button in the upper-right corner. This opens the settings menu for your new data source.

Data source names

First, choose a name for your data source. The value entered in the Name field must follow these rules:

• Lowercase letters only
• Cannot begin with a number
• Cannot contain region-specific characters such as å, ä, ö, or ø
• Cannot contain spaces
• Cannot duplicate the name of an existing data source

The name cannot be changed later, so choose it carefully.

You can then specify a Display Name for the data source. This is the name shown in lists of available data sources. Enter it in the Display Name field. The display name has no restrictions—you may use any characters you like. You can also enter a description of the data source in the field below the display name.

Data source precision

Next, select the precision for the data source. This determines the smallest possible time interval between data entries.

For example:

• Choose Day if one value should be entered per day.
• Choose Week or Month if data will instead be entered on those intervals.

Data source types

The next step is selecting the type of your data source. The selected type determines which field types can be used.

For example:

• If you choose Number List, only fields of type Number can be added.
• If you choose Standard, any field type can be used.

Fält & Datatyper

You can now add the fields that correspond to the data you want to enter in the components on your boards.

Go to the Fields tab in the data source settings.

Click the green Add Field button below the table.

For each field, specify:

• Key
• Display Name

The Key follows the same naming rules as the data source Name field.

The Display Name has no restrictions.

After naming the field, choose its Data Type from the dropdown menu.

Datatyperna som går att välja är följande:

• Number - Only numeric values can be entered.
• String - Allows short text values.
• Status - Allows only status values (Gray, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red).
• Boolean - Stores True/False values. The field appears as an on/off toggle on the board.
• User - Stores a selected user. In a form, users can choose one of the organization's users.
• Entity - Creates a simple entity list where each row can be named freely.
• Organization - Similar to the User type, but allows selecting an organization instead of a user.

Default value function

When a value should remain the same over a long period—for example, a production target—you can use the Default Value function.

Click the three dots next to your number field and select Default Values. Here you'll find information about previously entered values.

Click Add Default Value. Then specify:

• Which dates the value should apply to
• Which organizations it should apply to

A maximum of one year can be configured at a time. If a unique group name is used, remember to include it.

Finally, enter the desired value. You can also replace previous values or leave the field empty to reset the value.

Calculated fields

In addition to standard fields, you can also create Calculated Fields.

A calculated field automatically produces either a numeric value or a status color based on the values of other fields. First, specify the field key and display name. Then choose whether the calculation should return:

• A status color
• A numeric value

For status calculations, select one field representing the actual value and another representing the target value. The comparison determines the resulting status, which can then be displayed in, for example, a Status Component.

Other data source function

	Under the Access Rules tab, you can control which organizations are allowed to use the data source. If some data should not be accessible to everyone in Boards on Fire, you can restrict access here.
	Under the Export tab, you can export all data stored in the data source. Choose which organizations to export from, which date range to export and the export format.

The Usage tab provides an overview of where and how extensively the data source is being used.

Setup of the Data component

The data component is the most commonly used component for managing numerical data (values).

In the component’s settings, there are six tabs:

• General
• Fields
  
• Form
  
• Appearance
  
• Gauge
  
• Graph

General:

Under the “General” tab, you will find the basic settings for the data component:

• Name: Specify the title to be displayed at the top of the component in the overview view.
• Data Source: Select the data source to link to the component. All available data sources you have created will be listed here.
• Group Name: Use this to set a filter for the component.

-If two identical components exist in the same organization, they will display the same data.

-If one or both components have a unique group name, the data can be separated, allowing the fields to show different values despite sharing the same data source.

-To aggregate or mirror data from a component with a group name, the linked component must have the exact same group name.

• Organization: Here you can select which organization’s data will be displayed in the component.

This Organization: Displays only the data entered within the organization where the component is placed.

Mirrored: Displays data from another organization. You can select the organization via a drop-down menu. (When mirroring, you can also input data as if it were entered in the mirrored organization).

Aggregated: Displays data from multiple organizations. Select which organizations’ data to display from the list.

• Default Date: In the “Default Date from Today” field, you can adjust which date the data should be retrieved from.

Example: If you enter -3 and today’s date is May 20th, the component will display data from May 17th instead.

These settings make it easy to customize how and where data is retrieved, displayed, and shared between different organizations.

Fields

Here, the fields from the selected data source are displayed, and you can adjust their settings to customize how they are used:

• Display: Select or deselect which fields should be visible in the form or graph.
• Key: Displays the field’s unique key. This can only be changed in the data source settings.
• Display Name: Specify the name the field should have in the form or graph to make it more user-friendly.
• Group: The grouping function allows you to group fields for better organization.

-This is not the same as the group name under the “General” tab. These are entirely separate functions. To group fields, enter a group name in the box. Fields with the exact same group name belong to the same group.

-Grouping only affects how fields are displayed and is purely a visual feature.

-These settings make it easy to customize field visibility and structure, helping you create clear and functional forms or graphs.

The top three headings, “Display Name,” “Group,” and “Display,” correspond to the same settings available in the previous view.

• Read-Only: Makes the field read-only, meaning its value cannot be edited in a form.
• Goal: Displays the field’s values as a goal line in bar charts. When the field is marked as a goal, it is used as a reference for the setting “Color bars based on goal” under the “Graph” tab.
• Enable Annotations: Allows you to add colors and comments to values in a form. Double-click a field to open a menu where you can assign a color or write a comment (see image below).

• Hide in Summary: If this option is selected, the field will be hidden in the summary of a form.
• Aggregation Function: Determines how the field’s values are displayed when the component aggregates data from multiple organizations:

-Sum: Combines all values from the organizations.

-Average: Displays the average value across all organizations.

-Max: Displays the highest value.

-Min: Displays the lowest value.

This setting also affects how the field is displayed in graphs or speedometers when grouping data. In these cases, the aggregation is applied to data from multiple days or weeks instead of organizations.

• Number of decimals: Specify the number of decimal places to display in forms and graphs.
• Unit: Define the unit to be displayed for the field in forms and graphs.
• Default Value: Set an automatically pre-filled value for the field. (Note: This value is not aggregated and applies only to the current component.)
• Color in Graph: Choose the color the field will have in a graph.

• Add Virtual Field: A virtual field is a calculation based on one or more other fields and therefore cannot be aggregated or mirrored. It is also not possible to input a value directly into a virtual field.

For the settings that also apply to a regular field, the same rules and information apply.

• Formula: Enter the formula that will define the value of the virtual field. The rules for the formula are displayed below the field. You can also click the link in the information text for additional documentation.

Form

The form is used to input values for a field, and the menu contains the settings for the form in the data component.

• Display Form: The form will be displayed in the component if this option is selected.
• Hide Form at startup: The form will remain hidden until you actively choose to display it.
• Form Display Mode: If the data component aggregates data from multiple organizations, you can choose whether values should be displayed per organization or summed according to the aggregation function specified in the field settings.
• Striped Form: Alternating rows in the form are given different colors for better readability.
• Allow word wrap for field Names: Long field names are split across multiple lines to improve readability.
• Display names for grouped fields: Field names are also displayed for fields that belong to the same group.
• Display comments field: A comments field is added at the bottom of the form.

Appearance

Here, you can choose whether to display the component header, which includes the component’s name and date navigation. If you choose to hide it, the header will only appear when the user hovers over the top part of the component.

Gauge

The gauge is, alongside the form, one of two ways to visualize data in the data component.

• Display gauge: Select this option to display the gauge in the data component.
• Aggregate values for the gauge by: Choose whether to aggregate data for a week, month, year, etc. The aggregation is performed based on the “Aggregation Function” specified for each field in their settings.
• Scale: Min/Max Value: Specify the range for the speedometer, i.e., the lowest and highest values.
• From, To, Color: Define the value intervals for each color in the speedometer. Click on a color to change it, and add more color intervals if needed.
• Display number scale: Displays a numerical scale on the speedometer.
• Display Value: Displays the current value of the speedometer in the center of the gauge.
• Decimal Places: Specify the number of decimal places to display in the speedometer.
• Number of decimals Unit: Specify the unit to be displayed in the gauge.

Graph

The graph is the second way to visualize data in the data component.

• Display graph: Mark this to show the graph in the component
• Graph type: Choose which type of graph should be display
• Group graph per: Choose of the graph should group data per week, month, year. Grouping happens in line with the "aggregation function" which is chosen in the fields settings.
• Always rotate labels on the x-axis 45°: Makes it so the labels for bars are rotated 45 degrees.
• Force nice scale: Forces the scale of the y-axis.
• Display data labels: Shows values for each datapoint in the graph.
• Display data labels on goals: Shows values for datapoints marked as goals in the fields settings.
• Stacked bar chart: If graph type is set to "bar", the bars are stacked on each other (does not include fields marked as goals).
• Legend position: Choose if the legend should be over or under the graph. 
• Number of days to be shown: Choose how many days the graph should display.
• Max-/Min value for graph: Choose the interval the graph should show. If fields are left empty the interval will be adjusted automatically based on the values of the fields.
• Chart height: Choose the height of the graph in the dashboard.
• X/Y-axis title: Give each axis a title.
• Compare with last year: Adds a line in the graph with data from the same days last year.