WebJive with parametric dashboards - spike

In some of the elements we will have sets of devices that are similar (like the VCCs in the CSP). Uses are likely to have to build dashboards to monitor each of such a set of devices.

Right now, the only way to do it is by manually copy a dashboard and reconfigure its widgets so that they refer to another instance of the devices in the set.

A better solution would be through “parametric” dashboards.

A dashboard configuration would require definition of one or more “device variables”; each variable is a name whose values would range on a set of devices that belong to the same class. There is also a default device to use for each variable.

Once a variable is defined for the dashboard, then its widgets could refer to the variable device instead of the actual device. 

When running such a parametric dashboard, the device variables would get as a value the default device. But the user would be able to see and access a dropdown menu from which to select another device of the class, and the dashboard would be re-rendered with attributes and states deriving from that device.

If there are 2+ variables, then there will be 2+ dropdown menus. (This is the way in which Grafana provides parametric dashboards).

See the attachments for possible examples of how a widget that refers to a variable device might look like, and how variables are defined in Grafana.