Documentation

Bulk Upload Viewers

What if you’ve got a whole list of Viewers that you wish to share your dashboards with but you don’t want to create each Viewer individually? In datapine, you can use the Viewer import function to upload a CSV file with Viewer related information that will add and assign the Viewers to your dashboards automatically. Using this function, you can even assign a set of values and filters that the Viewer is allowed to see on the dashboards. This way we can ensure that users only see the data that they are permitted to access and enable you to stay in full control of your user management. For more information on this topic have a look at our video tutorial.

 

Prepare viewer import file

 

You can simply upload your list of viewers in a CSV file format. Thereby, the CSV file should have the following structure.

 

example structure of a csv file to bulk upload dashboard viewer

 

Tip: Download a viewer csv file template here.

 

  1. The column headers email (A), dashboards (B) and groups (C) are mandatory and always need to be included so we’ll recognize the CSV file as Viewer Import list. If you wish to add a Viewer to two different dashboards or groups at once, simply use a comma for distinction just like we did in the example above for the user Lara Smith.
  2. If you don’t want your Viewers to receive an email invitation after the import, please add a password to column D. Column firstname (E), lastname (F) and language (G) are optional.
  3. In case, you wish to add filter values for the individual Viewers to your dashboards you can add these using the format starting from column H.

H. Add the name of the filter on your dashboard to Filter_1.

 

I.  Then add the filter values to Filter_1_values. Use a comma to distinct multiple filter values.

 

J. Then add either TRUE or FALSE to determine if the filter should be visible to the Viewer or not. Hidden filters cannot be changed by the Viewer and will only apply the values you’ve added to the list.

 

You can add as many filters as you like, just add more columns to the right and continue in the same format with Filter_2, Filter_2_values and Filter_2_visibility.

 

Prepare viewer bulk upload

 

Viewer lists can be uploaded to datapine just like any other standard cloud CSV files. You may integrate the files using one of these two options:

 

  1. Import Viewers via FTP or SFTP Server
  2. Import Viewers via Dropbox or Google Spreadsheets

Save your CSV file to one of these locations and follow the upload process for the respective option below.

 

1) Generate Link

 

Before you can start uploading your Viewer list you will need to generate a link that we can connect to using the following formats.

 

a) SFTP or FTP link

 

If you wish to import your Viewers using a secure FTP or SFTP environment, you can do so using the following link format. Make sure you’ve placed your CSV file onto your FTP or SFTP before you generate the link.

 

Setup the link using the following syntax including the credentials to access your SFTP or FTP server:

 

FTP: ftp://user:password@url:port/file_name.csv?viewerImport=true

 

SFTP: sftp://user:password@url:port/file_name.csv?viewerImport=true

 

Note: The SFTP/FTP filename is case-sensitive. If the case doesn’t match, you will get the error message “csv file is empty” or “request cannot be executed”.

 

b) Dropbox or Google Drive Link

 

You may also upload your Viewers via Dropbox or Google Drive. This option works fast and easy and only requires you to add a piece of code at the end of the link.

Place your file into your Dropbox or Google Drive account and generate a sharable URL. Then append the URL with the following code &viewerImportDropbox=true at the end. This helps us to identify this file as a Viewer Import.

 

2) Upload Viewers via CSV

 

1. To upload your Viewer list to datapine login to your account and access your account settings with a click on Settings.

 

2. You’ll be forwarded directly to the data sources overview. Click on Add CSV file on the ‘Add a new Datasource’ Widget.

 

add a csv data source in datapine

 

a) Then select to upload you file via cloud storage on the right side of the screen.

 

b) In the upload screen, simply past the link into the textbox and click on Upload file.

 

import dynamic csv into datapine via link

 

c) On the next screen, give the file a name and click Import File to import your list of Viewers.

 

The Viewers in the list will now be added to the Viewer Management page. If you click on Viewers in the upper settings menu, you can review the uploaded Viewers and check their permissions if needed.