Heatmap visualization

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    When to use a heatmap visualization

    The heatmap visualization offers a compact and flexible matrix visualization for visualizing aggregated datasets.

    • When you want to identify patterns and outliers across metrics in large aggregated datasets
    • When you want to correlate and compare time, numerical, and categorical-based metrics with one another

    Examples

    Example 1

    Heatmap example 1: Heatmap (Response time by service)

    The heatmap visualization above is based on the following query.

    timeseries response_time = avg(dt.service.request.response_time), by: { dt.entity.service }
    | fields response_time, entityName(dt.entity.service), interval, timeframe, dt.entity.service
    | limit 10

    Example 2

    Heatmap example 2: Heatmap (Vulnerability score by event.status for Security events)

    The heatmap visualization above is based on the following query.

    fetch events
    | filter event.kind == "SECURITY_EVENT"
    | summarize count = count(), by:{range(vulnerability.risk.score, 0.5), event.status}

    Title

    Use the title field at the top of the options panel (initially Untitled tile or Untitled section) to add a title to your dashboard tile or notebook section.

    • You can use emojis such as 😃 and 🌍 and ❤️.
    • You can use variables.

    Example:

    1. Define variables called Status and Emoji in your dashboard.
    2. Set the title to Current $Emoji status is $Status.
    3. Set Status to Good.
    4. Set Emoji to 🌍.

    The title will be displayed as Current 🌍 status is Good.

    Visualization

    If you aren't sure that you chose the right visualization, use the visualization selector to try different visualizations.

    To learn about options quickly and decide what works best for you, turn options on and off and see the effect immediately on your chart. For example, does it look best with a label or without? Turn that option on and off and see for yourself.

    Data mapping

    These settings map your query to the heatmap.

    • X-axis: Select the value to use for the X-axis of your heatmap.

      • Numeric: Requires a nested start and end value, which is best achieved with the DQL range function together with the summarize command.
      • Time: Requires a nested start and end timestamp as well as an interval field. This is easiest achieved with the DQL timeseries or makeTimeseries command.
      • String: Requires at least one string value that can be mapped as a category. It can be achieved with the DQL summarize command together with a specific field to summarize by, or with the by command to specify the fields the series should be split by.

    • Y-axis: Select the value to use for the Y-axis of your heatmap.

      • Numeric: Requires a nested start and end value, which is best achieved with the DQL range function together with the summarize command.
      • Time: Requires a nested start and end timestamp as well as an interval field. This is easiest achieved with the DQL timeseries or makeTimeseries command.
      • String: Requires at least one string value that can be mapped as a category. It can be achieved with the DQL summarize command together with a specific field to summarize by, or with the by command to specify the fields the series should be split by.

    • Value field: Select the value (numerical or string field) to display on your heatmap.

    X-axis

    These settings determine the appearance of your heatmap's X-axis.

    • Show label: turn it on to define a label for the X-axis.
    • Reverse: turn it on to reverse the direction of the X-axis.
    • Position: select where you want to display the X-axis in relation to your heatmap.
    • Tick label layout: select whether to display the X-axis values horizontally or vertically.

    Y-axis

    These settings determine the appearance of your heatmap's Y-axis.

    • Show label: turn it on to define a label for the Y-axis.
    • Reverse: turn it on to reverse the direction of the Y-axis.
    • Position: select where you want to display the Y-axis in relation to your heatmap.

    Legend and tooltip

    • Show legend: To display a heatmap legend, turn on Show legend and select the legend Position:

      • Auto: Selects an appropriate location based on the heatmap size and the available space.
      • Bottom: Displays a legend under the heatmap.
      • Right: Displays a legend to the right of the heatmap.

    • Text truncation: Determines how to truncate text when the full text can't be displayed.

      • A…: Trim from the right end of the text (when the right end is less important)
      • A…B: Trim from the middle of the text (when the middle is less important)
      • …B: Trim from the left end of the text (when the left end is less important)

    Color

    These settings determine how color is used in your heatmap.

    • Color palette: Displays colors from the selected color palette.

    • Custom colors: Displays colors defined by you.

      For each custom color you want to add

      1. Select Color.
      2. Enter a value, operator, and color to use for that value and operator.

    Units and formats

    To override the default units and formats in a dashboard or notebook visualization

    1. Select to edit the visualization tile.

    2. Select the Visual tab.

    3. Select Units and formats.

    4. Select Override.

    5. Select Override

    6. In the dropdown list, select the item for which you want to add a unit override.

      This is a numeric column of the underlying DQL result, so it varies according to the query. For example:

      • A fetch events query returns events. The dropdown list here lets you select a numeric field (such as transfer_size) from the results.
      • A timeseries avg(dt.host.cpu.usage) query returns a single timeseries for avg(dt.host.cpu.usage). That timeseries is then the only selectable option in the list.

    7. Define the override.

      • Default unit: The base unit in which the values were captured. It's None if it was not included in the DQL result, or its automatically defined by the unit passed from the DQL result. This field doesn't lead to any conversion.
      • Displayed unit: Once you define a default unit, you can use Displayed unit for conversion. For example, if the DQL result defined your numeric value in the result as Bytes, Displayed unit now offers a suitable list of byte conversions such as Kilobyte and Megabyte. Unlike the Default unit, the Displayed unit is always a numeric conversion.
      • Decimals displays the default number of decimals (degree of precision) to display. To see it in action, change the Decimals selection and observe the change in the visualization.
      • Suffix displays the suffix to display after the unit. To see it in action, enter a string and observe the change in the visualization. When you don't find the unit you're looking for, you can use Suffix to display the desired unit.

    8. Turn on Abbreviate large numbers if you want to display large figures in abbreviated form. For example, 1053 becomes 1.1K.

    To reset to defaults (discard override settings for the selected item), select the trash can next to the item.

    This example uses a line chart, but the options apply to other visualizations.

    1. In Dashboards, create a dashboard.

    2. Select and, in the Snippets section of the menu, select Metrics > Chart average CPU across all hosts.

    3. In the section edit panel, select the Visual tab and select Line.

    4. Select Units and formats.

      Select Units and formats

    5. Select Override.

      Select Add Override.

    6. In the dropdown list, select the metric for which you want to add an override. There's only one metric to select in this example.

    7. Define the override for the displayed metric. You can observe your changes in the Y-axis of the chart.

      • Default unit displays Percent (%), which is the default unit for the selected metric. Try a different setting, such as One to instead display the result as a fraction of 1.

      • Displayed unit displays Auto. You can change it to a different unit, such as One to instead display the result as a fraction of 1.

        Only linear and static conversions are supported. For example, you cannot convert Degree Celsius(°C) into Degree Fahrenheit(°F), or convert Usd(US$) into Eur(€).

      • Decimals displays the default number of decimal points (degree of precision) to display. To see it in action, change the Decimals selection and observe the change in the visualization.

        For example, change this:

        Decimals setting before

        To this:

        Decimals setting after

      • Suffix displays the optional suffix to display after the unit. To see it in action, enter a string and observe the change in the visualization.

    To reset to defaults (discard override settings for the selected metric), select the trash can next to the metric.