Visualize large statistic numbers with stat charts

Classic dashboards have their own panels and methods of configuring them. For details about panels in classic dashboards, see Classic dashboard panels.

A stat chart visualizes statistic numbers returned by a query. The chart depicts a value based on the results of the defined query. You can optionally add a sparkline chart that displays under the value, in addition to displaying a message when the value hits a defined threshold.

Add a stat chart to a dashboard

Use one of the following methods to add a stat chart to a dashboard. Stat charts accept metric and log queries only.

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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.

Observability Platform reports these errors with an icon that appears in the corner of the Preview pane of the Add panel or Edit panel interfaces, or on the panel when viewing it on the dashboard. Hold the pointer over the icon to view the error message.

To add a stat chart panel to a standard dashboard:

Add a panel to a dashboard.
In the Add Panel interface, click the Type dropdown and select Stat 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.

Configure a stat chart

Select one of the following options to configure a stat chart.

You can configure a stat 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.

See Modify a stat chart's properties for a list of the settings you can modify.

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Observability Platform doesn't fully support directly editing a panel's JSON representation and recommends configuring panels in the user interface. Use the JSON representation only for managing your configuration as code with tools such as Chronoctl and Terraform.

To modify a stat chart's settings using its Settings tab:

Edit the stat chart panel.
In the Edit panel interface, click the Settings tab.

Modify a stat chart's properties

The Misc section in a table's Settings tab defines how the stat interprets and displays the panel's query results.

Sparkline: Enables a sparkline visualization that displays under the value generated by the defined query.
Abbreviate: Toggles whether to abbreviate the stat's numeric value. For example, if enabled, Observability Platform renders a value of 100000000 as 100M. You can toggle this setting only if you set the Unit to Decimal or Bytes. Time units are always abbreviated and Percent values don't require it. Defaults to true.
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. Observability Platform renders a value of 1000000 as 1M.
- Bytes: As decimal multiple-byte units. Observability Platform renders a value of 1000000 as 1MB.
- Time: Determines the unit of time that Observability Platform uses to interpret a numeric value. The unit you select isn't necessarily the unit Observability Platform displays.
For example, if you select Nanoseconds, Observability Platform interprets a numeric value of 120 as 120 nanoseconds and renders it as 120ns. If you select Days, Observability Platform interprets the same value as 120 days and renders it as 4 months.

Supported time units are Nanoseconds, Microseconds, Milliseconds, Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years.
- 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, Observability Platform renders a value of 1.0 in Percent (0.0-1.0) as 100%, and in Percent (0-100) as 1%.
Decimals: Defines how many decimal places Observability Platform renders for values. Default renders decimal places only if necessary and rounds to the nearest value. Numeric values from 0 to 4 render the corresponding number of decimal places.
Font size: Controls the size of the font for the displayed value.

Modify a stat chart's thresholds

The Thresholds section in a stat chart's Settings tab defines values where Observability Platform renders each threshold range. You can define threshold values for stat charts as absolute numeric values.

You can enter a message in the Base settings section to display in the panel, without defining a threshold. You're able to enter an independent message for each threshold you define.

To create a new threshold value:

Click the plus sign (+) in the Thresholds section header.
In the field that displays, enter a value where you want Observability Platform to end the previous threshold range and begin the next range.
Optional: Click the color indicator, depicted as a colored square with text, to open a color selector and choose a color for the threshold.
Optional: Click the caret (>) to expand the threshold definition, and enter text in the Message field to display on the chart if the threshold is met.

To display only the text from the Message field, click the Show only message toggle.
In the Edit panel dialog, click Apply to save your changes.
After you've finished editing the panel, click Save on the dashboard to save your changes.

To delete a threshold value, click the caret (>) to expand the threshold definition, and then click the Delete icon on its corresponding row of the Thresholds section.

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