Creating a KPI with the Webalo Database Connector

Certain database applications that show a targeted glimpse into your enterprise might be better suited

to be configured as a KPI rather than a standard database application. The following steps will walk you

through configuring such an application.

In our exercise today we are going to create an average sale price KPI from our sales database.

Step 1: Login to the Webalo Administrative Website with your Account Administrator or Domain

Administrator Credential. See figure 1 below.

The Administrative Website can be accessed at:

https://<fully-qualified-domain-name-for-webalo-appliance>.com

Step 2: Click on Connect to your applications and data.

The agenda on the left hand side of the screen will expand guiding you through the configuration with a

list of steps to complete. The agenda tree will expand and contract as you proceed through the steps

until they are all complete. Unchecked items in the agenda tree mean that the step has not been

completed and need your attention. All steps need to be completed before you can deploy your new

configuration to the device.

In most cases the required action will be obvious from looking at the agenda tree. If more explanation is

needed you will find detailed help link at the top of the step title in the white portion of the screen. An

explanatory statement will appear in red type in the help portion of the screen to provide further

guidance on what needs to be done.

On some screens, particularly when entering text, you will have completed the step on the screen but

the screen does not advance to the next screen. On these screens you must click Next to continue.

Step 3: Click on Databases

Naming the Database Query

The name of the query is the default name of the app that will appear in the Home Screen on the

device. This query name will be selectable by the end user so select a descriptive query name that you

would want as the name of your app.

In this example, we will be creating a KPI for Average Sales which is based on our sales history.

It is recommended that you create folders for different categories of queries to keep yourself organized.

You may use the Folder option to do this. In this example, we are placing the query in the Main folder

but if there were going to be dozens of sales KPIs the best practice would be to create a new folder for

this category and put your KPIs into it. For each query you have the option of putting in a more detailed

description, which is for the administrator’s reference and not ever shown on the device screen.

Step 4: Name the Database query (see description above)

Hit Next

Creating a Connection

Before you can define the query you need to create a connection to that source of data and are aptly

named “database connections”. You will see the agenda tree expand to show the steps and the states

of completion of this new step.

Database connections are reusable by multiple applications so choose an appropriate name for the

connection you will create.

Good practice is to create a Database Connection name that points to the server that holds the database

you are connecting to.

The folder system is available for database connections so you can organize them into a hierarchical

structure if you desire.

Step 5: Name the database connection (see the DB connection explanation above)

Hit Next

Locate Database

The Locate Database step gives you two options. The first option is to connect over the internet, or over

your open local network. The second option is to connect using Webalo Gateway which allows you to

connect to databases that are kept behind your firewall.

See the Webalo Gateway Setup Guide document for information on how to setup a Gateway

connection. In this example, we’re going to connect over the internet.

Step 5: Locate Database (see above)

Hit Next

The last step in this sequence is to “Configure the Database Connection”. You will need to know the

following information to successfully complete this step.

The Server Name (a FQDN of the desired DB or IP address)

Server Port (if not the default or if connecting to a DB Instances

Database Name

Credentials Type desired (Can be either fixed or supplied at runtime)

Username and Password if fixed credentials are selected

You will have to press the box to ‘Test Connection’ and you must have a successful connection before you can proceed

Step 6: Configure Database Connection

Click Finish

Configure Database Query

Since this KPI is based on a data found in a MS SQL DB we’ll need to have a DB query that represents the

KPI we wish to produce. To maximize productivity, it is suggested that you collect these queries prior to

configuring your KPIs.

Our query today is a simple select statement that averages the sales amount from a table in our sales

database and looks like this:

Select AVG(saleprice)as "Average Sales" from SalesHistory;

Step 7: Configure Database query

Click OK and then Next

Configure the query results

Once the query has been defined, the next step is to configure the query results. Note that the first line

of the help text defines the name of the query that you are working on.

Customizing the values in the Query Results will improve the end user experience since it allows the

administrator to label the values with more easily understood names than those that are automatically

extracted from the database.

The values from the query are present in the Query Output Item Fields table. You can make the values

more readable by editing the Output Field Names in the table. This will be the name used for the KPI in

the next step. If needed, tap on the field to modify the name and type in the value we want.

In our example we are naming the DB result in our query and therefore do not need to make any

changes.

Step 8: Configure Query Results

Click Configure KPIs

On the next screen Configure Key Performance Indicators, you will identify the value you want for the

KPI and assign it Update Frequency and an Auto Invocation Period.

Update Frequency tells the system how often there are new values and that the KPI should be updated

after the set time period.

Auto Invocation Period tells the system how often the KPI can be manually invoked.

If you would like to not have your end users execute this application on demand, uncheck the first

checkbox on the following screen.

If you would like to hide the query results and only show the KPI, put a checkmark in the second check

box of the bottom of the next page.

Step 9: Configure Key Performance indicators

Click the Add button

Adding the key performance indicator

On this popup you will identify the output of your DB query that you want to be the KPI. You can also

add severity levels to help the end user quickly determine if the KPI is in a good range or bad.

In this example we’ll add ‘Average Sales’ as the KPI and we’ll add indicators that if the value is below 500

show it as severe (will show up in red on the device) and an indicator that will display in green if the

value is over 600. Severity levels can be configured with any of the following >, >=, <, <=.

Step 10: Add Key Performance indicator (see above)

With your desired values entered, hit OK and then Finish two times.

Edit Task Workflow

On this next step you have three options to finish the configuration. The first is to Auto deploy the app

which will make it immediately available on your home screen or all the end users home screens in this

domain.

The second is to deploy with the Custom option which lets you create workflows and customize your

apps a bit further.

The third option lets you hold off deploying the app until a later time.

Since this is a KPI lesson, we’ll choose first option and deploy it to ‘Me only’. If we like what we see,

we’ll deploy it to more users later.

Step 8: Edit Task Workflow (see above)

Hit OK and then Deploy

The KPI as you have just configured is now available on the home screen of your device. See below.

Database application with a KPI result:

Note that you can create as many KPI applications as you’d like to but having many with high refresh

rates will affect battery life and data usage.

Also note that KPI values can be set on top of full result screens. In those situations, clicking on the KPI

will act as a drill down into the data.