Metric Chart
Widget
You can use the
Metric Chart widget to monitor the workload of your objects over time. The
widget displays data based on the metrics that you select.

How the Metric Chart Widget and Configuration
Options Work
You can add the Metric Chart
widget to one or more custom dashboards and configure it to display the
workload for your objects. The data that appears in the widget is based on the
configured menu items for each widget instance.
You edit the Metric Chart widget after you add
it to a dashboard. The changes you make to the menu items create a custom widget
with the selected metrics that display the workload on your objects.
To select metrics, you can select an object
from the object list, then select the metrics. Or, you can select a tag from the
object tag list to limit the object list, then select an object. You can configure
multiple charts for the same object or multiple charts for different objects.
To use the metric
configuration, which displays a set of metrics that you defined in an XML file,
the dashboard and widget configuration must meet the following criteria:
- The dashboardWidget Interactionmenu items are configured so that another widget provides objects to the target widget. For example, an Object List widget provides the object interaction to a chart widget.
- The widgetSelf Provideroptions are set toOff.
- The custom XML file in theMetric Configurationdrop-down menu is in the/usr/lib/vmware-vcops/tools/opsclidirectory and has been imported into the global storage using the import command.
Where You Find the
Metric Chart Widget
The widget might be included on any of your custom
dashboards. From the left menu, click
to see your configured dashboards. To customize the data that appears in the dashboard
widget, from the left menu, click
. To create your dashboard, from the left menu, click . From the Dashboards
panel, click
Create
. To edit your dashboard, from the left menu, click . From the Dashboards
panel, select the
dashboard you want to edit and select . Toggle between the Views
and Widgets
option to
view and add a widget or view to the dashboard. The widgets list panel displays a
list of all the predefined widgets. Drag a widget to the dashboard workspace in the
upper panel.Metric Chart Widget Toolbar
Options
On the title bar of the widget, click the
Show Toolbar
icon to access the toolbar options.The toolbar contains icons that you can use
to change the view of the graphs.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Split Charts | Displays each metric
in a separate chart.
|
Stacked Chart | Consolidates all
charts into one chart. This chart is useful for seeing how the total or sum of
the metric values vary over time. To view the stacked chart, ensure that the
split chart option is turned off.
|
Dynamic Thresholds | Shows or hides the
calculated dynamic threshold values for a 24-hour period.
|
Show Entire Period Dynamic Thresholds | Shows or hides dynamic
thresholds for the entire time period of the graph.
|
Static Thresholds | Shows or hides the threshold values that have been
set for a single metric. |
Anomalies | Shows or hides
anomalies. Time periods when the metric violates a threshold are shaded.
Anomalies are generated when a metric crosses a dynamic or static threshold,
either above or below.
|
Trend Line | Shows or hides the
line and data points that represents the metric trend. The trend line filters
out metric noise along the timeline by plotting each data point relative to the
average of its adjoining data points.
|
Show Data Values | Activates the data point tooltips if you switched
to a zoom or pan option. Show Data
Point Tips must be activated. |
Zoom All Charts | Resizes all the charts
that are open in the chart pane based on the area captured when you use the
range selector.
You can switch between
this option and
Zoom
the View .
|
Zoom the View | Resizes the current
chart when you use the range selector.
|
Pan | When you are in zoom
mode, allows you to drag the enlarged section of the chart so that you can view
higher or lower, earlier or later values for the metric.
|
Zoom to Fit | Resets the chart to
fit in the available space.
|
Remove All | Removes all the charts
from the chart pane, allowing to you begin constructing a new set of charts.
|
Refresh Charts | Reloads the charts
with current data.
|
Date Controls | Opens the date
selector.
Use the date selector
to limit the data that appears in each chart to the time period you are
examining.
Select Dashboard
Time to activate the dashboard time panel. The
option chosen in the dashboard time panel is effective. The
default time is 6 hours. Dashboard
Time is the default option. |
Generate Dashboard | Saves the current
charts as a dashboard.
|
Save as PDF | Saves the current metric chart as a PDF file. If you have added
many metrics for different objects to a metric chart, you can
quickly download and share the PDF file with another user or VM
owner. You can create ad-hoc reports when analyzing metrics. You
can also add notes to the metrics to provide context to the
user. |
Metric Chart Widget Graph Selector
Options
The graph selector options determine how
individual data appears in the graph.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Close | Deletes the chart.
|
Save a snapshot | Creates a PNG file of the current chart. The image
is the size that appears on your screen. You can retrieve the
file in your browser's download folder.
|
Download comma-separated data | Creates a CSV file
that includes the data in the current chart.
You can retrieve the
file in your browser's download folder.
|
Save a full screen snapshot | Downloads the current
graph image as a full-page PNG file, which you can display or save.
You can retrieve the
file in your browser's download folder.
|
Units | You can display the data
with dots or as a percentage. |
Thresholds | You can choose to show/hide Critical , Immediate , and Warning thresholds in the current chart. |
Scales | You can choose a scale for a stacked chart.
|
Move Down | Moves the chart down
one position.
|
Move Up | Moves the chart up one
position.
|
You can take the following actions on the
Metric Chart graph.
Option | Description |
---|---|
Y Axis | Shows or hides the
Y-axis scale.
|
Chart | Shows or hides the
line that connects the data points on the chart.
|
Data Point Tips | Shows or hides the
data point tooltips when you hover the mouse over a data point in the chart.
|
Zoom by X | Enlarges the selected
area on the X axis when you use the range selector in the chart to select a
subset of the chart. You can use
Zoom
by X and
Zoom
by Y simultaneously.
|
Zoom by Y | Enlarges the selected
area on the Y axis when you use the range selector in the chart to select a
subset of the chart. You can use
Zoom
by X and
Zoom
by Y simultaneously.
|
Zoom by Dynamic Thresholds | Resizes the Y axis of
the chart so that the highest and the lowest values on the axis are the highest
and the lowest values of the dynamic threshold calculated for this metric.
|
Vertical resize | Resizes the height of a graph in the chart. |
Remove icon next to each metric name in a
stacked chart | Removes the graph for the metric from the chart. |
Metric Chart Configuration
Options
On the title bar of the widget, click the
Edit Widget
icon to configure the widget.The configuration options are grouped
into one or more sections. You can select the objects on which you want to base the
widget data and refine the objects in the following sections. Each section filters
the objects further and pushes the filtered objects to the next section. The widget
data is based on the objects that are the output of the last section.
The
Configuration
section
provides general configuration options for the widget.The
Input Data
section
provides options to specify input for the widget. This section appears when the
widget is in self provider mode.The
Input Transformation
section provides options to transform the input for the widget.The
Output Data
section
provides options to select object types on which you are basing the widget data.The
Output Filter
section
provides options to restrict the widget data based on the selected filter
criteria.Option | Description |
---|---|
Title | Enter a custom title that
identifies this widget from other instances that are based on the same widget
template.
|
Configuration
| |
Refresh Content | Activate or deactivate the automatic refreshing of the
data in this widget. If not activated, the widget is updated only when the
dashboard is opened or when you click the Refresh button on
the widget in the dashboard. |
Refresh Interval | If you activate the Refresh
Content option, specify how often to refresh the data in this
widget. |
Self Provider | Indicates whether the objects
for which data appears in the widget are defined in the widget or provided by
another widget.
|
Input
Data
| |
Metrics | Select metrics on which you want to base the
widget data. You can select an object and pick its metrics.
Optionally, you can customize a metric and apply
the customization to other metrics in the list.
|
Objects | Select objects on which you want to base the widget
data.
|
All | If you select this option, the widget data is
based on all the objects in your environment. The following sections provide options
to refine the objects for the widget data. |
Input
Transformation
| |
Relationship | Transform the input for the widget based on the
relationship of the objects. For example, if you select the
Children check box and a Depth of
1 , the child objects are the transformed inputs for the
widget. |
Output
Data
| |
Empty drop-down menu | Specifies a list with attributes to display. |
Select metrics on which you want to base the
widget data. You can select an object and pick its metrics.
Optionally, you can customize a metric and apply
the customization to other metrics in the list.
| |
Output
Filter
| |
Refine the widget data further based on the filter
criteria for object types. The widget data is based on the objects for the filtered
object types. If the objects have an input transformation
applied, you define filter criteria for the object types of the transformed
objects.
|