vFoglight™ 5.2.4
Web Component Guide
© 2008 Quest Software, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Trademarks
Quest, Quest Software, the Quest Software logo, Aelita, Akonix, Akonix L7 Enterprise, Akonix L7 Enforcer,
AppAssure, Benchmark Factory, Big Brother, DataFactory, DeployDirector, ERDisk, Foglight, Funnel Web, I/Watch,
Imceda, InLook, IntelliProfile, InTrust, Invertus, IT Dad, I/Watch, JClass, Jint, JProbe, LeccoTech, LiteSpeed,
LiveReorg, MessageStats, NBSpool, NetBase, Npulse, NetPro, PassGo, PerformaSure, Quest Central, SharePlex,
Sitraka, SmartAlarm, Spotlight, SQL LiteSpeed, SQL Navigator, SQL Watch, SQLab, Stat, StealthCollect, Tag and
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To view license credit information, click the License Credits link on the Welcome to vFoglight online help page.
Web Component Guide
March 2009
Version 5.2.4
Table of Contents
Introduction to this Guide...................................................................................................................................7
About vFoglight ................................................................................................................................................................ 8
About this Guide............................................................................................................................................................... 8
vFoglight Documentation Suite ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Core Documentation Set....................................................................................................................................... 10
Cartridge Documentation Sets .............................................................................................................................. 10
Feedback on the Documentation........................................................................................................................... 11
Text Conventions........................................................................................................................................................... 11
About Vizioncore Inc. ..................................................................................................................................................... 12
Contacting Dell............................................................................................................................................................... 14
Introducing the Web Component Framework.................................................................................................27
Services Management with vFoglight............................................................................................................................. 28
The vFoglight Browser Interface’s Views .............................................................................................................. 28
Configuring the Default Views............................................................................................................................... 28
Overview of the Web Component Framework ............................................................................................................... 29
The User Interface.......................................................................................................................................................... 30
Anatomy of a Typical Dashboard .......................................................................................................................... 31
View Components ................................................................................................................................................. 32
Overview of Web Components.........................................................................................................................43
View Components, Containers, and Renderers............................................................................................................. 44
Common................................................................................................................................................................ 44
Containers............................................................................................................................................................. 45
Tables and Trees................................................................................................................................................... 47
Charts and Gauges ............................................................................................................................................... 47
Time Range........................................................................................................................................................... 48
4 vFoglight
Web Component Guide
Topology................................................................................................................................................................49
Reporting ..............................................................................................................................................................49
Inputs.....................................................................................................................................................................49
Others....................................................................................................................................................................51
Renderers..............................................................................................................................................................52
The Web Component Framework....................................................................................................................55
Core Concepts................................................................................................................................................................56
Modules .................................................................................................................................................................56
Observations..........................................................................................................................................................58
Context...................................................................................................................................................................62
Parameters ............................................................................................................................................................63
On Null Values.......................................................................................................................................................63
Renderers..............................................................................................................................................................63
Default Values........................................................................................................................................................64
Data Sources, Data Types, and Data Objects.......................................................................................................64
Paths......................................................................................................................................................................65
Using the Web Component Framework..........................................................................................................................66
The Web Component Framework Editor ...............................................................................................................66
An Example Page..................................................................................................................................................68
Web Component Framework in vFoglight..............................................................................................................69
Managing Dashboards...................................................................................... ..............................................................69
Definitions Panes............. ....... ...... .............................................................................. ...........................................70
Data and Data Sources Pages ..............................................................................................................................71
Definitions Pane............................................................. ...... ..................................................................................72
Web Component Framework Workflow .................................................................................................................74
Additional Documentation....................................................................................................... ...............................74
Customizing the UI Quickly....................................................................................................................................74
Finding Pages: Bookmarks....................................................................................................................................74
Queries............................................................................................................................................................... 75
Overview of Query Definitions........................................................................................................................................76
Creating a Query in vFoglight.........................................................................................................................................76
Query Definition Settings.......................................................................................................................................77
Conditional Types..................................................................................................................................................87
Table of Contents 5
Sequence of Evaluation .........................................................................................................................................91
Parameters in Queries....................................................................................................................................................94
Creating a Query.............................................................................................................................................................94
Configuring Views and Context......................................................................................................................101
Configuring Views.........................................................................................................................................................102
Creating a New Container View...........................................................................................................................102
Definitions Page for a View..................................................................................................................................105
Definitions Pane Settings Tabs............................................................................................................................107
General Tab .........................................................................................................................................................108
Roles....................................................................................................................................................................112
Context tab...........................................................................................................................................................112
Configuration Tab.................................................................................................................................................113
Flow tab................................................................................................................................................................114
Layout Tab................................................. ....... ...... ....... ......................................................................................121
Views Tab.............................................................................................................................................................122
Context and the Context Tab........................................................................................................................................122
Context Tab..........................................................................................................................................................123
Context Types......................................................................................................................................................124
Additional Context................................................................................................................................................125
Dynamic Context................................................................................................... ...... .........................................126
Flow Context ........................................................................................................................................................127
Runtime Values................................................................................................................................................129
Configurable Properties and Runtime Values...............................................................................................................130
Simple Types........................................................................................................................................................130
Runtime Value Types...........................................................................................................................................131
Details of each Runtime Value.............................................................................................................................133
Additional Components ..................................................................................................................................147
Renderers .....................................................................................................................................................................148
Setting Renderers, Icons and Units in Views.......................................................................................................148
Tasks.............................................................................................................................................................................150
Icons..............................................................................................................................................................................151
Files...............................................................................................................................................................................152
Types............................................................................................................................................................................153
6 vFoglight
Web Component Guide
Units..............................................................................................................................................................................154
Determining the Appropriate Renderer for a Runtime Value ...............................................................................154
Theme and Module Resources.....................................................................................................................................155
WCFTHEME........................................................................................................................................................156
WCFMODULE .....................................................................................................................................................156
WCFMODULETHEME.........................................................................................................................................156
Printing..........................................................................................................................................................................156
Web Browser Printing..........................................................................................................................................157
PDF Generation...................................................................................................................................................157
Reports ................................................................................................................................................................158
Remote Access to Views..............................................................................................................................................160
Portlet...................................................................................................................................................................160
Google Gadget.....................................................................................................................................................161
SharePoint Web Part...........................................................................................................................................162
Index................................................................................................................................................................. 163
Introduction to this Guide
This chapter provides information about what is contained in the vFoglight Web
Component Guide. It also provides information about the vFoglight documentation suite
and Vizioncore.
This chapter contains the following sections:
About vFoglight..............................................................................................................................8
About this Guide............................................................................................................................8
vFoglight Documentation Suite......................................................................................................9
Text Conventions.........................................................................................................................11
About Vizioncore Inc....................................................................................................................12
8 vFoglight
Web Component Guide
About vFoglight
vFoglight helps IT organizations understand the virtual infrastructure by managing the
relationships and interaction between all the components in the environment, includ ing
data centers, data stores, clusters, resource pools, hosts and virtual machines. With
vFoglight, administrators can quickly determine the root-cause of an incident or
problem, track virtual machine (VM) movements and understand their impact, and
identify contention for resources between virtual machines.
About this Guide
This Web Component Guide provides information about the vFoglight command-l ine
interface. You can use vFoglight commands to interface with different components of
your monitoring environment instead of the browser interface.
This guide is intended for vFoglight System Administrators who want to use the
vFoglight commands.
The Web Component Guide is organized as follows:
Chapter 1, About the Command-Line Interface—Explains the command-line
syntax, lists vFoglight commands and introduces the command-line interface using a
getting started approach. Read this chapter to get an overview of vFoglight commands
and how to get started.
Chapter 2, Managing the vFoglight Management Server—Describes the commands
that allow you to perform server-related operations through the command-line interface
and provides detailed instructions on how to get started with those commands. It
provides reference information on server-related commands along with usage examples.
Use the server-related commands to perform a variety of tasks such as starting or
stopping the vFoglight Management Server, upgrading the database, or managing
encryption keys.
Chapter 3, Managing the vFoglight Agent Manager—Describes the commands that
allow you to access the vFoglight Agent Manager through the command-line interface
along with instructions on how to configure your environment to obtain access to the
commands that allow you to start or stop the vFoglight Agent Manager, display version
information, or manage JVM options. Use this chapter to find reference information on
the commands for managing the vFoglight Agent Manager along with usage examples.
Chapter 4, Managing Agents, Cartridges and Metrics—Provides information about
the fglcmd interface that contains commands for managing common vFoglight entities
such as agents, cartridges and metrics. It also explains the fglcmd syntax and contains
additional getting started instructions that show you how to configure your
environment. Use this chapter to find reference information about the fglcmd
commands and usage examples.
Appendix A, vFoglight Client Commands—Describes the commands that allow you
to access the vFoglight Client through the command-line interface along with
instructions on how to configure your environment to obtain access to the commands
that allow you to start or stop the vFoglight Client display version information, or
manage JVM options. Use this chapter to find reference information on the commands
for managing the vFoglight Client along with usage examples.
vFoglight Documentation Suite
The vFoglight documentation suite is made up of the core documentation set, plus the
documentation set for each vFoglight cartridge that you deploy. Documentation is
provided in a combination of online help, PDF and HTML.
•
Online Help: You can open the online help by selecting the Help tab from
vFoglight’s action panel.
Introduction to this Guide 9
vFoglight Documentation Suite
PDF: The Getting Started Guide, What’s New Guide, System Requirements and
•
Platform Support Guide, Installation and Setup Guide set, Administration and
Configuration Guide, vFoglight User Guide, Command-Line Reference Guide,
Web Component Guide, and Web Component Tutorial, are provided as PDF files.
10 vFoglight
Web Component Guide
•
Core Documentation Set
The core documentation set consists of the following files:
• Release Notes (HTML)
• Getting Started Guide (PDF )
• What’s New Guide (PDF)
• System Requirements and Platform Support Guide (PDF)
• Installation and Setup Guide set (all in PDF format):
• Administration and Configuration Guide (PDF and online help)
• vFoglight User Guide (PDF and online help)
• Advanced Configuration Guide set
The PDF guides are included in the zip file downloaded from Vizioncore.
Adobe® Reader® is required.
HTML: Release Notes are provided in HTML.
• Installation and Setup Guide—Installing on Windows with an Embedded
MySQL Database
• Installation and Setup Guide—Installing on Windows with an External
MySQL Database
• Installation and Setup Guide—Installing on Windows with an External Oracle
Database
• Command-Line Reference Guide (PDF and online help)
• Web Component Guide (PDF and online help)
• Web Component Tutorial (PDF and online help)
• Web Component Reference (online help)
Cartridge Documentation Sets
When you deploy a cartridge, the documentation set for the cartridge is installed. The
online help for the cartridge is integrated automatically with the core vFoglight help.
When you open the help, the name of the cartridge is displayed in a top level entry
within the table of contents.
Some cartridges include additional PDF guides, which may be one or more of the
following: a Getting Started Guide, an Installation Guide, a User Guide, and a
Reference Guide.
Feedback on the Documentation
We are interested in receiving feedback from you about our documentation. For
example, did you notice any errors in the documentation? Were any features
undocumented? Do you have any suggestions on how we can improve the
documentation? All comments are welcome. Please submit your feedback to the
following email address:
info@vizioncore.com
Please do not submit Technical Support related issues to this email address.
Text Conventions
The following table summarizes how text styles are used in this guide:
Introduction to this Guide 11
Text Conventions
Convention Description
Code
Variables
Interface Bold text is used for interface options that you select (such as
Files, components,
and documents
Monospace text represents code, code objects, and commandline input. This includes:
• Java language source code and examples of file contents
• Classes, objects, methods, properties, constants, and events
• HTML documents, tags, and attributes
Monospace-plus-italic text represents variable code or
command-line objects that are replaced by an actual value or
parameter.
menu items) as well as keyboard commands.
Italic text is used to highlight the following items:
• Pathnames, file names, and programs
• The names of other documents referenced in this guide
12 vFoglight
Web Component Guide
About Vizioncore Inc.
Vizioncore was formed in July 2002 as a consulting and software-development
company with the mission to create easy-to-use software solutions that performed
reliable and repeatable automation of datacenter functions specifically for the Citrix
platform. A main corporate goal was to enable business partners to offer solutions that
targeted real-world IT issues and provided the best possible installation and automation
for their clients' systems.
Vizioncore's solutions have proved successful in organizations from small to mid-sized
businesses to large enterprises, in a wide variety of vertical industries, including
Financial Services, Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and High Tech.
Vizioncore, Inc. can be found in offices around the globe and at www.vizioncore.com.
Introduction to this Guide 13
About Vizioncore Inc.
Contacting Dell
Note: If you do not have an active Internet connection, you can find contact information on your purchase invoice,
packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog.
Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options. Availability varies by country and
product, and some services may not be available in your area. To contact Dell for sales, technical support, or customer
service issues:
1
Visit http://support.dell.com.
2
Verify your country or region in the Choose A Country/Region drop-down menu at the bottom of the page.
3
Click Contact Us on the left side of the page.Note: Toll-free numbers are for use within the country for which
they are listed.
4
Select the appropriate service or support link based on your need.
5
Choose the method of contacting Dell that is convenient for you.
Country (City)
International Access
Code
Country Code
City Code
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Aomen
Argentina (Buenos Aires)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 54
City Code: 11
Aruba
Australia (Sydney)
International Access
Code: 0011
Country Code: 61
City Code: 2
Service Type Area Codes,
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support., Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support., Customer Service, Sales
Technical Support
™
Dimension™, Dell Inspirion™, Dell
Dell
Optiplex
Precision
™
, Dell Lattitude™, and Dell
™
Servers and Storage
Web Address
E-Mail Address for Desktop/ Portable Computers
E-Mail Address for Servers and EMC
®
Storage
Products
Customer Service
Technical Support
Technical Support Services
Sales
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support., Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
Contact Dell Web Address
Technical Support., Customer Service, Sales
Local Numbers, and
Toll-Free Numbers
Web and E-Mail Addresses
www.Dell.com/ai
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 800-335-0031
www.Dell.com.ag
la‐techsupport@dell.com
1-800-805-5924
0800-105
0800-105
www.dell.com.ar
la‐techsupport@dell.com
la_enterprise@dell.com
toll-free: 0-800-444-0730
toll-free: 0-800-444-0733
toll-free: 0-800-444-0724
0-800-444-3355
www.Dell.com/aw
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 800-1578
support.ap.dell.com
support.ap.dell.com/contactus
13DELL-133355
Austria (Vienna)
International Access
Code: 900
Country Code: 43
City Code: 1
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium (Brussels)
Bolivia
Brazil
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 55
City Code: 51
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Country Code: 673
Canada (North York,
Ontario)
International Access
Code: 011
Cayman Islands
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Home/Small Business Sales
Home/Small Business Fax
Home/Small Business Customer Service
Home/Small Business Support
Preferred Accounts/Corporate Customer
Service Preferred Accounts/Corporate Customer
Switchboard
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support., Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support., Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
General Support
General Support Fax
Customer Service
Corporate Sales
Fax
Switchboard
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support., Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Customer Service and Tech Support
Technical Support Fax
Customer Service Fax
Sales
Tech_support_central_europe@dell.com
Support.euro.dell.com
0820 240 530 00
0820 240 530 49
0820 240 530 14
0820 240 530 17
0820 240 530 16
0820 240 530 17
0820 240 530 00
www.dell.com/bs
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1-866-874-3038
www.dell.com/bb
la‐techsupport@dell.com
1-800-534-3142
Support.euro.dell.com
02 481 92 88
02 481 92 95
02 713 15 65
02 481 91 00
02 481 91 99
02 481 91 00
www.dell.com/bo
la_techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 800-10-0238
www.dell.com/br
BR_TechSupport@dell.com
0800 970 3355
51 2104 5470
51 2104 5480
0800 722 3498
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales toll-free: 1-866-278-6820
Technical Support (Penang, Malaysia)
Customer Service (Penang, Malaysia)
Transaction Sales (Penang, Malaysia)
Online Order Status Web Address
www.dell.ca/ostatus
604 633 4966
604 633 4888
604 633 4955
AutoTech (automated Hardware and Warranty
Support)
Customer Service
Home/Home Office
Small Business
Medium/Large Business, Government, Education
Hardware Warranty Phone Support
Computers for Home/Home Office
Computers for Small/Medium/Large Business
support.ca.dell.com
toll-free:1-800-247-9362
toll-free:1-800-847-4096
toll-free:1-800-906-3355
toll-free:1-800-387-5757
toll-free:1-800-847-4096
toll-free:1-800-387-5757
Government
Printers, Projectors, Televisions, Handheld,
1-877-335-5767
Digital
Jukebox, and Wireless Sales
Home and Home Office Sales
Small Business
Medium/Large Business, Government
toll-free:1-800-999-3355
toll-free:1-800-387-5752
toll-free:1-800-387-5755
1 866 440 3355
Spare Parts and Extended Service
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
la‐techsupport@dell.com
1-877-262-5415
Chile (Santiago)
Country Code: 56
City Code: 2
China (Xiamen)
Country Code: 86
City Code: 592
Columbia
Costa Rica
Czech Republic (Prague)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 420
Denmark (Copenhagen)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 45
Dominica
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Sales and Customer Support
Technical Support Web Address
Technical Support E-Mail Address
Customer Service E-Mail Address
Technical Support Fax
Technical Support – Dimension and Inspiron
Technical Support – OptiPlex, Lattitude and Dell
Precision
Technical Support – Servers and Storage
Technical Support – Projectors, PDAs, Switches,
Routers, etc
Technical Support – Printers
Customer Service
Customer Service Fax
Home and Small Business
Preferred Accounts Division
Large Corporate Accounts GCP
Large Corporate Accounts Key Accounts
Large Corporate Accounts North
Large Corporate Accounts North Government and
Education
Large Corporate Accounts East
Large Corporate Accounts East Government and
Education
Large Corporate Accounts Queue Team
Large Corporate Accounts South
Large Corporate Accounts West
Large Corporate Accounts Spare Parts
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support
Customer Service
Fax
Technical Fax
Switchboard
Web Address
Technical Support
Customer Service – Relational
Home/Small Business Customer Service
Switchboard – Relational
Switchboard Fax – Relational
Switchboard – Home/Small Business
Switchboard Fax – Home/Small Business
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
www.dell.com/cl
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1230-020-4823
support.dell.com.cn
support.dell.com.cn/email
customer_cn@dell.com
592 818 14350
toll-free: 800 858 2969
toll-free: 800 858 0950
toll-free: 800 858 0960
toll-free: 800 858 2920
toll-free: 800 858 2311
toll-free: 800 858 2060
592 818 1308
toll-free: 800 858 2222
toll-free: 800 858 2557
toll-free: 800 858 2055
toll-free: 800 858 2628
toll-free: 800 858 2999
toll-free: 800 858 2955
toll-free: 800 858 2020
toll-free: 800 858 2669
toll-free: 800 858 2572
toll-free: 800 858 2355
toll-free: 800 858 2811
toll-free: 800 858 2621
www.dell.com/co
la‐techsupport@dell.com
01-800-915-4755
www.dell.com/cr
la‐techsupport@dell.com
0800-012-0231
support.euro.dell.com
czech_dell@dell.com
22537 2727
22537 2707
22537 2714
22537 2728
22537 2711
Support.euro.dell.com
7023 0182
7023 0184
3287 5505
3287 1200
3287 1201
3287 5000
3287 5001
www.dell.com/dm
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1-866-278-6821
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Finland (Helsinki)
International Access
Code: 990
Country Code: 358
City Code: 9
France (Paris)
(Montpellier)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 33
City Codes: (1) (4)
Germany (Frankfurt)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 49
City Code: 69
Greece
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 49
Grenada
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
(Calling from Quito)
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
(Calling from Guayaquil)
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support
Customer Service
Switchboard
Sales under 500 employees
Fax
Sales over 500 employees
Fax
Web Address
Home and Small Business
Technical Support
Customer Service
Switchboard
Switchboard (calls from outside of France)
Sales
Fax
Fax (calls from outside of France)
Corporate
Technical Support
Customer Service
Switchboard
Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support
Home/Small Business Customer Service
Global Segment Customer Service
Preferred Accounts Customer Service
Large Accounts Customer Service
Public Accounts Customer Service
Switchboard
Web Address
Technical Support
Gold Service Technical Support
Switchboard
Gold Service Switchboard
Sales
Fax
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
www.dell.com/do
la‐techsupport@dell.com
1-800-156-1588
www.dell.com/ec
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 999-119-877-655-3355
toll-free: 1800-999-119-877-655-3355
www.dell.com/sv
la‐techsupport@dell.com
800-6132
support@euro.dell.com
fi_support@dell.com
0207 533 555
0207 533 538
0207 533 533
0207 533 540
0207 533 530
0207 533 533
0207 533 530
Support.euro.dell.com
0825 387 270
0825 832 833
0825 004 700
04 99 75 40 00
0825 004 700
0825 004 701
04 99 75 40 01
0825 004 719
0825 338 339
55 94 71 00
01 55 94 71 00
support.euro.dell.com
tech_support_central_europe@dell.com
069 9792-7200
0180-5-224400
069 9792-7320
069 9792-7320
069 9792-7320
069 9792-7320
069 9792-7000
Support.euro.dell.com
00800-44 14 95 18
00800-44 14 00 83
2108129810
2108129811
2108129800
2108129812
www.dell.com/gd
la‐techsuppo@dell.com
toll-free: 1-866-540-3355
Guatemala
Guyana
Hong Kong
International Access
Code: 001
Country Code: 852
India
Web Address
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
E-Mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
Technical Support E-mail Address
Technical Support - Dimension and Inspiron
Technical Support - OptiPlex, Latitude, and Dell
Precision
Technical Support - Servers and Storage
Technical Support - Projectors, PDAs, Switches,
Routers, etc .
Customer Service
Large Corporate Accounts
Global Customer Programs
Medium Business Division
Home and Small Business Division
Dell Support Website
Portable and Desktop Support
Desktop Support E-mail Address
Portable Support E-mail Address
Phone Numbers
www.dell.com/gt
la‐techsupport@dell.com
1-800-999-0136
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1-877-270-4609
support.ap.dell.com
support.dell.com.cn/email
00852-2969 3188
00852-2969 3191
00852-2969 3196
00852-3416 0906
00852-3416 0910
00852-3416 0907
00852-3416 0908
00852-3416 0912
00852-2969 3105
support.ap.dell.com
india_support_desktop@dell.com
india_support_notebook@dell.com
080-25068032 or 080-25068034 or
your city STD code + 60003355 or
toll-free: 1-800-425-8045
Server Support
E-mail Address
Phone Numbers
Gold Support Only
E-mail Address
Phone Numbers
Customer Service
Home and Small Business
Large Corporate Accounts
Sales
Large Corporate Accounts
Home and Small Business
india_support_Server@dell.com
080-25068032 or 080-25068034 or
your city STD code + 60003355 or
toll-free: 1-800-425-8045
eec_ap@dell.com
080-25068033 or your city STD code +
60003355 or
toll-free: 1-800-425-9045
India_care_HSB@dell.com
toll-free : 1800-4254051
India_care_REL@dell.com
toll free : 1800-4252067
1600 33 8044
1600 33 8046
Ireland (Cherrywood)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 353
City Code: 1
Italy (Milan)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 39
City Code: 02
Jamaica
Web Address
Technical Support
E-mail Address
Business computers
Home computers
At Home Support
Sales
Home
Small Business
Medium Business
Large Business
E-mail Address
Customer Service
Home and Small Business
Business (greater than 200 employees)
General
Fax/Sales fax
Switchboard
U.K. Customer Service (dealing with U.K.only)
Corporate Customer Service (dial within U.K.
only)
U.K. Sales (dial within U.K. only)
Web Address
Home and Small Business
Technical Support
Customer Service
Fax
Switchboard
Corporate
Technical Support
Customer Service
Fax
Switchboard
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
(dial from within Jamaica only)
Support.euro.dell.com
dell_direct_support@dell.com
1850 543 543
1850 543 543
1850 200 889
1850 333 200
1850 664 656
1850 200 646
1850 200 646
Dell_IRL_Outlet@dell.com
204 4014
1850 200 982
204 0103
204 4444
0870 906 0010
0870 907 4499
0870 907 4000
Support.euro.dell.com
02 577 826 90
02 696 821 14
02 696 821 13
02 696 821 12
02 577 826 90
02 577 825 55
02 575 035 30
02 577 821
la-techsupport@dell.com
1-800-440-920
Japan (Kawasaki)
International Access
Code: 001
Country Code: 81
City Code: 44
Korea (Seoul)
International Access
Code: 001
Country Code: 82
City Code: 2
Latin America
Luxemborg
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 352
Macao
Country Code: 83
Web Address
Technical Support - Dimension and Inspiron
Technical Support outside of Japan - Dimension
and Inspiron
Technical Support - Dell Precision, OptiPlex, and
Latitude
Technical Support outside of Japan - Dell
Precision, OptiPlex, and Latitude
Technical Support - Dell PowerApp™, Dell
PowerEdge™, Dell PowerConnect™, and Dell
PowerVault™,
Technical Support outside of Japan - PowerApp,
PowerEdge, PowerConnect, and PowerVault
Technical Support - Projectors, PDAs, Printers,
Routers
Technical Support outside of Japan - Projectors,
PDAs, Printers, Routers
Faxbox Service
24-Hour Automated Order Status Service
Customer Service
Business Sales Division - up to 400 employees
Preferred Accounts Division Sales - over 400
employees
Public Sales - government agencies, educational
institutions, and medical institutions
Global Segment Japan
Individual User
Individual User Online Sales
Individual User Real Site Sales
Switchboard
Web Address
Technical Support, Customer Service
T echnical Support - Dimension, PDA, Electronics,
and Accessories
Sales
Fax
Switchboard
Customer Technical Support (Austin, Texas,
U.S.A.)
Customer Service (Austin, Texas, U.S.A.)
Fax (Technical Support and Customer Service)
(Austin, Texas, U.S.A.)
Sales (Austin, Texas, U.S.A.)
SalesFax (Austin, Texas, U.S.A.)
Web Address
Support
Home/Small Business Sales
Corporate Sales
Customer Service
Fax
Technical Support
Customer Service (Xiamen, China)
Transaction Sales (Xiamen, China)
support.jp.dell.com
toll-free: 0120-198-26
81-44-520-1435
toll-free: 0120-198-433
81-44-556-3894
toll-free: 0120-198-498
81-44-556-4162
toll-free: 0120-981-690
81-44-556-3468
044-556-3490
044-556-3801
044-556-4240
044-556-1465
044-556-3433
044-556-5963
044-556-3469
044-556-1657
044-556-2203
044-556-4649
044-556-4300
Support.ap.dell.com
toll-free: 080-200-3800
toll-free: 080-200-3801
toll-free: 080-200-3600
2194-6202
2194-6000
512 728-4093
512 728-3619
512 728-3883
512 728-4397
512 728-4600 or 512 728-3772
Support.euro.dell.com
3420808075
+32 (0)2 713 15 96
26 25 77 81
+32 (0)2 481 91 19
26 25 77 82
toll-free: 0800 105
34 160 910
29 693 115
Malaysia (Penang)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 60
City Code: 4
Mexico
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 52
Montserrat
Netherlands
Antilles
Netherlands
(Amsterdam)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 31
City Code: 20
New Zealand
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 64
Nicaragua
Norway (Lysaker)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 47
Panama
Peru
Web Address
Technical Support - Dell Precision, OptiPlex, and
Latitude
Technical Support - Dimension, Inspiron, and
Electronics and Accessories
Technical Support - PowerApp, PowerEdge,
PowerConnect, and PowerVault
Customer Service
Transaction Sales
Corporate Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Customer Technical Support
Sales
Customer Service
Main
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
E-mail Address
Web Address
Technical Support
Technical Support Fax
Home/Small Business Customer Service
Relational Customer Service
Home/Small Business Sales
Relational Sales
Home/Small Business Sales Fax
Relational Sales Fax
Switchboard
Switchboard Fax
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
Technical Support
Relational Customer Service
Home/Small Business Customer Service
Switchboard
Fax Switchboard
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Support.ap.dell.com
toll-free: 1800 880 193
toll-free: 1800 881 306
toll-free: 1800 881 386
toll-free: 1800 881 306 (option 6)
toll-free: 1800 888 202
toll-free: 1800 888 213
www.dell.com/mx
la‐techsupport@dell.com
001-877-384-8979 or 001-877-269-3383
50-81-8800 or 01-800-888-3355
001-877-384-8979 or 001-877-269-3383
50-81-8800 or 01-800-888-3355
la‐techsupport@dell.com
Toll-free: 1-866-278-6822
la‐techsupport@dell.com
support.euro.dell.com
020 674 45 00
020 674 47 66
020 674 42 00
020 674 43 25
020 674 55 00
020 674 50 00
020 674 47 75
020 674 47 50
020 674 50 00
020 674 47 50
Support.ap.dell.com
Support.ap.dell.com/contactus
0800 441 567
www.dell.com/ni
la‐techsupport@dell.com
001-800-220-1377
Support.euro.dell.com
671 16882
671 17575
231 62298
671 16800
671 16865
www.dell.com/pa
la‐techsupport@dell.com
011-800-507-1264
www.dell.com/pe
la‐techsupport@dell.com
0800-50-669
Poland (Warsaw)
International Access
Code: 011
Country Code: 48
City Code: 22
Portugal
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 351
Puerto Rico
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the
Grenadines
Singapore
International Access
Code: 005
Country Code: 65
Slovakia (Prague)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 421
South Africa
(Johannesburg)
International Access
Code: 09/091
Country Code: 27
City Code: 11
Web Address
E-mail Address
Customer Service Phone
Customer Service
Sales
Customer Service Fax
Reception Desk Fax
Switchboard
Web Address
Technical Support
Customer Service
Sales
Fax
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
NOTE: The phone numbers in this section should
be called from within Singapore or Malaysia only.
Web Address
Technical Support - Dimension, Inspiron, and
Electronics and Accessories
Technical Support - OptiPlex, Latitude,
and Dell Precision
Technical Support - PowerApp, PowerEdge,
PowerConnect, and PowerVault
Customer Service
Transaction Sales
Corporate Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support
Customer Service
Fax
Tech Fax
Switchboard (Sales)
Web Address
E-mail Address
Gold Queue
Technical Support
Customer Service
Sales
support.euro.dell.com
pl_support_tech@dell.com
57 95 700
57 95 999
57 95 999
57 95 806
57 95 998
57 95 999
Support.euro.dell.com
707200149
800 300 413
800-300-410 or 800-300 -411 or
800-300-412 or 21-422-07-10
21-424-01-12
www.dell.com/pr
la‐techsupport@dell.com
1-877-537-3355
www.dell.com/kn
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1-866-540-3355
www.dell.com/lc
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1-866-464-4352
www.dell.com/vc
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1-866-464-4353
support.ap.dell.com
toll-free: 1 800 394 7430
toll-free: 1 800 394 7488
toll-free: 1 800 394 7478
toll-free: 1 800 394 7430 (option 6)
toll-free: 1 800 394 7412
toll-free: 1 800 394 7419
support.euro.dell.com
czech_dell@dell.com
02 5441 5727
420 22537 2707
02 5441 8328
02 5441 8328
02 5441 8328
02 5441 7585
support.euro.dell.com
dell_za_suppor@dell.com
011 709 7713
011 709 7710
011 709 7707
011 709 7700
Spain (Madrid)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 34
City Code: 91
Sweden (Upplands
Vasby)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 46
City Code: 8
Switzerland (Geneva)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 41
City Code: 22
Taiwan
International Access
Code: 002
Country Code: 886
Thailand
International Access
Code: 001
Country Code: 66
Trinidad/Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
Web Address
Home and Small Business
Technical Support
Customer Service
Sales
Switchboard
Fax
Corporate
Technical Support
Customer Service
Switchboard
Fax
Web Address
Technical Support
Relational Customer Service
Home/Small Business Customer Service
Employee Purchase Program (EPP) Support
Technical Support Fax
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support – Home and Small Business
Technical Support – Corporate
Customer Service – Home and Small Business
Customer Service – Corporate
Fax
Switchboard
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support - OptiPlex, Latitude, Inspiron,
Dimension, and Electronics and Accessories
Technical Support - Servers and Storage
Customer Service
Transaction Sales
Corporate Sales
Web Address
Technical Support (OptiPlex, Latitude, and Dell
Precision)
Technical Support (PowerApp, PowerEdge,
PowerConnect, and PowerVault)
Customer Service
Corporate Sales
Transaction Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Support.euro.com
902 100 130
902 118 540
902 118 541
902 118 541
902 118 539
902 100 130
902 115 236
91 722 92 00
91 722 95 83
support.euro.dell.com
08 590 05 199
08 590 05 642
08 587 70 527
020 140 14 44
08 590 05 594
Support.euro.dell.com
Tech_support_central_Europe@dell.com
0844 811 411
0844 822 844
0848 802 202
0848 821 721
022 799 01 90
022 799 01 01
support.ap.dell.com
support.dell.com.cn/email
toll-free: 0080 186 1011
toll-free: 0080 160 1256
toll-free: 0080 160 1250 (option 5)
toll-free: 0080 165 1228
toll-free: 0080 165 1227
Support.ap.dell.com
toll-free: 1800 0060 07
toll-free: 1800 0600 09
toll-free: 1800 006 007 (option 7)
toll-free: 1800 006 009
toll-free: 1800 006 006
www.dell.com/tt
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1-888-799-5908
www.dell.com/tc
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 1-877-441-4735
U.K.(Bracknell)
International Access
Code: 00
Country Code: 44
City Code: 1344
Uruguay
U.S.A. (Austin, Texas)
International Access
Code: 011
Country Code: 1
Web Address
E-mail Address
Customer Service Website
Sales
Home and Small Business Sales
Corporate/Public Sector Sales
Customer Service
Home and Small Business
Corporate
Preferred Accounts (500-5000 employees)
Global Accounts
Central Government
Local Government & Education
Health
Technical Support
Corporate/Preferred Accounts/PCA (1000+
employees)
Other Dell Products
General
Home and Small Business Fax
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Automated Order-Status Service
AutoTech (portable and desktop computers)
Hardware and Warranty Support (Dell TV,
Printers, and Projectors ) for Relationship
customers
Consumer (Home and Home Office) Support for
Dell products
Customer Service
Employee Purchase Program (EPP) Customers
Financial Services Web Address
Financial Services (lease/loans)
Financial Services (Dell Preferred Accounts
[DPA])
Business
Customer Service
Employee Purchase Program (EPP)
Customer s Support for printers, projectors, PDAs,
and MP3 players
Public (government, education, and healthcare)
Customer Service and Support
Employee Purchase Program (EPP) Customers
Dell Sales
Dell Outlet Store (Dell refurbished computers)
Software and Peripherals Sales
Spare Parts Sales
Extended Service and Warranty Sales
Fax
Dell Services for the Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, or
Speech-Impaired
upport.euro.dell.com
dell_direct_support@dell.com
support.euro.dell.com/uk/en/ECare/
form/home.asp
0870 907 4000
01344 860 456
0870 906 0010
01344 373 185
0870 906 0010
01344 373 186
01344 373 196
01344 373 199
01344 373 194
0870 908 0500
0870 353 0800
0870 907 4006
www.dell.com/uy
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll-free: 000-413-598-2521
toll-free: 1-800-433-9014
toll-free: 1-800-247-9362
toll-free: 1-877-459-7298
toll-free: 1-800-624-9896
toll-free: 1-800-624-9897
toll-free: 1-800-695-8133
www.dellfinancialservices.com
toll-free: 1-877-577-3355
toll-free: 1-800-283-2210
toll-free: 1-800-624-9897
toll-free: 1-800-695-8133
toll-free: 1-877-459-7298
toll-free: 1-800-456-3355
toll-free: 1-800-695-8133
toll-free: 1-800-289-3355 or
toll-free: 1-800-879-3355
toll-free: 1-888-798-7561
toll-free: 1-800-671-3355
toll-free: 1-800-357-3355
toll-free: 1-800-247-4618
toll-free: 1-800-727-8320
toll-free: 1-877-DELLTTY
(1-877-335-5889)
U.S. Virgin Islands
Venezuela
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
Web Address
E-mail Address
Technical Support, Customer Service, Sales
www.dell.com/vi
la‐techsupport@dell.com
toll‐free:1‐877‐702‐4360
www.dell.com/ve
la‐techsupport@dell.com
0800‐100‐4752
1
Introducing the Web Component Framework
The Web Component Framework (WCF) is the software that enables you to build a
browser interface and perform specific tasks such as monitoring data. By configuring
these views, you can display data in a variety of tabular and graphical formats. The
retrieved data can be filtered, sorted, and truncated. The full list of properties for each
component is given in the view pages that are accessible from the Help menu on the
browser interface. This document provides an introduction to these components and
describes the underlying mechanisms that allow them to display data retrieved from
vFoglight or other sources with the same data structure.
For a quick introduction to how dashboards are built and populated with sample views,
try the Vizioncore View Component Tutorial, which is also accessible from the Help
menu on the vFoglight browser interface.
This chapter provides information about dashboards and the components used to build
them.
The WCF is not just a tool to build a plain Web page. With it you can build pages that
update themselves, you can add drill down pages that depend on the context of the
choice made on the parent page, and add a large number of useful components to the
pages that you build. This manual describes the WCF and shows you how to understand
and use it.
This chapter contains the following sections:
Services Management with vFoglight..........................................................................................28
Overview of the Web Component Framework.............................................................................29
The User Interface.......................................................................................................................30
28 vFoglight
Web Component Guide
Services Management with vFoglight
Enterprise services management applications typically gather gigabytes of monitoring
data and then attempt to organize the data in a meaningful way. That’ s a lot of capability ,
and the volume of data being collected can be overwhelming. The views in the browser
interface attempt to organize the data into meaningful summaries, with drilldown pages
to increasingly specific information about a chosen component, such as a single host or
a particular database instance.
The top-level screens, those you see when the browser interface is first launched, have
been organized around the concept of services and have been designed to show a view
that should be useful to a broad range of users—those with typical environments. In all
likelihood your environment is not quite typical, and as you gain familiarity with the
browser interface’s views you will imagine ways that they could be improved to better
fit the way that you would like to organize and visualize your data.
The vFoglight Browser Interface’s Views
Vizioncore’s designers anticipated a user’s need to customize the browser interface, so
they included the means to allow you to access the UI’s component framework and with
it to create custom views. You can populate these views with other display components,
such as charts and tables, and connect them to data sources. It is the same data that the
vFoglight agents have been configured to collect, but now it is organized in a way that
best fits a given business model and the information needs particular to that model.
The end result is a monitoring system that organizes data in a way that mirrors the
business model. Real-time monitoring data is presented in a way that is easily viewed,
and it fosters better control of the application's availability. This also helps with service
level management. Because custom views show services in a cleaner way, a monitor can
inform application and IT managers about end-user service levels, notify stakeholders
when those service levels are violated, and assign problem resolution tasks to the
appropriate domain experts. Custom views that focus on known trouble spots can help
establish processes for quick recovery from system failure
Configuring the Default Views
vFoglight employs a configurable Web-based interface. By doing your own custom
configurations, you apply your detailed knowledge of your system to augment or
replace the out-of-the-box views vFoglight shows by default.
Introducing the Web Component Framework 29
Overview of the Web Component Framework
You can modify the existing components in the browser interface using the following
operations:
• Create a custom dasboard easily by dragging existing views or data from the
action panel to it. This is the simplest way of creating a new view.
You can add any view that is designated as a portlet, thus building up a custom
page. The data tab on the action panel presents choices from which you can drag
metric charts and position them on the page.
• In the action panel, you can adjust the width of the views place on a page by
choosing the number of columns.
• Add dashboards to My Definitions. This requires more expertise, but it allows
access to the framework, so you can define completely new views.
• Create a Report.
• Add Bookmarks.
Overview of the Web Component Framework
The Web Component Framework provides the underlying structure from which you can
build the user interface for your application. A configuration framework makes it easy
to deploy dashboards and their views into various application environments. The
components it requires for operation are accessed through an interface so that the
application that uses the Web Component Framework can provide these services from
their own infrastructure without having to use arbitrary mechanisms that are not core to
the Web Component Framework.
The Web Component Framework consists of a structure for hosting related views called
view components, and container services that host data sources. It is a superset of the
View Component collection that contains other control components, such as renderers.
It is used to build thin client interfaces for products that are primarily (but not
necessarily) in the systems management domain.
The Web Component Framework is written in Java and is capable of running in a web
container such as To mcat. It can be used on contemporary Web browsers without
requiring the use of a plug-in. It is portal-like, but is not a JSR-168 standard portal.
It supports multiple data sources. With it you can configure multiple data queries and
display this data using views. Queries are the primary mechanism used to extract data
from the W eb Component Framework data sources. A view can use more than one query
(to extract data for display), and a query can use more than one data object.
30 vFoglight
Web Component Guide
Apart from creating applications using the Web Component Framework, there are
several important considerations:
• The Dashboard interface (default views)
• Data interface (data representation, relationships in the system, ability to query
data)
• Persistence interface (data storage)
• Permissions interface (ability to set rules and privileges).
See the vFoglight core documentation set for a discussion of these topics.
The User Interface
The vFoglight User Guide describes the overall appearance of the vFoglight user
interface. This document describes the part of the interface used to define, view and edit
elements of the Web Component Framework. Other top-level trim elements contain
buttons supplied by the application. This manual concerns itself with the Definitions
area that is accessed in the right navigation panel. The Definitions area allows you to
examine and work with all the existing entities in the We b Co mponent Framework that
is used to build all the views in the vFoglight user interface.
The figure shows that you access the Definitions area by choosing Definitions under
Dashboards > Configuration in the left navigation panel.
Note The Design tab is available on any non-portal page to those whose role includes that of
dashboard designer. It shows a hierarchical list of all the views on the page. Selecting a
particular view shows information about it in the lower pane, allowing you easy access to
child views.
Introducing the Web Component Framework 31
The User Interface
Figure 1
The vFoglight user interface consists of top-level view components called dashboards
that contain other user interface elements. These components can respond to user
actions, refreshing a view or drilling down to other, more detailed views with dynamic
content.
Anatomy of a Typical Dashboard
• A dashboard consists of a container, which in turn contains views.
• Views are assembled from Vizioncore View Components.
• View components are often required to display specific data, which may be set at
design time or may be based on user interaction, which demands, in addition to
query-based data retrieval, a mechanism for passing information in the form of
parameters.
•In the Web Component Framework, the query mechanism allows you to retrieve
data from a datasource, for example, vFoglight data from a vFoglight data source.
• Queries can be parameterized, which gives them an extra degree of flexibility in
the dynamic data that they retreive.
• A flow mechanism permits pages to be updated or linked to other pages.
32 vFoglight
Web Component Guide
• A context mechanism allows values, which may be objects, to be passed to
The starting place for working with Web Component Framework components is the
Definitions choice. You may find it useful to have vFoglight open on the Definitions
page so that you can refer to it as you continue reading.
View Components
View components are the visible components in the user interface. Multiple components
can be arranged on a page and some components can be nested within others. A view
contains both view components and configuration information.
Types of view components:
• Containers, such as various layouts, splitters, and reports
• Data visualization components, such as charts, tables, gauges, labels, and trees
• Specialized components, such as RSS feeds
The configuration settings include flow control, contextual inputs, data binding, and
query specification. Views can be configured using:
dependent pages. Thus, dynamically retrieved data on a parent page can be passed
to a dependent page.
• A query— to provide data binding.
• A context—what is shown in the view depends on the context passed to the page
or component.
• A flow—an action to be performed based on user input, such as a selection of a
particular item on the parent page that launches a drill down page base d on th e
context.
The vFoglight User Guide covers the following topics in greater detail.
Pages can be decorated with headers, which may contain:
• Breadcrumbs—the present page name preceded by other page names
• Time Region—which may contain
• Timestamp: if no time range is applied to the page
• Time Range: if available and applies to all views
• A Zonar: if available, permits a choice of the time interval
• Nothing: if multiple time ranges are represented
• Optional Page Scope Actions, such as
Introducing the Web Component Framework 33
The User Interface
• Time Range: change the time range for components on the page
The right action panel contains:
• General tab:
• Page actions, such as set properties, create a bookmark, set as home page, and
print the view
• Other actions, where you can create a new, empty dashboard, which is
simultaneously a portal, into which you can drag existing views as a way of
quickly customizing a new page, and where you can create a report
• Themes, where you can choose one of the existing themes for the user
interface
•Design tab:
• The views contained in the parent view
• The definition, layout, and context of the selected view
• Help tab:
• Help for all components on the current page
• The online help documentation set
Configuring a Component—an Example
Before explaining in detail view components, their configurable properties, runtime
values, and context settings, an example may help to show the various options that are
available to the designer who wants to configure a component. Because of its simplicity,
the chosen component is a Label.
The Web Component Framework editor in vFoglight is the tool used to configure this
component, which is accessed starting from the left navigation panel by choosing
Dashboards > Configuration > Definitions, and then My Definitions in the Module
List pane.
These choices cause the Module Contents pane, which is below the Module List Pane,
to show all the views that have been defined for the current user. If this user has not yet
created any views, the pane will be empty.
For example, here are the steps required to configure the Label component in the editor
pane.
To configure a Label:
1
Ensure that the Views tab in the Module Contents pane is selected.
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2
3
4
The General Tab
The settings on the General tab are described in “General Tab” on page 108, but for now
just note that fields with required settings are marked with an exclamation icon ( ),
while others can retain their default values. The label must be given a name and a size. It
should be given a description in the Comments field that gives an indication of why it is
being used. Because this simple component will in all probability be added to a page, its
purpose should be set to Pagelet. Its roles, which are matched to user roles to control
who is allowed to see the component, need not be considered in this introductory
example. When this page is filled in, the component has a name, a preferred size, a
description, some allowed roles, and some purpose or purposes.
Click the Add button.
The New View dialog opens.
Click Common > Label in the Blank view drop-down list, and then click OK.
The Module Definitions pane changes to an editor pane.
Only the component’s name and its Label property are required to have a
functioning component. The next few sections give a brief description of each tab
in the Definitions Editor.
The Context Tab
In the Web Component Framework, context is analogous to the environment
information available to applications running under the control of an operating system.
Context is the collection of available information that can be copied and passed on to
the component. This information may be needed by the component to properly fulfill its
purpose.
The Configuration Tab
The Configuration tab is where the label’s properties are set. A primary goal of this
example is to give an overview of the possibilities available to users to bind data to a
component, so the next section discusses these possibilities as they apply to each of the
label’s properties.
Binding Data to a Component
To blend well with other components on a page, a view component needs to have
configurable properties that control its appearance. To be useful, a view component
must have mechanisms for data binding. The Web Component Framework supports
dynamic configuration for both appearance and data display.
Introducing the Web Component Framework 35
The User Interface
Data Types
Each property has a data type. By demanding that all data have an assigned type the Web
Component Framework can perform checks at design time to reduce the risk of
incompatible assignments.
Setting the Properties for a Label
Property: Label
The editor shows that the data type for this component is Any, which means that you
have complete freedom in assigning any type of data to this component. Of course, the
system must be able to convert whatever it is given to a visible string or the label won’t
be of much use.
You set the data type by clicking the Edit icon ( ) and choosing one of the available
types, which are listed in “Runtime Value Types” on page 131.
Some of the available runtime value types are:
• String
For the label component, the first choice is String. This is a simple type that
permits you to define a static string value for the label.
• Rich Text
The next choice is Rich Text that permits you to add HTML tags, so that you can
do some simple formatting, like italicizing a word.
• Context Selection
The next choice is context selection, and here there is a richer choice of options,
as shown in the dialog:
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The required item is a key, which indicates that a context entry must be declared
before it can be used. You can extract information from the context, which was
perhaps set in a parent view or in the Additional section of the Label’s Context
tab, and display it as the label’s string. Thus, the label’s text can be dynamic and
be made to depend on a user’s choice at run time.
• Query Selection
The chief way of extracting results from the data model at run time is by using a
query, which returns a list of data objects. Often, the list contains a single data
object, and you can select the specific piece of information you want in that
object and use it as the label’s display string. There are many options for using a
query selection, including one for the case where the query returns an empty list.
The accompanying figure shows that the same choices for selecting the data apply
to this case too.
The Query Selection dialog:
Introducing the Web Component Framework 37
The User Interface
• Icon Selection
An Icon is a collection of related images of different sizes. You can use one of
these images in the label property . The dialog allows you to choose an image that
you have previously added and a renderer for that image.
For more information, see “Icon Selection” on page 138.
• Theme Selection
Themes allow the selection of different colors for a background, so that if the
theme is switched the selected color can be changed as well. The edit dialogs for
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• String Template
themes allow you to specify the theme’s properties. For more information, see
“Theme Selection” on page 137.
A string template allows you to type in the value for the label and if necessary to
supply a renderer. Its purpose is to allow you to combine different data elements
in a chosen order.
For more information, see “String Template” on page 139.
• Rich Text Template
A rich text type permits HTML formatting. Its value is text with simple HTML
formatting tags. It accepts positional parameters of the type {0}, {1}, and so on.
The Rich Text type permits HTML formatting, but no positional parameters.
For more information, see “Rich Text and Rich Text Template” on page 140.
Introducing the Web Component Framework 39
The User Interface
• Data
The data choice is for end users who expect to have the same type of information
available whenever vFoglight is run. The dialog presents a chooser showing the
data types and data values available in the current vFoglight instance.
For more information, see “Data” on page 141.
• List
In the list data choice, a parameter is used to select the list. This allows you to
choose the parameterized list of items.
For more information, see “List” on page 142.
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Property: Item
Item specifies an object that is made available as a context entry to the flow
actions. A flow is an action that is triggered by clicking the label. A special
dynamic generated context whose key is Item is made available. Dynamic context
is information added to the context that sets its value based on user interaction. In
this case perhaps the user has clicked an item in a list displayed by the label
component. That particular choice is recorded in the context and is made
available to a view that appears as a result of a flow action defined on the label.
Property: Horizontal Alignment
There are three choices, Left, Center, and Right.
Property: No Wrap
This is a boolean property that controls the way that a long line of text appears in the
label.
Introducing the Web Component Framework 41
The User Interface
Property: Title
Title has the same choices for its content as Item. The title appears as a header in the
bounding box around the label, but only if you choose to show it when adding the label
to its parent view.
Property: Background
This group of properties controls various aspects of the label’s background. See the
reference pages for additional details.
Property: Error Renderer
Choose one of the available error renderers.
An error renderer is invoked if the retrieval of the specified data generates an error at
runtime.
Property: Null Renderer
Choose one of the available null renderers.
A null renderer is invoked if the retrieval of the specified data returns null.
Flow
The Flow tab allows you to specify the actions that can be performed when a user clicks
the label or just hovers over it.
For more information, see “Configuring Flows for Views” on page 115.
There are additional properties under Page Options and Portlet Options that you can
look up in the reference page for the label.
From this example you can see that even a simple component such as a label has many
configurable properties and actions. This overview of the possible settings for a Label
should give you a notion of how you would use the definitions editor to set properties on
a Web Component Framework entity.
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Once you have configured some components you can add them to a container such as a
Grid, and in this way you can build a complex view containing a variety of entities for
displaying the data that vFoglight collects.
Overview of Web Components
The full list of View components and their containers have properties given in the
Vizioncore Web Component Reference. Refer to it for the complete list of properties for
each component. A synopsis of what each container and view component does or is
used for is given here as a quick reference. It may help you to get an overview of the
available components and aid you to make the choice of an appropriate component.
This chapter contains the following sections:
View Components, Containers, and Renderers..........................................................................44
2
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View Components, Containers, and Renderers
The list of user interface components is shown in the following tables.
Common
Drop-Down List Permits the selection of an object from a list of Runtime Value
objects.
Image Displays a specified image and allows for interaction.
Key-Value
Listing
Label Permits the display a single piece of information.
Row-Oriented
Table
Time Plot Chart See Charts and Gauges.
Time Range
Zonar
Displays a table of keys (labels), values, and optionally
associated states that are usually all properties of one object,
such as a Host or an AppServer.
See Tables and Trees.
See Time Range.
Containers
These layouts are available:
Overview of Web Components 45
View Components, Containers, and Renderers
Column
Layout
Fixed
Layout
Form Provides the frame for views that act as forms. It allows you to
Grid Presents the views it contains in a zero-based grid of cells.
Iterator Presents a single view repeatedly for each object in a list. The
Report Contains a series of views that are rendered, in the order in which
Displays a set of views organized in columns. Within each column,
the views are positioned vertically in the same way as the views in a
Grid layout, except that each column is laid out independently. The
natural height of the layout is based on the tallest column, and the
natural width is the sum of the column widths. (Each column's
natural width is based on the widest view in that column.)
Uses absolute (x, y) locations and fixed sizes to precisely locate all
of its contained views. All views are exactly placed and sized.
Useful for monitoring views with fixed real estate when you want
to make sure that all the important information is always on the
screen.
define one or more submit actions, which are rendered as buttons
using the standard look and feel.
Iterator supplies the context required by the individual view page or
pages.
they appear in the layout (except for header and footer Page
Decorations, which must precede the body views), to a
ServerReport document for printing or saving as a PDF.
Row Layout Is similar to a Column Layout, except that it organizes a set of
views in rows. The width of a cell in one row is independent of
those in the row above or the row below.
Splitter Ta kes two views and displays them within the space of the layout,
separated by a movable bar.
Stack
Layout
Layers a set of views on top of one another. All views are adjusted
to the same size, and are drawn from back to front.
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Switch Takes a single object or list of objects, usually specified by a
context selection, as an input. This layout displays one child view at
a time based on an input. It matches the type of the input, and
whether or not it is a list, against the list of child views and then
displays the child whose type most closely matches the input. In
other words, the input is matched against the child views in the
order that they are defined; in this way a more general view
(accepting of a broader type) can be listed after a number of more
specifically defined views and act as the “default” case.
Tab
Container
Topology Allows you to define different views of up to four zoom levels for
Type Is similar in appearance to the Switch layout, but the view that is
Wizard
Layout
Shows the currently selected view in a set of views that have been
added to a menu. The current view may be changed by selecting a
different view from the menu bar. All views are maintained, and
participate in context updates.
combinations of Data Type and Is List, where Is List controls
whether the display is for a single object of that Data Type or a list
of them.
displayed for a given input object is based on the set of all views
that accept an object of that type as a sole input. The major
configuration property for a type-based layout is the input property,
an object whose type is used to determine the view to display.
Displays a group of views in a set sequence that should facilitate a
workflow. Validation may be added as well.
Overview of Web Components 47
View Components, Containers, and Renderers
Tables and Trees
Array Table A standard table view that lists data i n r ows and columns.
Cell-Oriented
Table
Key-Value
Listing
Row-Oriented
Table
Tree Table Consists of list of groups; each group consists of a list of
Places data in individual cells of a table.
Displays a table of keys (labels), values, and optionally
associated states, that are usually all properties of one object,
such as a Host or an AppServer.
Consists of a list of rows in which there are groups of
columns. Each group consists of a list of columns.
columns.
Charts and Gauges
Bar Gauge Displays the current value of each one of the configured
metrics as a bar.
Bar or Pie Chart Graphs data items as a bar chart (with each bar representing
one item), a stacking bar, or a pie chart.
Chart Legend Shows the visual attributes (symbol, line, or fill style) of each
data series in a parent chart.
Circular Gauge Generates a PNG image of a circular gauge, for example, a
speedometer or temperature dial on a boiler.
Cluster Bar
Chart
Cylinder Generates a PNG image of a cylinder. The gauge displays one-
Graphs data values retrieved from parent data objects as
clusters of bars.
dimensional data as a filled percentage of the container.
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Pulse Gauge Generates an animated GIF of an arrow that travels in one
Time Bar Chart Graphs metric data as a bar chart against time. The x-axis
Time Plot Chart Graphs metric data as a plot line against time. The x-axis
direction across the width or height of the GIF.
represents time; the y-axis represents the metric.
represents time; the y-axis represents the metric.
Time Range
Zonar
TimeState Chart Graphs discrete state data (such as availability or trend data) as
See Time Range.
a series of symbols against time. Only for enum-based data.
Time Range
Time Range
Drop-Down
Time Range
Form
Time Range
Zonar
Use this component when you need:
• A list of time ranges that allows you to choose intervals from
‘last hour’ to ‘all time’.
• An icon that allows you to freeze the current time range so
that updating a page or its children does not shift the time
range. Data remains static until you revert to real time once
more.
• To select more than one time range on the same page and
have each selection affect only certain views on that page.
Allows you to specify a time range by selecting dates in a
calendar.
Allows you to select a time range by dragging a shaded
rectangle along the time axis.
Overview of Web Components 49
View Components, Containers, and Renderers
Topology
Minuscule For use in the Minuscule zoom level of the T opology layout. It
either displays an icon (via a State Renderer) or displays
nothing, but makes a desired color available to an enclosing
layout (which may render it as a small box).
Title Only Commonly used in Topology layouts, at the Minimized zoom
level. It does not display anything by itself, but allows you to
configure a Title for the component, which will be rendered by
whatever layout the component is included in, as long as that
layout is set up to render the title.
Topology Renders the objects in the topology tree for the data model as a
graph of nodes. Allows you to define different views for up to
four zoom levels for combinations of Data Type and Is List,
that is, whether for a single object of that Data T ype or a list of
them.
Reporting
Page Decoration Used to define headers and footers in a report layout.
Report Contains a series of views that are rendered in sequence (in the
order they appear in the layout) to a ServerReport document
for printing or saving as a PDF.
Inputs
Button A clickable button.
Check Box A check box with an attached label and optional title.
Context Inputs
Editor
This component is not intended for end users. It allows the
setting and changing of a isolated set of context variables.
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Date/Time Input Allows the user to assign a Java date object and output it as
Drop-Down List Permits the selection of an object from a list of Runtime Value
Filter Allows the user to filter a list of objects, for example, a list of
Number Input Allows the input of Java-typed numbers, such as integer,
Date or Time.
objects.
Events, on the basis of matching certain properties.
double, or float. It also enables you to set the range of the input
value, using the minValue and maxValue properties.
Radio Button
List
Text Area Allows the input of multiple lines of Java-typed strings that
Text Field Allows the input of multiple lines of Java-typed strings that
Time Range
Drop-Down
Time Range
Form
Displays a list of runtime values, such as a list of hosts, with a
selection button for each and permits you to pick one Runtime
Value from the list.
are composed solely of visible characters.
are composed solely of visible characters.
For cases in which:
• You want a customized list of time ranges that is different
from the global list of time ranges.
• You want to be able to select more than one time range on
the same page and have each selection affect only certain
views on that page.
Allows you to specify a time range by selecting dates in a
calendar.
Overview of Web Components 51
View Components, Containers, and Renderers
Others
Filter Allo ws you to filter a list of objects, for example, a list of
Events, on the basis of matching certain properties.
iFrame Allows the user to embed an HTML page into the Web
Component Framework so that the page can pass parameters to
a target URL.
Include Includes the resource specified in the view configuration. The
resource can be dynamic or static.
Links Box Displays a list of clickable links which can be used to
configure navigation for a page or drive actions on the page.
List Viewer This component does not have a description in the help pages.
It is for internal use only.
Page Title A co mponent whose Text property can serve as a title for a
page containing other views.
Progress Displays a progress bar to which actions can be wired. Shows
the progress of your tasks either with detailed progress or a
busy indicator.
Property Viewer This component does not have a description in the help pages.
It is for internal use only.
Separator The Separator component is used to display a vertical or
horizontal line.
Syndication Feed Allows you to publish a list of Data Objects as a syndication
feed.
Toolbar Displays a row of buttons that fire actions when clicked.
Wizard Layout Displays a group of views in a set sequence that should
facilitate a workflow. Validation may be added as well.
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Renderers
Date Displays Date objects in a locale-specific way.
Error The message to display when an error occurs.
Host Name Takes a string that is presumably a host name and trims off the
Icon Looks up the Icon registered to the type of the object being
List A List renderer is used to display a list of values. For each of
number of address sections that it is configured to remove.
The default trim segment count should be 2. Other than that, it
is just a normal String Renderer.
rendered and extracts and renders an appropriately sized
image from the Icon. Icons are registered to data types in the
Type Mapping entity. Various sizes of images (from
extraSmall to huge, plus a scalable image) are set in the
configuration of the Icon entity.
values, the List renderer attempts to choose an appropriate
renderer for the data type. (Examples: StringRenderer for
String, NumberRenderer for Number).
Null Image Specifies the icon to use when a null condition in a data
binding occurs.
Null String Specifies the text to use when a null condition in a data
binding occurs.
Number Converts numeric data to text or HTML. How the data is
formatted depends on the values set in the renderer's
properties.
Number Bar Used to render either a numeric value as a sideways bar or a
list of numeric values as a sideways stacking/cluster bar.
Number Percent Displays a numeric value and then a sideways number bar that
shows a graphical representation of the percentage.
Overview of Web Components 53
View Components, Containers, and Renderers
Number Unit Formats numeric data with an accompanying unit to text or
HTML. How the data is formatted depends on the values set in
the renderer’s properties. All properties of the Number
renderer apply to the Number Unit renderer.
Pulse Gauge
Renderer
Range Associates number values with an Icon (with sizing), a Name,
Sparkline A handy way of showing the trend of a metric in a small
State Associates state values with an Icon (with sizing), a Name,
String Allows you to configure the appearance of the output string.
Threshold Shows the history of a metric in terms of the thresholds the
Time Range Displays a time range.
A simple renderer that gener ates an a nimated GIF of an arrow
that travels in one direction across the width or height of the
GIF.
and a Color.
space. When used in a table it provides easy shape
comparison.
and a Color.
historic average falls under. It uses the default state renderer
for the threshold enumeration to choose a color for the given
threshold, thus rendering the history as a colored bar. For each
section of the bar, a title tag provides information in words
about the value of that section.
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3
The Web Component Framework
The vFoglight user interface is built using the Web Component Framework. This same
framework is available to end users who wish to develop their own specialized views.
Existing vFoglight views are configurable from the user interface without the need to
resort to the full editing resources provided by the Web Component Framework, but if
you decide to build your own specialized dashboards, the Web Component Framework
is available for your use.
This chapter contains the following sections:
Core Concepts.............................................................................................................................56
Managing Dashboards................................................................................................................69
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Core Concepts
Certain core concepts find application throughout the Web Component Framework.
These core concepts are:
• Modules
• Observations
• Context
• Parameters
• On Null Values
• Renderers
• Default Values
• Data Sources, Data Types, and Data Objects
• Paths
Modules
The default Web Component Framework definitions (views, queries, renderers, tasks,
icons, files, types, and units) in vFoglight are organized onto modules and sub-modules.
A module contains a collection of related definitions. With the proper privileges you can
add entities to any of the existing modules, and users with access to the Definitions
choice (in the navigation panel under Dashboards > Configuration) can create entities
in their own modules, which you can save by exporting them to a file. Also, you can
import modules that have been created on another vFoglight server.
Importing and Exporting Modules
For information on importing and exporting modules, see the Command-Line Reference
Guide.
Validating Modules
You can validate your module and check all the definitions within it for errors or
warnings. This is useful for catching errors that might have crept in through hand coding
or prior incompatibilities in the WCF tooling that allowed poorly-configured views to
be saved. This functionality can be invoked from the module’s menu.
The Web Component Framework 57
Core Concepts
Definitions and Entities
Definitions are the configurable units in Web Component Framework. They include
Views, Queries, Tasks, Icons, Types and Units.
Entities are the types of definitions which can be referred to by an ID identifier in other
definitions. Views, Queries, Tasks, Icons are entities.
Note Views and their properties are described in the Web Component Reference.
Public
Marking an Entity as public indicates that it can be used by any definition in any other
module. For this reason the editors will not allow you to delete a public entity. However ,
you have the option of replacing a view containing a public entity.
Entities that are not public can only be referenced by definitions that have a shared
module ancestry. Definitions have a shared module ancestor if they have a parent,
grandparent, and so on, module that is the same or one is an ancestor of the other.
When selecting an entity, only public entities are shown in modules that don't have a
common ancestry with the module containing the current definition.
Copying Entities
When copying entities, whether entities are public or not needs to be taken into
consideration.
You can make a shallow copy of an entity that is not public. However, if that entity
refers to a non-public entity, that is, refers to a query via a Query Selection Runtime
Value, then the copy will not be allowed if that non-public entity is not accessible from
the target module to which you want to save the copy.
The View’s deep copy feature can be used to copy a view that references a non-public
entity that is not accessible from the target module. However, a warning message will be
issued that the inaccessible, non-public entity will be copied and the reference will be
changed to refer to the copy. This may not be what you want. You may actually want the
references to be maintained because you intend to deep copy a view to a temporary
module, make the desired changes to the view and its related entities, and then deep
copy the view back to its original module.
You can perform either a copy of the view or a deep copy of the view without having to
use the Add View work flow to invoke the copy. Moreover, if you wish to do a simple
copy, but are not permitted to because of private reference restrictions, then a deep copy
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can optionally be invoked to minimize the duplication required to copy the specific
view.
Observations
In general, the Web Component Framework and vFoglight are concerned with the
collection of information over time. These collections are called observations.
Observations can be of any kind of object. Observations that are handled specially by
the Web Component Framework are Metrics and Enum Observations. The scope and
quality of the information returned by an observation in the Web Component
Framework is determined by the time range used to retrieve the information.
Time Range Related to Observations
A TimeRange for the a Metric Observation can be specified in various ways, but it is
always ultimately composed of a range of date-time objects, and a granularity. The
granularity can be RAW, which means that data observations should be shown in the
metric history with the smallest available granularity, or a number of milliseconds, for
example, 300,000 for 5 minutes. It can also be AUTO, for example, a numeric value of
-2, meaning the code will pick the best granularity based on the time range.
The list of history Metric Val ues must be in ascending order of date-time.
When the granularity is RAW, indicated by the numeric value -1, history observations
will be added with the smallest available granularity. Different observations within the
history may cover differently-sized time intervals, and different metrics in the same
time range using RAW granularity may have different numbers of history observations
in the case of unrelated time intervals.
When the granularity is a number of milliseconds, in each history metric value, the
difference between the end time and the start time (in milliseconds) must equal the
granularity. Each successive history object’s start time should be the previous history
object’s end time. That is, each history object must cover exactly one granularity
interval.
Exactly how the start times and end times of the history objects are related to the start
time and end time of the entire non-RAW time range is not specified as a Web
Component Framework requirement. For one thing, the length of the entire time range
may not be an even multiple of the granularity. Reasonable options include starting the
first history object’s start time at the exact start time of the time range, or starting it at
the start time of the time range, less half the granularity. However, the start time of the
The Web Component Framework 59
Core Concepts
first history object should be no greater than the start time of the time range, and the end
time of the last history object should be no less than the end time of the time range.
When there are multiple metrics calculated for the same non-RAW time range (whether
they are different metrics on the same object, or the same metric on different objects),
they must have exactly the same number of history objects as each other, and the start
times and end times of the history objects at the same indices in their lists must be
identical.
If there are no agent observations that correspond to a history object within a certain
granularity interval in a non-RAW time range, a history object is still created, with the
appropriate start time and end time, but none of the value properties are filled in.
Metric Observations
An observation of a numerical value is called a metric.
Data collected by agents is generally expected to be collected into a Metric data object.
Certain components, such as the chart components, must be bound to Metric objects to
function.
Metric definitions must specify the unit property in the Metric’s containing Property
class. The unit is used to display numeric data. In particular, the unit’s precision
property is used by some components (such as charts) and renderers to ensure the
correct number of decimal places are used when rendering data. If the Metric’s precision
is desired to be different than its unit’s precision, you can set the precision directly on
the Metric’s containing Property class using the precision property.
Metrics must conform to the following schema:
Metric
Property Type Description
uniqueId String unique ID
name String name of metric, localizable
period MetricValue value for entire ti me range
current MetricValue value for last interval in time range
history M et ricValue;
is-many = true
list of values for each interval in time range
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MetricValue
Property Type Description
uniqueId String unique id
startTime Date start time of interval, exclusive
endTime Date end time of interval, inclusive
sampledPeriod Long period covered by this interval in
count Long number of agent samples in this interval
min Number minimum value of all agent samples in this
max Number maximum value of all agent samples in this
milliseconds. (Might be less than endTime
- startTime if agent was not collecting data
during the entire interval.)
interval
interval
average Number average value of all agent samples in this
interval
sum Number sum of all agent samples in this interval
sumSquares Number sum of the squares of all agent samples in
this interval
standardDeviation Number standard deviation of all agent samples in
this interval
baselineMin Number baseline minimum value of all agent
samples in this interval
baselineMax Number baseline maximum value of all agent
samples in this interval
The Web Component Framework 61
Property Type Description
Core Concepts
thresholds ThresholdValue
is-many = true
ThresholdValue
Property Type Description
uniqueId String unique id
upperBound Bound upper bound of threshold range
lowerBound Bound lower bound of threshold range
state Enum state associated with this threshold range
Bound
Property Type Description
uniqueId String unique id
value Number value of bound. If set to
list of thresholds for this interval
Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY, the threshold is
assumed to stretch to infinity
exclusive Boolean false if the bound includes value, true if it does not
Enum Observations
Data collected by agents is sometimes collected into an EnumObservation data object.
Certain components, such as the time state chart component, must be bound to
EnumObservation objects to function. EnumObservations must conform to the
following schema:
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EnumObservation
Property Type Description
uniqueId String unique id
name String name of metric, localizable
period EnumOb serva
tionValue
current EnumObserva
tionValue
history EnumObserva
tionValue; ismany = true
EnumObservationValue
Property Type Description
uniqueId String unique id
startTime Date start time of interval, exclusive
endTime Date end time of interval, inclusive
index Num ber Index of this observation
value Number Enum value of this observation
value for entire time range
value for last interval in time range
list of values for each interval in time range
Context
Context is the collection of data that defines the subject of the view. If a view is
configured to display information about one application server, then the context
specifies which application server.
If the context of a view has been set, then the view can use that value by specifying the
named value of the context. Similarly, if a view has a given named value in its context,
The Web Component Framework 63
Core Concepts
and a link takes it to another view, then that new view can get access to that value by
specifying its name as a context input.
For more information, see “Context and the Context Tab” on page 122.
Parameters
Most types of Runtime Values have parameters. These are placeholders nested within
the Runtime Value that are also evaluated at run time. An exam ple is a String Template
Runtime Value set to Host: {0}. In this case Host: is a fixed string, while {0} is a
reference to a parameter that evaluates to the name of the host server by configuring that
association to a particular dynamic context at the time when the String Template
Runtime Value is being defined. Each description of the Runtime Value types explains
how to use parameters.
Caution Any quotation mark you use in the parameterized string must be escaped. For example,
if the string that you want to use is The host’s name is: {0}, you must escape the
apostrophe as follows:
The host\’s name is: {0}
For more information, see “Configurable Properties and Runtime Values” on page 130.
.
On Null Values
Most types of Runtime Value have an associated On Null Runtime Value. This provides
an alternate value that can be used if the main Runtime Value evaluates to null (nothing)
or an empty list of values.
Renderers
A renderer may be specified on each type of Runtime Value. A renderer determines how
the evaluated value is displayed. For example, a limit to the length of a string, the
number of decimal places, or the date and time format. If no renderer is specified, then
default renderers are used. Therefore, in most cases, a renderer is not required.
Null and error renderers, noted earlier in the list of simple types, are special cases of
renderers. They are only used to display no data or error information. Unlike normal
renderers, they do not base their behavior on the data being rendered, but instead have
fixed outputs. A drop-down menu lists all the available renderers. Generally, you can
determine which renderer to select based on its name. If no renderer is specified,
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renderers are looked up from the type, property and unit of the value. If no renderer is
found, a default renderer is used. Therefore, in most cases, a renderer is not required.
For more information, see “Renderers” on page 148.
Default Values
If a property has a default value it is displayed as text beside the edit icon in the Value
column of the tree table in the Configuration tab. A property that has been configured to
use a specific value can be set back to its default property by clicking the Edit icon, then
selecting Clear to default from the drop-down menu.
Data Sources, Data Types, and Data Objects
The data that is displayed by the application comes from a data source, as set up in
vFoglight. The data from a data source is held in data objects as properties. For
example, some of the Host data-object properties are the name of the host, its IP
address, and the number of fatal events. The data type is a data-object template, and
determines the structure of a data object. Examples of data types are Host, AppServer,
WebLogic, WebSphere, Agent, and Event. For more information about each property's
default, see <install directory>\docs\module-catalogue.html.
Data Sources
Data sources encapsulate all that the system knows about the data and yet cleanly
separates knowledge of the data from how it is presented.
The data source is organized as a dynamic graph of objects, starting from a root that
represents the entire data model.
“Objects” are defined in the API and are not tied to the creation of any particular Java
Object.
You can investigate an instance of the graph of vFoglight data source objects by
choosing Configure > Data in the browser interface.
Data Source Queries
• The syntax of a data source query resembles SQL, but queries return a list of
objects.
• Data source queries are strongly typed.
The Web Component Framework 65
Core Concepts
• Data source queries are not free form. In vFoglight, they are configured on the
browser interface’s Definitions page by using an editor provided for that purpose.
Paths
When creating queries and defining Runtime Values, you set the values by specifying
the data object and the properties in the Path field. Paths traverse the structure of the
data object. They are similar to directory paths in Windows or UNIX, and are comprised
of a series of one or more property names, separated by forward slashes.
Note You can replace a long path by setting it as a context value.
One minor complication is that property names are often displayed with localized
names instead of their actual property names. For example, a drop-down tree may show
the properties as Name or CPU Usage, but when selected they display in the Path field
as name or cpuUsage.
The following are some example paths:
Path Meaning
/hosts An absolute path for all hosts, under the top of the tree of data.
cpuUsage The cpuUsage metric object (under a host object)
cpuUsage/current/
avg
The current average value of the cpuUsage metric object (under
a host object)
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Using the Web Component Framework
The Web Component Framework Editor
You navigate to the editor by choosing Configuration > Definitions in the navigation
panel. Both the navigation and action panels are described in the vFoglight User Guide.
The Web Component Framework editor consists of:
• A Module List pane that displays the existing modules. Most modules are defined
by the application developer. You can add your views to the module called My
Definitions, which is associated with your login name, although you can add your
views anywhere you choose (if you have the proper permissions). Other users can
add views as well. If such a user was creating views in his or her My Definitions
workspace, you would locate these views under Other User Definitions, where
the modules are once more arranged by login name.
• A Module Contents pane. This pane consists of eight tabs. Within each tab you
can create the following entities for the selected module: views, queries,
renderers, tasks, icons, files, types, and units.
• A Definitions or Edit pane. It functions as an editor pane, and as an item
definition pane once the item has been configured. You use this pane to edit a new
or existing definition. Once the definition is saved the pane switches to a view of
the definition.
The Web Component Framework 67
Using the Web Component Framework
Figure 2
In vFoglight, you access these panes from Dashboards > Configuration > Definitions
in the navigation panel.
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An Example Page
A page may be:
• A context-free dashboard
• A dependent page, which optionally requires a context
• A 2-pane browser: navigator and page
All of the preceding are assembled from view components.
The page may contain:
• A variable number of view components
• Page decorations, such as a time range control
• Tabs or a splitter, depending on the container being used
• A customizer, which is one way of linking to other pages
Figure 3
The Web Component Framework 69
Managing Dashboards
Views can be configured using:
• A query—to provide data binding
• A context—what is shown depends on the context passed to the page or
component
• A flow—an action to be performed based on user input, such as a drill down page
Other data binding choices exist. For more information, see “Configurable Properties
and Runtime Values” on page 130.
View components and their containers have properties that are described in the
Vizioncore Web Compon ent Reference. Refer to it for details about these properties.
Web Component Framework in vFoglight
The views in vFoglight are constructed from the UI components in the Web Component
Framework. The data in the views come from the vFoglight data source. If you want to
know what data is available in a running vFoglight instance, you can browse it in the
Definitions > Data tab.
A user with the proper permissions can build new views to better address an
organization’s specific needs. If you want to customize vFoglight by designing and
building your own add-on views, a good place to become familiar with the process is
the Vizioncore View Component Tutorial. It leads you through the basics of
constructing new dashboards and dependent views and introduces you to some
frequently-used components.
You can modify:
• a page by adding, removing or moving views
• a view , for example, by adding columns, removing metrics, and changing
required input
• a query by adjusting the data to retrieve or the criteria with which to select it.
Managing Dashboards
The following section describes the Dashboard, Defi nitions, and Data Sources pages.
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Definitions Panes
From the Module List pane, accessed in the navigation panel under Configuration >
Definitions, which lists all the available, currently-defined dashboards, you can examine
the dashboards that have been defined for all the System and User modules. After
familiarizing yourself with the available dashboards, you can decide whether a custom
one needs to be built, and you can perhaps copy and modify one of these instead of
creating one from scratch.
Figure 4
System and User Dashboards
In vFoglight, there are two types of dashboards: system and user. System dashboards are
preconfigured and delivered with vFoglight. User dashboards are created or modified by
users. Depending on your permissions, System dashboards may or may not be displayed
in the Dashboards page that you see.
vFoglight comes with preconfigured views, queries, renderers, tasks, icons, files, types,
and units. Users can view and copy these definitions, and with the proper permissions
they can change them as well. Alternatively, you can create and modify your own User
modules. Similar to System modules, you can view and copy modules created by
another user but you cannot modify those definitions.
The Web Component Framework 71
Managing Dashboards
As was mentioned previously, you can copy and make modifications to an existing
view, or you can create an entirely new view. The choi ce dep e nds upo n how similar to
an existing one the new page must be. These remarks apply to queries as well. It is
better to copy and modify a complex query rather than recreating it if only a few
changes are required.
Dashboard Page Navigation
You can select items in the views that refresh the page (drop-down menus or radio
buttons) or click links to display pages with more detail. A list of links to previous pages
(breadcrumbs) is located at the top of the page. The current page is highlighted in bold.
At any time, you can move back using the breadcrumbs.
You navigate around vFoglight dashboards from summary dashboards down to detailed
pages (drill-down) and back up the hierarchy. Navigation is controlled through menus,
links, drop-down lists, and radio buttons.
Caution The pages display dynamic data. Therefore, you should use the links, and not the built-in
navigation controls of your browser. Using the links refreshes the data on the page.
Data and Data Sources Pages
The Data Sources tab is only visible to users with administrative privileges in
vFoglight. On the left side of the page is a navigation tree. Each parent node represents
a group of vFoglight servers, by version. Individual servers are listed below the parent
nodes.
The Data page displays the available data objects that have been instantiated on the
currently running monitored system for which views have been created and for which
root queries have been defined. See “Queries” on page 75 for more information about
the query mechanism.
The Data Sources tab allows you to add or remove multiple databases. Using the query
mechanism, Vizioncore Web components look for data in the data source to populate the
views.
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Definitions Pane
The Definitions pane is your workspace for creating, viewing and editing items in the
Web Component Framework .
Note If a user is not assigned to the Cartridge Developer role in the Administration area of the
To open a definition:
1
browser interface, then he or she cannot see the Data or Definitions tab under Configure.
Note Views may be opened for editing from the Design tab in the action panel.
From Configure, open Dashboards > Configuration >Definitions in the
navigation panel.
2
You can use the Definitions pane to view or edit these components after you have
selected them in the Module Contents pane. In the Definitions menu choice, the
Module List pane displays the available modules, while the Module Contents
pane displays the contents of the selected module. It contains a set of eight tabs,
each listing a particular grouping, such as views, queries, or renderers.
3
In the Module Contents pane, open the item whose definition you want to view by
selecting it. Alternatively you can create a new view or query. See “Configuring
Views” on page 102 for information about creating a new view or see “Context
and the Context Tab” on page 122 for information about creating a new query.
The Web Component Framework 73
Managing Dashboards
The various configuration options are:
Data Display Description
View Views are the Web Component Framework objects that display
data. The components that are shown in the Module List pane
are those that have been defined for the node you have selected
in the Module Contents pane. See the Web Component
Reference online help pages.
Queries Queries let you select a set of data objects of the same type.
Pages and views extract and use data from the queries for
values and context settings. See Queries.
Renderers A Renderer determines how a value is displayed. Various
renderer types are available for customization. See Renderers.
Tasks Tasks are applications external to the Web Component
Framework that can be launched from within a view. See
Tasks.
Icons Each icon can be a collection of images of different size. See
Icons.
Files Upload files such as images to the module’s public directory.
See Files.
Types Type mappings associate entities such as renderers, icons and
flows to a specific data type or data type property. At runtime,
the Web Component Framework will look up the entities
mapped to these types and properties to use as defaults if more
specific entities have not been specified.
The name of the mapping is a combination of the datasource
name and the data type name. See Types.
Units Maps the unit of measurement to a datasource and a renderer.
The name of the mapping is a combination of the datasource
name and the unit name. See Units.
4
When a definition opens for one of the items in the module list, you can view and
reconfigure the settings.
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5
Web Component Framework Workflow
Before you start working with the Web Component Framework you need to define what
objectives you are trying to accomplish. For example, if you want to monitor a specific
application server at certain intervals and send alerts to a specific email address, you
need to establish choose the components necessary to create this type of workflow.
If you have already created a query that retrieves what you want from existing data, you
can start creating views to display the data. If you do not have the proper data to work
with, you need to create queries to return the data. For more information about queries,
see “Context and the Context Tab” on page 122.
Additional Documentation
For more information about the Web Component Framework see the following
documentation:
• View Component Tutorial—This document walks you through examples of how
Alternatively, you can create a new definition and configure it using the definition
tabs. For more information see, “Definitions Pane Settings Tabs” on page 107.
to configure some simple views.
• W eb Component Framework—online help pages. These pages contain a complete
list of properties for each item, object, or component in the framework.
• vFoglight User Guide—This document describes the default dashboards and how
to create dashboards and reports from existing views. For more information about
individual components, see the Component Reference Guide in the online help.
• vFoglight Command-Line Reference Guide—This document contains
information on scripting vFoglight via DOS command or Unix shell scri pts.
Customizing the UI Quickly
See the vFoglight User Guide for information on Create dashboard.
Finding Pages: Bookmarks
See the vFoglight User Guide for information on adding Bookmarks.
Queries
In vFoglight, queries are the preferred method for retrieving data from a data source.
For example, you can set up a query to retrieve all agents running in a monitored
environment whose host name matches the name of a particular Host object.
Note You can also retrieve data in a more limited way using a Data Runtime Value object .
The objects that appear in the Data menu choice under Configuration are those that are
returned by root queries. A number of default Root Queries have been defined. These
allow you to browse the common data objects. Using this approach you can build a
custom query that returns objects of interest to you and drag them on to your custom
dashboard to create pages that meet your specific needs.
Note You can build your own root queries. Simply enable the Root Query checkbox in the New
4
Query definition editor.
This section discusses how to work with query definitions and provides explanations of
the choices a user encounters.
This chapter contains the following sections:
Overview of Query Definitions.....................................................................................................76
Creating a Query in vFoglight......................................................................................................76
Parameters in Queries.................................................................................................................94
Creating a Query.........................................................................................................................94
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Overview of Query Definitions
Queries let you select a set of data objects of the same type. Pages and views extract and
use data from the queries for values and context settings.
Each query defines:
• The data-source type
• The specific data source
• The path of the query (the root location from which the query searches)
• A type of object to select
Optionally, a query can search down under the root, drilling down until it finds objects
of the desired type. In addition, it can restrict the objects it finds using conditions (or
restricts them to the first N objects), it can sort the objects, and it can aggregate the
objects into maximums, minimums, averages, and other aggregates.
Queries retrieve a list of data objects of the same data type (such as Host or AppServer).
For example, a query on the Host data type may return a list that contains all the
available Host data objects from the data source.
Queries always return a list of data objects. Even when there is only one object found
that satisfies the query, the result is a one-element list. A query that does not find any
objects returns an empty list.
Just like Views, Relevant and Allowed Roles can be set on Query Definitions. These are
taken into account when filtering Root Queries by role in the Data Browser, a portal or a
report builder. For more information, see “Roles in Query Definitions” on page 78.
Creating a Query in vFoglight
You begin the process of creating a query by clicking the Add button on the Queries tab
of the Module Contents pane. A New Query Dialog appears with these choices:
•Blank Query
• Copy of
Queries 77
Creating a Query in vFoglight
• Derived from
Note For more information about these functions, see “View Commands in the Definitions Area”
on page 105. For more information about configuring queries, see “Query Definition
Settings” on page 77.
Query Definition Settings
This section provides the details of the definition settings for a query. Unlike views a
query definition does not have separate tabs for different groups of settings. All the
settings are on a single page.
Name
This is a required field. You cannot create a new query with the same name as another
query in the same module. A warning icon ( ) is displayed if this happens. Move your
mouse over the icon and a tooltip displays the problem.
Root Query
Check this box to mark the query as a Root Query. Root queries (and their execution
results) are listed in the Data browser and the Data tab of a Portal or a Report Builder.
They provide a way to organize the data presented in those locations.
Relevant and Allowed Roles may be set on Query Definitions as well as on Views.
These roles are taken into account when filtering Root Queries by role, as is done in the
data browser, a portal or a report builder. For more information, see “Relevant Roles
and Allowed Roles” on page 78.
Hide Root
The Hide Root checkbox is only enabled if Root Query is checked. If checked, when the
results of the root query are shown in the Data Browser or the Data tab of a Portal or
Report Builder, the first item in the results list will be hidden. If the query results list
does not contain one item, then this option is ignored. This is useful when you know that
the results of the query will always return one item and you want to save users having to
expand the node corresponding to the one item in order to see its children. For example,
if you have a query that returns the root of a data source, hiding that root is useful so that
users can more easily get to the data that is really of interest.
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Comments
This is an optional field intended for use by developers. It is automatically filled in if
you are copying a query.
Context Help
You can use this field to tell end users about the purpose of this query.
Relevant Roles and Allowed Roles
Roles in View Definitions
By assigning user roles to views, each view can be marked as having zero or more
Relevant Roles and zero or more Allowed Roles.
• Each user has Allowed Roles (the roles they are allowed to be in) and Relevant
• If a view has no Relevant Roles marked, it is assumed to be relevant to all roles. If
Roles (roles for which this component was designed to be useful). Relevant roles
and Allowed roles contain the same list of items.
a view has no Allowed Roles marked, it is assumed to be allowed to be used by
all roles.
• If some but not all Allowed Roles are set on a view, then only users for whom at
least one of their roles is also an Allowed Role on the view can see or in any way
interact with that view.
• If some but not all Relevant Roles are set on a view, then in some situations the
GUI may not show that view to a user unless who does not have that role. Even
though the view does not show in, say, a list of dashboards, the user can still
access the view if there is a page accessible to the user that has a link to the
unlisted view.
Each view can be marked as having zero or more Relevant Roles, and zero or more
Allowed Roles. The roles set on a view are compared to the user roles when a page
access is attempted. Users are assigned roles and these are matched against the Relevant
Roles and the Allowed Roles for a view. This restriction does not apply if the user has
the appropriate permission or if the view is in the user's personal module.
Roles in Query Definitions
Roles are taken into account when filtering Root Queries by role in the Data Browser, a
portal, or a report builder.
Queries 79
Creating a Query in vFoglight
Each query can be marked as having zero or more Relevant Roles, and zero or more
Allowed Roles. This is related to user roles. Users are assigned roles and these are
matched against the Relevant Roles and the Allowed Roles for a query.
If a query has no Allowed Roles marked, all roles are allowed to use this query. If some
but not all Allowed Roles are set on a query, then only users for whom at least one of
their roles is also an Allowed Role on the query can see or in any way interact with that
query. This restriction does not apply if the user has CHANGE_SYSTEM_MODULES
permission (as determined by the AuthorizationService) or if the query is in the user's
personal module.
If a query has no Relevant Roles marked, it is assumed to be relevant to all roles. In
some situations, the GUI may not show a query as a choice to a user if the user's roles do
not match the Relevant Roles of the query. However, there is an option in those
situations to see all queries that are allowed, regardless of Relevant Roles.
Module-Level Roles
Roles can be applied globally to all the views and queries in a module by editing its
properties.
To edit module-level roles:
1
Select Dashboards > Configuration > Definitions in the navigation panel.
2
Click the triangular button at the right of a module name in the Module List pane.
3
In the drop-down list that appears, click Edit.
4
In the Edit Module dialog, select the appropriate Relevant Role(s) and Allowed
Role(s).
Data Source Type
Each query operates on a given type of data source. For example, vFoglight is a data
source for a vFoglight server. The Data Source Type must be selected befo re you start
editing. You cannot edit the Data Source Type while you are editing the query, as
changing the type also changes other settings.
In vFoglight, there is only one Data Source Type. This field is displayed as text only for
your information.
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Data Source ID
The Data Source ID is selected from a drop-down list box that lists the instances of the
DataSource Type. Selecting the (Default) item on the list applies this query to the
default DataSource. This is the most common choice.
Required Parameters
This section of the query definition is used to specify any parameters that are required
by the query and supplied at run time by Query Selection Runtime Values that use this
query.
To add a Required Parameter:
1
2
Click the button.
A Required Parameter row is displayed with the following fields:
• Name input field
• Object Type drop-down list
• List drop-down list
Enter the name as desired.
The page automatically refreshes after you leave the Name field.
3
Select the object type from the drop-down list. This is the type of value that the
required parameter can have. For example, it can be a data type from the data
source, such as Host, or a simple type like String.
4
Y ou can select True, False, or Unknown from the List drop-down. These options
indicate if the data in the parameter is a list, not a list, or might be a list. If the
parameter is a list, it must be a list of objects of the selected Object Type.
Queries 81
Creating a Query in vFoglight
In the preceding example, the Hosts node is the name of the list of objects of the data
type Host. A query always returns a list of data objects of the given type. Even if there is
only one data object to return, the query returns a list with one item. A data object
property can be a list property. For example, the Severity property in the Host data
object is a list. Queries can also define and use parameters in the Root Path.
In the preceding example, a Host data object has been added as a MyHost parameter to
the Search Depth.
This tells how many levels below the specified Root Path the query is allowed to look
for objects of the specified Object T ype. The default is 0, and would apply to cases such
as searching for objects of type Host under the root Hosts. Since Hosts is the list of all
hosts, there is no need to search down further levels.
An example of using the value 1 would be if the root was Hosts and you wanted to find
all events directly under those hosts by specifying an Object Type of Event.
Object Type
The Object Type is selected from a drop-down list of the available types for the query's
Data Source Type, such as Host or AppServer.
Localized Names in Drop-Down Lists
Many of the fields are drop-down lists or drop-down trees. When these are opened, they
display the localized names of the data objects or properties. Once you have made your
selection, the drop-down closes, and the new name of the object is displayed. For
example, the with Path drop-down tree shows the Java EE node. Expand this node and
the App Servers node is displayed. When selected, the path displays as javaee/
appServers in the field.
Root Path
This section of the definition sets the path to the Root, from which the query searches
for objects of the given DataSource Type. The root must be either a data object or a list
of data objects. The Root Path is not affected by the selected data object in the Object
Type field, and shows the entire vFoglight schema.
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Hide Root
The Hide Root checkbox is enabled only if Root Query is checked. If checked, when
the results of the root query are shown in the Data Browser or the Data tab of a Portal or
Report Builder, the first item in the results list is hidden. If the query results list does not
contain one item, then this option is ignored. This is useful when you know that the
results of the query will always return one item and you want to save users from having
to expand the node corresponding to the sole item in order to see its children. For
example, if you have a query that returns the root of a data source, hiding that root is
useful so that users can more easily get to the data that is really of interest.
Aggregations
A query returns a list of data objects. Instead of directly returning these data objects, the
Aggregations settings creates new data objects that contain only aggregated values. For
example, if a query returns a set of alarms, you can replace these data objects with an
Alarm data object containing the maximum severity of those alarms.
Note In most cases, the list contains only one aggregated data object.
Aggregation data objects are of the given data-object type, and they contain aggregated
values of certain properties within the data objects. The aggregation types are:
•Maximum
• Minimum
•Sum
• Average
• Weighted Average
• Count
Unlike the other aggregation types, a count aggregation returns a Count data object with
only two properties:
• Value - the count of returned data objects
• TypeName - the name of the type of data object being selected by the query and
counted
Count is also different from the other aggregation types in how it handles a query that
does not return any data objects. The other types will not create an aggregated object in
this case. Count does create an aggregated object, with Value set to 0.
Queries 83
Creating a Query in vFoglight
Creating an Aggregation
You can create more than one aggregation on the same query. If you do this, multiple
aggregated data objects are returned in the results of the query: one for each
aggregation, in the order specified. Leave the field blank if you do not requi re an
aggregation on a property.
To add an aggregation:
1
Click the button under Aggregation.
A new set of fields for an aggregation is added.
2
In the Calculate drop-down list select how you want the property field
calculated.
3
In the Property drop-down list, select the type of property used in the
aggregation.
4
Click the button with the tooltip Add Aggregation if you need to define another
aggregation.
5
Continue with “Identifying Values” on page 84.
If you aggregate on Metric properties, such as cpuUsage under Hosts, it creates a
data object of the type Host, with a cpuUsage property, and that property has
current, period and history properties. Each of those last three (the MetricValues
within the Metric) have been aggregated, as follows:
•For a max aggregation, it aggregates the max property of the metric values, and
stores it back into the max property in the aggregated MetricValue.
•For a min aggregation, it aggregates the min property of the metric values, and
stores it back into the min property in the aggregated MetricValue.
•For an average aggregation, it aggregates the average property of the m metric
values, and stores it back into the average property in the aggregated
MetricValue.
•For a weighted average aggregation, it aggregates the weighted average property
of the metric values, and stores it back into the average property in the aggregated
MetricValue. The count property of a metric is used for the weight. For example,
if the collected metric is Response Time, its average should be calculated by
weighting the various observed values by how many times each different value
occurred. On the other hand, if the system is monitoring two hosts, a simple
average of CPU usage is appropriate to guard against the case where the sample
rates for collecting data on the two hosts are different. If sample counts were used
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• For a sum aggregation, it aggregates the average property of the metric values,
• The only situation in which each history object within the Metric is not
• The most likely properties that you will be interested in, when doing aggregations
to weight the average, the host that was sampled more frequently would skew the
result.
and stores it back into the sum property in the aggregated MetricValue.
aggregated is if the timeRange used for the Query uses RAW granularity, which
means that each observation from the agent gets its own history row. In this case,
the history lists from the various metrics being aggregated do not match up (in
number, or in date/times), so there is no way they could be aggregated.
on Metric properties, are as follows:
• For a max aggregation, the period/max under the Metric, which gives the
maximum value for the whole timeRange.
•For a min aggregation, the period/min under the Metric, which gives the
minimum value for the whole timeRange.
• For an average aggregation, the period/average under the Metric, which gives
the average value for the whole timeRange.
• For a sum aggregation, the current/sum under the Metric, which gives the sum
of the values on the most current observations.
Note You are not limited to using these values if something else is desired.
Removing an Aggregation
To remove an aggregation:
• Click the button at the right side of the aggregation type.
Identifying Values
The expected use case for Identifying Values is as a label for a query that returns an
aggregated result.
Within each aggregation (except for ones using the operation count), you can also create
Identifying Values for the object returned by the query. This is a way to assign fixed
string values to other properties within the data object that is created as the result of
choosing an aggregation. For instance, if you created an aggregation of events to get
their maximum severity, you might add Identifying Values that returns just the Name
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property of this object. The identifying value can then be used as a label for the row of a
table that presents this information.
Adding an Identifying Value
Identifying Values settings only appear after you have created an aggregation.
To add an Identifying Value:
1
Click the button under Identifying Values.
A new set of fields for an Identifying Value is added.
2
Select the Property Name (relative to the Object Type) and the Text Value to be
assigned to that property.
Removing an Identifying Value:
To remove an Identifying Value:
• Click the button located right of the Identifying Value.
Filter Results Based on Top N
The Filter Results Based on Top N property lets you restrict the results of a query. You
can restrict the results to the first N or, conversely, exclude only the first N. For
example, you may only want all but the first five items of the results from the query.
This function is enabled by selecting the Filter results based on top N? checkbox.
The Value of N must be a number. You can set this using one of two radio buttons:
• Specific Value, where you enter a number greater than 0.
• From Parameter, where you can select a Required Parameter from the drop-
down list and use the value.
Note You can only use a parameter if it returns a number.
The Results to Include lets you restrict the results using one of two radio buttons:
• Only the Top N, where only the first N results are returned.
• Everything except the Top N, where everything except the first N results are
returned.
Selecting Everything except the top N may be useful in conjunction with an
aggregation operation where you have used one query to get an average of the top N,
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and you want to use another query to get an average of the rest of the data that are not in
the top N.
You would almost always use Order By when you use Filter Results Based on Top N.
Otherwise you would not know in which order the results would occur, and thus it
would not be clear which results would be included in the top N.
Order By
Order By keys control the sorting of the data objects returned by the query.
Note Sorting is applied before Filter Results Based on Top N is applied.
You can create multiple keys. Order By sorts on the first key, then on the second key,
and follows the sequence. Order By sorts only on a second key if the first key has data
objects in which the values were identical. In this case Order By sorts the data objects
containing those identical values based on the second key. This continues as further
keys are specified.
There are three types of views that can use the query's sort order: drop-downs, roworiented tables, and radio-buttons. As a result, sorting within a query is usually only
needed when Filter Results Based on Top N is also used.
Note Row-oriented tables also have their own sorting capabilities. If used, these settings override
the query's sort order.
If you are sorting on a metric property, such as cpuUsage under Hosts, the algorithm
automatically sorts on the metric's current/value property.
Adding an Order By Key
To add an Order By key:
1
Click the button under Order By.
A new set of input fields is added.
2
Select the Path from the drop-down tree.
3
Select ascending or descending.
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Removing an Order By key
To remove an Order By key:
• Click the button.
Where
The Where property restricts which data objects are selected by the query, based on
criteria such as property values in the data objects.
Note In SQL, the property and its parts are also called Where clauses.
Adding a Where Clause
To add a Where clause:
1
Click the button under Where.
A popup appears, displaying the following types of conditions:
• Comparison
•Is Set
• Sub Type is
•And
•Or
•Not
2
Select a type and the fields that define the condition are displayed.
Any condition evaluates to either true or false. The conditions in the Where
clause are evaluated for each data object found by the query. That data object is
included in the final results only if the condition evaluates to true.
Removing a Where Clause
To remove an entire where clause:
• Click the button to the right of the section you want to remove.
Conditional Types
You can configure the following different types of conditions.
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Comparison
This is the most common type of condition. A comparison consists of:
• A drop-down tree for the Path
• A drop-down list box for an operator
• A value that is used for comparison
The path on the left of the operator is compared to whatever is selected on the right of
the operator, using the selected operator.
The operator can be:
•= (equals)
• != (not equals)
• < (less than)
• <= (less than or equal to)
• > (greater than)
• >= (greater than or equal to)
•like
•in
For the ‘=’, ‘\!=’ and ‘like’ operators, the case insensitive attribute applies (the
corresponding checkbox is enabled). Note that the case insensitive attribute will only be
used if both the right hand and left hand values are strings.
The comparison value is set in one of two ways:
• If you select the Specific Value radio button, type the desired value into the input
field.
• If you select the From Parameter radio button, you can select one of the
Required Parameters (that have been defined in the query already) from the dropdown list.
You can use the value of the parameter. You can also drill down to a lower-level path in
the parameter's type by selecting a node from the Path drop-down tree.
For example, if you are selecting Hosts, and want to only select one host named
MainServer, you would enter the path of name, the operator =, and the specific value
MainServer.
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When the in operator is used, the value on the right must be a list. This can occur when
parameters are used. The comparison is true for a given data object if the value in the
Path field is contained in the list specified by the From Parameter field on the right.
The like operator is used for wildcard matching, and behaves exactly as it does in
standard SQL. The pattern of characters and wildcards in the right field are compared
against the entire value of the entry in the Path field.
The wildcards are:
• Underscore ( _ ): represents any one character.
• Percent ( % ): represents any string of 0 or more characters.
A match is found only if the pattern is a complete match against the Path value. For
example, the following patterns will all match MachineOne:
•
M%One
• %chi%
• Ma_hine_ne
But chi%O is not a match because it only matches a part of MachineOne.
Paths are allowed to have several levels, (such as events/name under Hosts), if an
appropriate comparison can be made with the results.
The <, <=, > and >= operators can be used with numbers, strings or dates. If the Path on
the left of the comparison evaluates to a number, and a Specific Value on the right of the
comparison is a string, the string is treated as a number. If it cannot be converted to a
number, the comparison will evaluate to false.
Is Set
Is Set requires a single Path selected from the drop-down tree of data objects. It
evaluates to true if the value of that path is not empty (not null) and is not an empty list
(in the case when the property always evaluates to a list).
In the rare case where the path points to a list of lists, the Is Set is true if at least one of
the sub-lists is not empty. For example, if the elements the query is selecting are
WebApplications, and you use Is Set with a path of appServers/slowestRequests, the
condition is true for a given Web application if it contains at least one AppServer that
contains at least one request in its slowest requests list.
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Sub Type is
Sub Type requires a type to be selected from a drop-down list of types. The listed types
are the sub types of the selected Object Type for the query. If there are no sub types of
the Object Type, you receive an error message if you try to select this type of condition.
It evaluates to true if the object is of the selected type (or one of its sub types). For
instance, if you are selecting with an Object Type of Host, and you use a Sub Type is
condition with type WindowsHost, only the Windows Hosts is selected.
Note For this usage, you could just have selected WindowsHost as the Object Type and embed
And
The And condition is true if all of the conditions below it are true, and is false if at least
one of them is false. Use And to apply more than one condition (usually two or more).
To add a condition:
1
2
this condition in a Not condition, to select all Hosts that were not Windows Hosts.
Select And, and click the button below it.
Create the conditions as required.
Or
The Or condition is true if at least one of the conditions below it is true, and is false if all
of them are false. Use Or to apply more than one condition (usually two or more).
To add a condition:
1
Select Or, and click the button below it.
2
Create the conditions as required.
Not
Use Not to reverse the sense of a single condition. The Not condition is true if the
condition below it is false, and false if the condition below it is true.
To add a condition:
1
Select Not, and click the button below it.
2
Create the one condition as required.
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Combining And, Or, and Not Conditions
By using nested combinations of And, Or and Not, you can create complex conditions,
such as including a Host if:
• Its name is MainServer or SecondServer.
• There are no events under it.
The following example displays how the Where section of a query is set.
The And clause contains the Or and the Not clauses. The Or clause itself contains the
two comparison clauses, and the Not clause contains an Is Set clause.
Sequence of Evaluation
In a complex query, the selected data objects are subjected to the different parts of the
query in the following order:
1
The data objects are restricted based on Where - if present.
2
They are then sorted based on Order By - if present.
3
Some are then selected based on Filter Results Based on Top N - if present.
4
The remaining data objects are aggregated (if aggregations are present).
Note For more information about Queries, see the Web Component Tutorial.
Creating New Queries
The New Query dialog lets you create a new query or a copy of an existing query.
To create a new query:
1
Select Configuration > Definitions in the navigation panel.
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2
3
4
5
6
7
In the Module List pane, choose the module in which you want to work. If you are
creating queries for your own use, choose My Definitions.
In the Module Contents pane, click the Queries tab.
Click Add.
The New Query dialog is displayed:
Select Blank Query and click OK.
A New Query tab opens in the View/Edit Definitions pane.
For queries, all settings are on this pane. There are no tabs as there are for more
complex things, such as Views.
The Definitions pane changes to an Edit pane. It fills with the query editor, which
contains all the fields that can be used to construct a query. You must fill in only
the fields that are marked by an exclamation point icon on the right.
Type the name you have chosen for your query in the Name field.
Now that the query has been named, it can be referenced by that name when you
want to use it.
8
Check Root Query if the query is to be used for this purpose.
9
If it is a root query and you want to hide the root, check Hide Root.
10
Check Public if you want to share the query.
11
Ensure that Deprecated is cleared. This checkbox is used to flag outdated
queries.
12
Fill in the Comments and Context Help text boxes.
13
Select Relevant and Allowed roles for this query.
14
Select the Data Source Type. Typically, its value is vFoglight.
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15
Ensure that the Data Source ID field’s value is <default>.
16
Add any Required Parameters needed by the query.
These are values that are supplied at run time, usually from a context input.
17
Select the Object Type by clicking the drop-down arrow at the right of this field.
Choose the object from the drop-down list.
A list of all the objects known to the running vFoglight instance appears. You’ll
be able to browse this object as soon as you have set the path in the next step.
Note This list box responds to keystrokes. You can type a letter and be taken right to the
desired entry.
18
Searches normally start from the root (/), so ensure that Root Path, Root contains
a slash (/).
19
Objects are grouped at some level down from the root. Choose the object you
want from the drop-down list in the with Path field. You might need to set the
Max Search Depth field as well.
20
You can have the query return aggregate values by setting Aggregations and
Identifying Values.
21
You can filter results by specifying a value for N, either by giving it a specific
value or by declaring a parameter that returns a value.
22
You can sort the returned result by choosing one or more items in a list.
23
You can use a Where clause to use a condition to limit the returned objects to the
ones that match the criterion.
24
You can test the query by clicking the Test button at the top of the Edit pane .
The Query Results dialog appears, showing the name or names of the servers
returned by the query and, in this case, the Data Type of the object, which is Host.
The Value field is empty because there is no numerical value associated with
objects. Simple types have values, objects do not.
Note You can see that the query did return a list of objects by clicking the expand icon (+)
at the left any host name in the
some properties of the host, such as its topologyObjectId and
topologyObjectVersionId, have numerical values, while others, such as
which are themselves objects, do not.
The
Query Results dialog allows you to see all the properties of the object, which is
useful if you want to determine their names for use later on.
Note The topologyObjectId and topologyObjectVersionId properties mentioned in the
previous note should not be used to select a particular object. If you do need to use
a specific object in a custom view during a running session it is better to set an
additional context value of type Data, type in a name for the Key , and navigate to the
Query Results dialog. When you do, you’ll see that
agents,
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particular runtime object in the Context Entry dialog. This is a much more efficient
way of directly accessing the object rather than causing the system to search all
objects until an ID match is found.
25
Click Save to save the query.
Parameters in Queries
Queries can be made aware of Query Selection Runtime Values. A Query Selection can
have parameters. Their values replace the specified Required Parameters in the query.
The Query Selection Runtime Value Parameters must exactly m atch the Required
Parameters.
Currently, the query attributes that can be replaced by parameter values are the query’s
Root Path, the Filter Results Based on Top N value, and the right side of a comparison
condition. The Root Path can only be replaced by a parameter that is a data object or a
list of data objects. The value of the parameter becomes the root object for the query
execution.
You can add additional path information under a parameter used for the Root Path. In
this case, the parameter value is assumed to be a data object, but the value used is the
given path into that data object.
For more information about using parameters, see “Query Definition Settings” on
page 77 and “Deriving a Query from Another Query” on page 97. For information about
aggregations see, “Creating an Aggregation” on page 83.
Creating a Query
Creating a query extracts data from a data source. Creating a query involves defining the
following elements:
• The type of objects that you want to select.
• Any parameters that you want to pass to the query.
• The selection criteria, or the where clause.
If parameters are passed to a query, you can use them to compare the properties of
selected objects to refine the Where clause.
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To create a query:
1
In the Module Contents pane, click the Queries tab.
2
To create a new query, click Add.
The New Query dialog box appears.
3
To start from an empty query, ensure that the Blank checkbox is selected.
4
Select the data source type from the drop-down list.
5
To close the New Query dialog box and proceed to write the query, click OK.
The New Query dialog box closes, and the Definitions Pane appears in the pane
to the right.
Note An exclamation mark that appears in the Definitions pane next to an input field
indicates that the query cannot be saved unless you set that field. A corresponding
tooltip also displays.
6
In the Name box type a name for the query.
When you are creating the query, save the query. That name appears in the
Queries tab.
7
In the Comments box, type a brief description of the query you are writing.
Alternatively, you can add more information using the Context Help box if
desired.
8
Define the Data Source ID for the Data Source Type.
9
To add the parameter, under Required Parameters, click the plus icon.
A set of input fields appears. You can use them to further define the parameters
that are passed to the query .
10
In the Name box, type the name of your choice—the one that you want to
associate with the object type that is passed as a parameter to the query.
11
Define the object type by clicking Object Type and selecting a type from the list
that appears.
12
Select one of the options in the List box to choose whether it is acceptable for the
returned objects to be a list, not a list, or either.
13
Select an option from the Object Type drop-down list to define the type of
objects that are selected by the query.
14
Ensure that the query searches for all Object Type instances in the collection
model. To do that, verify that a forward slash ‘/’appears in the Root box, under
Root Path. Then click the Browse button to the right of with Path and choose
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15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
the object that you want from the list that appears. Example:
To retrieve specific aggregated data, select values from the Calculate and
Property drop-down lists.
Ensure that you have created an aggregation or that one is available.
To specify identifying values, click the .
Select values from the Property and Text Value drop-down lists.
To filter, check the Filter Results Based on Top N.
Continue to configure the filter options.
Under Order By, set the value and the order of the filter.
T o add to a condition to the selection criteria, under Where, click .
From the list box that appears, select a condition type.
A set of input fields appears, letting you to further refine the output of the query.
Click Save.
Copying a Query
Copying is a fast way of creating a new query. It is also a way to create a modified
version of a System query. You can copy any query, including your own User query, a
System query, or a query created by another user.
You cannot create a copy of a query and give it the same name as another query in your
module. If you enter a name that is already in use, an alert icon ( ) is di sp l a yed beside
the field and the Save button is disabled.
To copy a query:
There is no copy button for a query shown in the Definition pane. Instead, select the
New Query button and the New Query dialog is displayed.
1
Select Configuration > Definitions in the navigation panel.
2
In the Module List pane, choose the module in which you want to work. If you are
creating queries for your own use, choose My Definitions.
3
In the Module Contents pane, click the Queries tab.
4
Click Add.
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The New Query dialog is displayed.
5
Select Copy of and from the drop-down list select a module that you want to
copy.
6
Click OK.
The query definition is displayed.
Note To save this as a new query, you are only required to enter a name in the Name field. You
can modify the other settings at a later time.
Deriving a Query from Another Query
Deriving a query from another query allows you to create a variant version of an
existing query. You can derive from any query, including your own User query, a
System query, or a query created by another user. You can even derive a query from
another derived query. The query from which a derived query is made is called its base
query, and is permanently linked to it.
You cannot create a derived query and give it the same name as another query in your
module. If you enter a name that is already in use, an alert icon ( ) is displayed beside
the field and the Save button is disabled.
A derived query may extend its base query’s list of Required Parameters, and replace its
Filter Results Based on TopN, Aggregations, Order By and Where sections. If the
derived query adds Required Parameters, their numerical order comes after that of the
base query.
A simple example of where you might want to use derived queries is a base query that
selects a group of Events, and a derived query that aggregates those events into a
maximum severity.
In the editor, normally you are not allowed to edit or replace the Filter Results Based on
T op N, Aggregation, Order By or Where settings in a derived query if those settings are
already established in the base query. However, it is possible to get into a situation
where both the base query and the derived query contain settings for any of these
properties as follows:
• Start with a base query with the property, for example Aggregations, that is not
set.
• Derive a query from it, and set Aggregations on the derived query.
• Go back to the base query, and set Aggregations on it.
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In this situation, both queries have settings for Aggregations. The query editor will
display warnings on both of these queries about that fact. If you edit the derived query
again, you will be allowed to modify the Aggregations setting. However, if you remove
that setting, it reverts to using the base query's Aggregations setting, and that setting is
no longer editable.
Note Parts of the derived query that are inherited from the base query are displayed only in the
To derive a query:
1
2
3
4
5
Query Editor. They are not editable.
From the vFoglight navigation panel under Dashboards, click Configuration >
Definitions.
In the Module List pane, choose the module in which you want to work. If you are
creating views for your own use, choose My Definitio ns .
In the Module Contents pane, click the Queries tab.
Click Add.
The New Query dialog is displayed.
Select Derived from and click OK.
The query definition is displayed.
Note To save this as a new query, you are only required to enter a name in the Name field. You
can always modify the other settings at a later time.
Editing a Query
Follow this procedure to edit a query. Depending on your permissions, you may not be
able to edit a System query or a query created by another user.
To edit a query:
1
In the Module Contents pane, click the Queries tab.
2
Select the User query from the Modules Contents pane.
3
Select Edit from the Definitions pane.
The query definition is displayed.
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Deleting a Query
Follow this procedure to delete a query. You can only delete your own User queries. Yo u
cannot delete a System query or a query created by another user.
To delete a query:
1
In the Module Contents pane, click the Queries tab.
2
Select the User query from the List frame.
3
Select Delete from the Definitions pane.
A dialog is displayed asking you to confirm the deletion.
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