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Embeddable Analytics

Knowi makes it easier to create and embed analytics and visualizations into other business applications including your own and into cloud applications like Shopify or Salesforce.

Multiple options are available for embedding:

  • Public Embedding 
  • Token based embedding
  • Authenticated Embedding through Single Single On

Embedding offers the ability to customize the user experience of dashboard interaction and functionality of the embedded applications. We provide multiple embed options:

Dashboards and widgets can be embedded using using our Javascript API, or using an iFrame.

Getting Started

Knowi's embedded solution allows you to add the power of interactive visualization to external websites and applications. Knowi offers built-in features to distribute live dashboards with a customizable, tailored experience using a Javascript API and the security of Single Sign-On.

Embedding can be a single dashboard or visualization to the full application with integration to handle authentication, personalization, and content management.

Key concepts

Javascript API: API for embedding and programmatically managing the interaction and experience. Ideal for integrating with the functionality of the embedding application

Secure Hash: For public embedding, URL parameters such as user filters can be encrypted.

Authenticated Access: Method to guarantee security and governance for embedded views through Single Sign-On. If users of your application sign in, they will be allowed a passthrough to access Knowi content using the same credentials. Removes the friction of prompting a Knowi login screen.

User Filtering: Ability to securely filter a dashboard's data based on the Knowi login information. This is ideal in multi-tenant scenarios if you have a single dataset or database for multiple users or groups of users. Applying a user filter provides the functionality of utilizing the same content and style across users whilst ensuring each user can see only the rows governed by their user filter

URL Embed

Simple URL Share and Embed

Use this option if you'd like to share or embed a dashboard for public access without security. To generate a public URL for a dashboard, click on 'Generate Shareable URL' from the 'Share' tab of the dashboard.

Note: This makes the dashboard publicly accessible, without requiring a login. Do not use this option for sensitive data.

In addition, the embed code can also be used to embed the dashboard into your own portal/HTML pages.

To turn off a unique public URL, click on 'Disable Share URL'.

To add filter parameters to the share URL, pass in contentFilters parameter to the URL, where the value is in encoded JSON form.

Example: URL Parameter example: contentFilters=[{"fieldName":"opened","values":[1000],"operator":">"}]

Full URL, with the parameter and encoded JSON:
https://www.knowi.com/d/3cKltxiizxNFgxjRvanZwY2WZoiikPo5ip3EqS13cii1KdQie?contentFilters=%5B%7B%22fieldName%22%3A%22opened%22%2C%22values%22%3A%5B1000%5D%2C%22operator%22%3A%22%3E%22%7D%5D

Example of using Share URL with contentFilters parameter:

Secure URL Embed

Use this option to securely embed dashboards where you can filter the data based on parameters that are encrypted (using your customer key). This ensures that the request is not tampered with.

Steps:

  1. Contact us to obtain a customer key.

  2. Use the key to AES encrypt your request parameters. Include contentFilters as a parameter (mandatory).

    Parameters: contentFilters

    Example: contentFilters=[{"fieldName":"opened","values":[1000],"operator":">"}]

    Please contact support@knowi.com for assistance with AES encryption and/or sample code.

  3. Use the Share settings in the dashboard, and click on 'Generate Secure URL' a generate an embeddable URL.

  4. Build the URL with the generated hash at in step 2 at runtime. Embed into an iFrame inside your portal (or use the JavaScript API) Example: https://www.knowi.com/share/secure/VyqOBEBfyKt7ZUzLyH68Vm3lT34NisUIYM1VOis0IpI38ie/{secureHash}

Example Javascript Usage:

<HEAD>

 <script src="https://www.knowi.com/minify/knowi-api.min.js"></script>

 <!-- *********** Edit here *********** -->

 <script>

 function loadChart() {
     Knowi.render('#knowi-div', {
       type: 'secure',
       hash: "rcf9rdm6zTDd6KIz9EblkO0e0BfEFF0SCjH9RABg=",
       dashboard: "4kjl45kipgqULyXaT5fAUD3ipIypbipPNq2wm6D197pJKCnQnTx",
       view: {
         title: true,
         border: true,
         header: true,
         backgroundColor: "lightblue",
         setting: true
       }
    }, function () {
       });
 }

 </script>

</HEAD>

<BODY onload="loadChart()">

<div id="knowi-div"></div>

</BODY>
</HTML>

Link Expiry

You can also specify a time to expire for a given request, so that the link with the same parameters cannot be reused. To add an expiry, pass in the following two parameters to the request prior to the encryption routine:

Current Epoch Time: _t
Expiry in seconds: _ttl (default is 60 seconds if _t is present without _ttl).

Example url before passing it through the hashing/encryption routine: contentFilters=[{"fieldName":"opened","values":[1000],"operator":">"}]&t=1537661183&ttl=30_

Single Sign-On API

In some scenarios, you want to guarantee the authentication of users before viewing Knowi content. Single sign-on enables the users signed into your application to view a protected-private Knowi resource without the need of signing in once again on Knowi. Afterward, a new browser session and cookie will be issued to the browser.

User identity, permissions, access level, and attributes are all constructed within the browser session of the single sign-on user, which is created using a unique customer token. Anyone with access to the customer token may create an SSO user to which that Knowi instance is connected to, as any user, with any permission. See our example code to learn how to generate an SSO flow

Generating Knowi Customer Token:

In order to create and manage SSO users, you'll first need a Knowi SSO Customer Token. 

Step 1: On the left hand side menu, click User Settings --> Account Settings tab. 

example

Step 2: From the Customer Settings section, select ?Generate? in the SSO Token field .

Protect the Knowi SSO Token as you would any credentials to your Knowi instance and keep SSO Token section disabled if you?re not using it.

example

Note: Contact support@knowi.com if the SSO TOKEN option is not available in your Knowi Customer Settings.

Getting Started: Embedding with SSO requires some code writing to seamlessly integrate into your web application. You can find several example scripts on our SSO examples GitHub repository. 

The following simplifies the information needed to embed with SSO.

  1. User Token: Create an SSO user within your account using your Knowi SSO Customer Token

    curl -i -X POST -d "user=email@domain.com&ssoCustomerToken=<SSO_TOKEN>" https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/create

Note: Additional parameters can passed when generating a creating an SSO user token, such as assignment to groups, roles/permission, user filters. See the API reference for usage.

  1. Session Token: Create a new session token using the returned token from step 1

    curl -i -X POST -d "user=email@domain.com&userToken=<USER_TOKEN>" https://knowi.com/sso/session/create

  2. Embed: Write a Javascript section with the session token returned from step 2

      function loadKnowiUser() {
    Knowi.render('#knowi-div', {
      type: "single",
      token: "BYhXXCeu0Ego8zA1FqtLOOM4BDWot5AYBLI7PWrQTbsie",
      url: "https://www.knowi.com/",
      view: {
        title: true,
        header: true
      }
    }, function () {
    });
  } 

Note: Alternatively, you can log in directly on a browser or iFrame the URL using the session token returned from step 2

      https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/login?token=<SESSION_TOKEN>

SSO API Resources:

  • SSO API Reference | link
  • SSO code samples created and maintained by Knowi | link 
  • Embedding SSO with Javascript API | link

API Reference

1. Create User:

POST https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/create

Parameter Type Description
ssoCustomerToken string Required. Customer-specific SSO Token to authorize SSO user management.
user string Required. email/username of the new or existing user.
userGroups[] array of strings An array of groups the user will be associated with..
Note: Group will be created if it does not exist. Send an empty array ([]) to remove dissociate the user from all groups.
role string Role and permissions to assign the user. Defaults to system user if blank.
refresh bool Boolean. If True, the user's properties (i.e. userGroups[], contentFilter, role) will be updated with new values.
contentFilter object a JSON object to apply a row-level filter on data user is allowed to see. Ex: [{"fieldName": "region", "values":["Canada","Mexico"], "operator":"="}]

Returns: - A user specific token. Store this for your user within your system.

Example

curl  -i -X POST -d "userGroups[]=First Group&userGroups[]=Second Group&user=a@a.com&ssoCustomerToken=9ebdlklfWlYuQXPXanqHxq7ZflklfZ1pGC8Ny8l2is9uNhMie" https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/create
Returns a user token back.

2. Create a Session:

POST https://www.knowi.com/sso/session/create

Parameter Type Description
user string Required. email/username of the existing user.
userToken string Required. Token returned from user creation (/sso/user/create)

Returns: - A session Id/token

Example

curl  -i -X POST -d "user=a@a.com&userToken=NUAslkrtRTTFMvscpiislikfyfhsgu491is7plqRvwvJGEgm7JVU8ie" https://www.knowi.com/sso/session/create
Returns a session token.

Note: For added security, Both User creation and session creation also has optional domain matching, where we serve requests from specific hosts.

3. Delete User:

POST: https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/remove

Parameter Type Description
user string Required. email/username of the existing user.
userToken string Required. token returned from user creation (/sso/user/create) 
ssoCustomerToken string Required. customer-specific SSO Token to authorize SSO user management.

4. Update User Filter:

To update user level filters, use the following end point:

POST:  https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/contentfilters/update

Parameter Type Description
contentFilter string Required. a JSON object to apply a row-level filter on data user is allowed to see. Ex: [{"fieldName": "region", "values":["Italy"], "operator":"="}]
user string Required. email/username of the existing user.
ssoCustomerToken string Required. customer-specific SSO Token to authorize SSO user management.

Example

    curl  -i -X POST -d "user=demoSSO@knowi.com&ssoCustomerToken=9ebdlklfWlYuQXPXanqHxq7ZflklfZ1pGC8Ny8l2is9uNhMie&contentFilter=[{\"fieldName\":\"customer\",\"values\":[\"Costco\"],\"operator\":\"=\"}]" https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/contentfilters/update

Single Sign On: Embedding

Option 1: iFrame the URL, with the session token:

https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/login?token=b7E5pofgis9nBjSyPxUclksflkfltS1ZEPhhHhG2MBZis34QJiiBFn8ie

Option 2: Use the JavaScript API: 

Knowi.render('#knowi-div', {
    type: 'single',
    token: '...',
    view: {
      title: true,
      css: ['https://rawgit.com/AntonLapshin/csharp/master/custom1.css', 'https://rawgit.com/AntonLapshin/csharp/master/custom2.css']
    },
   },
   function() { alert("Loaded") }
);

User Level Filters and Roles

Create User with user level filters enabled:

curl  -i -X POST -d "userGroups[]=Default&user=a17@a.com&ssoCustomerToken=9ebdlklfWlYuQXPXanqHxq7ZflklfZ1pGC8Ny8l2is9uNhMie&contentFilter=[{\"fieldName\":\"customer\",\"values\":[\"LinkedIn\"],\"operator\":\"=\"}]" https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/create

Then create the session token and iFrame the URL with the session token like in the example above.

More on User level filters here.

Listing API

The following end points can be used to retrieve groups, dashboards, queries and widgets:

GET /sso/dashboards

Parameters: token. SSO session token. Required.

Returns: Returns a list of dashboards and details for each dashboard in JSON Array form

Example: curl -i -X GET https://www.knowi.com/sso/dashboards?token="9sBRdisBevkFvfIbb3HnipqjutS00JIjWpTcGKUPe2wMAie"

GET /sso/widgets:

Parameters: token. SSO session token. Required.

Returns: Returns a list of widgets and details for each widget in JSON Array form

GET /sso/queries:

Parameters: token. SSO session token. Required.

Returns: Returns a list of queries associated to the user

GET /sso/groups:

Parameters: token. SSO session token. Required.

Returns: Returns a JSON list of user groups associated to the user

User Activity

Get last timestamp of a users activity

GET /sso/session/lastActive

Parameters: token. SSO session token. Required.

Returns: timestamp in milliseconds for an SSO user's last system activity. Returns "-1" if user is inactive.

Example: curl -i -X GET https://www.knowi.com/sso/session/lastActive?token="9sBRdisBevkFvfIbb3HnipqjutS00JIjWpTcGKUPe2wMAie"

Extends the lifetime of SSO session token by 30 minutes

PUT /sso/session/keepAlive

Parameters: token. SSO session token. Required.

Returns: Returns No content

Example: curl -i -X PUT https://www.knowi.com/sso/session/keepAlive?token="9sBRdisBevkFvfIbb3HnipqjutS00JIjWpTcGKUPe2wMAie"

Logout and terminate an SSO user session

 GET /sso/user/logout

Parameters: token. SSO session token. Required.

Returns: Returns No content

Example: curl -i -X GET https://www.knowi.com/sso/user/logout?token="9sBRdisBevkFvfIbb3HnipqjutS00JIjWpTcGKUPe2wMAie"

Search Based Analytics API

The Search Based Analytics API lets you 1. Develop applications to list query suggestions and retrieve the associated response from the query. 2. Embed a Google Search like interface to enable plain english requests to search across datasets within a given user's account.

Using Knowi's Search Analytics empowers your end-users the ability to ask questions of their data in English. Think of this as a Google search on your datasets. This functionality can be embedded in your application through Single Sign-On. Try it out.

Similar to embedding with SSO and the Javascript API, the steps to embedding Search Analytics is almost identical and can be achieved in three steps:

1. User Token: Create a Knowi user token for a new or existing user


curl -i -X POST -d "user=email@domain.com&ssoCustomerToken=" https://knowi.com/sso/user/create

2. Session Token: Create a Knowi session token with the user token from step 1


curl -i -X POST -d "user=email@domain.com&userToken=" https://knowi.com/sso/session/create

3. Embed: Write a Javascript file with the session token returned from step 2

Knowi.render('#knowi-div', {
type: 'nlp',
token: "ii7Cdf7QJy3PaYQLrdZLaGgMnq3Dy2Q1JEhiiuDR9GG64ie",
url: 'http://localhost:9090',
view: {
    nlpOptions: {
        icon: "off",
        css: {
            background: 'transparent',
            width: '80%'
        },
        placeholder: "Try: total sales for canada this week",
        help: "off",
        helpText: "Ability to customize the help text of the question mark",
        defaultView: "visual"
    }
}

}, function () { });

Note: For embedding Search Analytics, type must be nlp

Note: The defaultView can either be data or visual. By default, it is set to data. If set to visual, then a visualization tab will show up in NLP results of the embedded view.

Following API's may be used to create your own search bar. Here are the relevant API calls: 

GET: /sso/nlp/suggestions

Parameter Required? Description
token yes SSO session token
query yes Query to process

Returns: - A list of suggestions as json array

POST: /sso/nlp/parse


Parameter Required? Description
token yes SSO session token
query yes Query to process
datasetId yes Dataset ID that your query should point to
format no Format of the response (json, txt). Defaults to json

Returns: - Data as json or txt array

Embedding with iFrame

The easiest method for embedding a Knowi display (dashboard or visualization) is with the copy-paste embed code. Navigate to a dashboard or visualization on Knowi and copy the Embed Code from the Share option.

Once acquired, this code can be pasted into HTML. This method is useful for simple embeddings, such as embedding into websites, blogs, or internal knowledge bases, but only very simple embedding scenarios should use the embed code.

Note: The JavaScript API is recommended for more control of the look and feel. It is not significantly more work to embed with the JavaScript API and doing so will gain you flexibility and power in your embedded deployment.

Embedding with an iFrame

The basic embed code using the iFrame looks something like this:

HTML:

The secure embed code using the iFrame looks something like this: 

iFrame Resources

  • iFrame samples created and maintained by Knowi | link
  • Generate a secure hash with iFrame | link

JavaScript Embed API

The JavaScript API is an alternative approach to the iFrame embed method. Use the Knowi JavaScript API to integrate Knowi visualizations into your own web applications. The Javascript API provides better functionality to match the intended look and feel for your end-users.

Some of the things that you can do with the JavaScript API:

  • Display visualizations from Knowi's cloud or On-Premise installation in web pages.
  • Dynamically load and resize visualizations.
  • Control functionality of embedded elements with personalized branding
  • Filter the data displayed in visualizations with HTML controls on the page.
  • Enable self-service analytics on embedded views
  • Export visualizations to an image or PDF file.

See a JSFiddle demo of the Javascript API.

Installation

  1. Create a web page and include the Knowi JavaScript API file in your HTML script tag

<script src="https://www.knowi.com/minify/knowi-api.min.js"></script>
  1. Create a div element in the page body where you want to insert the Knowi visualization:

<div id="knowi-div"></div>
  1. Write a function in a Javascript file or script tag to display the visualization:

function loadChart() {  
    Knowi.render('#knowi-div', {  
        type: 'share',  
        dashboard: 'BYhXXCeu0Ego8zA1FqtLOOM4BDWot5AYBLI7PWrQTbsie',  
        url: "https://www.knowi.com/",  
        view: {  
            title: true,  
            header: true  
        }  
    }, function () {  
    });  
}

Note: The complete Javascript API Reference to customize your embed is here.

  1. Call the function when the page is done loading:

loadChart();

The full code sample from the above example can be found here.

Javascript API Reference

To use the JavaScript API object specified below, be sure to specify the URL to the JavaScript API file in your web page. For more information, see Embedding with Javascript API or code samples. The JavaScript API file is a library that contains functions for interacting with the JavaScript API. It's a minified file and production-ready to be downloaded by the browser.

This section defines the available options for configuring the Knowi Javascript Class.

JS API Reference

Name Type Descriptions
type string type of asset/view to embed Supported values: share for dashboard, secure for secure hash dashboard, shareWidget for widget, shareWidgetSecure for secure hash widget, single for single sign-on, nlp for natural language query
dashboard string share URL of dashboard/widget
dashboardId integer ID of dashboard/widget
hash string Encrypted hash from secure share dashboard/widget. Must be used with type: secure, shareWidgetSecure
token string session token from Single Sign-On. Needed with type: single
renderType string specifies how embed will be rendered. Options are object, iframe. Defaults to iframe
url string url for on-premise deployments. Defaults to www.knowi.com
view Object customizable options for the embedded display.

This section defines the available options for configuring the view object from the Knowi class.

View Object Reference

Name Type Descriptions
title bool enable widget title and action menus
filter bool enable dashboard/widget filter
autoHeight bool automatically adjust dashboard height to div
border bool enable borders around the widget
widgetSpacing bool spacing between widgets (px). Possible values between 0-200
setting bool enable widget settings
resize bool enable widget on a dashboard to be resized
drag bool enable widget on a dashboard to be rearranged
scroll bool enable scroll on a dashboard
header bool enable dashboard header including dashboard name, settings, and dashboard filter
dashListIcon bool enable/disable the dashboard listing dropdown (defaults to true) Note: Only applicable for 'single' type of embed. (since the others have it off by default).
backgroundColor string background-color of dashboard Supported formats: rebeccapurple, HEX value: #92a8d1, RGB: rgb(201, 76, 76, RGBA: rgba(201, 76, 76, 0.6)
analytics bool enable Ad-hoc Analytics mode for widgets. Applicable with types: shareWidget, shareWidgetSecure
chat bool enable customer support chat
menu bool enable side menu with system actionst
menuOptions Object disable side navigation menu. Defaults to showing all menu options.

Applicable with type: single Available options:

      
        menuOptions: {
          logo: true,
          dashboards: true,
          widgets: false,
          queries: true,
          alerts: false,
          reports: false,
          more: false,
          help: false,
          profile: false,
          ml: false,
          agent: true,
          opsdash: false
        }
css array inject custom CSS files to override the default styling. Example: ['https://rawgit.com/AntonLapshin/csharp/master/custom1.css', '...']
contentFilters array JSON array of user content filters. Applicable with types: share, shareWidget Example: [{"fieldName": "department", "values": ["sales", 19], "operator": "="}, {...}]
nlpOptions Object customizable settings for NLP search bar.

Applicable with type: nlp

    
    Knowi.render('#knowi-div', {
    type: 'nlp',
    token: "ii7Cdf7QJy3PaYQLrdZLaGgMnq3Dy2Q1JEhiiuDR9GG64ie",
    url: 'http://localhost:9090',
    view: {
        nlpOptions: {
            icon: "off",
            css: {
                background: 'transparent',
                width: '80%'
            },
            placeholder: "Try: total sales for canada this week",
            help: "off",
            helpText: "Ability to customize the help text of the question mark",
            defaultView: "visual"
        }
    }
}, function () {
});

CSS Customization

You own custom CSS can be injected into the API. Simply specify a comma separated list of CSS files and their full path during the initialization.

Knowi.render('#cloud9charts', {
    type: 'touchdown',
    username: 'name',
    password: 'pass',
    view: {
      title: true,
      css: ['https://rawgit.com/AntonLapshin/csharp/master/custom1.css', 'https://rawgit.com/AntonLapshin/csharp/master/custom2.css']
    },
}, function() {
    alert("Loaded")
});

See sample JSFiddle.

Filters

To pass in filters:

    Knowi.render('#cloud9charts', {
       type: 'share',
       dashboard: 'CnzzWr6ZGrii4BYsa295HoVWzNB7VaZey6StgO1uFw2kie'
       view: {
         title: true,
         contentFilters: [
            {
               "fieldName":
               "opened",
               "values":[1000],
               "operator":">"
            },
            {
                "fieldName":"message_type",
                "values":["marketing"],
                "operator":"="
            }
         ]
       },
    }, function() {
       alert("Loaded")
    });

Note: Secure URL modes requires contentFilters to be encrypted.

Samples

  1. Simple HTML file with JavaScript embed example: Download
  2. Rotating dashboards sample: Download

Widget Level Embedding

In addition to dashboard level embed options outlined above, you can also share a widget by itself. To generate a shareable URL for a widget, click on 'Generate Shareable URL' from the 'Share' tab of the widget options dropdown.

Note: This makes the widget publicly accessible, without requiring a login. Do not use this option for sensitive data.

To turn off a unique public URL, click on 'Disable Share URL'.

Embed a widget via the Javascript API

Include the Javascript API:

<script src="//www.knowi.com/minify/knowi-api.min.js"></script>

Usage

To render Knowi widget on a page, add the following javascript:

  <script>
      Knowi.render('#myDiv', {
        type: 'shareWidget',
        widget: 'nZcdj3DThlSDuZhrh6E8KVP9TLZFStoWWAOCGh8zP0cie'
      }, function () {
          alert("Loaded");
      });
  </script>

The content filters also can be passed to widget same as for dashboards.

Embedding with multi-tenancy

Scaling an embedded analytics deployment of Knowi often means providing content to different groups of users. There is a security implication of making sure the different groups do not see each others? data (and metadata). There is also a deployment and maintenance consideration: Common dashboards should have to be built only once, even if the different groups of users access different data with those common dashboards.

With Knowi Embedded, there are three main fundamental approaches to maintaining separation between tenants.

  1. Workspace-based isolation - creating a separate Knowi instance per tenant.
  2. Row-level security-based isolation - where the underlying data is used to control and manage access to data per user or group.

Workspace-based isolation:

A single tenant architecture provides a dedicated Knowi server for each tenant. This deployment architecture is suitable when there may be restrictions that mandate that data of different tenants can't be located on the same physical machine.

Row-level Security:

Row-level security is both a security and content management concern. The simplest way to make sure users only see their data is to manually build a dashboard for each of them. This is not scalable, so Knowi provides a variety of ways to build a single dashboard that is filtered to the correct data. The correct method to use depends on your data environment.

Here is some guidance (details for each of the methods are below):

  • If you have a separate database for each tenant, build a template dashboard/report and use the user content filters to pass run-time values for each tenant. For large scale deployment, the Management API or SSO API helps with orchestration.
  • If your tenants share a database and there is filtering/entitlement logic to separate who should see which row, use user filters.
  • Use Initial SQL + in-database security if you already have in-database security set up and plan on using live connections to the database.