Dashboards

Key performance index (KPI) factors determine critical measures when evaluating an urban design proposal. Using CityEngine Dashboards, you can create charts of custom-defined key numbers. The Charts are driven by CGA report variables. With every change of a CGA model through an attribute change in the Inspector, a handle, or a local edit, the Dashboard is updated automatically and always in sync with the 3D model in the Viewport.

  • Dashboards can consist of multiple pages that can hold multiple cards.
  • There are multiple card types to choose from: Key Number, Bar Chart, Stacked Bar Chart, and Pie Chart.
  • Use the Title and Text Card to provide static information about the charts.
  • Cards can be resized and placed freely in a grid system using the mouse.
  • The menu in the corner of a card allows you to edit, duplicate, or delete a card as well as copy values to the clipboard.
  • Cards can display data coming from various scenarios.

Check out the Example Philadelphia 2020.0 in the main menu (Help > Download Tutorials and Examples). This scene is a good example of how scenarios, CGA reports, and Dashboards interact.

Configure a dashboard

To configure a dashboard, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Window > Dashboard in the main menu to configure a Dashboard.
  2. Click the Add card tool Add card in the Navigation Bar.
  3. Choose a card type.

Dashboards have the following parameters:

Icon & Title

Choose an icon and title.

Report

  • Choose from a list of reports created by the applied CGA rule or rules (for example, Area by flooring type, Area by interior space type, Number of work places, and so on).
  • The drop-down menu has a text box that allows text filtering among the report names.
  • A Key Number Card can display the values of all reports.
  • The Stack Chart, Bar Chart, and Pie Chart only display the values of group reports. To create a group of reports, you must create reports with the syntax Group.SubReport, for example:
    • FAR.Office
    • FAR.Resdential
    • FAR.Commerical

Divide by

  • Divide a report by another report.
  • By using the reportName.* notation, corresponding subreports (with the same subreport name) can also be divided.

Multiply by

Multiply the values of a report by a constant number.

Reporter

You can choose to display the values of the reports computed on the entire scene or only on the selection. By default, a card displays the values on the entire scene.

  • All Objects—Default, means values from all objects in the scene are aggregated.
  • Selected Objects—Only values from selected objects are aggregated.

Aggregation

The aggregation type defines how to combine all the reported values from the whole scene into a single number for each report or subreport, that will then be shown in the chart:

  • Sum
  • Count
  • Mean

Unit

The Unit displayed next to the value in the card. Has no influence on the calculation or the value displayed.

Minimum and Maximum (for Bar Chart)

Defines the range of the value axis.

  • Automatic—Adjusts value automatically based on the displayed values.
  • Custom—Uses a fixed user-defined value.

Scaling (for Bar Chart)

Specifies the scaling of the axis:

  • Uniform (by default)
  • Logarithmic

Notation

  • Decimal (for example, 48'876'592)
  • Scientific (for example, 4.888e+7)

Round values

Decimal places—Specifies the number of decimals to display.

Sorting (Pie Chart)

Sorting of reports:

  • Alphabetical—(Report names)
  • Ascending—Lowest value first, highest last
  • Descending—Highest values first, lowest last

Legend (Stack Charts and Pie Charts)

  • Display a legend in charts.
  • The legend adjusts automatically to the reported values.

Colors

The colors of the reports in the Dashboard are, by default, defined by the color of the scenarios set in the Scene Editor. It is possible to specify a color for each report in a CGA file by the hashtag #color, for example:

Lot -->
	report("report_name",1.0)
	report("report_name#color","#ff0000")

Dashboards and scenarios

Two modes are available in the Dashboard concerning the data to display:

  • Active Scenario
  • Compare Scenarios

Switching from one mode to anther is done by clicking the button in the navigation bar. In the Active Scenario mode, the cards will only display the report values of the object belonging to the scenario activated in the Scene Editor.

Active scenario mode

Active scenario mode
Active scenario mode is shown.

Compare Scenarios mode

In the Compare Scenarios mode, the cards will display the report values of all the scenarios of the scene:

Compare Scenarios mode
Compare Scenarios mode

In the Compare Scenarios mode, the Pie Card displays one pie chart per scenario:

Compare scenarios with pie chart.
Compare scenarios with pie charts.

For more information about scenarios, see Scenarios.

Manage the Dashboard

It is possible to create many pages in the Dashboard. Click the Options tool Options on the Navigation Bar to display a menu with the following options:

  • Add pages—Add a new page where you can set the name.
  • Rename Current Page—Rename the current page.
  • Duplicate Current Page—Duplicate the current page.
  • Delete Current Page—Delete the current page (except if there is only one page in the dashboard).
  • Table View—Display the values of reports by scenario in a table.

    The Table View displays for each report its names, aggregates, and the color when it is specified in the CGA file. With the three drop-down menus on top of the Table View, it is possible to filter the reports by the following:

    • Report or Group of Reports
    • Scenario
    • All Scene or Selected Objects
Table View