Dashboards

Data Adapters

Data Adapters are the bridge between data sources and dashboard components. Not every component needs a data adapter — Buttons, TextBoxes, and ComboBoxes using MemberFilters work without one. But components that display dynamic data (Labels with placeholders, CubeViews, BI Viewers, DynamicGrids) require a data adapter to supply their content.

Which Components Need Adapters?

ComponentNeeds Adapter?Notes
ButtonNoTriggers actions, does not display data
TextBoxNoCaptures user input via BoundParameter
ComboBox/ListBox (MemberFilter)NoOptions come from the MemberFilter dimension expression
ComboBox/ListBox (Data-bound)YesOptions come from an adapter DataTable
Label (plain text / parameters)NoStatic text and |!Param!| resolve without an adapter
Label (with {1}, {2})YesPlaceholders require an adapter DataTable
CubeView componentYesMust bind to a CubeView-type adapter
BI ViewerYesSupports CubeView, CubeViewMD, SQL, Custom adapters
DynamicGridYesTypically uses a SQL adapter
GridViewYesAny adapter — displays read-only tabular data
PivotGridYesAny adapter — CubeViewMD is most common for pivot analysis

Adapter Types

diagramAdapter Type to Component Mapping

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CubeView Adapter

Pulls data from a stored CubeView definition. The adapter references a CubeView by name, and the CubeView's POV (Point of View) can include |!Param!| substitution to make the report dynamic.
Key properties:
  • CubeView Name — The stored CubeView to render
  • POV Override — Optional POV string using |!Param!| syntax (e.g., E#|!EntityParam!|:S#|!ScenarioParam!|)

CubeViewMD Adapter

A multi-dimensional variant of the CubeView adapter designed for BI Viewer components. It flattens dimension hierarchies into a tabular format suitable for pivot tables, charts, and BI analysis. Each dimension level becomes a column in the resulting DataTable.

SQL Adapter

Executes a custom SQL query against the OneStream database. The query can include |!Param!| substitution for standard parameters and ~!Param!~ for template parameters in dynamic dashboards.
plaintext
1SELECT Account, SUM(Amount) AS Total
2FROM dbo.PlanningInput
3WHERE Entity = '|!EntityParam!|'
4AND Scenario = '|!ScenarioParam!|'
5AND Period = '~!tPeriod!~'
6GROUP BY Account
7ORDER BY Account
ℹ️Info
SQL adapters query the OneStream application database directly. This gives you access to relational tables, custom tables, and any SQL-accessible data — but the query runs under the application service account's permissions.

Custom Adapter

A Custom adapter delegates data retrieval to a Dashboard DataSet Business Rule. The adapter's CommandText property specifies the Business Rule name, and the rule's GetDataSet function returns a DataTable.
This is the most flexible adapter type — your Business Rule can query cubes, call APIs, combine multiple data sources, or compute derived values before returning the result.

Data Flow

diagramAdapter Data Flow

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Binding Adapters to Components

To connect an adapter to a component:
  1. Create the data adapter in the Maintenance Unit (under the Data Adapters node)
  2. Open the component's properties
  3. In the Adapters section, add the adapter by name
  4. Configure adapter-specific properties on the component (e.g., DataTableCellsFromAdapter for Labels)
A single component can bind to multiple adapters — each adapter supplies a separate DataTable. The component properties determine which adapter's data is used for which purpose (e.g., a Label can show values from Adapter 1 in {1} while using Adapter 2 for conditional formatting logic).

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