How does Spotfire Work?

Many people use it, but how does it work?  How many components are in the environment?  How do they work together?  I am hoping to answer all of these questions in less than a 3 minute read (wish me luck).

First, lets start with the data.  Our data is identified in the flow chart above as 'Server Database'  Of course, this does not have to be a database, it could be an excel file or CSV as well.  In any case, there has to be data.  

In a production dashboard, that data needs to be connected to a Spotfire Server.  This is most commonly done by information link.  The Spotfire Server is the linchpin of this whole environment.  In aviation speak (my primary audience), if I want to travel from Colorado Springs to Miami I will likely need to travel through a hub such as Chicago or Houston.  The Spotfire Server is that hub.  All of the connections are coming into the Spotfire server and being directed out of them as well.

Now that we have our data in the Spotfire Server, what next?  There are two paths.  The first path is for dashboard designers.  They access the data and develop a dashboard using a thick client, or Spotfire application, on their desktop.  Data flows through the Spotfire server to the thick client.  The designer develops the dashboard with all it's pretty visualizations and saves it back to the Spotfire server in the library.

Now that we have both the data access and the visualization inside of the Spotfire Server, we need to share that with folks who will be consuming that data.  This is the second path, the Spotfire Webplayer server.  What! Two servers?  At least two servers.  Many companies utilize multiple Webplayer servers to host the visualizations within the Spotfire Server.  

So what does the Webplayer server do?  Aside from hosting the visualizations through the magic of a user's web browser (displayed as Tibco Spotfire Webplayer client), it can also cache the visualization as well.  Caching (pronounced 'Cash' or 'Cashing') means that the Webplayer makes a specific dashboard ready so when you attempt to access it you are not stuck with long wait times or loading screens.  Caching can also automatically update that data so when an end user is looking at a dashboard on their computer, it can automatically refresh.    

Of course we can make this more complex and their are always exceptions to the way I mapped this out, but hey, this is just a beginner's view on how all this works.  

Happy Designing!

-Brett