Library Widget Interactivity

In the Workspaces Library, widgets do not filter each other until you configure Interactions on a source widget and select the target widgets that should receive data. This topic explains Group, Metric, Top Metric, and Time interactions, and how to wire source and target widgets. For designing large interactive canvases, see Designing Interactive Workspaces in the Library.

Creating effective interactive workflows

Interactive workspaces work best when you design them as guided analysis workflows. There are no hard requirements, but a top-down, left-to-right layout helps. Start interactivity in the top-left widget and cascade data left to right, then top to bottom.

Interactivity works by passing Group, Metric, or Time information from one widget to another:

  • Group: An entity that appears in a table or chart, such as an application, client IP, client location, interface, or device. When you pass a group from a source widget to a target widget, the target uses that entity as a filter when it runs its query. For example, if you pass the client IP 1.1.1.1, the target query includes a filter where client IP is 1.1.1.1.

  • Metric: A metricClosed A measurement or data point that is monitored and analyzed to detect anomalies and generate incidents. that appears in a table or chart, such as throughput or round trip time. The target can display that metric or, when you use Top Metric, use it as the top-by metric in its query.

  • Time: A time frame that you select by dragging over a region in a time chart. The target uses that time frame for its query. For example, highlight a spike on a time chart and pass that range to a detail table so the table calculates metrics only for the spike interval.

Recommended workflow structure

  1. Entry point: Start with a table or chart that shows an overview (for example, top applications or top client locations).

  2. Selection layer: Select specific items for detailed analysis.

  3. Detail views: Configure downstream widgets to show filtered details, often with Only show interaction data enabled.

  4. Further paths: Add more targets or control widgets (for example, an Inputs Selector) for deeper investigation.

Setting up basic widget interactions

To create an interactive workspace, configure the source widget so it sends Group, Metric, Top Metric, or Time to one or more target widgets. You can configure either the source or a target first. Targets that should stay empty until a selection arrives need Only show interaction data enabled.

To configure widget interactions:

  1. Open the widget menu (ellipsis) of the widget you want to configure.

  2. Select Configure.

  3. Advance to the Interactions step.

  4. Under Group, Metric, Top Metric, or Time, select the target widgets that should receive that interaction type. You must select at least one target for that interaction type to take effect.

  5. If this widget is a target and should show no data until a Group interaction arrives, select Only show interaction data.

  6. Apply the configuration.

Setting up multiple widget interactions

You can chain widgets so data flows through more than one hop. For example, configure Widget 1 to send Group to Widget 2, and configure Widget 2 to send Time to Widget 3. Widget 1 and Widget 3 do not need a direct link. Widget 3 still benefits from the selection that started in Widget 1.

At larger scale, prefer hub-and-spoke fan-out and the other patterns in Designing Interactive Workspaces in the Library instead of long interaction chains.

Advanced interaction features

Beyond basic filtering, Library workspaces support these patterns:

Multi-level interactions

  • Chain multiple Data Store widgets in sequence for complex analysis paths.

  • Combine Group and Time so a detail widget follows both an entity selection and a chart time range.

  • Use control widgets such as the Inputs Selector to pass metrics or other values into Data Store targets.

Time-based interactions

  • Drag across time series charts to select time ranges and pass them to target widgets.

  • Move the pointer over a Time chart to show a vertical cursor line. When more than one Time chart is on the workspace, the same timestamp is marked on each chart so you can compare metrics at one moment. See Synchronized vertical cursor on multiple time charts in Data Store Visualization Types.

  • Use time selections to focus analysis on specific periods without changing every widget’s Query step.