FAQ

Watch this webinar to gain more insights into BMC Helix Dashboards: Webinar: Introduction to BMC Helix Dashboards.

To learn the basics of BMC Helix Dashboards, see Introduction to BMC Helix Dashboards.

For information about transitioning from Smart Reporting to BMC Helix Dashboards, see BEST FAQ on transitioning to BMC Helix Dashboards.

To learn about migrating BMC Helix Dashboards content between environments, see Exporting and importing dashboards.

To learn how to migrate content from Smart Reporting to BMC Helix Dashboards, see Smart Reporting to BMC Helix Dashboards - Prerequisites and How to run. 

In BMC Helix Dashboards, a dashboard displays information from various data sources in panels organized in rows. You can use different visualization types in different panels of the dashboard. For more information, see Setting up Dashboards.

To know about query types and which one you should choose, see Webinar: Helix Dashboards Examples Addressing Common Requests.

For information about scheduling and managing content, see Webinar: BMC Helix Dashboards examples addressing common requests.

For information about advance functions, variables, and links, see Webinar: BMC Helix Dashboards examples addressing common requests

If the Dashboard query checks null and not null values, it is best to set the default GUI ID in the variable configuration for all as a best practice to refrain from the query. This will increase the dashboard's performance.

You can also increase the Max Entries Return by the Get list limit as needed.

For more information, see Best practices for service management dashboards.

For information about the conversion tool, see BMC Helix Dashboards - Transition From ITSM Smart Reporting To BMC Helix Dashboards.

For information about the best practices for SQL queries, see BMC Helix Dashboards - ITSM Advanced Report Design Best Practices.

To enable the tables and functions required to support DFBN functionality, use any one of the following methods:

• Execute the script manually.
  For more information, see Helix Support: DFBN Functions

• Use the javadriver utility.
  For more information, see Defining database functions in AR System server

After the required tables and functions are enabled, you can define the database function in the AR System and use them in the BMC Helix Dashboards. For more information, see Defining database functions in AR System Server.

BMC Helix Dashboards includes Grafana Open Source Software (OSS). The following table lists the BMC Helix Dashboards versions and the corresponding Grafana versions:

English is the default language of the BMC Helix Dashboards application. In addition, various other languages are supported. Localization in non-English locales is limited to screens commonly used by reporting users. The Dashboard panel builder screens used by Dashboards developers are available only in English. For more information, see Localizing-the-content-of-dashboards.

To know about handling null values, see the section To display the filter data with NULL values on Setting-up-variables-for-dashboard-queries.

For information about adding data links in BMC Helix Dashboards, see Adding-overrides-to-fields-in-a-dashboard.

To use a dashboard panel as a data source, perform the following steps:

1. Create a new dashboard.
2. Create a panel with 4 or 5 field values.
3. Save the dashboard.
4. Add a new panel and select the datasource as --Dashboard--.
5. Select a required source from the Source panel.
6. Refresh the panel.
7. Add visualization as required.
8. Save the dashboard.

Configuring multiple queries is useful when you need to fetch data based on a selected time range and filter the results based on a common filter. For example, in any service dashboard, the Health Score, Events, and Incidents panels use multiple queries.

Perform the following steps to generate multiple queries in a single panel in Helix Dashboards:

1. Create a blank dashboard panel and save it.
2. Edit the panel.
3. Add a query as required.
4. Click Add query to add another query.
   Similarly, add multiple queries as required.
5. Save the panel.

BMC Helix Dashboards includes the following Variable formatting options:

• $variable:bmcsinglequote
  Use the variable format: bmcsinglequote for variable values containing single quotes and numbers.

  Information

  Example

  SELECT
     `myit-sb:ServiceRequest`.`Request ID`
      FROM `myit-sb:ServiceRequest` 
    where `myit-sb:ServiceRequest`.`Request ID` = ${RequestID:bmcsinglequote}

• $variable:base64
  Use the variable format $variable:base64 for variable values that you want to pass in the drill through the URL and then must be converted to base64.

  Information

  Example

  /../monitor/#/monitoring/events/${__data.fields._identifier:base64}

To see the complete list of available variable formats, see Available variable formats in Grafana.

For information about using transform, see Transform data.

To generate a co-display report, you must configure repeating rows and repeating panels.

For information about configuring repeating rows, see Configuring repeating rows.

For information about configuring repeating panels, see Configuring repeating panels.

To add dynamic fields to a BWF report, see BWF Dynamic Data Handling in Helix Dashboards.

To create calculated fields in the Metadata views, see Creating customized views.

Roles are defined by tenant administrators in BMC Helix Dashboards. For more information, see Roles-and-permissions.

For information about granting permissions and assigning roles, see Roles-and-permissions.

Helix Dashboards groups can only be administered from the BMC Helix Portal UI.

For more information, see Create a new team or group in Helix Dashboards.

No, you cannot edit or delete out-of-the-box content. You can save an out-of-the-box dashboard with a different name as a custom dashboard and then modify it later. This restriction also applies when you are adding tags. For more information, see Viewing out-of-the-box dashboards.

For information about installing and using Reporting Metadata Studio, see Installing-and-upgrading-Reporting-Metadata-Studio.