Tutorial: Defining a workspace

Split a view

1. Open an undefined workspace.

   An undefined workspace is one that has not been provided with your monitored application or defined by you or an administrator. You can find undefined workspaces initially at the system level (computer or image name is displayed) of the Navigator Physical view, and, if you have custom Navigator views, wherever you have created child Navigator items. A workspace that has not been defined yet will have a browser view with links to this lesson and other relevant topics, and it will have a notepad view.

2. In the notepad view, click Split Vertically to split it into two separate views.

   The notepad view splits in half vertically, with a duplicate copy in the new view space. Notice that every view in the workspace, including the Navigator, has and tools, as well as (except the Navigator) to delete the view and expand the adjoining view to fill the space.

Change the view type

Change the new view to a table view:

1. Click Table.
2. Click inside the notepad view.

   As you move inside the workspace the mouse pointer changes to the table view icon (Linux shows a hand icon). After you click, the new table view replaces the notepad view. Because a query has never been associated with this view, no data is displayed in the table. You will need to select a query from the Properties editor.

3. When a message asks you to assign the query now, click No.

Now add a message log view to the original notepad view:

1. Click Message Log.
2. Click inside the notepad view.

   The message log replaces the notepad view.

Tip: If you select the wrong view or change your mind about the view you chose, press Escape or click somewhere in the toolbar.

Swap views

You can easily move a view to a new position by dragging it by its title bar to the view space it should occupy. When you release the mouse button, the views swap position.

1. Point to the message log view's title bar.
2. Click and drag it to the table view.

   As you drag the view, it appears semi-transparent.

Edit view properties

Edit the properties for the table view to select what data should display.

1. In the table view title bar, click Properties.
2. In the Query tab, Click here to assign a query.

   Queries determine from which attribute group to draw data. The Select Query window opens.

3. In the Query tree, expand the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server branch, then Managed System.
4. Select Current Managed Systems Status and click OK.

   Back in the Query tab, you can see a preview of the table.

5. Click the Filters tab and clear the boxes for these columns (attributes): HostAddress, Affinities, Host Info.

   Filters is where you specify the attributes to include in the table and, if you like, show only those values that fall within a range.

6. Click Test to see a preview of your changes.
7. Click the Thresholds tab to specify a threshold.
8. In row 1, click the colored column and select Informational.

   This will be the background color of the cell when the threshold expression becomes true.

9. In row 1, click the Status cell, then the arrow, and select OFFLINE from the list.

   Any managed systems that are offline will have this background color.

10. Click the Style tab to change the appearance of the table.
11. In the Header, type the following title in the Title text box: Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent Status.
12. Click OK.

Save a new workspace

1. Select Save Workspace As from the File menu.

   If you are running Tivoli Enterprise Portal in browser mode, be sure to select its File menu and not browser's File menu.

2. Type My Workspace in the Name field.
3. Select Assign as default for this Navigator Item.
4. Click OK.
5. Take note of which Navigator item My Workspaceis associated with.
6. Now test your workspace by opening another workspace, then clicking this Navigator item again.

Edit workspace properties

1. With My Workspace open, click Properties.

   When you open the Properties editor for a workspace from the toolbar as opposed to the pop-up menu, the properties for the workspace display.

2. Clear Assign as default for this Navigator Item.
3. Click OK.
4. Click Save.
5. Test the new setting by opening another workspace, then clicking this Navigator item again.

   My Workspace does not display. Instead, you see the original undefined workspace, which is the default workspace for this Navigator item.

6. To open My Workspace, right-click the Navigator item, click Workspace, and select “My Workspace” from the list.

Opening a new window

1. In desktop mode, click new windowNew Window.

   The new window is a duplicate of the original. Any previously visited workspaces are retained from the parent window; use Go back and Go forward to revisit them. Further navigation to other workspaces in either window, however, is independent of the other window.

Note that you can close duplicate windows (click File > Close) or the original; the work session remains active as long as one window is open.

Tip: You can set the properties of a workspace to open in a new window automatically whenever it is selected. If you are running the Tivoli Enterprise Portal in browser mode from a browser that is enabled for tabs, the workspace opens in a new tabbed page.

Conclusion

In this lesson you learned some of the techniques used to define and customize workspaces:

• Split a view.
• Change to a different view: table and message log.
• Swapping views by dragging one view over the other.
• Edit the properties for a view: Select a query for the table, then filter it and add a threshold and title.
• Save the workspace, making the new workspace the default for the Navigator item.
• Edit the properties of the workspace to remove the default status.