Using Variables for Object Labels

With effect from the October 2022 release of the Dashboard, Variables can now be used for Object Labels. When a Variable is used on an Object Label, the object will display the text derived from the Variable. For example, if you have an object called ‘Store Name’ and you create a Variable that states STORE_NAME = UK Stores, users will see Store Name - UK Stores in Dashboard>Chart Editor.

The name of the object in other places remains the same without the label, such as when it’s been selected and added to the Data screen in Chart Editor. In this case, users will only see the label when hovering over this object.

or when it’s viewed on a Chart Axis.

This is very important because the name of the object is used for Object Replacement in the system. Having the label added to it can easily confuse users about what to use when they use Object Replacement in this format {{name}}.

The following screenshot shows how the label has been added in the Data Connection.

We then added a Variable [[STORE_NAME]] and added the Variable Value of UK Stores in Dashboard Configuration>Settings>Global Variables.

To see the Variable used in an Object label. users will need to enable the feature in Dashboard Configuration>Settings>General Settings (as shown in the following screenshot). This is because:

There will be an additional performance cost when saving ‘Settings’ that are related to Variables or Objects
Object Names are used for the Object Replacement feature and setting an Object Label may cause confusion
This implementation is intended for very specific use cases

When this setting has been enabled and we use this Object in Chart Editor, we can see the details from the Variable have been added to the Object name.

The Object Label is only to be used to help identify what the object relates to in complex implementations.

We advise using this feature with caution, particularly if you also use Object Replacement in your Dashboard.