As the hub of your IoT operation, the dashboard is the place from which you keep track of your devices and variables. With a multi-device dashboard you can centralize the monitoring of many devices and visualize their data simultaneously. This not only increases the amount of data you can monitor, but also makes the process of aggregating multiple data sources easier.
Using a multi-device dashboard, you can select up to twelve devices at a time to spot trends among them or easily aggregate their data. Depending on the type of widget (i.e., metric, chart, table, map, etc.) and its configuration, the way the data is represented in this dashboard will vary.
In this article you’ll learn how to create a multi-device dashboard and how the different types of widgets behave in it
Requirements
An active Ubidots account (Enterprise plan or above).
1. Creating a multi-device dashboard
For a more detailed guide on how to create a dashboard and configure both its settings as well as its appearance, head to this guide.
While on the dashboard-creation modal, select the option “Dynamic (Multiple Devices)” in the Dynamic Dashboard dropdown.
Device list: Select the set of devices that will be linked to the dashboard and that will appear on the dropdown list of the navbar.
Default device: Select the first device to be prioritized on the dashboard.
Device display name: Choose how your devices will be represented in the dropdown list of the navbar:
By their name.
Their API label.
Or their descriptions.
Tags: use them as custom identifiers to organize your dashboards or to determine if your end users get to see or interact with a specific dashboard in your app by creating tag matches between them.
2. Widget behavior in multi-device dashboards
Depending on their type, widgets will behave differently to things such as aggregation methods or multiple devices being selected at once. Exceptions are pointed accordingly.
Type |
Widgets | Last value(s) in dashboards with multiple devices | Aggregation method in dashboards with multiple devices |
*Metrics |
|
The last value of the selected device that’s higher on the dropdown list is displayed. | A calculation is done on the data of each device and then those results are used to make the general calculation that is ultimately displayed.
For example: The selected aggregation method is “average” and we selected 3 devices. An average is calculated out of the average of each device. |
Type |
Widgets | Last value(s) in dashboards with multiple devices | Aggregation method in dashboards with multiple devices |
**Charts |
|
One line, per variable, is added for each selected device (with a limit of 15 lines). |
One line, per variable, is added for each selected device. |
Type |
Widgets | Last value(s) in dashboards with multiple devices | Aggregation method in dashboards with multiple devices |
***Tables |
| Variables and Devices Table: A row is added per device.
Values Table: A row is added per new dot, per device. | Variables and Devices Table: A row is added per device.
Values Table: A row is added for each device at the selected intervals of time. |
Type |
Widgets | Last value(s) in dashboards with multiple devices | Aggregation method in dashboards with multiple devices |
Maps | An icon is added on the map for each selected device. |
Doesn’t apply. |
Type |
Widgets | Last value(s) in dashboards with multiple devices | Aggregation method in dashboards with multiple devices |
****Control | A control is added for each selected device. |
Doesn’t apply. |
Type |
Widgets | Last value(s) in dashboards with multiple devices | Aggregation method in dashboards with multiple devices |
Display |
Does not apply. |
Doesn’t apply. | |
Advanced |
Not supported. |
Not supported. |
*: The Indicator will display one widget for each selected device. The Ring Gauge widget has no supported behavior for multiple devices yet.
**: The described behaviors are true for the Line Chart and Double Axis. The Bar Chart, Rose Chart, Histogram, Scatter, and Frequency Chart don’t support multiple devices behaviors.
***: The Incidents and Heatmap Table widgets are not affected by multiple devices.
****: The Manual Input is not affected by multiple devices.