Metric Expressions

Creating a Metric Expression

1. From the Navigation Panel, click Metric Explorer.
2. Click Add a Function to select from the available functions. Start entering text in the Search field to dynamically display the relevant list of functions. For further information about how to search for the relevant metrics, see Searching for Metrics.
   
   
3. Add the relevant measures and dimensions, as required. 
   
   
   
   
4. To view the results of an expression or function in the chart, click in the node.
5. Press the ENTER key to complete the expression.

Adding a Function Node

1. In the expression node, click the Function icon displayed above the function node.
   
   
   OR
   Click the More options icon to the right of the node, as indicated below, and select Add Function.
   
   
2. Enter the name of the function or select from the list. The function input line appears.
3. If the function has mandatory parameters, enter a value on the input line.
4. If the function has additional parameters, select a parameter value.
5. Continue until you have completed the expression tree for your metric.
6. Press ENTER to complete the expression.

To duplicate a function:

In the expression node, click the Duplicate icon displayed above the function node.

To delete a function:

In the expression node, click the Delete icon displayed above the function node. Note that the root function in an expression node cannot be deleted.

Adding an Expression Root to a Dashboard

You can also add expression roots in Dashboards (for all Dashboard tiles except for Text tiles).

1. When creating/editing the Dashboard tile, click the Advanced tab. A new expression definition node is displayed.
2. Complete the expression, as described in the sections above.
3. Click Save tile.

Saving an Expression to a Dashboard

1. Complete Creating a Metric Expression.
2. In the lower right corner of the Metric Search page, click the arrow icon next to Create Alert, and then click Save to Dashboard. The Save to Dashboard dialog is displayed.
    
3. Either save to an Existing Dashboard (select from the Select dashboard... dropdown menu)
   or click New and type a unique name in the Dashboard name field.
4. Enter a Tile Name.
5. Enter a web link in the Link To box. This converts the tile name to a hyperlink to the specified link.[Optional] 
6. Click OK. The metric is saved to an existing or new Dashboard, depending on what you selected in Step 3. 

Saving an Expression to an Alert

1. Complete Creating a Metric Expression.
2. In the lower right corner of the Metric Search page, click the Create Alert button.
3. If you have created a number of expression nodes, you will be prompted to select one of the expression nodes (an alert can only be on one expression).

If there is no composite function in the metric, the Create a new Alert window is displayed, with the Metric Expression field filled in with the metric expression name.

Note: The Metrics Expression is the metric definition. The Alert Name is the name of the Alert, as it appears in the All Alerts window.

See Alerts Overview for further details. 

Clearing an Expression Tree

To clear an expression node, click the More options icon to the right of the node, as shown below, and select Clear Expression Tree. This action removes all measures and dimensions that you previously added to the expression.

Deleting an Expression Node

To delete an expression node, click the More options icon to the right of the node, as shown below, and select Delete. Note that this option is not available for the root expression node; only additional nodes that you add can be deleted.

See Also:

• Metrics Overview
• Searching for Metrics
• Metrics Overview - video
• Tutorials: Building Chart and Metric Expressions