Custom Query Resources, Increased Default Workspace

This has bothered me for a while now. SolarWinds does so many great things, yet, sometimes, they seem to forget those little things here and there. Hopefully I am not the only one, but a nice big monitor, with tons of workspace that should be useable but is not, just bothers me.

Almost all of the popup menus throughout the Orion platform seem to use tiny little windows, and have no way to adjust the sizes. Well, I cannot do anything about those windows, yet. For now, I have changed the default size for the "Custom Query" resource.

The default size of the custom query workspace is only 80W x 10H. I use these resources all over my Orion environment, and EVERY single time I go to edit them, I manually resize them, so I can better view my query. I save it, view the results on the page, then go back and edit it, and do it all over again.

This bothered me enough to dig around and figure it out.

**WARNING! THE INFORMATION YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ COMES FROM THE MIND OF AN UNTRAINED AMATEUR, AND IS MOST LIKELY FAR, FAR FROM THE BEST PRACTICE**

Using the following system versions:

Orion Platform 2015.1.2, QoE 2.0, NPM 11.5.2, WPM 2.2.0, UDT 3.2.2, IVIM 2.1.0

It is actually a simple fix, only requiring a few changes in the following file:

Open this file, in the location listed below:

\inetpub\SolarWinds\Orion\NetPerfMon\Controls\EditResourceControls\EditCustomQuery.ascx

(This changes the size for the main query workspace)

The following should be on/around line 22. Simply change the values for the Rows & Columns

        <asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="SWQL" Rows="10" Columns="80" TextMode="MultiLine" /><br/>

It should look something like the line below, changing Rows="10" to Rows="40", and Columns="80" to Columns="200". (Change it to whatever size works best for you.)

        <asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="SWQL" Rows="40" Columns="200" TextMode="MultiLine" /><br/>

(This changes the size for the "Search" query workspace)

Then, make the changes on/around line 33 as well.

            <asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="SearchSWQL" Rows="10" Columns="80" TextMode="MultiLine" /><br/>

Make the same changes down here, just as you did with the previous line.

            <asp:TextBox runat="server" ID="SearchSWQL" Rows="40" Columns="200" TextMode="MultiLine" /><br/>

This is how the default "80x10" layout looks:

Here is the medium sized "160x25":

And, finally, here is the Large "200x40":

You can simply make the changes to that single file, and then enjoy the newly expanded default workspace for your queries.

However, if you run the config wizard, and the "Website" option is checked, then the config wizard will revert your default back to the original size.

If you would like to make the changes permanent, and not alter the default resource files, you will need to do the following:

1. Download the "CustomQuerySizes.rar" file attached to this document.
2. Unzip/unrar the contents to the following folders on your SolarWinds web server:
   1. \inetpub\SolarWinds\Orion\NetPerfMon\Controls\EditResourceControls\
      1. EditCustomQuery_160x25.ascx.cs
      2. EditCustomQuery_160x25.ascx
      3. EditCustomQuery_200x40.ascx.cs
      4. EditCustomQuery_200x40.ascx
   2. \inetpub\SolarWinds\Orion\NetPerfMon\Resources\Misc\
      1. CustomQuery_160x25.ascx.cs
      2. CustomQuery_160x25.ascx
      3. CustomQuery_160x25.js
      4. CustomQuery_200x40.ascx.cs
      5. CustomQuery_200x40.ascx
      6. CustomQuery_200x40.js
3. Rerun the SolarWinds Orion Configuration Wizard.
   1. Make sure that "Website" is the only option checked.
   2. Click OK/Next until process begins.
4. Add new "Custom Query 160x25/200x40" resources to a page.
5. Enjoy your new screen workspace while working with your custom SWQL resource.

Bigger on the inside...

Well, that is all there is to it. Hopefully, SolarWinds will eventually come around to the concept of allowing us to utilize our available workspace, and stop cramming us into little boxes everywhere.

Here are a few more examples of other modified resources:

Custom SWQL Views Manager

Custom SWQL Views Manager Resource

Custom Node & Polling, Combined Details Resource

Custom User Links, Modified User Links Resource

Also, please check out the exceptional content from these Thwack users too:

Gob‌'s content HERE

hcy01uk‌'s content HERE

alexslv‌'s content HERE

cnorborg‌'s content HERE