Trying to create a new view type

I hate to bump this, but I really am hoping for some sort of answer, even if it's "don't do that" from the Solarwinds guys...

I have the module mostly built using the following file/folder structure:

\Orion\NetOpCenter
     \Controls
          \PageHeader.ascx
          \PageHeader.ascx.cs
     \styles
          \blank.cur
          \NOCLayout.css
     \NOCView.aspx
     \NOCView.aspx.cs
     \NOC_Master_View.master

The problem is that when I add a NetOpCenter.config file to the module's root folder, everything crashes. I've tried to mirror my file off what I see in NPM, APM, and NCM. And I was able to alter the orion.config file to create a new view, but that doesn't make the module very portable.

Hopefully, once I get the view type showing up in Orion, I'll be able to start working on the view edit/creation processes.

I don't think you need to create a module to add some custom pages to the Orion website. Also, I'm not sure I understand why you would need to create a new view type. Why not just add your custom resources to a Summary view?

The view that I'm working on will, eventually, have more than the standard 1-3 column layout. Also, the "default" Summary View uses a javascript timeout to refresh the page. My goal is to have a view that uses AJAX to update the components within it in "real-time" without the need for a whole page refresh.

The idea is to have a dynamic, single window view that is as close to real-time as possible and that can be made to conform ultra large displays with as many columns and/or rows as can be fit. Wide screen displays, and especially wall displays, can't really be taken advantage of natively by Orion because the Summary View is limited to a maximum of 3 columns. Many people, myself included, have resorted to building wrapper pages, or using the Custom HTML resource to rig up something that sort of works. I'm just trying to take it to the next step and integrate my external pages into Orion so that it's easier to use and to give to others.

I've updated my NOC View posting to have the new view type and resources that I'm working on... http://thwack.solarwinds.com/docs/DOC-157771

Once I can get the view showing up in the Add View page, I think it will be smooth sailing from there.

Have you tried adding your view type to /Orion/Orion.config instead of making a new .config file? The website infrastructure expects those config files to correspond to a "real" module, which ties into installation, licensing, some stuff in the database, etc. I think it's going to be an uphill battle to get that working as a one-off thing.

I can understand why you would prefer to have your add-on be self-contained and not require edits to files that are part of the product, but I think in this case you are better off just modifying Orion.config.

Yeah, I was able to get the view to show up when I modify the orion.config file... I was just really trying to avoid it.

At this point, unfortunately, I think you're correct in that creating a seperate "module" just isn't possible without much more effort or insight.

can you elaborate on what chagnes you made to the Orion.CFG files? I would like to check this out.

My original attempt was successful by simply adding a duplicate of the SummaryView entry under the <viewtypes> section.

<viewtypes>
     <type name="NOCView" pagePath="/Orion/NetOpCenter/NOCView.aspx" userProperty="SummaryViewID"
          description="NOC View" friendlyName="NOC View" />
</viewtypes>

However, something either changed or I just got lucky the first time, because I haven't been able to replicate the result since.

Chris,

I was able to get the view to show up by doing everything you said to do...copy files into stated path, and modify the orion.cfg as stated above. It didn't show up in the web console right away. I made the changes during the day, and when i checked it later that evening, it was there.

I know this is still a work in progress, but I wanted to give you a run-down of how it is working...what is and isn't working on our implementation. I am using FireFox 15.0.

I have loaded some random resources onto the view. Top xx Syslog, Last xx Events, Node Tree, Top xx Interfaces by Utilization.

The resources do refresh individually, rather than whole page.

The node tree resources don't work from this view. This still is limited to 3 columns. As the columns are re-sized, the resources get cut off at the right edge, rather than wrapping the contents.

If there's something specific you want to test, let me know.

By the way, one major caveat to doing these types of hacks that has bitten me in the past is that sometimes updates will break these hacks, and I've had some that I was not able to get working again. This may be due to my [novice] level of coding skills, though, and the lack of available time to spend on this type of stuff.

Romeo

Romeo,

Glad to hear that it (mostly) works for you.

What versions are you running? I am wondering if the updates that we have deployed didn't do just what you said and break something.