Dashboards are saved in Rogue Wave® JViews dashboard diagram (idbd) and (.idbin) files.

The idbd files are XML structures containing the data necessary to render the dashboard diagram. Dashboards are saved in XML format by calling writeDashboard and opened by calling readDashboard.

The idbin are binary files that contain the dashboard diagram. Dashboards are saved in binary format by calling writeBinary or writeBinary. They are opened by calling readBinary or readBinary.

Binary files are smaller, faster to save and load, and need less application memory when loading and saving. The dashboard XML format is more portable if you need to share dashboard files with applications based on different versions of JViews Diagrammer.

Instead of loading your dashboard binary file in an IlvDashboardDiagram object, you can load it in a simple IlvGrapher using the Compiled Symbol Dashboard Reader. See Using compiled symbols in a runtime dashboard.