Spotfire and IronPython
Spotfire API IronPython scripts extends the functionality of Spotfire and takes your Analysis to the next level. Scripts are small IronPython code snippets that can be written and executed on the fly. They require no compilation and deployment. During run time, they access both Python, .NET and Spotfire libraries. Common ways IronPython scripts are triggered are on Document Property changes, button clicks, icon/image clicks, or hyperlink clicks. More advanced ways to trigger an IronPython script are on startup, page navigation, marking and filtering. Triggering on marking and filtering require an R or Python script to execute when a marking or filtering changes.
Scripts can be used to do a variety of things like mark records across marking schemes, filter a data table across filtering schemes, change a visualization from a bar to a line chart, set the Zoom area on a map, and even create a visualization from scratch. In addition, all the Available Action controls in Spotfire are scriptable and be combined with whatever custom script you have created. Each visualization type has its own properties that can be set from an IronPython script.
Scripts are a great idea when you are publishing a guided analytics solution that users are going to access on the web-player. A script can allow you to control when an Analysis exports a prepared report, sends the parameters to an on-demand data table, and can even be configured to write data back to a database.
Spotfire Scripts have various parameter types that allow the script to be re-usable. Parameter types include Visualization, Page, Data Table, and then the various data types. Document Properties can be read and set inside the script.
We have developed three advanced scripts in the recent months that has allowed us to navigate to a different page upon marking a record, changing the columns displayed in a table based on hierarchical filter selections, and setting the zoom radius on a map to view a specified surrounding radius area of a single location.
IronPython combined with HTML, JavaScript, Python, R, Document Properties, the Data Canvas, Spotfire Mods, and the Spotfire Expression language allow you to create very rich, flexible, and custom user experience. At Syntelli/HealthInsights.AI we have expert Spotfire developers and administrators that are passionate about Spotfire. We are Tibco Spotfire partners that offer Spotfire cloud hosting/administration, pre-built product solutions, custom development, and training (fundamental/advanced/custom).