Work with Data Viewers

Data viewers help you monitor application health and performance:
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Data viewers help you monitor application health and performance:
Work with Data Viewers
Data viewers in the Investigator viewer pane or in a Console dashboard show data from an instrumented application in a visual form. Data Viewers can display data from a metric, a resource, or an element, such as an alert. When data is not present, the viewer displays a label by type, for example, Text Viewer: no data.
Depending on the type of metric or element, you can display data in a data viewer as these objects:
  • Graph
     – Plots values over time. In real-time views, the graph dynamically displays the most recent time period that fits in the graph. If the graph displays an alert, caution and danger thresholds appear as yellow and red lines.
  • String Viewer
     – Displays a value as a line of text. String viewers allow some values to display in a relatively small space. You can also use a String Viewer for simple values that do not change, such as Launch Time or IP Address.
  • Bar Chart
     – Displays current data values as horizontal bars. The bar chart is the default view for Top N Filtered Views. If a bar chart is showing an alert, the bars are either green, yellow or red to correspond to Alert status. The bar chart is available for live data viewing only.
  • Text Viewer
     – Shows the text for data when new values are added to old ones—for example, a system or exception log.
  • Dial Meter
     – Depicts current data values as positions on a half-round dial in dashboards.
  • Alert Status Indicator
     – Displays one of three indicators corresponding to conditions defined in the alert:
    • Green disc = status normal
    • Yellow diamond = caution threshold was crossed
    • Red octagon = danger threshold was crossed
    • Gray disc = the alert has no data. 
To work with data viewers in the Investigator or in a Console dashboard, perform these tasks:
  • Use tooltips to view metric names and values.
  • Show min/max metric values in a graph chart.
  • Export data from a graph chart.
  • Add shapes and connectors to a dashboard.
Use Tooltips to View Metric Names and Values
In a data viewer or metrics tree, you can hover your cursor over a point on a graph to open a tooltip.
Follow these steps:
  1. Mouseover any element in a data viewer, such as a point on a graph. Each data point shows the following information:
    • Metric name
    • Exact value of the metric
    • Min/max values for the metric across the period represented by the data point. Instead of rounding to a value using K for thousand or M for million, tooltips show exact values.
    • Count of 15-second intervals represented by the data point
    • Date and time for the data point in the graph
  2. To view more information, select the metric hyperlink in the tooltip.
    The metric appears in the Investigator data viewer.
Show Min/Max Metric Values in a Graph
You can show minimum and maximum data point values in a time series graph chart for standard metrics, such as Average Response Time. With this charting option, you can identify outliers in the metric spikes that indicate faulty data or errors.
Follow these steps:
  1. Locate a graph chart on the Home page, for example, 25 Slowest Frontends: Average Response Times (ms).
  2. Specify a time range from the Time Window, for example, 24 hours.
  3. Mouseover the chart, click the arrow button in the upper-right corner of the graph, and select Show Min/Max Display.
    The graph displays two short horizontal lines for the min/max metric values above and below each data point.
  4. Mouseover a data point in the chart and select the metric hyperlink in the tooltip.
    A time series graph for the metric appears in the Investigator data viewer.
  5. Mouseover the min/max metric values.
  6. Identify the data point outliers in the metric spikes.
  7. (Optional) To hide the display, click the arrow on the right corner of the graph, and select Hide Min/Max Display.
This option remains in effect while you view different data viewers in the Investigator. This setting reverts to the default, which does not show minimum or maximum values, when accessed from the Console or Management tabs.
Disable the Show Min/Max Display Option
For the Show Min/Max Display charting option, browser performance can be impacted when multiple graph charts appear in a dashboard. The introscope.webview.linechart.minmax.timeseries property disables the Show Min/Max Display menu option when the number of time series metrics in a chart exceeds the defined limit.
This action requires read and write permissions to the <
install_home
> directory.
Follow these steps:
  1. From the <
    install_home
    > directory, open the IntroscopeWebView.properties file in a text editor.
  2. Locate the introscope.webview.linechart.minmax.timeseries property and set the value.
    Default: 50
    Example: introscope.webview.linechart.minmax.timeseries=40
  3. Restart WebView.
Export Data from a Graph
You can export a snapshot of current data in a line graph to a comma-separated values CSV file. With this export capability, you can:
  • Analyze data in an interactive spreadsheet program.
  • Share the data with individuals and customers.
Follow these steps:
  1. Mouseover a line graph, click the arrow button in the upper-right corner, and select Export to CSV.
  2. From the Downloads folder, open the export.csv file.
    The data opens in a tabular spreadsheet.
  3. Save the file to a location.
Filter Agents with the Console Lens
The Console Lens lets you filter metric data for the agents that are reporting data. In a dashboard that shows data for more than one agent, you can use the Console Lens to view data only for selected agents. With this filtering option, you can quickly isolate problems.
Follow these steps:
  1. Select a dashboard from the Console list.
  2. Select a time range from the Time Window.
  3. Click the Console Lens button (top right corner).
    The Select Agents for Filtering dialog displays currently connected agents. If you set a time range in the past (24 hours, for example) the dialog lists agents for the selected time range. The columns provide the following information:
    • Domain
      Displays the domain for agents reporting metrics to the Enterprise Manager. Metrics are organized in a Host|Process|Agent hierarchy.
    • Host
      Represents a computer that hosts an agent.
    • Process
      Displays the process for the instance of the application being monitored.
    • Agent Name
      Displays the agent name that is installed on the application server host.
  4. Select a single agent, or select multiple agents on which to filter.
    Available options:
    • To view the first and last timestamps for historical agents, click Show More.
    • To save changes, click OK.
    • To clear the settings, click Remove Lens.
    • To revert changes, click Cancel.
Add Shapes and Connectors to a Dashboard
You can add shapes, lines, and connectors to help explain and illuminate your data in a dashboard. For example, you can draw connectors between objects to create a simple flow chart.
Note
: In this procedure, the Workstation Dashboard Editor is used to manipulate objects.
Follow these steps:
  1. In the Workstation Console, open the dashboard to edit by selecting Dashboard, Edit.
  2. Select a drawing tool:
    • Line
    • Straight connector
    • Elbow connector
    • Polygon
    • Scribble (freehand drawing tool)
  3. To create a placement point, click anywhere in the viewer.
  4. Draw the shape, line, or connector.
  5. To help explain or emphasize data, you can:
    • Add arrowheads to lines, connectors, and scribbles.
    • Add a fill color or Web link to a polygon shape.
    • Arrange dashboard objects front to back.
  6. Select File, Save.
    To view changes, open the dashboard in WebView or Workstation.
Follow these steps:
  1. In the Workstation, create a dashboard, or open an existing dashboard in edit mode.
  2. In WebView, click Investigator, Metric Browser.
  3. Select a metric or resource in the tree, for example, Enterprise Manager under the Custom Metric Agent node.
  4. In the viewer pane, click the tab whose contents (defined by XML) you want in your dashboard, for example, the Overview tab.
  5. Drag and drop the contents onto the dashboard.
  6. To adjust the size:
    1. Select Edit, Change dashboard Properties.
    2. Enter the width and height values (in pixels) in the fields.
  7. Select File, Save.
    To view changes, open the dashboard in WebView.