Field options and overrides - Amazon Managed Grafana
Field optionsField overridesAvailable field options and overrides

Field options and overrides

This documentation topic is designed for Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 8.x.

For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 10.x, see Working in Grafana version 10.

For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 9.x, see Working in Grafana version 9.

This section explains what field options and field overrides in Amazon Managed Grafana are and how to use them.

The data model used in Grafana workspaces, the data frame, is a columnar-oriented table structure that unifies both time series and table query results. Each column within this structure is called a field. A field can represent a single time series or table column.

Field options allow you to change how the data is displayed in your visualizations. Options and overrides that you apply do not change the data, they change how Amazon Managed Grafana displays the data.

Field options

Field options, both standard and custom, can be found on the Field tab in the panel editor. Changes that are made on this tab apply to all fields (that is, series and columns). For example, if you change the unit to percentage, all fields with numeric values are displayed in percentages. Learn how to apply a field option in Configure all fields.

Field overrides

Field overrides can be added on the Overrides tab in the panel editor. There you can add the same options as you find on the Field tab, but they are applied only to specific fields. Learn how to apply an override in Configure specific fields.

Available field options and overrides

Field option types are common to both field options and field overrides. The only difference is whether the change will apply to all fields (applied on the Field tab) or to a subset of fields (applied on the Overrides tab).

Configure all fields

To change how all fields display data, you can change an option on the Field tab. On the Overrides tab, you can then override the field options for specific fields. For more information, see Configure specific fields.

For example, you can change the number of decimal places shown in all fields by changing the Decimals option. For more information about options, see Standard field options and Table field options.

Change a field option

You can change as many options as you want to.

To change a field option

  1. Choose the panel that you want to edit, choose the panel title, and then choose Edit.

  2. Choose the Field tab.

  3. Find the option that you want to change. You can define the following:

  4. Add options by adding values in the fields. To return options to default values, delete the white text in the fields.

  5. When you have finished making edits to the dashboard, choose Save.

Field option example

Let’s assume that the result set is a data frame that consists of two fields: time and temperature.

time temperature
2020-01-02 03:04:00 45.0
2020-01-02 03:05:00 47.0
2020-01-02 03:06:00 48.0

Each field (column) of this structure can have field options applied in a way that alter the way its values are displayed. For example, you can set the Unit to Temperature > Celsius, resulting in the following table.

time temperature
2020-01-02 03:04:00 45.0 °C
2020-01-02 03:05:00 47.0 °C
2020-01-02 03:06:00 48.0 °C

The decimal place doesn’t mean anything in this case. You can change the Decimals from auto to zero (0), resulting in the following table.

time temperature
2020-01-02 03:04:00 45 °C
2020-01-02 03:05:00 47 °C
2020-01-02 03:06:00 48 °C

Configure specific fields

You can use overrides to change the settings for one or more fields. Field options for overrides are exactly the same as the field options that are available in a particular visualization. The only difference is that you choose which fields to apply them to.

For example, you can change the number of decimal places shown in all numeric fields or columns by changing the Decimals option for Fields with type that matches Numeric. For more information about options, see Standard field options, which apply to all panel visualizations that allow transformations, and Table field options, which apply only to table panel visualizations.

Add a field override

You can override as many field options as you want to.

To add a field override

  1. Choose the panel that you want to edit, choose the panel title, and then choose Edit.

  2. Choose the Overrides tab.

  3. Choose Add an override for.

  4. Select the fields to which you want to apply an override rule.

    • Fields with name – Use this to select a field from the list of all available fields. Properties that you add to a rule with this selector are applied only to this single field.

    • Fields with name matching regex – Use this to specify fields to override with a regular expression. Properties that you add to a rule by using this selector are applied to all fields where the field names match the regex.

    • Fields with type – Use this to select fields by type, such as string, numeric, and so on. Properties that you add to a rule with this selector are applied to all fields that match the selected type.

  5. Choose Add override property.

  6. Select the field option that you want to apply.

  7. Enter options by adding values in the fields. To return options to default values, delete the white text in the fields.

  8. Continue to add overrides to this field by choosing Add override property, or you can choose Add override and select a different field to add overrides to.

  9. When finished, choose Save.

Delete a field override

  1. Choose the Overrides tab that contains the override that you want to delete.

  2. Choose the trash can icon next to the override.

Field override example

Let’s assume that our result set is a data frame that consists of four fields: time, high temp, low temp, and humidity.

time high temp low temp humidity
2020-01-02 03:04:00 45.0 30.0 67
2020-01-02 03:05:00 47.0 34.0 68
2020-01-02 03:06:00 48.0 31.0 68

Let’s apply the field options from the Field option example to apply the Celsius unit and get rid of the decimal place. This results in the following table.

time high temp low temp humidity
2020-01-02 03:04:00 45 °C 30 °C 67 °C
2020-01-02 03:05:00 47 °C 34 °C 68 °C
2020-01-02 03:06:00 48 °C 31 °C 68 °C

The temperature fields look good, but the humidity is nonsensical. You can fix this by applying a field option override to the humidity field and changing the unit to Misc > percent (0-100). This results in a table that makes a lot more sense.

time high temp low temp humidity
2020-01-02 03:04:00 45 °C 30 °C 67%
2020-01-02 03:05:00 47 °C 34 °C 68%
2020-01-02 03:06:00 48 °C 31 °C 68%

Standard field options

This section explains the available field options. They are listed in alphabetical order.

You can apply standard field options to most built-in Grafana workspace panels. Some older panels and community panels that have not updated to the new panel and data model will be missing either all or some of these field options.

Most field options will not affect the visualization until you choose outside of the field option box you are editing or press Enter.

For more information about applying these options, see the following sections:

Decimals

This option sets the number of decimals to include when rendering a value. Leave empty for Amazon Managed Grafana to use the number of decimals provided by the data source.

To change this setting, enter a number in the field.

This option controls the URL to which a value or visualization links. For more information and instructions, see Data links.

Display name

This option sets the display title of all fields. You can use variables in the field title. For more information about templating and template variables, see Templates and variables.

When multiple stats, fields, or series are shown, this field controls the title in each stat. You can use expressions such as ${__field.name} to use only the series name or the field name in the title.

Given a field with a name of Temp, and labels of {"Loc"="PBI", "Sensor"="3"}

Expression syntax Example Renders to Explanation
${__field.displayName} Same as syntax Temp {Loc="PBI", Sensor="3"} Displays the field name and labels in {} if they are present. If there is only one label key in the response, then for the label portion, Amazon Managed Grafana displays the value of the label without the enclosing braces.
${__field.name} Same as syntax Temp Displays the name of the field (without labels).
${__field.labels} Same as syntax Loc="PBI", Sensor="3" Displays the labels without the name.
${__field.labels.X} ${__field.labels.Loc} PBI Displays the value of the specified label key.
${__field.labels.__values} Same as Syntax PBI, 3 Displays the values of the labels separated by a comma (without label keys).

If the value is an empty string after rendering the expression for a particular field, the default display method is used.

Max

This option sets the maximum value used in percentage threshold calculations. For automatic calculation based on all series and fields, leave this setting blank.

Min

This option sets the minimum value used in percentage threshold calculations. For automatic calculation based on all series and fields, leave this setting blank.

No value

Enter what Amazon Managed Grafana should display if the field value is empty or null.

Unit

This option specifies the unit that a field should use. Choose the Unit field, then drill down until you find the unit that you want. The unit that you select is applied to all fields except time.

Custom units

You can also use the unit dropdown list to specify custom units, custom prefix or suffix, and date/time formats.

To select a custom unit, enter the unit and select the last Custom: xxx option in the dropdown list.

  • suffix:<suffix> for custom unit that should go after value.

  • time:<format> for custom date/time formats; for example, time:YYYY-MM-DD. For the format syntax and options, see Display.

  • si:<base scale><unit characters> for custom SI units; for example, si: mF. This option is a bit more advanced because you can specify both a unit and the source data scale. For example, if your source data is represented as milli (thousands of) unit, prefix the unit with that SI scale character.

  • count:<unit> for a custom count unit.

  • currency:<unit> for custom a currency unit.

You can also paste a native emoji in the unit picker and pick it as a custom unit.

String units

Amazon Managed Grafana can sometimes parse strings and show them as numbers. To make Amazon Managed Grafana show the original string, create a field override and add a unit property with the string unit.

Color scheme

The field color option defines how Amazon Managed Grafana colors series or fields. There are multiple modes here that work differently, and their utility depends largely on the currently selected visualization.

Continuous color modes use the percentage of a value relative to min and max to interpolate a color.

  • Single color – Specific color set by using the color picker. This is most useful from an override rule.

  • From thresholds – Color derived from the matching threshold. This is useful for gauges, stat, and table visualizations.

Color by series

Amazon Managed Grafana includes color schemes that define color by series. This is useful for graphs and pie charts, for example.

Color by value

Amazon Managed Grafana also includes continuous (gradient) color schemes. This is useful for visualizations that color individual values; for example, stat panels and the table panel.

Thresholds

You can use thresholds to change the color of a field based on the value. For more information and instructions, see Thresholds.

Value mapping

You can use this option to set rules that translate a field value or range of values into explicit text. You can add more than one value mapping.

  • Mapping type – Choose an option.

    • Value – Enter a value. If the field value is greater than or equal to the value, the Text is displayed.

    • From and To – Enter a range. If the field value is between or equal to the values in the range, the Text is displayed.

  • Text – Text that is displayed if the conditions are met in a field. This field accepts variables.