Visualizing event information on Event Dashboards

Use the Event Dashboard widget to maintain a high-level overview of events that match SQL queries. From the Event Dashboard dashboard, you can open an event list to investigate events in depth.

Before you begin

To change the widget preferences, assign the ncw_dashboard_editor role to users.

Procedure

To open the default Event Dashboard, click Availability > Events > Event Dashboard.

Common tasks to perform on Event Dashboards are described in the following table.

Table 1. Visualizing event information on Event Dashboards
Action	Instructions	Notes
Add monitor boxes	Click Edit Filters and use the Filter Builder to create the filter.	As a read-write user you can add filters to the My Filters list. The filters in this list are assigned to your user profile. You can add filters to the My Filters list, and to the user profiles of read-write users. You can also add global filters.
Remove monitor boxes	In the Filter Builder, delete the filter that corresponds to the monitor box that you want to remove.
Change the event data that is fed to a monitor box	In the Filter builder, edit the properties of the filter that is associated with the monitor box.
Change the information that a monitor box displays	Click Edit Preferences , click Monitor Boxes and change the values of the fields. For the Event Dashboard in lightweight mode, click Edit Preferences and select the appropriate tab. Then, change the values of the fields.	Show Number of Alerts Displays the number of alerts that match the filter. Show Highest Severity Displays the highest severity of the alerts that match the filter. Show Lowest Severity Displays the lowest severity of the alerts that match the filter. Show Highest Severity Border Displays a border around the monitor box in the color of the highest-severity alert that matches the filter. Show Metric Displays the selected filter metric value. Size to fit (lightweight Event Dashboard only) Automatically adjusts the width of the monitor boxes to fit the page when the Event Dashboard window is resized so that all monitor box columns are visible. Distribution meter Specify the format for the distribution meter: Show Lava Lamp: Displays the distribution meter as a series of horizontal bars. Show Histogram: Displays the distribution meter as a bar graph. Show None: Switches off the distribution meter. Show Extended Tooltip Turn on or off the appearance of the extended tooltip on the monitor boxes of the Event Dashboard.
Change the information that a monitor box displays (continued)	Click Edit Preferences , click Monitor Boxes and change the values of the fields. For the Event Dashboard in lightweight mode, click Edit Preferences and select the appropriate tab. Then, change the values of the fields.	Refresh Authorization is required for this setting to be displayed. Change the time interval at which the Event Dashboard is refreshed from the Web GUI server. The time interval is measured in seconds. During a refresh, changes to event data that were made since the last refresh are loaded into the Event Dashboard. Note: the following preferences do not apply to the lightweight Event Dashboard: Show Highest Color Applicable only if you selected the Show Highest Severity option: Displays the highest-severity alert indicator in the color of the alert, for example, in red if the highest-severity alert is critical. Show Lowest Color Applicable only if you selected the Show Lowest Severity option: Displays the lowest-severity alert indicator in the color of the alert. Font Select the font and the font size for the text on the monitor boxes.
Freeze and unfreeze all monitor boxes	Click Freeze/Unfreeze (Pause/Resume) to freeze the monitor boxes, and click again to unfreeze.	Freezing the monitor boxes suppresses all changes to the alert data from the ObjectServer.
Force a refresh of the event data from the ObjectServer	Click Refresh.
Change an event list to display the data that is in a monitor box when a user clicks a monitor box	Click Edit select Update Event List (using wires) from the Single-click list.	This click-action is useful if you run an Event Dashboard and an event list on a single page, and want to drill into the events that are displayed on a monitor box.
Open an Active Event List (AEL) in a new window when a user clicks a monitor box	Click Edit select Open AEL in New Window from the Single-click list. Then, specify the actions that occur when users click and double-click rows in the AEL. Under Event List Appearance, you can define the appearance of the AEL that is opened.	If either `plugin.enabled` = false, or `dashboard.render.mode` = lightweight, the Open AEL in New Window option will not be available in the Single-click list.
Open an Event Viewer in a new window when a user clicks a monitor box	Click Edit select Open Event Viewer in New Window from the Single-click list.
Run a custom JavaScript script when a user clicks a monitor box	Click Edit and select Script from the Single-click list. Then, type the script.	You can use the following tokens in the script: $(FILTER) The name of the filter that is associated with the monitor box that is clicked. $(FILTERCATEGORY) The category of the filter that is associated with the monitor box. $(FILTEROWNER) The owner of the filter. This value is required when $(FILTERCATEGORY) represents a user or group filter. $(VIEW) The name of the view that is associated with the monitor box that was clicked. $(VIEWCATEGORY) The category of the view that is associated with the monitor box that was clicked. $(DATASOURCES) The data source that associated with the monitor box that was clicked. This value can be one or more data sources. $(PORTLETNAMESPACE) The widget namespace of the Event Dashboard widget.

Example

The following example shows the script that is used to send a Tivoli® Integrated Portal launchPage event to launch an Event Viewer page with context. The event is sent when you click the monitor box.


var event = { 
		"name" : "http://ibm.com/isclite#launchPage",
		"NavigationNode": 
"item.desktop.navigationElement.EventViewer", 
		"filterName" : "$(FILTER)",
		"filterType" : "$(FILTERCATEGORY)",
		"filterOwner" : "$(FILTEROWNER)",
		"viewName" : "$(VIEW)",
		"viewType" : "$(VIEWCATEGORY)",
		"dataSource" : "$(DATASOURCES)",
		"switchPage": "true"
 };

$(PORTLETNAMESPACE)sendPortletEvent(event);