Setting Gauge widget preferences

Change the properties of the individual gauges displayed on a Gauges page; add, remove and rearrange gauges; and customize the page itself.

Before you begin

To be able to customize gauges, either the ncw_gauges_editor and the ncw_user roles, or the ncw_admin role must be assigned to your user.

Instructions for Administrators.To view gauges on a mobile device, you must have the ncw_gauges_viewer role.

Before a click-action can be used to operate a tool, you must have previously defined the tool.

About this task

To customize gauges:

Procedure

  1. Open a Gauges widget.
  2. Edit your widget preferences, or, as an administrator, edit the widget defaults:
    • To edit your widget preferences, click Page Actions Page Action icon > Personalize Page > Widget > Personalize.
    • Instructions for Administrators.To edit the widget defaults of all users, click Page Actions Page Action icon > Edit Page > Widget > Edit.
    Note: The Widget button is enabled after a widget is selected. If Event Viewer is the only widget on the page, you can select the widget by clicking the thin cyan line between the widget pallet and the Event Viewer widget.
  3. Change the content and appearance of the page as required:
  4. Click Save to save the changes to the gauge properties. The page returns to view mode with the changes are applied.

    Click Cancel to abandon all of the changes you have made to the page.

    Note: To return the page to its initial settings, as supplied, click Reset to Defaults.

Changing the General settings for all gauges

Set the title of the gauge page and the refresh rate for its gauges.

Procedure

Change any combination of the preferences in the General Settings area:
Title
Type a title for the Gauges page. The title is displayed on the title bar of the widget page, not on the tab or in the navigation pane.
Gauge size
Type a display size for the gauge. Use a number between 2 and 2560.
Refresh rate
Type the time (in seconds) between each automatic refresh of the values on the gauges. Use a number between 10 and 99000. The default value is 10.

Selecting the data sources and ObjectServers

Define the data sources and ObjectServers that provide data for the gauges on the page.

Procedure

Select the data sources and ObjectServers that supply data for the gauges in the Data Sources area:
  • To select an entire data source, set its check box.
  • To select individual ObjectServers in a data source:
    • Clear the check box for the data source.
    • Set the check boxes for the ObjectServers you want to use.
  • You can choose any combination of data sources and ObjectServers.
  • Initially a page receives data from the default data source only.
  • The value that each gauge shows is the total for that metric for all the selected data sources and ObjectServers.

Generating HTML for mobile devices

Producing an HTML representation of the gauge page that you can either send to mobile devices using e-mail or SMS, or scan using your mobile device.

Procedure

  1. Set the HTML for mobile devices check box.

    The system generates an HTML representation of the Gauges page whenever you click Save to save changes to the preferences or defaults.

    The URL and QR Code for the HTML page appears in Mobile Device Access.

  2. To preview the HTML page, click the URL.

    You can now copy the URL into an e-mail or SMS for sending to mobile devices. Alternatively, you can scan the QR Code using the camera and QR Code reader on your mobile device. Once the QR Code is recognized, your Web browser launches automatically to display the associated URL.

Changing the properties of gauges

Modifying the properties of any gauge such as its name, appearance, and metric.

Procedure

  1. Click the gauge that you want to modify.
  2. Change the fields in the properties box as required:
    Type
    Select type of display for the gauge. For example, a speedometer or traffic lights.

    The Preview area shows the selected gauge.

    Metric
    Select a predefined metric from the list.
    Note: If you change the metric for an existing gauge, always change the Unit label, Unit label, and Description to match the new metric.
    Label
    Type a label for the gauge. This identifies the gauge on the page.
    Unit label
    Type a label to describe the units for the values that the gauge displays.
    Description
    Type a description for the gauge. When the Gauges page is viewed in the Web GUI, or the published URL is viewed in a Web browser or a mobile device, the text in this field is used as hover help.
    Tip: you can include the current value of the gauge in the hover help. Add the string {0} where you want the value to appear. For example:
    The number of client conections. Current value: {0}
    Click action
    Select the action that is performed when a user clicks the gauge:
    none
    Nothing happens.
    script
    Execute a script.
    url
    Open a URL.
    Script/URL
    Type the fully-qualified URL that you want to be opened when you click a gauge, or the JavaScript code that you want to run.
    Tip: You can use the URL of a Web GUI application page.

    You can use a script to launch Web GUI applications and applications from other parts of Tivoli that are based on Dashboard Application Services Hub. For example, you can write a script to launch the IBM Tivoli Network Manager IP Edition.

    Mobile device touch action
    Select the action that is performed when a user taps the gauge:
    none
    Nothing happens.
    as desktop
    The mobile touch action works like the desktop click action.
    script
    Execute a script.
    url
    Open a URL.
    Mobile device Script/URL
    Type the fully-qualified URL that you want to be opened when you tap a gauge, or the JavaScript code that you want to run.
    Tip: You can use the URL of a Web GUI application page. For example, you can specify a Lightweight Event List (LEL) or a map page.

    You can use a script to launch Web GUI applications and applications from other parts of Tivoli that are based on Dashboard Application Services Hub. For example, you can write a script to launch the IBM Tivoli Network Manager IP Edition.

  3. Click Apply Changes.

Adding gauges

Adding a new gauge to the page and choosing its properties such as name and appearance.

Before you begin

Decide on the properties of the gauge:

  • The type of the gauge.

    Example: thermometer

  • The name of the metric the gauge displays.

    Example: connections

  • The label for the gauge that appears on the Gauges page.

    Example: Connections

  • The units that the gauge displays.

    Example: clients

  • A more detailed description of the gauge.

    Example: The number of current client connections.

  • The action that the widget takes, if any, when the user clicks on the gauge.

    For URL actions, determine the fully-qualified URL that the Web GUI is to display.

    For script actions, obtain or write the corresponding JavaScript.

About this task

To add the gauge to the page:

Procedure

  1. Set the properties of the gauge from the information you gathered. See Changing the properties of gauges.
  2. Click Add Gauge.

Removing gauges

Removing one or more gauges that you no longer require on the page.

Procedure

To remove a gauge from the page, click Remove gauge button.

Rearranging gauges

Rearrange the position of the gauges on the page to suit your needs.

About this task

Do either of the following actions:

Procedure

  1. Use the arrows on either side of each gauge to change the order of them on the page.
    A gauge with arrows on either side
    • Use the left arrow The left arrow on a gauge to move the gauge up the list (to the left and up).
    • Use the right arrow The right arrow on a gauge to move the gauge down the list (to the right and down)
  2. Position the mouse pointer over a gauge and hold down the left mouse button. Then drag the gauge to its now position and release the mouse button.

Changing the bi-directional text settings

Customize the settings for displaying bi-directional text.

Procedure

In the BiDi Settings tab, specify the settings for the display of bidirectional text:
Component direction
Select the arrangement of items in the widget, left-to-right, or right-to-left. The default setting uses the value that is defined for the page or the console. If the page and console both use the default setting, the locale of your browser determines the layout.
Text direction
Select the direction of text on the widget. The default settings use the value that is defined for the page or the console. If the page and console both use the default setting, the locale of your browser determines the text direction. The Contextual Input setting displays text that you enter in the appropriate direction for your globalization settings.

Any change that you make to these settings is effective only if you enabled bidirectional support in your user preferences. Changes come into effect the next time you use the widget.