Viewing topology history
You can view a topology dynamically, or use the history timeline function to compare and contrast the current topology with historical versions.
Before you begin
Note: You can change a
topology if and as required while viewing or refining an existing topology.
About this task
Tip: The topology is displayed in history mode by default.
Procedure
- Open the Topology History toolbar by clicking the History toggle in the Topology Visualization toolbar (on the left).
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You can display and refine topology history in a number of ways.
- Timeline
- The Timeline toggle switches the topology between the 'update' mode and
the 'history' mode, which is displayed across the bottom of the screen. Note: Topologies with a large amount of history may take longer to display. To avoid timeout issues, you can adjust the default timeout values.
- A topology is displayed in update mode by default with delta mode set to Off.
- While viewing the timeline in update mode with delta mode set to Off, only a single time pin is displayed. You can use the time pin to control the topology shown. When you move a pin, the topology updates to show the topology representation at that time, and the refresh rate is paused.
- If you toggle to view the topology data as a Tabular view, the date is
displayed above the table; you can click the date in order to set a new date, or return to the
current date.
- If you return to the current time, the data in the table is refreshed.
- If you choose to set a new date, the Choose a historical time dialog opens, which lets you select a new moment in time (up to thirty days in the past); if you then switch back from a tabular to a topology view, the time pin has moved accordingly.
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- Delta mode
- You toggle delta mode on and off using the Delta switch above the topology.
- When delta mode is On with the timeline toggle Off, differences in topology are displayed via purple plus or minus symbols next to the affected resource.
- When delta mode is On with timeline toggle On, you
can compare two time points to view differences in topology. Historical change indicators (blue
dots) are displayed next to each affected resource.Note: For efficiency reasons, historical change indicators are only displayed for topologies with fifty or fewer resources. You can reduce (but not increase) this default by changing the value for the Historical change threshold setting as described in Defining advanced topology settings.
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- Lock time pin
- Click the Lock icon on a time pin's head to lock a time point in place as a reference point, and then use the second time slider to view topology changes.
- Compare resource properties
- Click Resource details on a resource's context menu to compare the resource's data at the two selected time points. You can view and compare the resource's property names and values in table format, or JSON format (using the Show JSON toggle).
- While viewing the timeline in update mode with delta mode set to On, any changes to the topology history are displayed on the right hand side of the timeline, with the time pins moving apart at set intervals. By clicking the Reset to now icon, you reset the endpoint to 'now' and the pins form a single line again.
- While in delta mode you can move both pins to show a comparison between the earliest pin and the latest. The timeline shows the historic changes for a single selected resource, which is indicated in the timeline title. You can lock one of the time pins in place to be a reference point.
- To view the timeline for a different resource, you click on it, and the heading above the timeline changes to display the name of the selected resource. If you click on the heading, the topology centers (and zooms into) the selected resource.
- The history timeline is displayed above a secondary time bar, which displays a larger time segment and indicates how much of it is depicted in the main timeline. You can use the jump buttons to move back and forth along the timeline, or jump to the current time.
- You can use the time picker, which opens a calendar and clock, to move to a specific second in time.
- To view changes made during a specific time period, use the two time sliders to set the time period. You can zoom in and out to increase or decrease the granularity using the + and - buttons on the right, or by double-clicking within a time frame. The most granular level you can display is an interval of one second. The granularity is depicted with time indicators and parallel bars, which form 'buckets' that contain the recorded resource change event details.
- The timeline displays changes to a resource's state, properties, and its relationships with
other resources. These changes are displayed through color-coded bars and dash lines, and are
elaborated on in a tooltip displayed when you hover over the change. You can exclude one or more of
these from display.
- Resource state changes
- The timeline displays the number of state changes a resource has undergone.
- Resource property changes
- The timeline displays the number of times that resource properties were changed.
- Each time that property changes were made is displayed as one property change event regardless of whether one or more properties were changed at the time.
- Resource relationship changes
- The number of relationships with neighboring resources are displayed, and whether these were changed.
- The timeline displays when relationships with other resources were changed, and also whether these changes were the removal or addition of a relationship, or the modification of an existing relationship.