Chart dashlet

To add a Chart dashlet to a custom dashboard (/create a custom chart)

Chart responsiveness

To view further information on the chart

This article provides help on adding a Chart dashlet to a custom dashboard. For further information on how to edit a Chart dashlet, please see the article How do I edit chart settings in a dashlet?

To add a Chart dashlet to a custom dashboard (/create a custom chart):

1. When adding a dashlet to a new custom dashboard or editing an existing custom dashboard, follow the instructions for adding a dashlet, select Chart in the Select Dashlet Type, and click Next.
2. The Create Dashlet form will slide in on the right. 

 The Create/Edit Dashlet form for a Chart dashlet consists of the following sections:

1. Dashlet Settings.
2. Series Data.
3. Chart Settings.
4. Timeframe
5. Advanced Settings.

1. Dashlet Settings

1. Enter a name for your chart in the Name field.
2. Choose the source of the date to be displayed in the chart in the Dashlet Source dropdown field.
   • If you want this dashlet to source its data from the context of its parent dashboard, select Dashboard. You can see the context of the parent dashboard in the Dashboard Context field at the top of the form.
   • If you want this dashlet to source its data from another dashlet in this current dashboard, select Dashlet.
   • If you want this dashlet to source its data from a specific device on your network, select Fixed Object. You can then click Browse to an object to search for the device in Explorer, or drag into the box your desired device in from another browser window.
     
     
     
     

3. In the Applicable To field, you can specify the context to which the dashlet is applicable, for example if you want to the chart dashlet to be applicable to a View, to a device, to a port etc.

   Usually, this would be the same as the overall dashboard's Applicable To field, but there might be times when you want this chart to source its data from another dashlet in this current dashboard, in which case the chart's Applicable To field would be set to the whichever component type is referred to in the source dashlet.

   For example, you might have a dashboard that is applicable to a View, and it contains a View Contents dashlet that lists all the devices in that View. You might then want a Chart dashlet highlighting average CPU utilization on selected devices, which is populated by selecting a device in the View Contents dashlet. The 'View Contents' dashlet will be applicable to a View, but the 'Average CPU utilization Chart' dashlet will be applicable to a device.
   
   
   
   

2. Series Data

1.  Add an attribute series to the Chart dashlet in the Series Data box. This is where you can specify the attribute(s) that you want the chart to display. You can either drag in an attribute from another tab or window, or you can click + Add a new series to open the Add Series form. You can add as many data series as you want to the chart.
   
   If you are dragging in an attribute, you can do so from an Attributes dashboard. From ENA v17.0 P09 and ENA v18.0 P01 onwards, you can also drag in attributes from the title bar or series value parts of a Chart dashlet, or from a Key Info dashlet.
   
   
   
   From ENA v18.0 P03 upwards, you can use the Drop Box to import objects from the Drop Box list. Please see this article for further help and information on how to do this.
2. When you have opened the Add Series form, enter a name for the attribute series in the Series Name field. By default, it will be populated with the attribute's name.
   
   
   
   
3. Enter the attribute's color in the Color field, in the RGB format. From ENA v18.0 P01 upwards, you can also use a hex color picker.
4. Specify if you want to use the data source specified in Dashlet Source (in Dashlet Settings above) as the source for this particular series with the Use Dashlet Source switch. When switched off, you will be prompted to select another source for this data series by either browsing to the object or dragging the object in.
   
   
   
   
5. Specify the type of series in the Data Type field, either Stream or Ticker.
   
   
   
   
   • If you selected a Stream data type, specify the type of attribute you want to display on the chart in the Attribute field. Click Show more to open a list of the available attributes that you can select from. This list will depend on the type of object that you have selected for this data series.
     
     
     
     
   • if you selected a Ticker data type, enter the OID you want to display on the chart in the OID field.
     
     
     
     
6. Enter the units in which you want the series to be measured in the Units field. From Entuity v21.0 P02 upwards, the Units field will autopopulate, if possible, based on the selection in the Attribute field.
7. Specify if you want the series to be displayed or not displayed on the chart with the Show Data Series field. This can be useful if you want to the chart to just show the trend line (see below), in which case you would switch off the Show Data Series switch. 
   
   
   
   
8. Specify if you want to display the trend line on the chart with the Show Trend Line switch. The trend line is calculated based on the data displayed. The trend is calculated based on the timeframe of the Chart dashlet itself. From ENA v18.0 upwards, you can choose the timeframe against which the trend is calculated - choose from one of the following:
   • 2 weeks.
   • 4 weeks.
   • 8 weeks.
   • 16 weeks.
   
   
   
   You can also set trends at run time (via the UI, after you have created the Chart dashlet). Please see this article for further help and information on setting trends at run time.
9. Specify if you want to show a predicted chart data value in the Show Prediction dropdown field. You can choose from a range of future time values, or specify a custom date value. If you select Date By Custom Value, you can then enter a value and the prediction will show the date when the series will reach that value. It is possible that the series will not reach the specified value, e.g. when the trend is going down but you enter a large positive value.
   
   
   
   
   
10. Specify the threshold that you want to apply to the chart in the Thresholds field. Clicking this field will open the Threshold Settings form. The threshold available will depend on the attribute chosen in the Attribute field above. Please see this article for further information on the available thresholds and to which attributes they apply.
    
    
    
    
    • Enter a name for the threshold in the Threshold Name field.
    • Turn on the threshold line on the chart itself by switching the Show Threshold Line switch to On. By default, it is Off.
    • Select a color for the threshold line in the Color field, using the RGB format. From ENA v18.0 P01 upwards, you can also use a hex color picker.
    • Click Done in the top right of the form to save and return to the Add Series form, otherwise click Cancel.
11. Click Done in the top right to save and return to the Create Dashlet form, otherwise click Cancel.

From ENA v18.0 P03 upwards, when you have set a threshold, you can hover over the chart and see details of the threshold in the tooltip. In the below example, the thresholds applied to 'CPU Utilization% (5 mins/hourly/daily)' are seen next to it:

3. Chart Settings

1. In the Style field, specify the style of chart you want. Choose from one of Area, Area Spline, Line, Spline, Column or Scatter.
2. In the Legend field, specify how you want the legend to be displayed. Choose from Always Visible, Always Hidden or Auto (legend will automatically disappear if the chart is too small). Please see the section below on chart responsiveness for further details.
3. In the Show Last Value switch, specify if you want the chart to show the last value for each series in the chart. If turned on, and multiple series exist in the chart, it will only show as many values as can fit in the available space.
4. In the Y Axis Scale field, specify how you want the Y axis to appear. Choose from one of the following:
   • Auto (starts at zero) - the Y axis starts at zero. This is the default.
   • Auto - calculates the extremes of the Y axis, depending on the maximum and minimum values of the series in the chart.
   • Custom - allows you to specify a custom scale for the Y axis.
     
     
     
     
5. In the Stacking field, specify how you want series with the same unit of value to be stacked on the chart. Note, series with different units will not be stacked together. Choose from one of the following:
   • None - disable stacking.
   • Normal - series are stacked on top of each other.
   • Percent - series stacked in proportion to their values to fit 100% scale.
6. In the Approximation field, specify the method used to calculate the value that will represent a group of data points in the chart. This applies when the density of points rendered in the chart crosses a density threshold, and the points become grouped together using an approximation method. Choose from one of the following:
   • Average.
   • High - shows the highest value of the group.
   • Sum - where the chart shows counts, the sum is used.
7. Turn on the Enable Mouse Tracking switch if you want to enable tooltips and clicking events on the chart.
8. Click Done in the top right of the form to save and return to the Create Dashlet form, otherwise click Cancel.

4. Timeframe

1. Specify whether to Use Dashboard Timeframe for the data in the dashlet.
   
   
   
   
2. If switched off, you can specify your own timeframe.
   
   

5. Advanced Settings

1. Click Advanced Settings to open the Advanced Settings form.
   
   
   
   
2. In the Hide Title Bar field, choose whether you want to hide the Chart dashlet's title bar.
   • If turned on, this will also hide the Chart dashlet's Overflow Menu.
3. In the Promote Menu Options field, specify if you want to display the options that would have been in the Chart dashlet's Overflow instead in the overall dashboard's Overflow Menu.
4. Specify if you want the dashlet to automatically refresh in the Auto Refresh field. By default, this is switched on.
5. Click Done in the top right to save and return to the Create Dashlet form, otherwise click Cancel.

Once you have specified the parameters of your Chart dashlet on the Create Dashlet form, click Done in the top right of the form to save and create your chart, otherwise click Cancel.

Chart responsiveness:

In the chart display itself, some features will be shown or hidden depending on the size of the chart.

• The chart navigator below the main chart shows a summary of the series in the chart. This will be hidden if the chart's height is less than 500 pixels.
• If the Legend field in the Chart Settings form is set to Auto, the chart's legend will be automatically hidden if the chart's height or width is less than 250 pixels. To make it visible again, increase the size of the chart.
• The Y axis will be hidden if the width of the chart is less than 150 pixels, and the X axis is hidden if the height of the chart is less than 85 pixels.

To view further information on the chart:

1. Click on the data series in the legend to hide or display that data series in the chart.
2. If the Enable Mouse Tracking switch is enabled, you can hover over a data series in the chart to see further information about it.
3. In the dashlet Overflow Menu click Open in New Tab to open the chart in a new tab to more easily view the information on the chart.