The following use cases illustrate how you might configure dashboards with the Helix Combination Chart visualization in your production environment.

Example 1: Combination of line charts

Let's say you are a tenant administrator who wants to view the average CPU utilization (in left Y-axis) for multiple CPUs for a given period (in X-axis) in a single dashboard panel. You use the Helix Combination Chart visualization configured with a Metric query to create a dashboard to show the data in line chart format.

Example 2: Combination of bar charts

Let's say you are a tenant administrator who wants to view the average CPU and memory utilization (in left Y-axis) of two hosts (in X-axis) in a single dashboard panel. You use the Helix Combination Chart visualization configured with a Metric query to create a dashboard to show the data in bar chart format.

Example 3: Combination of line and bar charts

Let's say you are a tenant administrator who wants to view the average CPU utilization (in left Y-axis) and memory utilization (in right Y-axis) for a given period (in X-axis) in a single dashboard panel. You use the Helix Combination Chart visualization configured with the Metric query to create a dashboard to show the data in a combination of chart and graph format.

To create a dashboard with the data as shown in example 3:

To configure the Helix Combination Chart visualization plug-in

1. From the navigation menu, click Dashboard.
2. Click Add visualization.
3. In the Query section, select BMC Helix and add your queries; see Configuring-dashboards-with-additional-customizations.
4. In the Panel tab, expand Visualization and select Helix Combination Chart.​​​​​​
5. Expand Panel options to configure the following elements:
   1. Specify a panel name and optional description.
   2. Specify whether you want to use the transparent background for the panel.
   3. Panel links: Add one or more links to navigate to other content.
   4. Repeat optionsSelect a variable.
      The panel is created for each variable value.
      Important: The panel creation is not visible in edit mode. Navigate to the dashboard and update the variable or reload the dashboard.

6. Expand Helix Combination Chart to configure the following elements:

   How do I configure the X-axis?

   • Select a metric: Select a metric in this field. In example 3, Time metric has been used in the X-axis. 
   • Specify a label: Specify the label for this axis.
   • Show the axis: Click to show or hide the axis.

   How do I configure the left and right Y-axis?

   • Select a metric: Select a metric from the list of available metrics. In example 3, Processor Utilization metric has been set for the left Y-axis and Memory Utilization metric has been set for the right Y-axis.
   • Select the chart type: Select BAR or LINE as the chart type. Example 3 shows the LINE chart type for the left Y-axis and BAR chart type for the right Y-axis.
   • Specify a label: Specify the label for the axis. Example 3 shows CPU Utilization as the label name for the left Y-axis and Memory Usage as the label name for the right Y-axis.
   • Show the axis: Click to show or hide the axis.
   • Decimals: Specify the decimals. In example 3, decimals has been set to 2 for both the Y-axes.
   • Min: Specify the minimum value for the Y-axes.

   • Max: Specify the maximum value for the Y-axes.

     Warning

     Important

     You do not have to configure both Y-axes for your dashboard. You can configure any one of the Y-axes that suits your requirement.

   How do I configure additional display parameters?

   • Orientation: Select horizontal or vertical orientation for your combination chart.
   • Mode: Select a separated or stacked combination chart for multiple value bar charts.
     In a stacked combination chart, each series is stacked on top of another. In example3, the Stacked mode has been selected.
     
     • Show total: Click to show or hide the total value of the stacked bar chart.
     • Total text size: Set the text size for the total data label. These settings appear only when Stacked is selected, and you have data on the x and the left y-axis. The Total text size option appears when Show total is enabled.
   • Rotate x-axis tick labels: Select the angle for the x-axis label display.
   • Bar width: Drag the scroll bar to specify the width of the bar. The bar chart with default width is displayed if the value is 0.
   • Tool tip: Select an option to display the tool tip, All series or Single series. This option is available for bar chart type only.
   • Null behavior: Display the null values in the combination chart by selecting Break or Zero. The recommended value for this parameter is Zero.
   • Customize Chart Type By Metric: This option allows you to select different chart types for various metrics in charts.
   • Color Scheme: Configure the values as you want to see them in the combination chart.
   • Data Labels:
     • Show Data Labels: Click to show or hide data labels.
     • Data Label Alignment, Text size, Label color and Data Label Decimals: Select a label alignment, the text size, the label color and decimal values. These options are available only if you choose to show data labels. In example 3, data label alignment is set to Center and data label decimals has been set to 2. The Label color is applicable only for bar chart types, and not for mixed and line chart types.
     • Show Cumulative Total: Enable this option to display the cumulative values of previous data points on the left or right Y-axis. This option is available only for Line charts.
     • Marker: Change the size of the data points displayed. This option is available only for line type charts. If both data labels and markers are enabled, data labels are displayed over the markers and may not be clearly visible. 
   • Legend:
     
     • Show Legends: Click to show or hide legends.
     • Legend Position and Legend Alignment: Select a legend position and alignment. These options are available only if you choose to show legends. In example 3, legend position is set to Top and legend alignment has been set to Center.
   • Standard options: Configure this setting from the Overrides tab.
   • Data links: Configure this setting from the Overrides tab.
7. Save the panel.