Skip to Navigation | Skip to Content

Devcenter

Overview

FAQ Categories

If your question is not covered in the FAQ, please post it in the appropriate forum.

General Product Operation


Functionality: Getting Data into Proto


Functionality: Processing Data


Functionality: Presentation in Proto


Functionality: Getting Data out of Proto


How do I turn off the VBA Warning dialog that keeps coming up?

When you open a Proto file that uses VBA, you will be prompted with a Security Warning dialog box. You should always be careful when opening files from someone you don't know. However, you can repress this warning from showing in the future.

To do so, go to Proto's application settings by choosing Tools > Options from the application menu bar. Then check the box in the "Security and Privacy" section titled "Don't show VBA Warning dialog on load."


How do I undo a deletion, making a wrong Connection, etc.?

Unfortunately there is no global "undo" functionality in Proto. Limited undo functionality is being planned for future releases, but in numerous cases the behavior of undo is unclear without returning the entire dashboard, and possibly some external resources, to a previous state. For example, making a new Connection frequently starts an execution cycle. This execution can change the state of data and modules downstream from the point of the Connection, and in rare cases even trigger a database write or other interaction with an external resource. In this case, undoing the Connection may lead to a non-intuitive mixed state which is not actually the same as the state of the dashboard immediately prior to the action.

Here is a quick list of common mistakes and what you can do about them:

  • If you accidentally delete a Connection, you can recreate it.
  • If you accidentally make a Connection to the wrong input connector, you may have to take a couple actions to correct the situation. An example of this situation is discussed in depth during the configuration of the Entryset Formula module in Lesson 2.
  • If you accidentally delete a Component, primitive module or selection of many modules, you will need to recreate them. For this reason, be sure to save your work frequently and before making big changes.
  • If you are typing in a Textbox in the Viewer, you can use the Control-Z command as long as focus is in the text box.
  • If you are typing in a Table in the Viewer, there is no support for undo.

Why does Proto seem to freeze or stall occasionally for a few seconds?

By default Proto Auto saves every ten minutes. While Proto saves your work you will momentarily be unable to continue working. Auto save can be turned off by going to Tools > Options and unchecking the "Enable Auto save" checkbox. You can also change the time interval to save less frequently.



How do I copy and paste modules and Components?

You can only copy and paste Components in Proto. To copy and paste a selection of modules, you must first "group" them into a new Component.

To do this, select the modules you would like to copy and paste. Right-click on one of the selected modules and chose "Group Selected Modules into New Custom Module" from the menu. This will create a new Component which you can copy and paste. Now you can ungroup the Component to get back the individual modules. To do so, left-click on the Component to select it, and then right-click on it and select "Ungroup Selected Custom Module" from the menu.


Why do viewer windows snap or jerk around as I try and move windows??

As you create more complicated viewer layouts, custom modules might be larger than the available space on the screen. Modules that are larger than the screen will often cause windows to seemingly “jerk” around the screen as you resize them.


How can I tell what input and output a Connection is made between?

Mouse over a Connection in the Builder to show a tool-tip that indicates what output the Connection is made from and what input it is connected to.


How do I delete a Connection?

Right-click on a Connection in the Builder and select "Clear All Connections" to delete all Connections between two modules. If there are multiple connections right-click and select "Delete" from the appropriate Connection sub-menu.


What happens when I get an error?

An error does not necessarily mean your dashboard is broken. When Proto runs into an error all processing downstream of the error is stopped until you resolve the error. In the Builder, a red exclamation point will appear on any module that has an error so you can find the problem. You can then diagnose the error, determine its cause and resolve it. The most frequent errors stem from incorrect data types, null values, or changes in the configuration of a Component that cause another module to perform an invalid calculation or process. For example, common errors due to misconfiguration of a Component or module include attempting to sum a list of dates, plot a series of text values in a graph, etc.

For a more detailed description of errors in Proto, please read this reference article on errors and error states.


How do I know when to create my own components rather than using preconfigured components?

The majority of the Components you will use in the creation of a Proto dashboard will be unique enough to your data that you will want to create them from scratch. However, the Proto team has created hundreds of preconfigured Components to address the most common and difficult data massaging and analysis tasks we have encountered. Many of the roadblocks you will encounter in the creation of a Proto dashboard have already been hit and solved by the Proto team. For difficult data processing needs, VBA gives you the power to write a script when using primitive modules would be cumbersome or awkward.



How do I get MY data into Proto?

Proto can import almost any data set you can think of. Any ODBC or Access database, Excel workbook or CSV file can be imported using native functionality in Proto, and you can use VBA to read in data from virtually any other data source. Dashboards are frequently set up to run preset or dynamic queries on databases or read in preset ranges out of your Excel workbook.



How do you use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to process data in Proto?

For an introduction to using VBA with Proto, please read MiniTutorial - Introduction to Using VBA.


How do you do the equivalent of a VLOOKUP in Excel?

The VLOOKUP function is available in the Entryset Formula module. For a complete explanation, please read Lesson 2 (beginning on page 9).

If you would like to add multiple columns from one table of data onto another, you may be better off using the Join Component which is covered in detail in Lesson 1.


My data has many more errors than the data in the tutorial. How can I clean and normalize my data?

After importing data, the first step in most Proto workflows cleans and normalizes data. Workflows can either apply rules to automatically clean your data, or generate exception reports. Users can then apply business rules to the data to override errors and exceptions as needed.


Are there any limits on the size of the datasets Proto can handle?

Proto is optimized to handle the average business user’s datasets. It is not designed to handle enterprise data archives or replace a data warehouse. In our experience, the amount of data that Proto can comfortably handle is highly dependent on what you are doing with the data, how much memory a computer has installed, how many modules or Components are acting on a particular data set in sequence, and whether the user actually needs to view tens of thousands of rows at once.

As general guidelines, you should try to avoid individual datasets with more than 1 million cells of data (e.g. - 25,000 rows and 40 columns or 50,000 rows and 20 columns). In practice, if you need to work with very large datasets, it is best to store them in a database and then let Proto query and re-query the database as needed to pull in a only the data that is relevant to a particular analysis or presentation. For example, Proto has been used to show aggregate reports and enable drill down into a database with millions of rows of transactions. The dashboard allows the user to pick a date range and set of products, and then Proto generates and runs an aggregate query against the database. The aggregates are shown in a time series graph and the user can click on the graph to select specific dates and products. This in turn generates and executes another query dynamically, to show the individual transactions in the highlighted region. However the millions of rows of data are not pulled into Proto and processed all at once.



How do I quickly switch in and out of "Edit Mode" to position and size controls?

As an alternative to selecting "Tools > Edit Controls" from the application menu bar to switch into and out of Edit Mode, you can do the following:

  • Hit Control-E on the keyboard.
  • Right-click anywhere on the background of the Viewer and select "Edit Controls." Be careful not to accidentally right-click on the background of a control such as a Table, which has similar coloring to the background of the Viewer.
  • Click the lock/unlock icon in the bottom right of the Viewer window on the status bar.

My tables look funny, why aren't my rows all the same height?

Tables are set to wrap text by default. If you have a cell with text that is longer than the width of the column Proto will expand the height of the cell. You can either expand the column width or turn word wrap off by right-clicking on the table and select the "Formatting" tab. In the second section called "Formatting" de-select "Word Wrap." Hit Save to apply the change.


How do I change the width of a column in a Table on the Viewer?

To resize a column, place the cursor over the column headers (grey section at the top of the Table with the column names) between the column in question and the column to its right. The cursor will change to indicate that you can begin resizing. To do so, click and drag to change the column width. Alternatively, you can double-click to auto size the column to fit its contents in a single row.

To resize many columns at once, click and drag in the column headers of a Table to select many columns. Then position the cursor to as you would to change a single column's width. When you click and drag to change the width of one column, the width of all the selected columns will be affected.

To change the width of a column in a Table, the column header must be visible on the Table and you must not be in Edit Mode in the Viewer.



Once I’m done working with my data, what are the options available to export it?

Proto offers a variety of options to export your data. The most common places Proto dashboards export data to are Excel workbooks and databases although VBA allows for many more possibilities.