If like us you have been paying attention, you may have noticed that there have been some excellent additions to dashboard functionality in CRM Analytics for several releases now, think components, repeater widgets and the most recent being input widgets.
In the last release, input widgets allowed us to perform what-if analysis on the rich data available in our CRMA Dashboards (giving us yet another reason to ditch the occasional spreadsheet!). However, back then you would have to associate this brand-new widget type with other parts of the dashboard using an interaction (binding) for it to work.
In Spring ‘23 you can utilise this fantastic widget without the need to build a single interaction! That is because the input widget can now be added as a column or in SAQL to your formulas. The input widget collects user input as a data source for other parts of the dashboard, such as formula queries. Essentially, you can think of this experience as an extension of compare table functionality which most dashboard builders are comfortable with.
Steps:
- Add the input widget to your dashboard
- Add a query/open an existing query to create your compare table
- Add the input column
- Select the input query
- Add a formula column and create a calculation using the previously added input query
Now you can make your input widget work without an interaction
The final (and most technical) point I want to make is that creating a query as powerful as this is thanks to a new representation of queries in JSON called Compact Form 2.0 which is now generally available in this release. So, keep your eyes peeled and watch this space because queries are going to become more powerful, efficient, and secure going forward. I have a suspicion that anyone who is not a big fan of interactions is going to be in for a treat.
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Why not take a look at the new updates and features that will be introduced in the Salesforce Spring 2023 release in our overview blog.