Link or Image Properties dialog

Use this dialog to specify properties for a text link or image link that you are adding to a dashboard page.

For more information, see "Adding Content to Dashboards."

Components

Caption

Use this field to enter the text to display for the text link or image link.

Entering a caption for an image link is optional. If you do enter one, then you must also specify, in the Image Layout box, where the caption is to be displayed relative to the image.

Destination

Use this field to specify what is to happen when the user clicks the text or image:

• To add text or an image only, without any links, leave the field empty.

• To specify that an analysis or dashboard should be displayed when the user clicks the link or image, specify the destination as Analysis or Dashboard, and click Browse to display the "Open dialog" where you select the analysis or dashboard.

• To specify that another action should occur, such as opening a web site, document, or program, specify the destination as a URL and type the full path into the field that follows the Destination options.

  A link is defined as any URL that the browser can interpret. URLs can point to web sites, documents, images, FTP sites, newsgroups, and so on. Depending on the browser, the following are examples of valid URLs:

  http://home.netscape.com/index.html
  ftp://ftp.microsoft.com
  news:news.announce.newusers
  

  See Table E-3 for more information about the kinds of internal or external content to which you can link.

  
  

  Note: Administrators should create a virtual directory on the Presentation server for shared documents called \DashboardFiles that maps to a shared network directory of the same name. This enables users with the appropriate permissions to publish files to this folder, and reference these files by their relative URL names rather than by their fully qualified network share names, for example, \DashboardFiles\AnnualReport.doc instead of \\SharedServer\CommonShare\DashboardFiles\AnnualReport.doc.

  
  

Target

Use this box to specify whether the information is to be displayed in the Current Window or in a New Window for the browser.

For every action except sending mail and executing a program, you can control how the link should be displayed. Select the current window when you want the action to occur in the display pane of the dashboard. This leaves the dashboard active but in the background. Choose a new window when you want the action to take place in a new browser window. This opens another instance of the browser.

Image

Use this field to enter the location and name of the image to be displayed. Specify the location as a URL. These are examples:

http://imageserver/MyImage.gif
/DashboardFiles/image.gif

If the image is not on the local server, then the URL must include http://. If the image is for use in a shared environment, then ensure that the image is located on a network drive that is accessible to all users.

Image Layout

Use this box to select where to display the image, such as to the right or left of the caption or above or below the caption, if you entered a caption.

Notes

• You can reference variables in the Caption, Destination and Image fields. For the syntax to use, see "What Is the Syntax for Referencing Variables?" For more information on variables, see "Using Variables."

• Table E-3 provides information about the kinds of internal or external content to which you can link:

  Table E-3 Link Options for Adding a Text Link or Image Using the Dashboard Editor

  Link Option	Comments
  Web site or document	You must locate the URL, or address, for the site or document. You can copy the destination address from the browser's address or location box, and then paste it. For a web site, you can omit the http:// portion of the address if the URL resides on the Web server, such as your intranet site. If the URL resides on your company's Web server, then you can enter the relative address of the file. For example: \DashboardFiles\Logo.gif
  Local or shared document	If the document is for use in a shared environment, then ensure that it is located on a network drive that is accessible to all users. Examples of the kinds of documents that you can open are spreadsheets that contains recent sales reports, a slide presentation that introduces a new product, a Microsoft Word document that contains your company's annual report, a graphic file that contains a map from the airport to your corporate headquarters, and so on. For example, if the document is for your use only, a sample location might be: c:\mycomputer\reports\report.doc For a shared document, specify the UNC name, for example: \\ALLUSERS\reports\report.doc
  Send email to a specified user	You must know the mailto URL, for example: mailto:support@oracle.com When the user selects this link, the browser launches the mail application with the To: field filled in. (The browser controls the launching of the mail program.)
  Execute a program	If the program is for use in a shared environment, then ensure that it is located on a network drive that is accessible to all users. You can use this feature to download and run an application. (The operating system controls the launching of the application.) For example, to launch Microsoft Word for your use only, a sample location might be: c:\MSOFFICE\OFFICE\winword.exe For a multiuser-licensed program on a shared drive, specify the UNC name for the location, for example: \\ALLUSERS\SOFTWARE\MSOFFICE\OFFICE\WORD\winword.exe
  Refresh your browser using JavaScript	Your browser must support JavaScript to use the following example. javascript:window.location.reload() In the Target area, choose the option Current Window.