Configuring the Entity group data explorer template

You can use the Entity group data explorer template to compare time series data of systems and business drivers. You can configure the template to display the time series data in multiple charts on a single page. You can also configure a table to show the summarized time series data.

You can filter data on the pages by using the various filters. For information about how filtering works, see Filtering.

To configure a custom view by using the Entity group data explorer template

The following video (4:27) illustrates the process of configuring a custom view by using the Entity group data explorer template.

https://youtu.be/j76TvZwcbMk

1. Open the view page with the Entity group data explorer template:

   • When creating a new view, click the Add View option, and select Entity group data explorer as the template. For detailed steps, see Adding and managing views.
   • When creating a new page in an existing view, click Add a new page option, and select Entity group data explorer as the template. For detailed steps, see To add a page to an existing custom view.
2. In the view page, specify the following details:
   1. Title: Enter a title for the page.

   2. (Optional) Enable entity filter: Enable the entity filter, and select the required entity filter to show data of the systems and business drivers of the selected entity filter in all the charts on the page. If the entity filter is not available in the list, click Create new entity filter. The Entity group data explorer template shows all the entity filters that are listed only under the "Domains, Services & Applications" domain in the Workspace.

      Important

      If you configure this page-level entity filter, the chart-level entity filters are disabled. To use chart-level entity filters, disable the page-level entity filter.

   3. (Optional) To add custom text, click Add custom text. To update an existing custom text, click Change in the custom text panel. You can add descriptions, instructions, links, or any other textual information for the users of the view page. Use markdown tags to format the content of custom text and to add images, links, and tables. For example, add a description such as “Displays performance metrics for Payroll application”, or a label such as "NY Datacenter - Capacity Metrics".

      • Title: Type the required title for the custom text.

      • Always expand custom text: Select to display the custom text as expanded or collapsed.
      • Editor: Type the required content and format it by using markdown tags such as * to create an unordered list and # to increase the font size. A preview of the formatted content is displayed in the Preview section.
      • Insert image: Enable you to add an image. The selected image is displayed in the Preview section. 

      The following image illustrates the preview of the commonly-used standard markdown language tags. 

      

      

      For more information about markdown tags, see  Showdown's Markdown syntax .

   4. To configure a chart, click in the individual chart.  denotes that the display of the chart is enabled. 

      Configure the following chart properties:

      1. Template: Select the system or the business driver chart templates. The following templates are available.

         • Summary - Pie Chart
         • Time - Area Chart
         • Time - Bar Chart
         • Time - Line Chart
         • Time - Stacked Area Chart
         • Time - Stacked Bar Chart

         • <Custom analysis templates that you have created in the Helix Capacity Optimization Console>
           Only custom templates created using the following types are displayed in this list:
           - Systems: Performance vs Time analysis
           - Business drivers: Load vs Time analysis
           For information about the types of charts, see Analysis chart types supported in Views.

           Information

           The following functions from the analysis chart types are not supported in the charts: Trendlines, Right axis on line charts, Calendar charts, and other minor customization options such as Format of ticks, Format of dates, Label rotation, Format of chart grid, Logarithmic axes, Palette, and Dashed lines.

      2. (Optional) Select entity filter: Select an entity filter from the list. The chart displays data of the entities that are included in the selected entity filter.

         Important

         This entity filter is displayed only when a page-level entity filter is not configured.

         
         

      3. Title: Specify a title for the chart. Click Change chart labels to change the chart labels. Type a subtitle, X axis title, Left Y axis title, Right Y axis title, and legend for chart.
         
      4. Add the required metrics in the Metrics area. To add metrics, click + Add, select the required metrics, and click Done.
      5. Click Apply. The changes are updated dynamically in the view, and you continue to be in the edit mode.
         When you click Apply, a live preview of your configuration is displayed without saving the changes. This live update helps you to review your changes, and quickly make further changes if required as you continue to be in the edit mode.
         Configure the other charts similarly. You can configure up to six charts.

   5. To configure a table, click in the table section. In the edit box at the bottom,  denotes that the display of the table is enabled. The following properties are available to edit:  .

      1. Data mart: Select a data mart from the list. You must select a data mart to be able to view data in the table.
      2. Title: Type a title for the table.
      3. Columns: Add columns to the table and select the corresponding metric for each column. By default, four columns are displayed.
         You can add more columns, and edit or delete the available columns.

      4. To modify the default column header label, renderer, and column visibility option, select a column, and click the corresponding Edit parameters link to configure it further:

         In the Edit <columnName> parameters screen that opens, specify the following options:

         1. If you do not want the column name as appears in the data mart to be displayed as the column header, type a new label in the Column header label field.

         2. Select the Renderer and configure it. 

            The default renderer is automatically selected based on the data mart column that you select in the previous step. For example, if you select data center (dc_name) as one of the columns, the corresponding default renderer for that column is Text. 

            Depending on the selected renderer, the parameters to configure differ. For more information about the available renderers, see Renderer options in custom views. 

         3. In the Column visibility section, specify whether the column must be shown or hidden on the view page:

            • Column is always shown: The column is permanently shown. User of the view cannot hide the column.

            • Column is displayed and user can hide it: The column is shown by default. The user can hide or show it from the Show/Hide columns window.

            • Column is hidden and the user can show it: The column is hidden by default. The user can choose to show or hide it from the Show/Hide columns window.

               Consider the following example

              As per the following column configuration, the Name column is displayed by default and the capacity view user can hide it.

              

              When the capacity view user opens the configured view page, the Name column is displayed.
              The capacity view user can choose to hide the column by selecting the Show/Hide Columns option from the table action menu.

              In the Show/Hide Columns window, the Name column is displayed, by default. To hide the column, clear the check box and click Save.

              
              The column is not displayed in the table.

         4. After you complete editing parameters for one column, click Done to return to the previous edit screen. 

            You can continue to edit parameters for other columns.

      5. To reorder the columns, click Reorder columns. Type the required order or position number in the Order field for the required column. The columns rearrange automatically.

         Information

         You can only enter a number between 1 and the total number of columns in the Order field. For example, if four columns are displayed, then you cannot add an order number greater than 4.

      6. After you complete editing parameters for that column, click Done to return to the previous edit screen.

         You can continue to edit parameters for other columns.

      7. Click Apply. The changes are updated dynamically in the view, and you continue to be in the edit mode.

3. Click Save.

   The custom view page is created with the defined configuration. You can filter the charts in the view page by applying the appropriate filter.

Filtering 

You can use the following filters to filter data that is displayed in the view pages.

• View filters, such as Domain, Tag, and Time filters
  Use to filter data based on a specific domain, tag, and period.
• Page filters
  Use to filter data based on systems and business drivers. The system filter applies to charts showing systems. The business driver filter applies to charts showing business drivers.
• Entity filters
  Use to view data of entities that belong to a selected entity filter. You can configure an entity filter at a page or chart level. You can use only one type (page or chart level) of entity filter at a time.

Filtering scenarios

The following table explains the effects of configuring an entity filter on the various other filter combinations: