Dashboard/Widget Selection Panel

by Community Manager on 07-06-2011 12:27 PM - last edited on 08-18-2011 08:40 AM

Dashboards and widgets share a combined Widget Selection Panel that permits easy drag-and-drop of widgets from a tree on the left into the dashboard workspace. Visible layout targets remind the user of the original layout chosen via the dashboard wizard. Result selection is supported at both the dashboard- and widget-level and persists between sessions at both levels.

Dashboards and out-of-the-box charts are presented alongside widgets from monitors and CA Wily Introscope external data sources. Additionally, configured monitors, aggregation levels, and external data sources now appear with the other performance intelligence tools in the Widget Selection Panel. Monitoring and external data widgets appear in the Widget Type section alongside other widgets.

Out-of-the box, read-only system, dashboards group like widgets and provide a variety of data sets useful for most tests. System dashboards can be saved with alternate names in order to create custom dashboards ar new dashboards can be quickly built for the needs of a given test.

New dashboards open with the Toggle Widget Selection Panel on the left and the selected layout in the workspace on the right.

TIP: Expand or collapse the sections in the tree to increase visual space for the section that you want to view.

Dashboard creation is performed using the combined Widget Selection Panel, which is organized by distinct sections. The Widget Selection Panel permits easy drag-and-drop of widgets from a tree on the left into the dashboard workspace, where visible layout targets remind the user of the original layout chosen via the dashboard wizard. Building a dashboard is similar to the way a personal home page is built on portal web sites. A dashboard can have many widgets—each of which presents test information in a different way.

For dashboards with widgets already in place, a guideline appears to indicate where a widget will be placed if it is dropped from its current position (e.g. above or below a widget already in the dashboard). Open areas of a dashboard that already has one or more widgets show a gray background whenever a widget drag event occurs.

Combine like information on a dashboard to manage your results by tab—one dashboard for each unit of a test. For additional complexity, combine and correlate two or more like widgets by dropping one widget onto another.

Click the Toolbar Widget Selection Panel button to toggle the Widget Selection Panel on or off. For new dashboards, the Widget Selection Panel appears automatically toggled on.

Toggle Widget Selection Panel

Toggle the Dashboard Edit Mode button to edit layout, color, and other settings for dashboards or for a selected widgets.

Toggle Dashboard Edit Mode

When a widget is selected in the dashboard, the Widget Type list expands and scrolls to that widget. Select the panel’s right vertical edge to resize it left or right.

Widget Selection Panel Sections

The Widget Selection tree contains the following sections:

Dashboard Data

Apply result items to the full dashboard. Results can additionally filtered via the use of relative time ranges that filter the result’s time range. Choose from among Basic, Charts, Containers, Custom, Logging, Maps, Monitor, and Utilities (formerly Monitoring Utilities) widgets. Any external data sources configured also appear here.

  • Use “Most recent from this composition” to display the last test result from a composition’s dashboard (e.g. Composition Editor > Play or Results tabs).
  • Use Other Compositions to select from results for compositions. Click the arrow to expand a composition’s node in this list.


Dashboard Data section

Widget Data

Apply result items to a selected widget.

  • Use the Dashboard Data selection to select or restore the result selection from the Dashboard Data section above.
  • Use Other Compositions to select from results for the selected widget. Click the arrow to expand a composition’s node in this list.


Widget Data section

Monitors

Apply a monitor selection, as well as an Aggregation Level, in order to display widgets for those selections in the Widget Type list below.

  • “Use Monitors from Composition” is used to apply monitors set for a test composition via the Composition Editor > Properties > Monitoring tab.
  • Use Other Monitors to select from configured monitors.


Monitors section

Aggregation Level

Apply aggregate data from configured monitors or monitor server groups.



Aggregation Level section

Widget Type

Add widgets to the dashboard, combine or correlate widgets by dropping them onto other widgets. Selected widgets in the dashboard automatically scroll this list to that selection.

  • Select a widget category from the list.
  • Locate configured external data sources, if any, at the bottom of the Widget Type list.

 

 

Description

For any selected widget in the Widget Type list, a brief description appears.



Widget Types section