Improving Performance of Xcelsius Dashboard

In this article I will explain the different methods of improving the performance of Xcelsius 2008 dashboard. Performance here means loading time. My manager emailed me a dashboard and told me to have a look at it as I will be updating it. I was more than happy to do what was being asked, however he also mentioned that the dashboard was taking 40 - 45 seconds to load.... I had to cut down that time as well. Before actually getting my hands wet, I decided to do some research which I will jot down in this article. Oh! not to mention the dashboard was using LiveOffice connections no QaaWS connections.

I'm using Xcelsius 2008 Service Pack 3 Fix Pack 3.5

Steps to improve loading time of the dashboard:

1- Avoid using 'Refresh on Load' option for all the Live Office Connections. Make other LO connections dependent on user's actions. Place a selector component Eg. Combo Box that lets user choose a value and then trigger the other LO connection based on that trigger.

2- Limit the size of your dashboard to less than 1 MB.

3- Usage of Parent - Child approach. If you dashboard is huge (close to 1 MB). Use SWF Loader component for this approach. Note: In order to access a dashboard that is in Infoview use the OpenDocument syntax otherwise use DocumentDownload syntax, if your dashboard swf file resides somewhere else.

4- Avoid calculations on Excel sheet - you must utilize the calculation power of WEBI so use Live office for that.

5- Avoid certain components - List Builder, Panel component.

6- Play around with themes - some themes also tend to slow down the performance of the dashbaord (strange but true)