Metrics
Large, calm numbers with target, trend and traffic light from your data source, for the shift, the warehouse and the control room.
From your organization the app reads: data-sources. The app calls no outside service.
This app needs no separate consent.
- For
- anyone who wants to show a few important numbers on a display that a team can read from afar
- Prerequisite
- the installed app, the right to edit scenes, and a source of the form Metrics or an Excel table or a Google sheet under Data sources. For the tables, an Owner connects Microsoft 365 or Google first.
- Where in the portal
- Apps › Discover apps › Metrics. The widget is in the scene editor under News & info. You create the source under Data sources.
On this page
The Metrics app shows large, calm numbers for the shift, the warehouse, and the control room: outbound goods against the plan, punctuality, utilization, occupied gates, or the days without an accident at work. Every number carries its target, its trend, and a traffic light, and every display names its source and the time of its figures.
What the app shows
The app comes with one widget: Metrics. It shows the numbers of a source of your organization. The app fetches nothing itself. Szenera fetches the source once and distributes the state to all displays, see Where do your apps get their data?. If a number changes in the source, it appears on all displays after the next fetch. In the Data & access tab, the store therefore says under Reads existing data: “Data sources you choose for the app”. Without a network, the last state stays in place.
The numbers come in one of two ways: from a source of the form Metrics, which brings value, unit, target, change, and time with every number, or from the columns of a table in Excel or Google Sheets. For the table, you tell the widget which column supplies what.
The traffic light judges by the target: green at the target or better, yellow within a tolerance below it, otherwise red. You set the tolerance, and it is 10 percent by default. For a waiting time or an error rate, lower is better, and then the direction turns around. If a number has no target, the traffic light does not judge, and the dot appears as an empty ring. The trend shows the change against the comparison period, green if it is good news, otherwise red.
If a source has not delivered a value for a metric yet, its name appears with “no value yet”. The widget never shows a number that does not exist. Below the numbers, the source always appears with the time, and for a list with the time of its oldest number.
Five displays are available:
- Traffic light list: all metrics one below the other, each with its traffic light dot, plus unit, target, and trend. If not all fit the frame, the list pages on at a calm pace.
- Large number: one metric with name, unit, target, and trend.
- Number with target and trend: the number with a bar that shows how far it is on the way to the target.
- Ring: the value against its target as a ring, such as for utilization. For percent, the ring is the scale up to 100 and the target is a mark on it.
- Bars per hour: a bar for every hour, the latest one highlighted. This needs a source that supplies the values of the last hours.
Six templates are ready: Traffic light list in landscape, Large number, Number with target, Ring, Bars per hour, and a Bar in which the metrics appear as a line at the top or bottom edge. The layout follows the shape and size of the frame. What has no room drops out in a fixed order, and the editor tells you. Making it wider never removes anything.
Two examples: A logistics center shows the Traffic light list with outbound goods, punctuality, and utilization in the hall. A workshop puts the Large number of the days without an accident at work by the entrance.
Set up the source
The numbers live in a source. You create it once, and after that every widget chooses it from the list.
- Under Data sources, use Create source to create a source of the form Metrics, or a source of the form Table: Excel table for a file in OneDrive or SharePoint, Google sheet for a sheet in Google Sheets.
- Place the Metrics widget in a scene in the scene editor. In the Data tab of the settings window, choose Metrics or Table under Type of source, and below it your source.
- For a table, you assign the columns. Under Name, Value, Target, and Unit, enter the heading of the column as it appears in the table. The order of the columns does not matter.
The table supplies the numbers as the cell holds them: The number in the cell counts, not its text. If a value cell contains a text such as “n/a”, the metric has no value. Every table needs Name and Value. If the column with the name is missing, the widget shows nothing and the editor names the reason. If the column with the value is missing, the names appear with “no value yet”. Target and Unit are optional.
The steps in detail are in Create a data source and show it in a widget. Which connection the source needs is described in Connect Microsoft 365, Google, or Grafana.
Settings
Open the settings with the gear icon on the toolbar above the widget. They are on the tabs Content, Appearance, Data, and Playback. The toolbar also offers Template and Colors, plus the Background.
| Setting | Tab | Meaning | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of source | Data | Metrics from a source in the Metrics form, or Table with the columns of an Excel or Google table. | Metrics |
| Source | Data | The source in the Metrics form that the widget shows. Below it are connection, refresh, state, and Fetch now. | none |
| Table | Data | The table whose columns supply the metrics. The field appears for the type Table. | none |
| Name, Value, Target, Unit | Data | The heading of the column that supplies the name, the value, the target, and the unit. The fields appear for the type Table. | Metric, Value, Target, Unit |
| Display style | Content | Traffic light list, Large number, Number with target and trend, Ring, or Bars per hour. | Traffic light list |
| Metric | Content | The name of the metric that a display with one number shows, as the source names it. Empty shows the first. | empty |
| Title | Content | Stands above the list, at most 80 characters. Empty shows the title of the source. | empty |
| Show title | Content | The row above the list. In a very small frame, it drops out by itself. | On |
| Show source and time | Content | The line with the name of the source and the time of the figures. In a very small frame, it drops out by itself. | On |
| Higher is better | Content | Applies when the source does not name the direction itself, as with a table. For a waiting time, turn it off. | On |
| Tolerance | Content | Up to this many percent away from the target, the light is yellow, 0 to 50 in steps of 5. Further away it is red. | 10 % |
| Seconds per page | Playback | If not all metrics of the list fit the frame, it pages on at this pace, 5 to 60 in steps of 5. In the bar, each group of metrics stays this long. | 10 |
| Colors and Font | Appearance | Style of the app, Brand colors, or Custom colors, plus the font. See Configure widgets. | Style of the app |
| Background | Appearance | Light or Dark as a calm surface. Glass and Transparent let the background of the scene show through. | Dark |
| Corners | Appearance | Rounded or Sharp. | Rounded |
The colors of the traffic light stay green, yellow, and red on every surface. They are a judgment and do not follow the brand colors.
Limits
- Read-only. The app never changes your source. The numbers are still maintained where they come from.
- At most 48 metrics per source. For a table, rows without a name drop out.
- One source per widget. For a second source, place a second widget.
- Percent in tables. A cell in percent format holds the share in Excel and Google Sheets, so 0.86 for 86%. Write value and target the same way, and the traffic light is right. For the ring, better enter the number 86 and the sign % in the Unit column.
- Bars per hour need values per hour. If the source does not supply them, the number stands alone and the editor says so. A table has no hourly values.
- Fetch at the pace of the source. A change in the source appears after the next fetch. The default is every 5 min, and every 15 min, hourly, and daily are also available.
- The display does not fetch the source. It shows the state we distributed, even without a network. Access and keys stay with us.
- Without data, the surface stays calm. The display shows at most “No metrics right now” or, for a single metric, “no value yet”.
If something goes wrong
| Symptom | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| In the editor No source chosen yet., No table chosen yet., The chosen source no longer exists., or The chosen source does not provide metrics. | No source is chosen, the source was deleted under Data sources, or it has a different form than the Type of source requires. The surface stays empty on the display. | Choose Metrics or Table under Type of source and set the matching source. |
| In the editor The connection to the source needs a new sign-in. | The provider rejected the sign-in. | Sign the connection in again on the Data sources page. |
| In the editor The source is paused. | Someone paused the source. | Restart it on the Data sources page with Resume. |
| In the editor The metrics are being fetched for the first time., The source is not responding right now., or There is no data yet. | The first fetch is still running, the provider did not answer, or the source has not delivered anything yet. | Wait a moment. If it stays that way, check the source and its connection on the Data sources page. The displays show the last state. |
| In the editor The column with the name of the metric is not in the table. | The heading under Name is not in the table like that, or the first row of the table is not the header. | Enter the heading exactly as in the table. Turn on First row is the header at the source. |
| All metrics appear with “no value yet”. | The column under Value is not in the table, or the cells hold no number. | Check the heading under Value and make sure the cells contain numbers, not text. |
| One metric appears with “no value yet” although the source holds it. | The name under Metric does not match the name in the source. | Enter the name as the source names it, or empty the field, and the widget shows the first metric. |
| The traffic light is red although the value is good. | For a waiting time or an error rate, lower is better, but the direction is set to higher. | Turn off Higher is better. A source in the Metrics form brings the direction itself. |
| The display Bars per hour shows only the number. | The metric supplies no values per hour. | Choose a source that supplies the hourly values, or a different display. |
| An addition such as trend, target, or the source is missing. | The frame is too small, and the editor names the reason. | Drag the frame larger or choose the template Large number. |
| The widget cannot be inserted. | The app is not installed, an update is waiting for your decision, or it shows Not in your package. | Check the status under Apps (When an app does not run). |
Related
- Create a data source and show it in a widget: create, choose, and keep a source running.
- Configure widgets: the tabs of the settings window with template, colors, and preview.
- Table: show the same source as a table when an overview needs more rows and columns.
- Find the right app: all apps of the category News & info.
Was this helpful?