How can I see how a LEX dashboard component was originally configured, after error message that field is no longer available?

Question

I've been trying to update a dashboard I created a year ago, where multiple of the components now populate with the error message:

"One or more of the fields selected in the component is no longer available in the report. Use the dashboard component editor to select one of the available fields."

All of the components with this error reference the same report, so I've been able to isolate which field may be causing the error. However, I created the dashboard itself so long ago that I don't recall exactly what data from the report each component referenced and how it was displayed, so I'm having trouble recreating them with active fields. I understand what the error message entails and how to fix it, but my question is: Is there was a way to show what data/chart type a component was originally displaying before the error occurred?

When I try to edit an individual component, I get the same error (screenshot below) but it doesn't allow me to see how I had originally configured the component, and it won't let me save or make any changes to the dashboard until all the component errors are resolved.

Any advice or ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

Look at the Dashboard metadata.

With VS Code and the CLI installed, you can run the following command in the terminal to retrieve all dashboards

sfdx force:source:retrieve -m Dashboard

Otherwise, you could use the following package.xml and workbench to retrieve the dashboard by developer name.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Package xmlns="http://soap.sforce.com/2006/04/metadata">
    <types>
        <members>My_Dashboard_Developer_Name</members>
        <name>Dashboard</name>
    </types>
    <version>53.0</version>
</Package>

Once you have the dashboard metadata, you should see the various DashboardComponents. If you find the right one, based on <header> or <report>, the <componentType> will tell you what you're looking for

<dashboardComponent>
    <componentType>FlexTable</componentType>
    ...
    <header>My Awesome Component</header>
    <report>My_Awesome_Report</report>
</dashboardComponent>
...