Matrix tile

The Matrix tile shows health state, performance metrics and other information for a list of monitored resources.

Tip: Too add more context to the data your displaying, you can also show it on an image background. For example, you can use a map as a background and show metrics for your servers on the map based on their location. For that, you need to use the Surface tile (How to use the Surface tile).

How does the Matrix tile work?

The Matrix tile works by using a row perspective to show a row of data for each of the resources returned by the scope.

A row perspective can display health state, performance metrics and other information for each resource. They work in a similar way to dashboard perspectives in that they are stored in dashboard packs, they use a match criteria that defines which resource they apply to, and they have a rank that specifies which row perspective should be displayed when multiple row perspectives match. A row perspective is made up of 'cell tiles' of various types, such as Status, Sparkline, Bar, Health State History etc.

The same row perspective is used for all the resources returned by the scope.

What if there is more than one row perspective common to the resources?

If there is more than one common row perspective, then the highest ranked row perspective is used to show data for all the resources.

What if there is not a row perspective common to the resources?

You can manually select one of the row perspectives shown, but if this row perspective does not apply to some of the resources then those rows will be blank.

Can I change what information is shown?

You can edit a row perspective on a per tile one off basis, for example to remove some elements if some data is missing, by choosing custom columns, see Custom - edit columns in the JSON editor. These edits will only apply to this tile on this dashboard.

Can I create new row perspectives?

To create a new row perspective to be used by more than one tile, see How to create and modify row perspectives. These row perspectives can then be used in other tiles.

How to configure a Matrix tile

  1. Add a new tile to a dashboard or perspective and choose Resources > Matrix tile.
  2. Scope:
    Configure the scope to define the resources you want to show.

  3. Columns:
    By default the Matrix tile is set to use dynamic columns:
    Dynamic - using row perspectives
    In dynamic mode the columns are automatically populated by a row perspective that is useful for your scope. Depending on your scope, there might be additional predefined row perspectives for you to choose from. The row perspective determines the columns you are seeing in the matrix.
     
    Custom - edit columns in the JSON editor
    Alternatively, you can select custom columns, where you can modify the predefined row perspective in a JSON editor. When you switch from dynamic to custom, the row perspective you chose under dynamic will already be inserted in the JSON editor as a template. Here you can edit the columns, add new ones or change their order.
    You can make simple edits by cutting and pasting code snippets to change their order or simply deleting the code block for a column you don't need.
    Tip: If you change the configuration by using custom columns, you can save those settings as a row perspective to make them available here in the future (How to create and modify row perspectives).
    If you want to insert new columns, use the following reference for each cell type:
    Code snippets for cell types:

    Timeframes:
    By default, all cell tiles in the Matrix tile adapt to the page timeframe.

     
  4. Display:
    Size:
    Change the setting from default to large when you want to use the matrix tile on a wall monitor. Icons and fonts will be larger and better to read.
  5. Click done to save the tile.

Reference

Cell tile definitions

Using a specific timeframe in cell tiles

A specific timeframe can only be set in the cell types Bar, Cost, and Performance as Sparkline.

Default timeframe:

By default, all cell tiles in the Matrix tile adapt to the page timeframe.

Setting a specific timeframe:

You can set a fixed timeframe for cells by adding timeframe as a source property:

"source": {
			"timeframe": {
				"type": "fixed",
				"range": "last24hours"
			},

Properties

range

last1hour, last12hours, last24hours, last7days, last30days, last3months, all

Durations of 2, 4, 6 hours, or 14 days can NOT be used in the above format.

The custom option can be used to set timeframes using ISO 8601 format

SquaredUp DS does not support the week notation.

Note: You need to make sure that the data source supports the timeframe you set (for example the Cost cell tile does not work with 1 hour or 12 hour since the timeframe is too short for the API to get data).
type
fixed = use fixed range value
inherit = use page timeframe (default)

FAQs

Why can't I sort the Matrix tile columns?

The Matrix tile isn't really a table in the traditional sense. It is a grid or "matrix" of cell tiles - each cell tile is a separately rendered entity and the data is retrieved for each column of tiles independently from other columns. This means that the data for each column can and will load at different times.

When sorting a traditional table, either a single query or a single joined dataset is being used to sort, process and display the entire table structure. This is not the case with the Matrix tile due to the independently queried columns and asynchronously rendered matrix of cell tiles.

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