Filtering data and personalizing dashboards

To configure additional dashboard filters by using tags

As a tenant administrator or editor, configure additional filters by using various tags for custom dashboards. This feature is available with AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Azure knowledge modules. 

Let's say you are a tenant administrator who wants to filter devices based on location. You use the Variable feature to configure the location filter by using the available tags. 

1. On a dashboard, click Dashboard settings .
2. On the navigation bar, click Variables.
3. Create a variable called TagKeys. 

1. 1. Click Add new variable and configure the following options:
      1. Name: Specify TagKeys
      2. Type: Select Query
      3. Label: Specify TagKeys
      4. Hide: Select Variable
      5. Data source: Select BMC Helix
      6. Query: Specify entity,get_tag_keys(entity)
      7. Refresh: Select On dashboard load
      8. Sort: Select Disabled
   2. Click Update.
      You can see the list of available tags under Preview of values.
      
      
      
      
2. Create a variable for location:
   1. On the Variables page, click New and configure the following options:
      1. Name: Specify Location
      2. Type: Select Query
      3. Label: Specify Location
      4. Data source: Select BMC Helix
      5. Query: Specify entity,get_tag_values(entity,location)
      6. Refresh: Select On dashboard load
      7. Sort: Select Disabled
   2. Click Update.
      You can see the list of locations under Preview of values.
      
      
      
      
3. Create a variable for device name:
   1. On the Variables page, click New and configure the following options:
      1. Name: Specify deviceName
      2. Type: Select Query
      3. Label: Specify deviceName
      4. Data source: Select BMC Helix
      5. Query: Specify entity,get_entity_ids(device,{"location":"$Location"})
      6. Refresh: Select On dashboard load
      7. Sort: Select Disabled
   2. Click Update.
      
      
      
      
4. Filter the selected dashboard based on the location of the devices.
   
   

To configure additional date filters by using variables

As a tenant administrator or editor, add additional date filters to your dashboards. BMC Helix Dashboards allows you to filter data by using the default date filter. However, by using this option, you can filter data in your dashboards and panels by multiple date ranges.

1. On a dashboard, click Dashboard settings .
2. On the navigation bar, click Variables.
3. Create a new variable and configure the following options:
   • Name—Specify a name for the variable.
     For example, DateRange.
   • Type—Select Date Range.
   • Label—Specify a label for the additional date filter that will be visible on your dashboard screen. 
     For example, Date Range.
   • Select Time Range—Select the appropriate date and time range.
4. Click Update.

5. Now, modify the SQL query of your dashboard's panel to filter data based on the newly added additional date filter.
   For example, use the following query to filter the incident details:

   `HPD:Help Desk`.`Date Range` < '${DateRange:to}' And `HPD:Help Desk`.`Date Range` > '${DateRange:from}'

   where, HPD:Help Desk is the form name and ${DateRange:from} and ${DateRange:to} indicate the date range selected in the additional date filter. 

   The same query can be added to multiple panels within the same dashboard to filter their data based on the additional date range.

   You can repeat these steps to create multiple date filters in the same dashboard.

6. (Controlled availability customers only) For the Service Management query type, use X to remove the filters that are not required.
   
   

To create cascading filters in dashboards

As a tenant administrator or editor, you can create cascading filters for a dashboard. In cascading filters, when the first filter is selected, the second filter displays values relevant to the first filter.

Let's say you are a tenant administrator who wants to view the incident details of an assigned group for a selected company. Additionally, you want to view the high priority incident details for a selected assigned group. You can create cascading filters for the company, assigned groups and priority to filter their data based on the selection of the other filters. 

1. On a dashboard, click Dashboard settings .
2. On the navigation bar, click Variables.
3. Create a variable for company:
   • Specify a name for the variable.
     For example, let's specify company.
   • From the Type list, select Query.
   • Specify a label for the list of the companies. 
     For example, let's specify Company.

   • Specify the following query to display the list of the companies:

     remedy,{"sql": "SELECT DISTINCT `HPD:Help Desk`.`Company` FROM `HPD:Help Desk` LIMIT 500"}
   • Click Update.
4. Create a variable for assigned groups:
   • Specify a name for the variable.
     For example, let's specify assignedGroup.
   • From the Type list, select Query.
   • Specify a label for the list of the assigned groups. 
     For example, let's specify Assigned Group.

   • Specify the following query to display the list of the assigned groups based on the company:

     remedy,{"sql": "SELECT DISTINCT `HPD:Help Desk`.`Assigned Group` FROM `HPD:Help Desk` WHERE `HPD:Help Desk`, `Company` = $company LIMIT 500"}

     where WHERE `HPD:Help Desk`, `Company` = $company retrieves the list of the assigned groups based on the selected company. 
     To select assigned groups against multiple companies, enable the Multi-value option and specify the following query:

     remedy,{"sql": "SELECT DISTINCT `HPD:Help Desk`.`Assigned Group` FROM `HPD:Help Desk` WHERE `HPD:Help Desk`, `Company` in ($company LIMIT 500"}
   • Click Update.
5. Create a variable for priority:
   • Specify a name for the variable.
     For example, let's specify priority.
   • From the Type list, select Query.
   • Specify a label for the list of the priorities. 
     For example, let's specify Priority.

   • Specify the following query to display the list of the assigned groups based on the company:

     remedy,{"sql": "SELECT DISTINCT `HPD:Help Desk`.`Priority` FROM `HPD:Help Desk` WHERE `HPD:Help Desk`, `Assigned Group` = $assignedGroup LIMIT 500"}

     where WHERE `HPD:Help Desk`, `Assigned Group` = $assignedGroup retrieves the list of the priorities based on the assigned group.
     To select priorities against multiple assigned groups, enable the Multi-value option and specify the following query:

     remedy,{"sql": "SELECT DISTINCT `HPD:Help Desk`.`Priority` FROM `HPD:Help Desk` WHERE `HPD:Help Desk`, `Assigned Group` in ($assignedGroup) LIMIT 500"}
   • Click Update.

On the Variables page, click Show dependencies to display the cascading filter mapping.

To save filter values in dashboards

In BMC Helix Dashboards, multiple users access a single dashboard. The default data displayed in the dashboard might not be relevant for all the users. To personalize your view, you can save the filter values in dashboards. 

For example, Susan is a Service Desk Manager who uses the Incident Analysis dashboard to see the incidents reported across several teams in the last 24 hours. However, a dashboard user may use the dashboard only to view the incidents reported for a specific team in the last 4 hours. Each user can personalize the view through their own login credentials. Hence, every time you log into BMC Helix Dashboards, you will see your own saved filter values instead of the default filters. By doing so, you can also avoid resetting the filter values repeatedly.

To save the filter values:

1. Access the dashboard that you want to personalize.
2. Make the necessary changes in the dashboard filters and time range. 
3. Click Save filter . 

To set the dashboard to its default value, select Reset filters  > Reset.