Bold BI Dashboards Embedding in ASP.NET Core Sample with Embedded SDK

A GitHub link has been provided to get the sample application, which demonstrates the rendering of a dashboard with a list of available dashboards in your Bold BI server. This is followed by steps to create a new embedding application in ASP.NET Core on your own.

NOTE: The best way to get started would be to read the Getting Started section of the documentation first. The Getting Started guide provides you with enough information that you need to know before working on the sample.

Prerequisites

How to run the sample

Please get the ASP.NET Core sample from GitHub.
Please ensure that you have enabled embed authentication on the embed settings settings page. If it is not currently enabled, please refer to the provided image or detailed instructions to enable it.
To download the embedConfig.json file, please follow this link for reference. Additionally, you can refer to the image below for visual guidance.

Please copy the downloaded embedConfig.json file and paste it into the designated location within the application. Make sure that you have placed it correctly in the application, as shown in the image.

EmbedConfig image

ServerUrl	Dashboard Server BI URL (ex: http://localhost:5000/bi, https://demo.boldbi.com/bi)
SiteIdentifier	For the Bold BI Enterprise edition, it should be like site/site1. For Bold BI Cloud, it should be an empty string.
UserEmail	UserEmail of the Admin in your Bold BI, which would be used to get the dashboard list.
EmbedSecret	Get your EmbedSecret key from the Embed tab by enabling the `Enable embed authentication` in the Administration page
Environment	Your Bold BI application environment. (If it is a cloud analytics server, use `BoldBI.Environment.Cloud`; if it is your server, use `BoldBI.Environment.Enterprise`)
DashboardId	Item ID of the dashboard to be embedded in your application.
ExpirationTime	Token expiration time. (In the EmbedConfig.json file, the default token expiration time is 10000 seconds)

Open your project in Visual Studio Code and use the command dotnet restore to restore the necessary packages. After the packages have been restored, use the command dotnet build to build the project.
To run your ASP.NET Core sample in Visual Studio Code, use the command dotnet run.

The dashboard can be edited in design mode, allowing users to create a new dashboard with the following changes in the renderDashboard() method.

dashboardId	Provide the dashboard ID of the dashboard you want to embed in view or edit mode. Ignore this property to create a new dashboard.
mode	In which mode do you want to render the dashboard? It can either be 'BoldBI.Mode.View' or 'BoldBI.Mode.Design' mode.
authorizationServer	Url of the 'authorizationServerAPI' action in the application.

    function renderDashboard(dashboardId) {
    var dashboard = BoldBI.create({
    serverUrl: rootUrl + "/" + siteIdentifier,
    dashboardId: dashboardId,//Provide item id to render it in design mode,to create dashboard remove this property   
    embedContainerId: "dashboard",
    embedType: embedType,
    environment: environment,
    width: "100%",
    height: "100%",
    mode: BoldBI.Mode.Design,
    expirationTime: 100000,
    authorizationServer: {
        url: authorizationServerUrl
    }
    });
    dashboard.loadDesigner();
    };

NOTE: By default, we display the dashboard embedding without the dashboard listing sidebar. To enable the dashboard list, you need to navigate to the dashboardlisting URL (e.g., https://localhost:5001/dashboardlisting).

How this sample works

Based on the values in the embedConfig.json file, you will obtain the user token and verify its validity. Following that, you will be able to retrieve the list of dashboards from the server by utilizing the appropriate API.
In the HomeController.cs, add the GetDashboards() action, which will use the GetToken method to retrieve the list of dashboards while initializing the DOM in the Index.html.
When choosing which dashboard to display, please authorize the server URL by calling the AuthorizationServer action using the provided embedConfig values.
The SignatureUrl in the above authorization has been generated using the provided EmbedSecret key and validated embed details in Bold BI. This allows the dashboard to be rendered in the viewer section of the index.cshtml.

Steps to create ASP.NET Core application to embed dashboard

Please create a folder in the desired location and open it in Visual Studio Code.
Next, open the terminal in Visual Studio Code. For reference, please see the image below.
In order to create a new project, we must execute this command within the terminal.
```
     dotnet new webapp
```
Please make sure that you have enabled embed authentication on the embed settings page. If it is currently not enabled, please refer to the provided image or detailed instructions in order to enable it.
To download the embedConfig.json file, please click on this link for reference. Additionally, you can refer to the following image for visual guidance.
Please copy the downloaded embedConfig.json file and paste it into the designated location within the application. Please make sure that you have correctly placed it in the application, as shown in the following image.

Please create a new folder named Models and within it, create a model class called DataClass.cs to define the following properties. These properties will be utilized to retrieve the list of dashboards from the server.

To add the necessary references to the project, execute the following commands in the terminal: dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json and dotnet add package System.Runtime.Serialization.Primitives. Make sure to include the System.Runtime.Serialization and Newtonsoft.Json namespaces in the DataClass.cs model file.

[DataContract]
public class EmbedClass
{
    [DataMember]
    public string embedQuerString { get; set; }
    [DataMember]
    public string dashboardServerApiUrl { get; set; }
}

public class EmbedDetails
{
    public string Environment { get; set; }

    public string SiteIdentifier { get; set; }

    public string ServerUrl { get; set; }

    public string EmbedSecret { get; set; }

    public string UserEmail { get; set; }

    public string EmbedType { get; set; }
    
    public string DashboardId { get; set; }
}

Please create another model class called GlobalAppSettings.cs to define the following properties. These properties will maintain the object of the embedConfig.json file within the GlobalAppSettings.
```
public class GlobalAppSettings
{
    public static EmbedDetails EmbedDetails { get; set; }
}
```
Please create a new folder called Home within the Pages folder. Then, create a new file called Index.cshtml within the Home folder.

The following script is necessary to display the dashboard. Set the Layout = null at the top and add the following code in your \Pages\Home\Index.cshtml page within the <head> tag.

Index.cshml Image

  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdn.boldbi.com/embedded-sdk/v7.7.9/boldbi-embed.js"></script>
  <script type="text/javascript" src="~/js/Index.js"></script>
  <script type="text/javascript">
     var rootUrl = "@GlobalAppSettings.EmbedDetails.ServerUrl";
     var dashboardId = "@GlobalAppSettings.EmbedDetails.DashboardId";
     var siteIdentifier = "@GlobalAppSettings.EmbedDetails.SiteIdentifier";
     var environment = "@GlobalAppSettings.EmbedDetails.Environment";
     var embedType = "@GlobalAppSettings.EmbedDetails.EmbedType";
     var authorizationServerUrl = "@Url.Action("AuthorizationServer", "Home")";
  </script>

In the <body> section, include the <div id="viewer-section"> that contains a <div id="dashboard">. This container can be utilized to display the dashboard.
```
 <body onload="renderDashboard(dashboardId)"> 
   <div id="viewer-section">
       <div id="dashboard"></div>
   </div>
 </body>
```

Please create a new folder called Controllers. Then, create a new file called HomeController.cs within the Controllers folder. To obtain specific dashboard details, define an API AuthorizationServer() by utilizing the GetSignatureUrl() method to generate the algorithm. In this API, append the embedQuerString,userEmail and the value from the GetSignatureUrl() method are appended as the query parameters in the URL to authorization server of particular dashboard. Make sure to include the Newtonsoft.Json, System.Security.Cryptography, System.Net.Http and Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc namespaces.

    public IActionResult Index()
    { 
        string basePath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
        string jsonString = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(Path.Combine(basePath, "embedConfig.json"));
        GlobalAppSettings.EmbedDetails = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<EmbedDetails>(jsonString);
        return View("~/Pages/Home/Index.cshtml");
    }

    [HttpPost]
    [Route("AuthorizationServer")]
    public string AuthorizationServer([FromBody] object embedQuerString)
    {
       var embedClass = Newtonsoft.Json.JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<EmbedClass>(embedQuerString.ToString());

       var embedQuery = embedClass.embedQuerString;
       // User your user-email as embed_user_email
       embedQuery += "&embed_user_email=" + GlobalAppSettings.EmbedDetails.UserEmail;
   	   //To set embed_server_timestamp to overcome the EmbedCodeValidation failing while different timezone using at client application.
       double timeStamp = (int)DateTime.UtcNow.Subtract(new DateTime(1970, 1, 1)).TotalSeconds;
       embedQuery += "&embed_server_timestamp=" + timeStamp;
       var embedDetailsUrl = "/embed/authorize?" + embedQuery + "&embed_signature=" + GetSignatureUrl(embedQuery);

       using (var client = new HttpClient())
       {
           client.BaseAddress = new Uri(embedClass.dashboardServerApiUrl);
           client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();

           var result = client.GetAsync(embedClass.dashboardServerApiUrl + embedDetailsUrl).Result;
           string resultContent = result.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;
           return resultContent;
       }

    }

    public string GetSignatureUrl(string queryString)
    {
       if (queryString != null)
       {
           var encoding = new System.Text.UTF8Encoding();
           var keyBytes = encoding.GetBytes(GlobalAppSettings.EmbedDetails.EmbedSecret);
           var messageBytes = encoding.GetBytes(queryString);
           using (var hmacsha1 = new HMACSHA256(keyBytes))
           {
               var hashMessage = hmacsha1.ComputeHash(messageBytes);
               return Convert.ToBase64String(hashMessage);
           }
       }
       return string.Empty;
    }

Please remove the lines app.MapRazorPages() and builder.Services.AddRazorPages() from the Program.cs Instead, add the following lines of code: builder.Services.AddControllersWithViews(); app.MapControllerRoute(name: "default", pattern: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}").

Please create the Index.js file under the wwwroot/js folder. Define the renderDashboard() method. Then, create an instance and call the loadDashboard() method to render the dashboard. TherenderDashboard() method will be used to render the dashboard using the Embed SDK file.

Index.cshtml location

function renderDashboard(dashboardId) {
       var dashboard = BoldBI.create({
       serverUrl: rootUrl + "/" + siteIdentifier,//Dashboard Server BI URL (ex: http://localhost:5000/bi/site/site1, http://demo.boldbi.com/bi/site/site1)
       dashboardId: dashboardId,//Provide the dashboard id of the dashboard you want to embed here.  
       embedContainerId: "dashboard",//DOM id where the dashboard will be rendered, here it is dashboard.
       embedType: embedType,
       environment: environment,//Your Bold BI application environment.
       width: "100%",
       height: "100%",
       mode: BoldBI.Mode.View,//Rendering mode of the dashboard can be Design and View for the dashboard.
       expirationTime: 100000,//Set the duration for the token to be alive.
           authorizationServer: {
           url: authorizationServerUrl //The URL from which particular dashboard details are obtained from the server.
           }
       
       });
       dashboard.loadDashboard();
   };

To restore the necessary packages, run the command dotnet restore ”. After the packages have been restored, use the command dotnet build to build the project.
To run your ASP.NET Core sample in Visual Studio Code, use the command dotnet run.

Contents

Prerequisites
How to run the sample
How this sample works
Steps to create ASPNET Core application to embed dashboard

Contents

Prerequisites
How to run the sample
How this sample works
Steps to create ASPNET Core application to embed dashboard

Please provide additional information

Thank you for your feedback and comments.We will rectify this as soon as possible!