2 Using Oracle Business Activity Monitoring as a Viewer

One of the roles of Oracle BAM is that of a Viewer. Learn how to use the Oracle Business Activity Monitoring (Oracle BAM) Home page, also called the BAM Viewer, to view dashboards and alerts.

This chapter includes the following sections:

• Understanding Dashboards and Alerts

• Using the Home Page

• Viewing Dashboards

2.1 Understanding Dashboards and Alerts

A dashboard is a collection of related graphs, tables, and gauges, called business views. Dashboards can display point-in-time or real-time information (active data).

A tabbed dashboard contains other complete dashboards, which you view by clicking the tabs. A thumbnail is an image showing the entire dashboard in miniature, which you can click to open the dashboard.

An alert performs one or more actions when launched by an event and filtered by one or more conditions. An event can be based on a date or time, a change in data, or a manual trigger. A condition restricts the alert to a date or time range or to a specific day of the week. An action can send a notification, perform a data operation, or invoke an external application. For example, an alert might send you an e-mail every week with a link to a dashboard that displays sales totals.

Oracle BAM integrates with Oracle Application Development Framework and Oracle JavaScript Extensibility Toolkit to provide various business views in dashboards. While ADF dashboards are compatible with all business views, JET dashboards only support some of the following business views:

• An Area view shows a graphed line of values with the area filled in for visual comparison. JET dashboards display Area and Stacked Area business views.

• A Bar view shows vertical columns to represent summarized values. JET dashboards display Bar and Stacked Bar business views.

• A Horizontal Bar view shows horizontal columns to represent summarized values. JET dashboards display Horizontal Bar and Stacked Horizontal Bar business views

• A Line view shows a graphed line of values or compared values. JET dashboards display Line and Stacked Line business views.

• A Pie view displays values in segments of a circle. JET dashboards display the simple Pie business view.

• A Combo view shows a combination of values as areas, bars, and lines in the same view. JET dashboards display Combo business views.

• A Scatter view shows X,Y coordinates on a rectangular graph. JET dashboards display Scatter business views.

• A Bubble view is like a Scatter view, except that X,Y coordinates appear as bubbles that vary in size. JET dashboards display Bubble business views.

• A Treemap view shows hierarchical data groupings arranged in rectangles within rectangles. For example, a hierarchy might consist of the country, state or province, and city. The count of sales might determine the size of the rectangles, and the sum of sales might determine their colors.

• A Point Theme Geo Map represents cities as points on a map.

• A Color Theme Geo Map represents geographic regions as colors on a map.

• A GPS Theme Geo Map represents moving locations tracked by GPS as points on a map.

• A List displays a table you can sort. JET dashboards display List table business views.

• An Action List has values in some or all table columns that are editable. It also displays data changes without requiring a refresh. JET dashboards display Action List table business views.

• A Collapsed List displays table rows of aggregated data values grouped by one or more dimensions. It may also have color-coded thresholds for data values. JET dashboards display Collapsed List table business views.

• A Pivot Table combines rows and columns to display a multi-dimensional view of aggregated data values. A Pivot Table is summarized vertically and horizontally for columns and rows.

• A KPI Watchlist displays a table of the following information for one or more key performance indicators (KPIs):

  • KPI lists KPI names.

  • Risks list the color-coded status of risk indicators associated with each KPI.

  • Actual shows the most recent KPI value.

  • Today shows a line graph of the last 10 KPI values. Older KPI values are on the left and newer values are on the right.

  • Target shows a horizontal bar that compares the current KPI value to a target value.

• A Dial Gauge view indicates the current value in a curved numeric marked gauge. JET dashboard displays the Dial Gauge business view.

• A Dial with Thresholds view is similar to the dial gauge and indicates the current value in a curved numeric marked gauge with color-coded low, medium, and high ranges.

• A Statusmeter Gauge indicates the current value in a straight numeric marked gauge with color-coded low, medium, and high ranges.

• A Vertical Statusmeter gauge indicates the current value in a vertical numeric marked gauge with color-coded low, medium, and high ranges.

• An Arrow Gauge is an arrow shape that is color-coded according to whether the value is low, medium, or high. The direction of the arrow indicates whether the current value is higher (up), the same (right), or lower (down) than the previous value.

• A Circular Status Meter Gauge indicates the current value in a gauge representing the numerical sum along a circular axis.

• A Horizontal Status Meter Gauge indicates the current value in a gauge representing the numerical sum along a horizontal axis.

  Note:

  Both the Circular and Horizontal Status Meter Gauges are preview features. To be able to use them, you must enable them when you install Oracle BAM.

When you open JET-based dashboards that contain business view types or subtypes that are not supported by JET, you see the following error message:

VIEW_NOT_SUPPORTED: The {Business View} type business view {Business View Name} is not supported.

If a specific business view subtype is unsupported, you see the following error message:

VIEW_SUBTYPE_NOT_SUPPORTED: The {Business View} type business view {Business View Name} of subtype {Business View Subtype} is not supported.

2.2 Using the Home Page

The Oracle BAM Home page, also called the BAM Viewer, is where you view the dashboards and alert history to which you have access.

This section contains the following topics:

• Selecting a Project

• Choosing Carousel or List View for Most Recent and Favorites

• Opening a Dashboard

• Adding a Dashboard to the Favorites List

• Opening a Dashboard when Oracle BAM Is Started

• Viewing Alert History

2.2.1 Selecting a Project

A project contains a group of related dashboards. The current project determines which dashboards you can open.

The project name appears in the top left corner of the Dashboards tab, which is on the right side of the Home page. BPM Analytics is the initial and default project in BAM.

To open a project:

1. Click the down arrow to the right of the project name.

2. Select Open Project from the pop-up menu.

   The Open Project dialog appears.

3. Click the name of the project you want to open.

   The project opens, and the project name appears in the top left corner of the Dashboards tab.

2.2.2 Choosing Carousel or List View for Most Recent and Favorites

To change how the Most Recent and Favorites lists are displayed, select one of the following:

• Carousel View — Displays each list separately as a horizontal series of thumbnails, with a horizontal slider for selecting a position in the list. To update the list with the latest dashboards, click Refresh. To open a dashboard, double-click its thumbnail.

• List View — Displays both lists as a vertical series of table rows, with a thumbnail, dashboard information, and icons in each row. To update the list with the latest dashboards, click Refresh.

  To expand the list, click Load More Items. To open a dashboard, click its thumbnail.

2.2.3 Opening a Dashboard

You can open a dashboard from the Dashboards tab, the Most Recent list, or the Favorites list.

• From the Dashboards tab, click the dashboard name from the drop-down list and click the Open icon, or right-click it and select the Open menu item. The dashboard opens in a new browser window.

• From the Most Recent or Favorites list, click the dashboard thumbnail in the Carousel View once to bring it to the center and again to open the dashboard. Click the thumbnail once in the List View to open the dashboard.

The dashboard opens in a new browser window.

2.2.4 Adding a Dashboard to the Favorites List

You can add dashboards that you need to find quickly to the Favorites list.

• From the Dashboards tab, click the dashboard icon and click the Favorites (star) icon, or right-click it and select the Favorites menu item.

  To see the dashboard in the Favorites list in the Carousel View immediately, click the Refresh icon for the Favorites list.

• From the List View, click the Favorites (star) icon for the dashboard. The icon changes from grayed out to gold.

2.2.5 Opening a Dashboard when Oracle BAM Is Started

You can choose which dashboards to open automatically when BAM is started.

• From the Dashboards tab, click the dashboard icon and click the Start on Launch icon, or right-click it and select the Start on Launch menu item.

• From the Most Recent or Favorites list in the Carousel View, click the dashboard thumbnail, then click the Most Recent or Favorites header and select the Start on Launch menu item.

• From the List View, click the Start on Launch icon. The icon changes from green to grayed out.

When you log into Oracle BAM and go to the Home page, the dashboard is automatically launched in another browser window.

2.2.6 Viewing Alert History

You can view a recent history of alert activity on the Alerts tab. The Alert History list is divided into three sections: Today, This Week, and Older.

For each alert instance, the Alert History list displays the alert name, any associated messages, and the time and date that the alert was triggered.

You can display alerts for all users. See Filtering the Alert History List..

A successful alert is shown with a green checkmark next to the message. An unsuccessful alert is displayed with a red x icon and a message indicating how the alert failed at the time of loading or processing. Click the x icon for additional information about the error.

2.2.6.1 Filtering the Alert History List

If you are interested in specific alerts, you can filter the Alert History list by alert name or a date range.

To filter the Alert History list:

1. On the Alerts tab, click the arrow to the right of Filter by.

   Additional filter settings appear.

2. To filter by alert name, type the name in the Alert Name text box and press Enter. Typing part of a name lists all alert names containing that part. You can then select a name from the list.

   The Alert History list shows only the alerts matching the name you entered.

3. To display alerts for all users, check the All Users' Alert History box. This check box is visible only to users that have an administrator role.

   The Alert History list shows alerts sent and received by all users.

4. To filter by date, type dates in the From and To text boxes, or click each Select Date icon and select a date from the pop-up calendar.

   The Alert History list shows only the alerts in the date range you specified.

2.2.6.2 Clearing the Alert History List

When many alerts are actively launching and the Alert History list becomes long, you can clear the list.

To clear the Alert History list:

1. On the Alerts tab, click Clear All.

   A message asks you to confirm clearing the Alert History list.

2. Click OK.

   The Alert History list is deleted. Only new alerts launched after clearing appear in the list.

2.3 Viewing Dashboards

A dashboard opens in a separate browser window. Dashboard windows have their own set of viewing options, separate from those of the Home page.

This section contains the following topics:

• Dashboard Parameters

• Filtering Runtime Data in a View

• Enabling Active Data in a View

• Changing Dimensions in a View

• Exploring View Data

• View Actions

2.3.1 Dashboard Parameters

A parameter is a variable representing the value of a data field. A prompt is a request for the user to specify the value of a parameter. For example, you can display product sales by country in a dashboard and prompt the user to choose the country parameter value.

You can pass in the parameter values you want to specify as part of dashboard URL.

Note:

This section is not applicable to Oracle JavaScript Enterprise Toolkit (JET)-based dashboards.

Parameter types are as follows:

• A value parameter for a non-datetime field is a text box that accepts only one value.

• A value parameter for a datetime field has drop-down lists for the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second, and a Refresh button.

• A list parameter can present and in some cases accept multiple values with check boxes in a drop-down list.

2.3.2 Saving a Dashboard to an HTML File

To display a static version of the dashboard that you can save as an HTML file, click the Save Offline in a New Tab icon in the top right corner of the dashboard.

The HTML file version opens in a new browser window. You can save it using the Save Page As command in the browser.

2.3.3 Filtering Runtime Data in a View

Note:

This section is not applicable to Oracle JavaScript Enterprise Toolkit (JET) dashboards.

You can apply conditions to the data displayed in a view. For example, you can display only processes with a priority of 2 or greater.

You cannot filter runtime data if Active Data is enabled.

To filter runtime data in a view:

1. Click the Runtime Filters and Active Data Properties (gear) icon in the top right corner of the view.
2. Select the Filters tab.
3. Select the type of filtering from the Filters drop-down list: By Number, By String (text) or By DateTime.

   Note:

   Filtering by numeric fields is supported with only two digits of precision. If the value in the field is actually more precise, it cannot be filtered exactly. For example, you can filter by comparing to a value of 12.34, but not a value of 12.345.

4. Check the boxes to the left of the data fields to filter.
5. For each checked data field, select an operator from the drop-down list. Select a comparison operator, null, or not null. For filtering by number or datetime, you can also select between. For filtering by string or datetime, you can also select like or not like.

   Note:

   The like and not like string searches are case sensitive and require a wildcard. For example, the search US would not yield the same results as US% or us%.

6. If you selected a comparison operator, like, or not like, type a value to which to compare the data. If you selected between, type two values to define a range. For filtering by datetime, you can click the Select Date and Time icon instead of typing.
7. Click OK.

   A filter icon appears in the top right corner of the view to indicate that data is filtered.

2.3.4 Modifying Active Data Properties in a View

Active Data continuously aggregates data or displays a segment of data within a defined time window. As time passes in a time window, older data is removed from the view and newer data is added.

Active data is supported only for basic Area, Bar, Line, Combo, Pie, Scatter, and Bubble views. None of the other variations of these view types support active data. However, active data is supported for all variations of Gauge views and for Point Theme and GPS Theme Geo Map views.

Active data is not supported for Horizontal Bar, KPI Watchlist, Treemap, or Color Theme Geo Map views.

Active data is not supported for external data objects.

The time zone in your Preferences does not control the time slice for Active Data. Active Data time is based on UTC.

To configure Active Data:

Note:

Active Data properties can be modified at run time only if runtime modification is enabled at design time. See Using Active Data for more information.

1. Click the Runtime Filters and Active Data Properties (gear) icon in the top right corner of the view.
2. Select the Make Active tab.
3. To make data aggregation (computation of averages, sums, and so on) active, specify the following settings:

   • Active Data Collapsing — Optionally check this box to enable continuous data aggregation.

   • Interval — Specify how often the aggregation result is updated in the view.

   • Units — Select Day, Hour, Minute, or Second for the Interval.

   If you change the Interval and Units, the new data snapshot is rendered only when the interval ends. For example, if the interval is set to one minute, the new snapshot is shown after one minute and then active data collapsing occurs.

4. To define a time window, specify the following settings:.

   • Use a time window — Optionally check this box to define a period over which and a frequency at which data is updated. For example, you could update the number of calls completed in the last hour every ten minutes.

   • Sliding Range Based on — A date or time column upon which the rolling window calculation is based. For example, choosing Call Start Time enables the system to determine whether a given call is within the rolling window period.

     This setting is displayed only if the selected data object is a relation. It is not supported for stream data objects.

     Note:

     In JET—based views, the sliding tool may shrink if you adjust it manually as and when active data keeps populating in the view. This might invalidate the time window you have selected resulting in the business view not displaying any data. To correct this, set the business view to refresh automatically. Alternatively, you can set the entire dashboard to auto refresh.

   • Range Length — The period over which data is displayed, from an amount of time in the past to the present. Examples of ranges are the last 30 minutes or the last 24 hours.

   • Update Interval — The frequency at which the result within the rolling window is updated.

   • Units — Select Day, Hour, Minute, or Second for the Range Length and Update Interval.

5. Click OK.

2.3.5 Changing Dimensions in a View

Note:

This section is not applicable to Oracle JavaScript Enterprise Toolkit (JET) dashboards.

Dimensions are the categories by which numeric data field values are grouped for aggregations such as averages or sums. For example, sales totals can be grouped by geographic region or by salesperson.

You cannot change dimensions if Active Data is enabled.

You cannot change dimensions in a view based on a query that uses a time series. See Using a Time Group or a Time Series for more information.

To change dimensions in a view:

1. Click the Change Dimension (down arrow) icon in the top right corner of the view.
2. Check the boxes to the left of the dimensions to include.

   Datetime fields are not supported.

3. Click OK.

   The X-axis of the view changes according to the dimensions you selected.

2.3.6 Exploring View Data

There are four types of drilling in Oracle BAM views:

Note:

Only Drilling Through is applicable to Oracle JavaScript Enterprise Toolkit (JET) dashboards.

• Drilling Down — displays hierarchical data one level down. For example, drilling down in a sales total for a country can display a breakdown of sales totals for states or provinces. To drill down:

  • Right-click the data point, bar, node, pie slice, or Collapsed List row and select the drill level from the menu.

• Drilling Up — displays hierarchical data one level up. After drilling down, you can go back up. To drill up:

  • Right-click the data point, bar, node, pie slice, or Collapsed List row and select the drill level from the menu.

  • Right-click the data point, bar, node, pie slice, or Collapsed List row and select Home to go to the initial drill level of the view.

• Drilling Through — displays actual data at the lowest level of the hierarchy. For example, drilling through in a sales total can display individual sales. To drill through:

  • Right-click the data point, bar, pie slice, Collapsed List row, or gauge, and select Show Details from the menu.

• Drilling Across — displays a target dashboard or URL in a new browser window. Not all views have drill-across targets. To drill across, right-click the view and select the target name. Left-click drilling is supported for graph views if enabled at design time. See Configuring Drill-Across Targets for more information.

Active data stops during drilling and then restarts.

Note:

If you drill down in an Area, Line, or Combo view to a level at which only one data point is included, no line is drawn, and you cannot drill up. To restore the view, remove the filter that the drilling applies. See Filtering Runtime Data in a View for more information.

2.3.7 View Actions

If one or more custom actions are configured for a view, a square icon containing a green triangle appears in the upper right corner. Click the icon to display the names of the actions, then select an action.

All views can have these action types:

• Open Dashboard opens a specified dashboard in a new browser window.

• Open URL opens a specified URL in a new browser window.

• Refresh View redisplays the view with the latest data and properties.

• Show Confirmation Message displays a confirmation message dialog before performing the action.

Action List views can have these additional action types:

• Insert inserts data.

• Update updates data.

• Save saves all changes made to the Action List.

• Delete deletes selected rows from the Action List.