Chapter 14 Dataviews

This chapter provides the following information:

• Dataview Contents

• Creating a Dataview

• Working With Dataviews

• Navigating Through a Dataview Window

• Types of Dataviews

Overview of Dataviews

Dataviews are customized data property tables. You can create dataviews for any of the following data:

• One type of data from several different hosts within a single domain

• Several types of data from one host

• Several types of data from different hosts within a single domain

An example of the first concept is a dataview that monitors CPU usage in group of hosts. An example of the second concept is a dataview that monitors disk space and CPU usage on one host.

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Note –

Dataviews allow you to combine information from different hosts within a Sun Management Center domain; however, you cannot create a dataview that combines data from different domains.

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Dataview Contents

The data that is used to create a dataview is copied from different sources, including:

• Tables

• Modules

• Hosts

Dataviews are an excellent way of monitoring a collection of unrelated information. Because these views are presented in a table, a variety of data can be easily compared. Dataviews are created once and are refreshed automatically. Dataviews have all the features of module tables, except that cells cannot be edited. In dataviews, alarm status is correctly propagated. Cells that have triggered a critical alarm appear in red.

When you create a dataview, the dataview is stored in the database. The dataview persists until you explicitly delete the dataview. In addition, because dataviews are stored in the database, dataviews can be shared. Any dataview that is built on a particular Sun Management Center server can be viewed by all authorized users on that server.

Navigating Through a Dataview Window

The dataview window contains the following main menu items:

• File, which enables you to save the current dataview to a name or to close the current dataview

• Edit, which enables you to paste a dataview from the clipboard or to delete selected rows

• Tools, which provides direct access to the Attribute Editor for the selected cell

• Help, which displays online help

Creating a Dataview

From the Details and console windows, there are two options to create a dataview:

• Create a Dataview

• Copy to the Dataview Clipboard

To Create a Dataview From the Context Pop-up Menu

1. Open the Details window for the host in which you are interested.

   The Module Browser view appears in the Details window.

2. Click the expansion icon next to the items in the hierarchy down to the desired data property.

3. Press mouse button 3 on a row or cell in the data property table. Then, choose Create Dataview from the pop-up menu.

4. Select Cell or Row(s) as appropriate.

   An automatically populated dataview window appears.

To Create a Dataview From the Options Menu

1. Open the Details window for the host in which you are interested.

   The Module Browser view appears in the Details window.

2. Click the expansion icon next to the items in the hierarchy down to the desired data property.

3. In the data property table, select a row or a cell.

4. From the Options icon menu, choose Create Dataview.

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   Tip –

   The Options icon menu is the second from the left icon above the hierarchy view. This icon looks like a list with a check mark.

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5. Select Cell or Row(s) as appropriate.

   An automatically populated dataview window appears.

To Copy to the Dataview Clipboard From the Details Window

1. Press mouse button 3 on a row or data cell in a data property table. Then, choose Copy to Dataview Clipboard from the pop-up menu.

2. Select Cell or Row(s) as appropriate.

3. To add the copied information to an existing dataview, follow these steps:

   1. Open an existing dataview as explained in To Open an Existing Dataview.

   2. From the Edit menu, choose Paste from Clipboard.

4. To add the copied information to a new dataview, follow these steps:

   1. In the Details window, click the Dataview icon.

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      Tip –

      The Dataview icon is the third icon from the right above the data property table.

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      An empty Dataview window appears.

   2. From the Edit menu, choose Paste from Clipboard.

To Copy to the Dataview Clipboard From the Console Window

1. Select a row or data cell in a data property table.

2. Press mouse button 3 and choose Copy to Dataview Clipboard from the pop-up menu.

3. Select Cell or Row(s) as appropriate.

4. To add the copied information to an existing dataview, follow these steps:

   1. Open an existing dataview as explained in To Open an Existing Dataview.

   2. From the Edit menu, choose Paste from Clipboard.

5. To add the copied information to a new dataview, follow these steps:

   1. In the Console window, choose Dataview Manager from the Tools menu.

      The Dataview Manager window appears.

   2. Click the Create button.

      An empty Dataview window appears.

   3. From the Edit menu, choose Paste from Clipboard.

Working With Dataviews

The procedures in this section explain how to open, save, or delete a dataview.

To Open an Empty Dataview Window

1. In the console window, choose Dataview Manager from the Tools menu.

   The Dataview Manager window appears.

2. Click the Create Button.

   An empty Dataview window appears.

To Open an Existing Dataview

1. In the Dataview Manager window, select the name of the dataview that you want to open.

2. Click the Open button.

To Delete a Dataview

1. In the Dataview Manager window, select the name of the dataview that you want to delete.

2. Click the Delete button.

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   Note –

   A Delete confirmation window appears to remind you that deleting a dataview is a permanent action.

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To Save a Dataview

1. In the Dataview window, choose Save from the File menu.

   The Save Dataview window appears. You can type an optional description in the Description field.

2. Click the Save Dataview button.

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   Note –

   If the name that you have chosen for this dataview exists, a Warning window appears.

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Types of Dataviews

There are two types of Dataviews:

• Scalar

• Vector

Scalar Dataviews

A scalar dataview is created from scalar data items, which are single cells from scalar or vector tables. A scalar dataview includes the following three columns:

• Host Name

• Data Property Name

• Value

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  Note –

  The Data Property Name column contains the name of the property for the data item in the following format: module/object/property.

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To Create a Scalar Dataview

The following example uses the CPU Utilization table.

1. In the Details window, navigate to the CPU Utilization table.

2. Select a data cell in the table.

3. Copy the data cell to the dataview clipboard in either of the following ways:

   • From the Options menu, choose Copy to Dataview Clipboard Cell(s) or Create Dataview Cell(s).

   • In the Details window, press mouse button 3 on the table and select Copy to Dataview Clipboard Cell(s) from the pop-up menu.

   For additional information about the Copy to Dataview Clipboard and the Create Dataview options, see Creating a Dataview.

Vector Dataviews

The vector dataview contains one or more rows from a vector module table. You can simultaneously select one row or multiple rows from a vector table. You can select multiple rows that are not contiguous. For example, you could select the following rows:

• Row number 1

• Row number 3

• Row number 4

• Row number 6

You cannot select partial rows.

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Caution –

Do not paste rows from vector and scalar tables into the same dataview window.

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To Create a Vector Dataview

The following example uses the CPU Utilization table.

1. In the Browser Details window, navigate to the CPU Utilization table.

2. Select a row in the table.

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   Tip –

   To select multiple rows in the table, use the Shift key. To select multiple, non-continuous rows from the table, use the Control key.

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3. To copy the data rows to the dataview clipboard, proceed with one of the following:

   • From the Options menu, choose Copy to Dataview Clipboard Row(s) or Create Dataview Row(s).

   • In the Details window, press mouse button 3 on the table and select Copy to Dataview Clipboard Row(s).

   For additional information about the Copy to Dataview Clipboard and the Create Dataview options, see Creating a Dataview.

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   Caution –

   You can only paste compatible data types. If you try to paste an incompatible data type, an error dialog box appears.

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