Visualize values in ranges with gauge charts
Classic dashboards have their own panels and methods of configuring them. For details on gauge charts in classic dashboards, see Classic dashboard panels.
A gauge chart visualizes numeric data returned by a query. The chart depicts a specified value, such as the last numeric value in a time series or the result's sum, average, or minimum or maximum value, within a radial gauge representing a specified range.
Each gauge displays its series name or alias, the configured numeric value representing that series, and an indicator pointing to where that value falls within its range.
This feature isn't available to all Chronosphere users and might not be visible in your app. For information about enabling this feature in your environment, contact Chronosphere Support.
Two bars on the gauge indicate the gauge's thresholds by their colors:
- A thick bar indicates in which threshold the value falls.
- A thin bar indicates the thresholds' ranges on the gauge.
You can visualize the results of multiple queries in a single gauge chart panel to visually compare them. This can help you quickly identify whether values from related queries, such as resource usage of different services or cumulative failure and error counts, are within expected thresholds.
For details about the configuration options common to all panels, see Panels.
Add a gauge chart to a dashboard
To add a gauge chart panel to a standard dashboard:
- Add a panel to a dashboard.
- In the Add Panel interface, click the Type dropdown and select Gauge Chart.
- Add a query to the panel.
- Click the Add button to add the panel to the dashboard and close the Add Panel interface.
- Optional: On the dashboard, click Save to save the new panel to the dashboard.
Queries that return an extremely large number of data points or invalid results can result in panel errors. For example, a query might return an error for exceeding server resource limits.
Chronosphere reports these errors with an icon that appears in the corner of the Preview pane of the Create Panel or Edit Panel interfaces, or on the panel when viewing it on the dashboard. Hover the cursor over the icon to view the error message.
Configure a gauge chart
You can configure a gauge chart by modifying its Settings.
Any changes you make in the panel's Settings tab are immediately reflected in the Preview pane, but take effect only when you click Apply in the Edit Panel interface and then Save the dashboard.
To modify a gauge chart's settings using its Settings tab:
- Edit the gauge chart panel.
- In the Edit Panel interface, click the Settings tab.
Modify a gauge chart's properties
The Misc section in a table's Settings tab defines how the gauge interprets and displays the panel's query results.
-
Abbreviate: Toggles whether to abbreviate the gauge's numeric value. For example, if enabled, Chronosphere renders a value of
100000000
as100M
. You can toggle this setting only if you set the Unit toDecimal
orBytes
;Time
units are always abbreviated andPercent
values don't require it. Defaults totrue
. -
Unit: Defines the unit used to render the Y axis. This has the most significant effect when you enable Abbreviate. Defaults to
Decimal
.- Decimal: Base 10 values. Chronosphere renders a value of
1000000
as1M
. - Bytes: As decimal multiple-byte units. Chronosphere renders a value of
1000000
as1MB
. - Time: Determines the unit of time that Chronosphere uses to interpret a numeric value. The unit you select isn't necessarily the unit Chronosphere displays.
For example, if you select
Nanoseconds
, Chronosphere interprets a numeric value of120
as 120 nanoseconds and renders it as120ns
. If you selectDays
, Chronosphere interprets the same value as 120 days and renders it as4 months
.Supported time units are
Nanoseconds
,Microseconds
,Milliseconds
,Seconds
,Minutes
,Hours
,Days
,Weeks
,Months
, andYears
.-
Percent: Interprets the value as a percentile, representing 0% to 100% on a range of either 0.0 to 1.0 (Percent (0.0-1.0)) or 0 and 100 (Percent (0-100)).
For example, Chronosphere renders a value of
1.0
in Percent (0.0-1.0) as100%
, and in Percent (0-100) as1%
.
- Decimal: Base 10 values. Chronosphere renders a value of
-
Decimals: Defines how many decimal places Chronosphere renders for values. Default renders decimal places only if necessary and rounds to the nearest value. Numeric values from
0
to4
render the corresponding number of decimal places. -
Calculation: Defines which data point or calculation to use as the gauge's value, such as its average, minimum, maximum, or total values. Defaults to the last numeric value in a series (Last *).
- First: The series' first value.
- Last: The series' last value.
- First *: The series' first numeric value.
- Last *: The series' last numeric value.
- Avg: The series' mean value, excluding null values.
- Total: The sum of all values in the series.
- Min: The series' minimum value.
- Max: The series' maximum value.
-
Max: Defines the gauge's maximum value.
Modify a gauges chart's thresholds
The Thresholds section in a gauge chart's Settings tab defines values where Chronosphere renders each threshold range. You can define threshold values as either absolute numeric values or percentiles.
The threshold's Mode defines whether all thresholds use Absolute numeric values, which is the default mode, or Percent values. Percent values are relative to the Y axis' minimum and maximum.
Chronosphere assumes that the Default threshold always starts at the left-most beginning of the gauge's range and end at the first threshold value. Each subsequent threshold value defines the end of the previous threshold's range. Chronosphere also assumes the last threshold range begins at the last threshold value and ends at the right-most ending of the gauge's range.
To create a new threshold value:
- Click the plus sign (+) in the Thresholds section header.
- In the field that appears, enter a value where you want Chronosphere to end the previous threshold range and begin the next range.
- Optional: Click the color indicator, depicted as a colored circle, to open a color selector and choose a color for the threshold line.
To delete a threshold value, click the Delete icon on its corresponding row of the Thresholds section.