Before the decade ends, show us your Orion Maps AND answer a few questions about them -- for 500 THWACK points!

My first three-day experience using Orion Maps 2.0 in a test environment

Some things may have been described by other users, so I'm sorry to repeat them.

     I have to say that the platform is powerful and the map with more than 300 devices works fast. There is a few things wich are not optimal from my point of wiew.

In map display mode  - edit/work abilities

- map pan using SPACE + Mouse drag - could you skip SPACE? Set up controls similar to google maps or how is in an automatically generated map, just mouse click and mouse move?

- Zoom IN / OUT - without pressing CTRL, just mouse wheel - (ie google maps or automatic maps)

- Custom maps Zoom IN / OUT - finer stepping, There is a big difference between scales. The map is totally unreadable from one zoom stage to another one.

- In map display mode, I miss the option of returning to "Maps sumary view" - what it looks like when it is launched from the main toolbar. If I finish editing one map and want to create a new map or edit another existing map I have to go through the main toolbar.

Maps sumary

Map view / edit

   - how to get from here to Maps summary ?

USER rights  - It is written in the user manual :

List of maps: Review available Orion Maps. By default, the list shows maps created by you. If you have Administrator rights, you can display Orion Maps created by other users.

   - does it mean that users without admin rights are not abble to view and edit maps created by a different user ?

   - I do not want to give Admin rights to all user, many users should have "Edit Map" rights and  they should be abble to edit any map unless right limitation set for a specific map.

Filtering in map editor

- I couldn't filter based on IP subnet address

- I set the Property - "IP Address" - value = 10.247.168.

- The filter correctly found 24 existing IP addresses

- I used the option "All" in the left side combo box + "Select all 24 object" on the top right it led to the choice of all IPs in the system

- if I used the "All Pages" option - all IPs were selected immediately

         - a selected values column contains all IP's in system I set the filter in any way.

Custom Connections :

- Drawing two custom connections between two points on a network does not draw two parallel connections, but puts them over each other. Both connections are visible in the edit field. (Network Atlas draws multiple concurrent connections).

- edit of the Custom connection - how to ?  Must be deleted and created from scratch ?

- I would like to be able to create a "Custom Connect" between any points without assigning parameters. It is an interconnection of interdependent network elements, but they do not have any interface that could be used for binding.

(in my case it is a connection of two switches using a radio link, this radio devices does not have an appropriate interface in SNMP that would represent a radio link, or it is only about a connection of ICMP only node with switch interface.

- it is only a graphical connection.

(there was possible to connect Interface on one node (A side) to another node itself (B side)  , status was taken from the interface on A side if necessary.)

     There is still the biggest problem I have with maps -  How to get to the map where the device is located?

     I don't mean an automatically generated map on the Node details page, but my own map with the full topological context of the network, not just the surrounding, directly connected elements. Best for custom map which we fully edit according to our needs.    

     I would like to get to the right map, for example from the central search page or from the Node detail view.

Thank you

My first three-day experience using Orion Maps 2.0 in a test environment

Some things may have been described by other users, so I'm sorry to repeat them.

     I have to say that the platform is powerful and the map with more than 300 devices works fast. There is a few things wich are not optimal from my point of wiew.

In map display mode  - edit/work abilities

- map pan using SPACE + Mouse drag - could you skip SPACE? Set up controls similar to google maps or how is in an automatically generated map, just mouse click and mouse move?

- Zoom IN / OUT - without pressing CTRL, just mouse wheel - (ie google maps or automatic maps)

- Custom maps Zoom IN / OUT - finer stepping, There is a big difference between scales. The map is totally unreadable from one zoom stage to another one.

- In map display mode, I miss the option of returning to "Maps sumary view" - what it looks like when it is launched from the main toolbar. If I finish editing one map and want to create a new map or edit another existing map I have to go through the main toolbar.

Maps sumary

Map view / edit

   - how to get from here to Maps summary ?

USER rights  - It is written in the user manual :

List of maps: Review available Orion Maps. By default, the list shows maps created by you. If you have Administrator rights, you can display Orion Maps created by other users.

   - does it mean that users without admin rights are not abble to view and edit maps created by a different user ?

   - I do not want to give Admin rights to all user, many users should have "Edit Map" rights and  they should be abble to edit any map unless right limitation set for a specific map.

Filtering in map editor

- I couldn't filter based on IP subnet address

- I set the Property - "IP Address" - value = 10.247.168.

- The filter correctly found 24 existing IP addresses

- I used the option "All" in the left side combo box + "Select all 24 object" on the top right it led to the choice of all IPs in the system

- if I used the "All Pages" option - all IPs were selected immediately

         - a selected values column contains all IP's in system I set the filter in any way.

Custom Connections :

- Drawing two custom connections between two points on a network does not draw two parallel connections, but puts them over each other. Both connections are visible in the edit field. (Network Atlas draws multiple concurrent connections).

- edit of the Custom connection - how to ?  Must be deleted and created from scratch ?

- I would like to be able to create a "Custom Connect" between any points without assigning parameters. It is an interconnection of interdependent network elements, but they do not have any interface that could be used for binding.

(in my case it is a connection of two switches using a radio link, this radio devices does not have an appropriate interface in SNMP that would represent a radio link, or it is only about a connection of ICMP only node with switch interface.

- it is only a graphical connection.

(there was possible to connect Interface on one node (A side) to another node itself (B side)  , status was taken from the interface on A side if necessary.)

     There is still the biggest problem I have with maps -  How to get to the map where the device is located?

     I don't mean an automatically generated map on the Node details page, but my own map with the full topological context of the network, not just the surrounding, directly connected elements. Best for custom map which we fully edit according to our needs.    

     I would like to get to the right map, for example from the central search page or from the Node detail view.

Thank you

To your last point about how do I get to map x, it made me think when I get back to my computer and have some time this week I think I'll write a swql query that you can search and it will display all maps containing the specific node.  I've given the team this feedback already, but the way the maps data sits in the database is extremely readable json that gives me high hopes for being able to make changes and new maps and such with code in the future.

Thank you Jiri - I have responded to some of your questions - much of these might be great feature requests to generate and get community feedback as well. 

In map display mode  - edit/work abilities

- map pan using SPACE + Mouse drag - could you skip SPACE? Set up controls similar to google maps or how is in an automatically generated map, just mouse click and mouse move?

JB - In the Map Editor > this was purposely designed to mimic other design tools such as Visio.  From our research Click + Drag typically initiates a marque selection/ Lasso.  Would you rather have Click + Drag Pan the map and have to enter a "mode" by pressing a button to Lasso?

- Zoom IN / OUT - without pressing CTRL, just mouse wheel - (ie google maps or automatic maps)

JB - Similar to the above.

- Custom maps Zoom IN / OUT - finer stepping, There is a big difference between scales. The map is totally unreadable from one zoom stage to another one.

JB - I agree - this is great feedback and something we have heard and we will see what we can do. 

- In map display mode, I miss the option of returning to "Maps sumary view" - what it looks like when it is launched from the main toolbar. If I finish editing one map and want to create a new map or edit another existing map I have to go through the main toolbar.

JB - This is also great feedback - just a quick way to get back to the Map Management Page makes sense.  

USER rights  - It is written in the user manual :

List of maps: Review available Orion Maps. By default, the list shows maps created by you. If you have Administrator rights, you can display Orion Maps created by other users.

   - does it mean that users without admin rights are not abble to view and edit maps created by a different user ?

JB - what this means is that anyone can create a map.  You will see only the map projects you created.  If you have Admin Rights you have the ability to click the toggle to see all maps.  Still that admin won't be able to edit a map created by user 1, they can perform a Save As function to in essence copy the map and save it as a new name.  Of course a user could also share the map with another user, but if editing they would have to perform a Save As also.  This is to ensure the original is not changed without the owner making the changes.  If you only want to keep one map, you could certainly Save As, make changes, and then delete the old map.  We are hoping to add improvements in the future around this functionality.

   - I do not want to give Admin rights to all user, many users should have "Edit Map" rights and  they should be abble to edit any map unless right limitation set for a specific map.

JB - Limitations certainly work within Orion Maps, but we may be able to come up with some mechanism to allow multiple owners of a map in the future. 

Filtering in map editor

JB - In this case the property is IP Address, so if you were to perform the search, which looked like it gave correct results, you can also expand the number of options viewed by clicking the [1-10] and expanding the number of results, then selecting All.  Does that work?

- I couldn't filter based on IP subnet address

- I set the Property - "IP Address" - value = 10.247.168.

- The filter correctly found 24 existing IP addresses

- I used the option "All" in the left side combo box + "Select all 24 object" on the top right it led to the choice of all IPs in the system

- if I used the "All Pages" option - all IPs were selected immediately

Custom Connections :

- Drawing two custom connections between two points on a network does not draw two parallel connections, but puts them over each other. Both connections are visible in the edit field. (Network Atlas draws multiple concurrent connections).

- edit of the Custom connection - how to ?  Must be deleted and created from scratch ?

JB - Correct, currently there is not a way in which to "Edit" a custom connection.  You would need to delete and re-create.  You are also correct that the we do not create two parallel connections.  This was done in order to balance the amount of data shown on the screen to keep it as neat as possible.  We show a single connection but will roll up the worst status for any connection that exists between those two entities.  This would be another great example of a feature request to enable the ability to show all connections between nodes.

- I would like to be able to create a "Custom Connect" between any points without assigning parameters. It is an interconnection of interdependent network elements, but they do not have any interface that could be used for binding.

(in my case it is a connection of two switches using a radio link, this radio devices does not have an appropriate interface in SNMP that would represent a radio link, or it is only about a connection of ICMP only node with switch interface.

- it is only a graphical connection.

(there was possible to connect Interface on one node (A side) to another node itself (B side)  , status was taken from the interface on A side if necessary.)

JB - This can be accomplished today by defining a dependency between the two objects.  It sounds like you would like a mechanism for doing this directly from the map which is certainly something we are hoping to accomplish.   

There is still the biggest problem I have with maps -  How to get to the map where the device is located?

I don't mean an automatically generated map on the Node details page, but my own map with the full topological context of the network, not just the surrounding, directly connected elements. Best for custom map which we fully edit according to our needs.   

I would like to get to the right map, for example from the central search page or from the Node detail view.

JB - So here it sounds like you are looking for a way to determine which maps a Node is a member of?  Are you also looking to have any maps that node/entity is a part of easily accessible from a details page?

Thank you, if it succeeds it will be a great improvement.

Right now I am solving this with an external application that reads the contents of Network Atlas maps and generates URLs with the name of the maps in which each node is located. Generated URLs are stored in Custom property fiedl named "Map URL"

I described it in more detail here:  How to find out on wich map (maps) is node located ?

regards

Jiri

Hello,

Thank you for answers and new questions.

In map display mode  - edit/work abilities

Would you rather have Click + Drag Pan the map and have to enter a "mode" by pressing a button to Lasso?

- for me is better to use "shift" + pressing a button to Lasso .       That was the way I used at the beginning because it was natural to me (and to all my colleagues who also tried the map editor,  no one was hapy to pan the map with space)

User rights

- does it mean that users without admin rights are not abble to view and edit maps created by a different user ?

     It is important for us that all users (with permission) share (read / edit) the same maps. If I change something as a network administrator it must be visible to other users, for our NIGHT in maps where they expect the information. We don't have users with their own maps, we only have common maps that all users work with (network and network maps are our "source of truth").

     I'll be waiting for the new features you wrote (multiple map owner).

Filtering in map editor

expand the number of options viewed by clicking the [1-10] and expanding the number of results, then selecting All.  Does that work?

- yes it works,  I expanded the display to 100 and used ALL - all 24 existing IPs in the range were selected. 

     Anyway, there is a malfunctioning "select all xx objects" option - it a bug to be solved.

Custom Connections :

OK, I have to try to create dependence of two objects and whether I will be able to graphically connect them on the map

There is still the biggest problem I have with maps -  How to get to the map where the device is located?

I don't mean an automatically generated map on the Node details page, but my own map with the full topological context of the network, not just the surrounding, directly connected elements. Best for custom map which we fully edit according to our needs.  

I would like to get to the right map, for example from the central search page or from the Node detail view.

JB - So here it sounds like you are looking for a way to determine which maps a Node is a member of?  Are you also looking to have any maps that node/entity is a part of easily accessible from a details page?

- Exactly, I would need a quick trip from "node details" page or a "Search" results page    - looking for a node named "XXXX" and I need  to go quickly to the map with node "XXXX" to get a quick graphical overview of the status of the network.   Because I just don't remember the geographical context and dependencies of all 8000 devices on the network.

Regards.

Jiri

This Custom Query widget can be added to the node details page and it will get you a list of all the maps that the node appears on. Making a caption searchable form of it will be a bit trickier so I'll get to that later on when I have a real need for it.

SELECT --AccountID, Data,

DisplayName as Name

, '/ui/maps/viewer/' + ProjectID as [_linkfor_Name], 'Edit' as Edit, '/ui/maps/editor/' + ProjectID as [_linkfor_Edit]

,'/Orion/images/nodemgmt_art/icons/icon_edit.gif' as [_IconFor_Edit]  

FROM Orion.Maps.Projects p

where data like '%Orion.Nodes_${nodeid}/"%'

order by name