You can build custom trends, called Ad Hoc Trends, inside Visual KPI and add them to your Dashboard. Visual KPI saves the parameters you set and updates them in real time on your Visual KPI Dashboard.
Each definition you create in the trend is called a “pen.” The Visual KPI Server retrieves, or calculates, the values associated with each pen definition based on the time range specified for the Ad Hoc Trend.
Available trend types:
- Interpolated
- Step
- Symbol
- Interpolated + Symbol
- Step + Symbol
Using Functions and Formulas in Ad Hoc Trends
You can use functions and formulas in an Ad Hoc Trend using a Lookup value.
If you specify a tag name within a calculation, you must also specify the Interface from which the value will be retrieved. You can use multiple calculations for each pen, but they must all reference the same Interface. If you need to reference other Interfaces, create a new pen.
Ad Hoc Trend expressions must be built using standard rules that apply to Visual KPI. Learn more about Using KPI Functions & Formulas.
Visual KPI supports an extensive list of functions and operators. Learn more
Using Ad Hoc Trends Offsets
You can use an Offset when creating an Ad Hoc Trend, allowing you to compare trends using different start dates and times.
For example, you may want to show variations in the number of power outages and their trends over two summers. You can create the trend by defining two pens (each references the same tag) and assigning an Offset of “-12month” to one of the pens Then, set a custom range once the Ad Hoc trend is drawn.
When defining an Offset, use the following notations:
[+/-][integer][timeperiod],
where [timeperiod] is a member of the following set: minute, hour, h, day, d, month, year
To learn more about Relative Time Functions and view a table of available time functions.
Examples of Offsets in Ad Hoc Trends
- An Offset of –6month causes the starting date for the value’s trend to be 6 months prior to the date/time being used on the current Ad Hoc trend.
- An Offset of -12h causes the starting date/time for the value’s trend to be 12 hours prior to the date/time being used on the current Ad Hoc trend.
Building Ad Hoc Trends
You can build an Ad Hoc Trend from scratch, or you can build it based on an existing KPI.
- To build an Ad Hoc Trend from scratch, click the cog icon under your company logo and select Ad Hoc Trend.
- To build an Ad Hoc Trend based on an existing KPI, open the KPI and then click the cog icon under your company logo and select Ad Hoc Trend.
To build an Ad Hoc Trend, you’ll define KPI attributes by adding pens. Enter the values for Actual and at least one other KPI attribute.
- To specify the scale of the trend, enter values for the Y Axis.
- Select an Interface and add a Lookup value. The list includes all interfaces defined for the current Visual KPI Server. Or, you can select Constant Value.
- Add an Offset value (optional)
- Select the pen color. You can use a different color for each attribute.
- Select the type of line you want the trend to display.
- To add more attributes to the Ad Hoc Trend, click Add Pen, and enter the values.
- Once you have added all attributes to your Ad Hoc Trend, click Trend.
The Ad Hoc Trend will be added to your Dashboard.
Note: Select the check box associated with the pen if you want the attribute to be displayed on the Ad Hoc Trend. Remove the check mark if you want to keep the attribute available for future use in the Ad Hoc Trend, but you do not want it to be displayed now.