Configuration-related information in dashboard widgets

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If your project area has configuration management capabilities enabled, you can report on versioned artifacts in configurations by using dashboard widgets. You can configure a widget to always report on a specific configuration or report on the current configuration shown on the toolbar.

Note: In widgets, always choose a project first; then choose a component, and then choose a configuration (if available).

If a widget can show versioned artifacts from configurations, you can select a component and configuration in its settings. If a widget has a Component field but no Configuration field, it returns information about all the configurations in the selected component.

Component and Configuration fields in the widget settings

To discover which widgets can report on configurations, see the list at the end of this topic, see the widget descriptions in the catalog, or add the widget to a dashboard to see whether it has Component and Configuration fields.

Note: Explore the widget settings. In some widgets you can group results by multiple attributes or select graphical visualizations such as bar charts.

Grouping and visualization widget settings

By default, a widget on any type of dashboard (personal, project area, team, or mini) uses the component and configuration that is shown on the menus on the toolbar, if that menu is available. Otherwise, depending on the widget design, the widget shows artifacts from the component's initial stream or requires you to select a component and a configuration.

To show artifacts from multiple applications, you must select a global configuration

If a widget can show global configurations, which means versioned artifacts from multiple applications, you can set the widget to show a global configuration in one of these ways:

Set the widget's Configuration field to a global configuration.
Set the widget's Configuration field to Use Current Configuration and, on the toolbar, set the Current Configuration menu to a global configuration.

If you select a local configuration instead of a global configuration, you see versioned artifacts from that configuration, and only unversioned artifacts from the initial stream in the other applications.

If you select a specific global or local configuration in the widget and save your settings, the widget always shows data for that configuration, regardless of the configuration that is shown on the Current Configuration menu on the toolbar.

Use separate instances of widgets to reduce unexpected results when you switch components and configurations

Instead of using one instance of a widget and changing its component and configuration setting each time you or a team member visits the dashboard, you can create copies of the widget and use a unique widget title, component, and configuration in each copy. You might also create separate dashboard tabs for specific versions of your system or product, and add the configuration-specific widgets to those tabs.

Check the Component and Configuration fields when you copy widgets to other dashboard types

When you copy a widget between personal or team dashboards, the widget's Component and Configuration settings are preserved.

When you copy a widget from a project or team dashboard to a personal or mini dashboard, consider these factors:

Verify the new widget's Component and Configuration settings; if the latter is set to Use Initial Stream, the widget shows only artifacts in the initial stream of the component for that dashboard.
Personal dashboards do not inherit the component and configuration settings from the menus on the toolbar. You must set the widget's Component and Configuration fields.
Mini dashboards inherit the component and configuration context if the Component and Current Configuration menu is shown on the page that you access the mini dashboard from.

To show information from another component and configuration, select them in the copied widget, and click OK. Your selection is the preserved the next time that you visit that dashboard.

Configuration-enabled widgets

This table shows the ready-to-use widgets in IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) applications that can report on versioned artifacts.

Note: If Report Builder is installed, explore the Report Builder (/rs) catalog for user-defined widgets that report on versioned artifacts.

Table 1. Widgets that can report on versioned artifacts
Application	Widgets
QM	Quality Management (/qm) catalog: Test Artifact Test Matrix Test Statistics Test Case Traceability Links Test Plans Traceability Links Test Plans Execution Status Test Suites Execution Status Team Execution Status For Test Suites Team Execution Status For Test Cases Execution Records Queries Execution Records Execution Status by Points My Reviews
RM	Requirements Management (/rm) catalog: Recent Changes Comments Requirements View