Templated Dashboards

Note

Most of these widgets rely on changes in the GA4.2 Active Console to set dashboard colours via RGB values defined in cells. Therefore, the designer and end-users alike will need that version or later.

Objectives Copied

The primary objective of this work is to reduce the need to build dashboards from scratch, and thus increase the speed of deployment and lower the requirements for specialist ITRS dashboard skill sets, including graphic design concepts. This was always the vision for the Active Dashboard: that most users would not build tools from scratch. Much of the design is therefore predicated on ease of use for the end-user, sometimes at the expense of the complexity of the design.

Assumptions Copied

• That you have write access to the required gateway.
• That you have a working knowledge of SQLite and the SQL plugin.
• That you have a basic knowledge of ITRS dashboards.

Installation Copied

Release notes Copied

• V1.0, the first release with Metadata bar, Expanding shape widget and SLA bars.
• V2.0, inclusion of Hex Grid widget.
• V3.0, minor fixes to the SLA widget and refactoring of gateway rules. No significant functional changes.
• V4.0, corrected country names and added missing entries for the European volume driver. Corrected issues in the SLA widget.
• V5.0, corrected a few minor issues in the SLA bar and XML, with no enhancements.
• V6.0, added a new Tree List widget and generic icons for the template tools in the palette.

On a selected gateway, you should add the following include file which contains the template drivers (samplers) for the various template dashboard components:

Template Dashboard Drivers v6.xml

Then add the following tools to your workspace where you will build the dashboards:

Template Dashboard Tools v6.adt

Upgrading Copied

In the event that you are upgrading from a previous version of the template dashboards you should:

1. Remove all the Template dashboard tools from your workspace — the quickest way is to hold down CTRL, select them all then select Remove Tool.
2. Import the new toolset — this will not affect (or upgrade) any instances of the tool you have on your dashboards. If you need to update these you will also need to remove the tool instances from the dashboard and drop them back on.
3. Replace the XML include file with the new content — if you have customized this yourself, you will need to manually manage the updates.

General instructions Copied

In general terms, all these templates work the same way:

1. Install the files described above.
2. Create a new Entity in the gateway.
3. Add an instance of one of the templated samplers in the XML file (listed in the installation instructions) and save the change.
4. Drag a populated row (or whole data view or entity if the instructions for the specific tool tell you so) onto your dashboard.
5. Select the tool with the corresponding name. If you drag a row from the Metadata data view, select the metadata tool.

All the templated samplers are GatewaySQL plugin views which come with hardcoded SQL allowing an example of the widget to be created. In order to make use of the widgets in a monitoring environment, you will need to modify the default Gateway SQL with your own, bringing in data from the remainder of the gateway. The specific values that each widget is expecting are discussed in the widget instructions below.

For example, the basic Metadata widget may have the following:

SELECT
"Value 3" AS value,
"Units" AS units,
"Name 3" AS name,
2 AS severity

You as the designer of the dashboard would be expected to replace the hardcoded Value, Units, Name and Severity values with data imported from other views while maintaining the column names.

Most of the samplers, if viewed as a data view, will have a number of other columns over and above what is added via the SQL. These are done via the compute engine and are used to drive the behaviour of the widget in the dashboard. For the purpose of linking up the monitoring, they can be ignored.

Use of rules in the configuration of widgets Copied

A number of the widgets have had selected properties of the dashboard objects that make them up linked to modifiers that essentially act as constants in the gateway configuration (for example, height, width, colour and so on). All these rules have a rule priority of 1000, allowing designers to override them for selected widgets if they deem appropriate.

Metadata Widget Copied

This is a simple Metadata bar where each row is represented by a box and a title. The box can have severity and a textual unit definition if required. An example is shown below:

Sampler Name: Generic Alerting List Driver

Expected Drag operation: any row in the data view.

The three tools create a single instance of a metadata tool, then a whole bar of metadata boxes (12 and 8 respectively). If the bars are used, the title is also added.

The expected SQL is as follows:

SELECT
"Value 3" AS value,
"Units" AS units,
"Name 3" AS name,
2 AS severity

The Value will replace the value element, the Units will replace the small units text (which can be left blank to remove it completely), while the name column will replace the ‘Meta Data Name’ at the bottom of the box. Text will be cropped in all cases. The severity colour can be driven by changing the Severity column, which is expecting a value from 0-3. Both OK and undefined are shown as RGB 70,70,70.

If the metadata is coming from multiple sources (which is likely), then you may need to use a UNION ALL in your SQLite, for example:

SELECT * FROM
(
SELECT
"Value 3" AS value,
"Units" AS units,
"Name 3" AS name,
2 AS severity

UNION ALL

SELECT
"Value 3" AS value,
"Units" AS units,
"Name 3" AS name,
2 AS severity

) examples

If you use UNION on its own duplicates will be removed. The title of the metadata bar is driven by a rule in the XML, so can be changed directly from the gateway configuration.

Generic Alert List Widget Copied

The generic alert list drives a table-like view of alerts from the connected sampler. An example with a single row (alert) is shown below.

Sampler Name: Generic Alerting List Driver

Expected Drag operation: any row in the data view.

While you can manually create this widget via the Alerting List and Alerting Row, the suggestion is that you use the Full Alerting List, which will generate a widget capable of displaying up to 26 alerts. A speech bubble can appear for each alert if there is text in the speech bubble column.

The title heading and the column headings are all driven via the rules engine in the gateway, so there should be no need to modify the widget once deployed. The list can be made smaller by grouping and removing lower rows. The following SQL is useful for displaying all rows at the same time:

Generic Alerting list example XML.xml

In terms of populating the required SQL, the following content is expected:

| SpeechBubbleText | Determines the text that will appear in the speech bubble. The text will wrap, but clip within the shape. If this cell is blank then the speech bubble will not appear. Designers are recommended to consider only using the speech bubble in the top row, but it will work on all rows. |

SLA Reporting Bar Copied

The SLA reporting bar demonstrates an SLA over time. It contains the following:

• A name (of the artifact to which the SLA applies)
• 3 volume bars, controlled as a percentage of the SLA bar width (the dark shaded back), the colours and widths are controllable via the gateway SQL
• A spark chart plotting the severity of the affected item
• A state of the object, the contents of which is determined by the designer of the SQL.

Sampler Name: SLA Tracking Bar Driver

Expected Drag operation: any populated row in the data view

This widget will create a single SLA Bar widget which plots the severity of the selected SLA on a spark chart across the middle of the bar. The chart appears as a yellow line with three step heights: low, medium, and high, referencing OK or undefined, warning, and critical.

The severity is taken from the literal severity column in the same row. The name of the SLA is shown on the left-hand side, and its state is shown on the right. These are both determined by the designer of the SQL. If the name of the SLA is "" then the whole bar will be rendered invisible.

Embedded in the tool are three volume bars that expand horizontally across the SLA bar. The value of these bars is assumed to be a percentage, expecting a range from 0-100. A value of 100 would fill the bar, and a value of 1 would render it invisible. The designer of the SLA can therefore determine their use, including making them invisible (by setting their value to 0). Note that the bars are overlaid such that:

• Bar 3 (which is 100% opaque and therefore dominant) is on top
• Bar 2 is under bar 3
• Bar 1 is under bar 2

The colours of the bars are configurable via the SQL (documented below). Each bar also has a value tag in its bottom right, this shows one of two things:

• A user-definable tag (via the SQL)
• The percentage value if the user-definable tag is not defined.

The expected SQL is as follows:

SELECT

"name" AS name,
"State" AS state,
2 AS severity,
70 AS bar1Percent,
50 AS bar2Percent,
30 AS bar3Percent,
"" AS bar1endLabel,
"" AS bar2endLabel,
"" AS bar3endLabel,
"141,149,211" AS bar1MainColour,
"70,84,166" AS bar1GradColour,
"251,251,78" AS bar2MainColour,
"149,149,0" AS bar2GradColour,
"205,20,24" AS bar3MainColour,
"183,50,50" AS bar3GradColour

And have the following effects:

In addition to the settings for the SLA bar that can and need to be configured via the Gateway SQL, there are also a number of settings that can be modified via the gateway rules, including:

• Bar Height
• Bar width
• Severity colours
• Transparency settings

Expanding Shape Widget Copied

This widget allows the designer to add a circle to the dashboard by defining its size and center coordinates. Aesthetic properties such as its border, transparency, and label are configurable directly via the SQL.

An annotated example is shown below (note the widget adds just the circle, the other content is part of this instruction manual).

Sampler Name: Expanding Shape Driver

Expected Drag operation: any row in the data view.

The widget size and aesthetic are primarily defined by the SQL. The position is defined by a number of factors:

• The desired X position and Y position are defined by the SQL (assuming a 0,0 in the top left of the dashboard). This is in pixels and defines the center of the shape.
• The designer can also build in an X and Y offset in pixels, from which all positions are relative. This is in case you have a widget with many such shapes, allowing you to ‘move’ the 0,0 default. This is set via the rules in the gateway.
• The scaling factor, which can be used during deployment if the zoom needs to be applied. This is set via the rules in the gateway.

The SQL is as follows:

SELECT
"Name" AS name,
150 AS width,
150 AS height,
0.5 AS fillTransparancy,
1 AS borderTransparancy,
1 AS borderThickness,
2 AS severity,
200 AS xpos,
200 AS ypos

The fields have the following effects:

European Volume Widget Copied

This slightly specialized widget renders a European map where each country has a visual representation. The representation is a circle that can grow in size and transparency, and change its severity colour and label via the connected SQL.

Examples are shown below where all countries are rendered, and one where just the UK has been set as visible. The designer is left to decide things such as how big or small the circles can get, how transparent they are, and whether they are visible at all.

This widget reuses the Expanding Shape widget.

Sampler Name: European Volume Driver

Assumed background Colour: 59,59,59

Expected Drag operation: any row in the data view (will create the whole map and every country).

Note

Due to the large number of objects and modifiers that make up this widget there may be up to a 30-second delay when it is deployed.

The widget configuration is driven both from the gateway SQL and the gateway rules. Assuming you use the default SQL (shown below), all the major European countries are pre-included, the defaults (how the countries are rendered if you do not override their settings) are defined in the following lines (and in bold below):

COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.name, NULL) AS name,

COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.width,5) AS width, -  width in pixels

COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.height,5) AS height, - height in pixels

COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.fillTransparancy, 0.01) AS fillTransparancy, - transparency from 0 to 1 (Transparent to Opaque)

COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.borderTransparancy, 0.01) AS borderTransparancy, - transparency from 0 to 1 (Transparent to Opaque)

1 AS borderThickness, - in pixels

COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.severity,1) AS severity - 0-3 scale, Undefined to critical

This essentially renders all country indicators invisible by default on the map. Changing these defaults will do so for all countries not overridden (see below for how to override specific countries).

The full SQL query is shown below. Next, we will talk about how to change the visuals for specific countries.

SELECT
c.countryID AS countryID,
c.country AS country,
c.xpos AS xpos,
c.ypos AS ypos,
COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.name, NULL) AS name,
COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.width,5) AS width,
COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.height,5) AS height,
COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.fillTransparancy, 0.01) AS fillTransparancy,
COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.borderTransparancy, 0.01) AS borderTransparancy,
1 AS borderThickness,
COALESCE(countriesOfInterest.severity,1) AS severity
FROM
(
SELECT * FROM
(
SELECT 1 AS countryID, "Albania" AS country, "Al" AS intials, 516 AS xpos, 725 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 2 AS countryID,"Andorra" AS country,"An" AS intials, 201 AS xpos, 654 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 4 AS countryID,"Austria" AS country,"Au" AS intials, 428 AS xpos, 569 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 5 AS countryID,"Belarus" AS country,"Bea" AS intials, 610 AS xpos, 428 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 6 AS countryID,"Belgium" AS country, "Be" AS intials, 286 AS xpos, 484 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 7 AS countryID,"Bosnia and Herzegovina" AS country,"Bo" AS intials, 474 AS xpos, 646 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 8 AS countryID,"Bulgaria" AS country,"Bu" AS intials, 596 AS xpos, 675 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 9 AS countryID,"Croatia" AS country,"Cr" AS intials, 423 AS xpos, 624 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 10 AS countryID,"Cyprus" AS country,"Cy" AS intials, 732 AS xpos, 831 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 12 AS countryID,"Denmark" AS country,"De" AS intials, 372 AS xpos, 367 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 13 AS countryID,"Estonia" AS country,"Es" AS intials, 564 AS xpos, 320 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 14 AS countryID,"Finland" AS country,"Fi" AS intials, 564 AS xpos, 230 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 15 AS countryID,"France" AS country,"Fr" AS intials, 245 AS xpos, 551 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 16 AS countryID,"Georgia" AS country,"Ge" AS intials, 745 AS xpos, 656 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 17 AS countryID,"Germany" AS country,"Cz" AS intials, 364 AS xpos, 483 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 18 AS countryID,"Greece" AS country,"Gr" AS intials, 546 AS xpos, 749 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 19 AS countryID,"Hungary" AS country,"Hu" AS intials, 497 AS xpos, 581 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 20 AS countryID,"Iceland" AS country,"Ic" AS intials, 147 AS xpos, 114 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 21 AS countryID,"Ireland" AS country,"Ir" AS intials, 140 AS xpos, 386 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 22 AS countryID,"Italy" AS country,"It" AS intials, 401 AS xpos, 692 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 25 AS countryID,"Latvia" AS country,"La" AS intials, 575 AS xpos, 357 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 26 AS countryID,"Liechtenstein" AS country,"Li" AS intials, 367 AS xpos, 576 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 27 AS countryID,"Lithuania" AS country,"Lt" AS intials, 550 AS xpos, 394 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 28 AS countryID,"Luxembourg" AS country,"Lu" AS intials, 305 AS xpos, 505 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 29 AS countryID,"Macedonia" AS country,"Cz" AS intials, 536 AS xpos, 699 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 30 AS countryID,"Malta" AS country,"Ma" AS intials, 873 AS xpos, 849 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 11 AS countryID,"Moldova" AS country,"Mol" AS intials, 634 AS xpos, 566 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 31 AS countryID,"Monaco" AS country,"Mon" AS intials, 305 AS xpos, 648 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 32 AS countryID,"Netherlands" AS country,"Ne" AS intials, 311 AS xpos, 448 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 33 AS countryID,"Norway" AS country,"No" AS intials, 379 AS xpos, 265 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 34 AS countryID,"Poland" AS country,"Pl" AS intials, 493 AS xpos, 466 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 35 AS countryID,"Portugal" AS country,"Mot" AS intials, 45 AS xpos, 656 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 36 AS countryID,"Romania" AS country,"Ro" AS intials, 580 AS xpos, 606 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 37 AS countryID,"Russia" AS country,"Ru" AS intials, 713 AS xpos, 393 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 38 AS countryID,"San Marino" AS country,"SM" AS intials, 393 AS xpos, 648 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 39 AS countryID,"Serbia" AS country,"Se" AS intials, 518 AS xpos, 643 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 40 AS countryID,"Slovakia" AS country,"Slk" AS intials, 499 AS xpos, 542 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 41 AS countryID,"Slovenia" AS country,"Slv" AS intials, 426 AS xpos, 604 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 42 AS countryID,"Spain" AS country,"Sp" AS intials, 124 AS xpos, 674 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 43 AS countryID,"Sweden" AS country,"Sw" AS intials, 446 AS xpos, 256 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 44 AS countryID,"Switzerland" AS country,"Swt" AS intials, 327 AS xpos, 578 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 45 AS countryID,"Turkey" AS country,"Tu" AS intials, 693 AS xpos, 737 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 46 AS countryID,"Ukraine" AS country,"Ukr" AS intials, 677 AS xpos, 509 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 47 AS countryID,"United Kingdom" AS country,"UK" AS intials, 217 AS xpos, 417 AS ypos
UNION SELECT 48 AS countryID,"Vatican City" AS country,"Va" AS intials, 389 AS xpos, 662 AS ypos

) listcountries
ORDER BY countryID
) c
LEFT OUTER JOIN
(
SELECT
"UK" AS name,
100 AS width,
100 AS height,
0.7 AS fillTransparancy,
1 AS borderTransparancy,
2 AS severity
) countriesOfInterest ON c.intials = countriesOfInterest.name

When you want country indicators to appear, and to alter the indicators and visuals, you need to inject your own SQL into the above, essentially replacing the following code:

SELECT
"UK" AS name,
100 AS width,
100 AS height,
0.7 AS fillTransparancy,
1 AS borderTransparancy,
2 AS severity

In the example above, the settings for the UK have been changed from the default, the results of which can be seen in the right-hand graphic above. The columns have the following effects:

Setting the 0,0 coordinate Copied

The European volume widget is based on the Expanding shape widget above. This widget tackles one of the important issues of the coordinates from which the shapes (in this case the country visual indicators) are relative. By default, this will be the 0,0 coordinate of the dashboard. However, it is not realistic to assume that all such widgets will be placed in the very top left-hand corner of the dashboard.

The designer of the dashboard therefore needs to tell the widget where its left-hand corner is. To do this, you need to override the xoffset and yoffset rules for your specific Volume widget instance. The default template dashboard rules are all defined at priority 1000, so this can be done by defining higher-priority rules, for example:

Setting the 0 0 coordinate.xml

The Expanding Shape widget also allows you to override the colours that represent the severities if the designer chooses; just override the following rules for your specific dashboard instance:

• Fill Colour
• Gradient Colour

Finally, a word on zooming. By overriding the following rule:

• Scaling factor

For your specific dashboard, you can configure the map with the same zoom factor applied to the dashboard. For example, a zoom of 125% would require a zoom factor of 1.25.

Hex Grid Widget Copied

The widget provides a grid of 70 hexagons whose aesthetic can be modified via the connected data view. This includes making them invisible, and thus allowing the designer to choose which hexes are visible at any given time.

The founding principle is to allow users to create flow-like diagrams, and therefore reduce the need to create such dashboards from scratch each time. An example of the grid is shown below. The basic Hex tool is also shipped should users wish to add more hexes or design new hex grids.

Sampler Name: Hex Flow Grid Driver V1

Assumed background Colour: 59,59,59

Expected Drag operation: any row in the data view.

Hex Configuration Copied

A Basic Hex Copied

This has a label which is defined in the SQL as the Name column. It also has a fill colour and a gradient fill colour. The fill colour is automatically determined within the widget by the severity column. However, the user can override this default with their own RGB values for both fill and gradient colour by setting via the gateway SQL the following:

• fillColour
• gradientColour

Adding Alerts Copied

The user can add alerts to the hex as banners. There can be up to four of these, and each can have its own independent severity. If there are banners, then the main label will move up to accommodate them. The errors will appear if the Gateway SQL adds values to the following columns:

• “error 1” AS error1,
• “error 1” AS error2,
• "" AS error3,
• "" AS error4

In the example above the first two banners will appear, but the absence of a value for error 3 and 4 will keep them hidden.

Adding Metrics Copied

The user can also add up to two basic metrics to the hexes. These will appear if the following columns have non-null values:

• “M1” AS metric1name
• “M2” AS metric2name

The values are set via these columns:

• “v1” AS metric1value,
• “v2” AS metric2value,

Note

Should error banners also be included, the error banners will take precedence.

Adding Flow Arrows Copied

The user can add flow arrows from each edge of the hex. There are six flows, numbered 1 to 6, starting at the top and going clockwise. Each flow also has a highlight, which is a larger triangle that can be turned on as required. The user can influence the transparency of the flows, and the colour of the highlight, via the following columns:

• 1 AS flow1, (1 = the transparency from 0-1, where 1 is opaque)
• 1 AS flow1Highlight,
• “255,255,255” AS flow1HighlightColour,
• … and then the same for the other flows

Because the flows need, in almost all cases, to be above all other hexes, the Hex Flow is a separate tool.

Grid layout and address space Copied

If you use the full grid tool, then when you use the Gateway SQL to alter the properties of the hexes, you will need to be able to select the hexes that you want to modify. Hexes are addressed from left to right as 1 through 14, and then from top to bottom as A-E.

Thus, the hex in the top corner is 1A, and the hex in the bottom right is 14E. Below is an example configuration of the hex grid, where the borders and names have been turned on to easily identify this address space.

This concept is important when building the supporting SQL to create your own hex grid view.

The Hex Defaults Copied

The SQL defines the 70x70 grid of hexes. Hexes are referenced by their coordinates as described above. The defaults are defined in the COALESCE statements at the top of the default gateway SQL. Changing these will change the properties of all hexes that have not been explicitly overridden. For example, to create the graphic above of all the hexes, we changed the border transparency and name.

COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.name, NULL) AS name, - name that appears in the hex

COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.fillColour,NULL) AS fillColour, -,if set as an RGB value x,y,z, then it will override the severity colour of the hex
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.gradientColour, NULL) AS gradientColour, -,if set as an RGB value x,y,z, then it will override the severity colour of the hex
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.fillTransparancy, 0) AS fillTransparancy,- defaults to transparent (0), change from a value between 0-1 (1 = opaque)
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.borderTransparancy, 0.1) AS borderTransparancy, - Defines the default transparency of the border. The value of 0.1 (on a scale of 0-1) means when the grid is created all hexes are visible. To turn off all non overridden hexes set this to 0.
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.borderThickness, 1) AS borderThickness, - default border thickness in pixels
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.severity, 0) AS severity, - default severity is undefined

COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.metric1name, "") AS metric1name, - If defined shows the first metric on the hex, which also pushes the main label up
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.metric2name, "") AS metric2name, - the value of the first metric, note if set thus will display regardless of the state of the metric 1 title
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.metric1value, "") AS metric1value, - If defined shows the second metric on the hex, which also pushes the main label up
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.metric2value, "") AS metric2value, - the value of the second metric, note if set thus will display regardless of the state of the metric 2 title

COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow1, 0) AS flow1, - defines the transparency of the first flow, 0= invisible, 1 = opaque and any value in between
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow1Highlight, 0) AS flow1Highlight, -defines the visibility of the larger arrow on the flow
COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow1HighlightColour, "255,255,255") AS flow1HighlightColour, - defines the colour of the default flow as an RGB value

The remaining flows work the same way as flow 1:

 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow2, 0) AS flow2,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow2Highlight, 0) AS flow2Highlight,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow2HighlightColour, "255,255,255") AS flow2HighlightColour,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow3, 0) AS flow3,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow3Highlight, 0) AS flow3Highlight,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow3HighlightColour, "255,255,255") AS flow3HighlightColour,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow4, 0) AS flow4,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow4Highlight, 0) AS flow4Highlight,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow4HighlightColour, "255,255,255") AS flow4HighlightColour,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow5, 0) AS flow5,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow5Highlight, 0) AS flow5Highlight,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow5HighlightColour, "255,255,255") AS flow5HighlightColour,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow6, 0) AS flow6,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow6Highlight, 0) AS flow6Highlight,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.flow6HighlightColour, "255,255,255") AS flow6HighlightColour,

 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.error1Severity, 0) AS error1Severity, - Defines the severity of the first alert banner
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.error1, "") AS error1, - defines the text in the first alert banner

The remaining alerts work the same way as alerts 1:

 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.error2Severity, 0) AS error2Severity,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.error2, "") AS error2,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.error3Severity, 0) AS error3Severity,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.error3, "") AS error3,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.error4Severity, 0) AS error4Severity,
 COALESCE(hexesOfInterest.error4, "") AS error4

The Default SQL Copied

The SQL is in three main parts: the COALESCE statements, which define the defaults; the hex definitions; and the hex override statements, where users can define the hexes they want visible and their properties.

hex grid default.xml

Defining your own hexes Copied

To override the hex defaults and therefore start to use the grid for your own ends, you need to modify the SQL at the bottom of the statement. An example is shown below.

SELECT
"2A" AS ofintrest,
"Name" AS name,
1 AS severity,

"63,104,232" AS fillColour, "33,81,97" AS gradientColour, 0.3 AS fillTransparancy,
0 AS borderTransparancy, 1 AS borderThickness,

"" AS metric1name, "" AS metric1value,
"" AS metric2name, "" AS metric2value,

0 AS flow1, 0 AS flow1Highlight, "255,255,255" AS flow1HighlightColour,
0 AS flow2, 0 AS flow2Highlight, "255,255,255" AS flow2HighlightColour,
0 AS flow3, 0 AS flow3Highlight, "255,255,255" AS flow3HighlightColour,
0 AS flow4, 0 AS flow4Highlight, "255,255,255" AS flow4HighlightColour,
0 AS flow5, 0 AS flow5Highlight, "255,255,255" AS flow5HighlightColour,
0 AS flow6, 0 AS flow6Highlight, "255,255,255" AS flow6HighlightColour,

2 AS error1Severity, "" AS error1,
2 AS error2Severity, "" AS error2,
2 AS error3Severity, "" AS error3,
2 AS error4Severity, "" AS error4

The key is to join on the position of the hex. In the example above, we are overriding the hex in position 2A. More likely, you will be sampling from other tables to make this work; just ensure you join in the position and it should be fine.

Tree View List Widget Copied

This widget provides a list in which rows can be indented to mimic a hierarchy of data; for example, a heading 1 row, then heading 2 rows, a few rows of data, then another heading 2 row, and so on. To maximise reusability, it also allows between 1-4 columns of data, depending on the designer’s requirements.

Sampler Name: Tree List Driver V1

Assumed background Colour: Dark background preferred; the backdrop of the list is opaque, so it is not super important.

Expected Drag operation: any row in the data view.

Turning on basic columns Copied

Columns will appear if you have defined text in the respective cells (Col1Text, Col2Text and so on). Inserts will be added to separate the column data automatically. An example can be seen in the figure below.

The source XML is as follows for the above view:

SELECT
1 AS "Indent Level",
0 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"Heading 1" AS "Col1Text",
"H2" AS "Col2Text",
"H3" AS "Col3Text",
"H4" AS "Col4Text",
2 AS severity,
"" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"" AS "Font Colour",
"128,128,128" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"

If you leave a text cell blank then the previous column will expand across to the next column. An example is shown below:

SELECT
1 AS "Indent Level",
0 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"Heading 1" AS "Col1Text",
"" AS "Col2Text",
"H3" AS "Col3Text",
"H4" AS "Col4Text",
2 AS severity,
"" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"" AS "Font Colour",
"128,128,128" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"

Using Indents Copied

You can also use indents by setting the indent per row on a scale of 1-4, 1 being the least indented and 4 being the most indented. The figure below shows an example where we have 3 levels of indent, and where we have only used 4 columns on the lowest level of indent.

SELECT
1 AS "Indent Level",
0 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"Heading 1" AS "Col1Text",
"" AS "Col2Text",
"" AS "Col3Text",
"" AS "Col4Text",
2 AS severity,
"0,198,192" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"255,255,255" AS "Font Colour",
"128,128,128" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"

UNION

SELECT
2 AS "Indent Level",
0 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"Heading 2" AS "Col1Text",
"" AS "Col2Text",
"" AS "Col3Text",
"" AS "Col4Text",
1 AS severity,
"80,80,80" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"255,255,255" AS "Font Colour",
"128,128,128" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"

UNION

SELECT
3 AS "Indent Level",
0 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"Col 1" AS "Col1Text",
"Col 2" AS "Col2Text",
"Col 3" AS "Col3Text",
"Col 4" AS "Col4Text",
2 AS severity,
"" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"" AS "Font Colour",
"128,128,128" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"

Table column headings Copied

To create a row that represents column headings, you can use indent level 0, as shown in the example below. The border transparency has also been turned on.

SELECT
0 AS "Indent Level",
1 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"Heading 1" AS "Col1Text",
"H2" AS "Col2Text",
"H3" AS "Col3Text",
"H3" AS "Col4Text",
0 AS severity,
"70,70,70" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"255,255,255" AS "Font Colour",
"128,128,128" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"

Adding row dividers Copied

You can also add row dividers if you wish, either as blocks of colour or as gaps between rows. To do this, you should use the Tree List widgets that include the dividers (identifiable via the names of the tools). The colour and visibility of the dividers are set via the SQL per row. An example is shown below.

SELECT
0 AS "Indent Level",
1 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"Heading 1" AS "Col1Text",
"H2" AS "Col2Text",
"H3" AS "Col3Text",
"H3" AS "Col4Text",
0 AS severity,
"70,70,70" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"255,255,255" AS "Font Colour",
"128,128,128" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"
UNION ALL
SELECT
0 AS "Indent Level",
0 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"V1" AS "Col1Text",
"V2" AS "Col2Text",
"V3" AS "Col3Text",
"V4" AS "Col4Text",
2 AS severity,
"" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"" AS "Font Colour",
"60,60,60" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"
UNION ALL
SELECT
0 AS "Indent Level",
0 AS "Border Transparancy",
"" AS "Border Colour",
"V1" AS "Col1Text",
"V2" AS "Col2Text",
"V3" AS "Col3Text",
"V4" AS "Col4Text",
2 AS severity,
"" AS "fillColour",
"" AS "Fill Transparancy",
"" AS "Font Colour",
"60,60,60" AS "divider fill colour",
1 AS "divider Transparancy",
"wwwpage(http://www.bbc.co.uk)" AS "Hyperlink"

The effects are as follows:

Ideas for next widgets Copied

1. Monitoring of the monitoring
2. Table view (Complete data view)
3. Gateway Load
4. Universal plugins maybe based on Managed Entity Type