Dashboards

Dashboards (Main Menu / Dashboards) are the entry point to the Txture web client and the landing page after logging in.

Introduction

A dashboard is a collection of widgets arranged in a (invisible) grid. Dashboards are ideal if you require an overview over all your data in Txture. As the information demand is different from one use case (and user) to another, dashboards in Txture are configurable. Furthermore, you can share a dashboard configuration with other Users or User Roles.

To create a new dashboard, use the Select Dashboard button in the top right corner, then select Create new dashboard. We recommend that you give a name to your new dashboard so that you can find it easily later on. To do so, click on the current name in the top left corner of your dashboard, and enter a new name.

Dashboards are saved automatically

All changes to dashboards are saved automatically, including changes to the name, the widgets, widget positions or widget configurations.

Switching between dashboards

You can choose different dashboards using the dashboard sidebar. Use the Select Dashboard in the top right corner to bring up the sidebar. This will show you all dashboards you created as well as the ones that were created by others and shared with you.

Selecting any dashboard from this dialog will open it and close your previous dashboard. You can also search for dashboards using the filter bar and sort them by different criteria as shown above.

Modifying a shared dashboard

If you use a dashboard which has been shared with you by another user and you change this dashboard (moving widgets, adding new ones etc.), the changes you made will be saved automatically and will be visible to all users that have access to the same dashboard.

Customizing a dashboard

Adding a widget

To add a widget to the dashboard, use the Add widget drop-down in the top right corner, and select the desired widget type from the menu:

Moving widgets on a dashboard

You can change the position of all widgets on your dashboard. To do so, hover your mouse cursor over a widget. A small widget menu will appear in its top-right corner:

If you click and drag the position marker (), you can drag the widget around. It will automatically snap to the dashboard grid, moving other widgets out of the way to make room, if necessary. A shadow will indicate where the widget will be placed when you release the mouse button. Release the mouse button to place the widget in the desired position.

Resizing a widget

All widgets can be resized by clicking and dragging their bottom-right corner. Adjacent widgets will be moved to make room, if required. A shadow indicates how big the widget will be. Releasing the mouse button will resize the widget.

Size matters!

Not all widgets are available in all sizes and aspect ratios. Please note that the amount of data displayed in a widget may change depending on its size. Also, font sizes and other visual dimensions may change if you resize a widget to make the best possible use of the given space.

Removing a widget

If you want to remove a widget from your dashboard, hover over the widget to bring up its widget menu, and click on the button in the top right corner of the widget.

Changing widget settings

Some widgets can be customized via a settings menu. For example, the Query Count widget allows you to specify the query it should evaluate. The configuration options vary between widget types. To bring up the configuration menu of your widget, hover your mouse cursor over the widget to show its widget menu, and click on the settings () button. If this button is disabled, the widget has no configuration options.

Renaming a widget

In many cases it is useful to supply a custom title to your widget to explain which information is being shown. To change the title of a widget, click on its current title, and enter a new one. This works for all widget types.

Sharing a dashboard with other users

You can share any dashboard with any User or Role. To do so, click on the Select Dashboard button, and then use the next to the dashboard you want to share and click on Edit. This will bring up its details dialog:

In this dialog, click on the Visibility option ( Only Me by default), and choose the desired alternative from the sub-menu. If you already know that a dashboard is visible to others, you might as well just copy-paste the URL in the browser and send it to your team mates. Dashboard URLs are stable.

Dashboard widget types

In the following, the different types of dashboard widgets are explained.

Favorite Reports

This widget displays your list of Favorite Reports. It is a useful shortcut to frequently used information, as the dashboard is also the landing page for the Txture web client.

Clicking on any of the listed reports will open it in the Reports tab of the main menu.

Assets by Type

The Assets by Type widget shows a breakdown of all your assets in Txture, grouped by their asset type.

You can click on any of the segments (except for Others) and report the assets of this particular asset type in a new table report.

Structure

The Structure widget shows the same content as the Structure page.

This widget is particularly useful for new users who are not yet familiar with the Structure of your Txture instance. Clicking on any of the buttons will open a new table report, listing all assets of the selected asset type. Note that, unlike in the full Structure page, link types will not be shown in this widget.

Query Count

The Query Count is a simple, yet powerful widget. It displays the result set size of a Query.

The query can be supplied by a Report (counting the assets in the report), or by specifying the query directly in the widget settings. By default, the number of all assets in the repository is shown.

What's in a Number?

There are many creative ways to use the Query Count widget. For example, in a Cloud Transformation setting, it could display the number of Applications which have yet to be migrated. In an EAM scenario, it could display the number of Applications which are close to their end-of-life. Don't forget to supply a suitable widget title.

Query Count over Time

The Query Count over Time widget is similar to the Query Count widget, except that the query in question is repeated several times, at different timestamps in the past:

The graph displays the Date on the x-axis, and the query result set count on the y-axis. This widget is useful for trend analysis and similar tasks. The query and the time period are both configurable in the settings.

Assets over Time

The Assets over Time widget is similar to the Query Count over Time widget, except that it groups the assets by their asset type:

Hovering over the graph will display a legend, as well as the actual counts. The time period is configurable in the widget settings.

Saved Report

The Saved Report widget displays the output of a saved Report directly in the dashboard, making it a very versatile component:

The report which should be displayed is configurable in the settings. In the image above, a saved Gantt Chart report is displayed. Clicking on the Open Report button will open the full report.

Deleting a dashboard

You can delete a dashboard from the Select Dashboard menu, by using the button next to the dashboard. If you are the owner of a shared dashboard, deleting the dashboard will make it unavailable to all users, except for the users who created a personal copy beforehand.

Dashboard templates

You can combine multiple report templates in a dashboard to conveniently show widgets for different assets. Adding report templates works just like adding a report: create a widget and select a template instead of a report. Then, under Select Dashboard choose Edit for the dashboard you want to use as a template dashboard. In the details dialog, make sure to check the Combine template variables checkbox and save.

The template dashboard will now show a combined form where you can set all template variables and choose assets for the asset place-holder template variables. Note that the asset selection dialog has an intrinsic filter query such that you can only pick suitable assets. Template variables that have the same name and type will be combined. They only show up once in the dashboard template form and will be used in all report templates that share the variable. In that way, you can conveniently create multiple different reports in a single dashboard using the same variables.

Once you have set all template variables, the dashboard will appear as usual, showing the report widgets. Additionally, the dashboard features a header in the top showing the selected template variable values. The header also allows you to change those values at any time. Simply click on the variable value you want to change in order to edit it. For asset place-holders, this will bring up the selection menu again.

FAQ

Why can't I drag a widget downwards?
The dashboard grid will always try to make the best possible use of the available space. Therefore, it will automatically try to move all widgets towards the top of the screen (i.e. there will be no empty space above a widget). However, you can still have one widget above or below another. In general, we recommend to keep your dashboards small enough to fit onto the screen without requiring a scrollbar.