Widgets

Widgets are charts with defined data sources, monitoring metrics, widget properties, filters, and chart properties. Dashboard Designer displays different types of widgets, such as default widget templates, custom widget templates, and custom widgets. You can use the Widgets option in Dashboard Designer to create custom widgets or custom widget templates, where you select a chart type, set data definitions, set filters, set a background image, and set toolbar and chart properties. You can create multiple custom widgets and custom templates, and save them into various categories for later use. You can publish custom widgets individually or in bulk.

Default and custom widget templates

Widget templates contain a chart with predefined connectors and monitoring parameters. The templates do not contain any predefined data sources or instances. You can assign data sources and select instances after you drag a widget template to a dashboard. Dashboard Designer displays default widget templates and custom widget templates.
Default widget templates
Default widget templates are the ready to use widget templates that are already provided in Dashboard Designer.
Dashboard Designer displays multiple default widget templates for each of the following agents:
  • Cisco UCS agent
  • Db2® agent
  • Linux® KVM agent
  • Linux OS agent
  • Microsoft Hyper-V Server agent
  • Microsoft Internet Information Service agent
  • Microsoft SQL Server agent
  • Microsoft Office 365 agent
  • MySQL agent
  • MongoDB agent
  • SAP agent
  • SAP NetWeaver Java™™ Stack agent
  • Tomcat agent

You can use these default templates to monitor Cloud APM data sources and instances only.

Custom widget templates
A custom widget template contains user-defined chart, connectors, filters, and monitoring parameters.

You can save a custom widget as a custom widget template, only if you use APM, ITM, or ICAM Connectors to set data definition, and if the widget is created for the first time. You cannot modify an existing custom widget and save it is as custom widget template. However, you can modify an existing custom template, and save it as a new custom widget template and as a custom widget by using unique names. When you save a custom widget as a template, you cannot modify filters, connectors, background image, and monitoring parameters contained within it.

If filters are set for a custom widget template, then it displays a check mark on Set Filters Set Filter icon. Else, Set Filters icon does not display any check mark.

All the widget templates display a chart icon within curly brackets next to their names. The chart icon indicates the chart type that is used in default or custom widget template. For example, if the default widget template is created by using a Line chart, then a Line chart Line chart icon is displayed within curly brackets.

All the widget templates display an incomplete data definition Incomplete data definition icon as their data sources and instances are not defined. When you drag a template to a dashboard, define data sources and instances, and set chart properties, the template changes to a custom widget that is in a complete state, and hence displays a complete data definition Complete data definition icon.

To save a custom widget as a template, see Saving custom widgets as templates.

Custom widgets

Custom widgets are charts with user-defined connectors, data sources, monitoring elements, instances, widget properties, filters, background image, and chart properties.

Based on the state of the data definition, a custom widget can display any of the following Set Data Definition icons:
  • When the data definition is incomplete, then the custom widget displays an incomplete data definition Incomplete data definition icon.
  • When the data definition is complete, then the custom widget displays a complete data definition Complete data definition icon.
  • When the data definition is deleted, then the custom widget displays a deleted data definition Data definition deleted icon.
While you are creating custom widgets, you can complete the following tasks:
Change widget layout
Before you add a chart or template to a widget, you can edit the layout of the widget to add multiple widget placeholders and save the widget as an independent multi-chart widget. Thus, a single widget can host multiple widgets or charts within it.

For more information, see Specialized widgets.

Embed a website or web application
You can embed a web application or website in a widget by entering an external URL within a widget and save the widget as an independent web widget.

For more information, see Specialized widgets.

Change chart types
If the widget contains Area, Line, Pie, Donut, and Clustered or Stacked Bars and Columns charts, then you can replace these charts with other charts that belong to the same category. For example, if you use a Pie chart, then you can replace it with a Donut chart. You can change chart types during and after widget creation.
Set multiple data sources
Setting data definition is an important step during widget or template creation. It is in this step that you connect a data source to the chart and define the attributes that must be displayed on the widget. You can set data definitions by using any one of the following options:

You can add multiple data sources in a single widget by using multiple connectors.

Set widget-level filters
You can set default and custom filters for a widget. If the filters are already set in a widget template, then you can add, delete, or rearrange the already set filters. The total number of default and custom filters, including conditional or dependent filters, cannot exceed five. You can drag filters and change their display order. Parent (Direct or Independent) filters and child (Conditional or Dependent filters) filters cannot be switched. A parent filter always precedes its child filter. If you delete a parent filter, then its child filters are also deleted. If you select child (Conditional or Dependent filters) filters, then its parent (Direct or Independent) filters are added automatically.

After you set widget-level filters, you must map metrics to filters while setting assisted data definition or in manual data definition.

If widget-level filters are set for a custom widget, then it displays a check mark on Set Filters Set Filter icon. Else, Set Filters icon does not display any check mark.

You can set default PM filters for the following data sources only:
  • Cloud APM
  • Monitoring
  • ITM

You can set CEM filter and CEMWidgetFilters for Cloud Event Management data sources only. Date under the CEMWidgetFilters category is displayed at widget-level only. Use this filter to view entire data from any past date to the current date or just the current day data.

For more information about default filters, see Filters.

Set properties
After you set data definition, you must set toolbar and chart properties before you save the custom widget.
Set background image
You can add, replace, or delete a background image in a widget. You can also add, replace, or delete a background image in a widget after you add the widget to a dashboard.

For more information about setting a background image in an independent widget, see Creating custom widgets.

You can also create a custom widget that lists all the instances of a specific source. For more information, see Creating custom widgets to list all instances.

After you create custom widgets, you can also publish the custom widgets. For more information, see Publishing custom widgets.

Both widgets and templates are useful when you want to create dashboards within minimal time. You can use a template when you want to monitor different data sources and instances against preselected monitoring parameters.