Using annotations to mark anomalies

As a tenant administrator or an editor, you can configure annotations in your dashboard. An annotation highlights a specific point on a visualization graph. It is displayed as a vertical line. Use annotations to flag anomalies in your environment data. You can configure additional details for the annotation, such as tags and descriptions. These details are displayed when you hover over the annotation. 

To add an annotation

You can add an annotation in one of the following ways:

• From a panel — You can add a single annotation from a panel to mark a point on the visualization graph in the panel. You cannot see these annotations on the Dashboard settings > Annotations page.
• From the dashboard settings — You can add an annotation query from the dashboard settings. Annotation queries display annotations on the dashboard based on the filters that you specify in the dashboard settings.

To add an annotation from a panel

1. Click anywhere in the visualization graph on a panel and click Add Annotation.
2. Add the required information and save your changes.
3. Click Save dashboard.

To add the annotation from the dashboard settings

1. Open the dashboard for which you want to configure an annotation.
2. Click and then click Annotations.
3. Click Add annotation query, and perform these steps:
   1. Specify a name for the annotation.
   2. From the Data source list, select a data source. The default is BMC Helix.
   3. Specify whether you want to issue the annotation query for every dashboard refresh. By default, this option is enabled.
   4. Specify whether you want to hide the toggle option displayed for the annotation. By default, the toggle option is enabled.
      Tip: The Enable toggle option helps if you have multiple annotations and you want to show only one on the dashboard. You can enable the annotation that you want to show and disable other annotations.
   5. Select a color that you want to use for the annotation.
   6. Add a query for the annotation. 
      Important: Only the Events query type is supported.
   7. Under Field mappings, configure these additional options:
      1. In the Time End field, specify an event slot name with an end time value.
      2. In the Text field, specify a slot name to be displayed as additional details about the annotation. The text field can include links to other systems.
      3. In the Size field, specify the maximum number of annotations that you want to display on a chart.
         Example: When you configure the field mapping options, the following annotation details are displayed:
         
         
   8. Click Apply.
4. Click Save dashboard.

To edit an annotation

You can edit an annotation in one of the following ways:

• From the panel —  You can edit only those annotations that you have added from the panel.
• From the dashboard settings —  You can edit only those annotations that you have added from the dashboard settings.

To edit from a panel

1. On the panel where the annotation is added, hover over the annotation point and click the edit icon .
2. Make your changes and click Save.

To edit from the dashboard settings

1. On a dashboard, click the Dashboard settings icon in the upper right corner.
2. On the left navigation bar, click Annotations.
3. On the Annotations page, click an annotation.
4. Make your changes and click Update.
5. In the left navigation pane, click Save dashboard.

To delete an annotation

You can delete an annotation in one of the following ways:

• From the panel — You can delete only those annotations that you have added from the panel.
• From the dashboard settings — You can delete only those annotations that you have added from the dashboard settings.

To delete from a panel

1. On the panel where the annotation is added, hover over the annotation point and click the edit icon .
2. Click Delete.

To delete from the dashboard settings

1. On a dashboard, click the Dashboard settings icon in the upper right corner.
2. On the left navigation bar, click Annotations.
3. Click the delete icon  against the annotation that you want to delete.
4. On the left navigation pane, click Save dashboard.