Creating a IBM Cloud Logs vertical bar widget

You can create a vertical bar chart that can be included in custom IBM® Cloud Logs dashboards.

Use a vertical bar charts to sort your data alphabetically by default by column name. In horizontal bar charts, data is usually sorted by value.

Step 1: Enter name and description

Complete the following steps:

  1. In a custom dashboard, click Add Widget Add Widget icon and drag and drop the Vertical Bar Chart widget from your side bar.

  2. Replace New vertical bar chart with the Name for the widget.

  3. Enter a description.

    Click Action icon Action icon. Then, select Add description.

  4. Define where legend values are displayed. Valid values are: Side, Bottom, Auto, and Hide.

    Click Action icon Action icon. Then, select Legend Settings.

Step 2: Configure the query to define the data set

Complete the following steps:

  1. Click Action icon Action icon. Then, select Edit mode.

  2. For Query 1, complete the following steps:

    Select the data type. Valid values are: Logs, Metrics, and DataPrime.

    Select the source. Valid options are: Priority Insights and Analyze and Alert.

    You can rename the query. Select the Action icon and then click Rename query.

  3. Enter the query.

    When the data type is DataPrime, enter a Dataprime query in the Query field.

    When the data type is Logs, enter a Lucene query in the Query field. You can apply filters and aggregations.

    When the data type is Metrics, specify the metric or desired PromQL in the Query field. You can apply filters and aggregations.

    When creating a bar chart with metrics as the data type, the categories specified in the PromQL query appear in the Group By field automatically. You can reorder categories in the Group By field by dragging and dropping. Drag and drop categories from the Category field into the Stacking field, to stack by a particular category.

  4. [Optional] Add one or more filters specific to the widget to narrow down the data that is displayed.

    Select a label and its corresponding value.

    Filters are applied at the widget level and work alongside dashboard filters. If there is a conflict, the dashboard filters take precedence over widget filters.

  5. Add a function.

    For a query where the data type is Logs, you can show an aggregated value using one of the following functions:

    Aggregation option when building a query when the data type is Logs
    Aggregation Description
    Count The total number of logs within the selected time range.
    Count Distinct The number of unique logs within the selected time range.
    Sum The sum of all logs within the selected time range.
    Min The smallest value among the logs within the selected time range.
    Max The largest value among the logs within the selected time range.
    Average The average value of all logs within the selected time range.
    Percentile XX Represents the value below which XX% of the logs fall. For example, Percentile 95 is the value below which 95% of logs fall.

    For a query where the data type is Metrics, you can show a calculated value using one of the following functions:

    Calculations option when building a query when the data type is Metrics
    Calculation Description
    Instant The value at the current point in time.
    Last The most recent value within the selected time range.
    Min The smallest value within the selected time range.
    Max The largest value within the selected time range.
    Avg The average value of all data points within the selected time range.
    Sum The total sum of all data points within the selected time range.
    None No calculation is applied. Raw data is used.

Step 3: Configure the widget

Complete the following steps:

  1. Click Action icon Action icon. Then, select Edit mode.

  2. Choose a Legend Management option. Valid values are: Group and Stack.

    Group organizes the legend based on different data entities, such as servers or applications, displaying each as a separate entry.

    Stack displays how multiple data entries are grouped and layered together on the same horizontal bar. The data sets of the same stack are grouped into a single horizontal bar chart divided into segments. This shows you a second layer of data on the chart.

    Legend Colour Scheme : Select whether you want your legend colours to be by group, stack, or aggregation. By default, the horizontal bar chart is by aggregation, which means a single colour will be shown for all bars.

  3. In the Visual management section, choose how you want to visualize tha data.

    The max bar by graph displays the maximum number of individual bars in a single chart view according to your query.

    The max slices per bar displays the maximum number of segments within a single bar.

    Enable the max bar by graph, the max slices per bar, or both to display a single value within a specified range.

  4. Configure the Scale section.

    A scale refers to how values are displayed along the x-axis and y-axis. You may choose between linear or logarithmic as values.

    Choose the Scale type. Valid options are: Linear that defines how values increases proportionally and Logarithmic wherein value is defined by logarithms instead of equal linear intervals.

    You can change the color of a threshold value.

    By default, setting is linear. If however you have large differences between the different values, it can be helful to show the logarithmic scale instead. For example, if the majority of your values are under 1k and one value is 10k, using the logarithmic scale will show you an easier to read bar chart than linear scale.

Step 4: Save the widget

Complete the following steps:

  1. [Optional] Set the widget's dashboard time if you want to use a time range that is different from the Dashboard selected one.

  2. Click Save to save your widget.

  3. [Optional] Share a direct link to the widget. Click Action icon Action icon. Then, select Share Widget URL, and copy the URL.

    Anyone with access to the dashboard can open the shared link to view the widget in context.

    Shared widget URLs always reflect the dashboard’s last saved version. If you’ve made changes to the widget or layout, save your dashboard before sharing.

  4. [Optional] Add a custom action. For more information, see Using actions to integrate with third-party services.