SQL Page Timeframe

This SQL Page Timeframe dashboard demonstrates how the current date and time are displayed, along with an example utilizing the Page Timeframe feature of SquaredUp.

Shawn Williams, SquaredUp

How do I get it?

Challenge

When writing a SQL query, getting the date and time to format correctly can be a real pain. What is the current date and time, and how is it formatted? What happens if I want the date and time from 30 days ago? Is there a dashboard that demonstrates how to manipulate date and time for SQL Queries?

Solution

This SQL Page Timeframe dashboard demonstrates how the current date is picked up from the server hosting SquaredUp and how the Page Timeframe button impacts the date and time in a SQL query. Several different examples are demonstrated.

Dashboard walk-through

Each time on the dashboard does something different with the Date and Time. Here is how it breaks down:

Tile 1 (SQL Native) – A simple query that uses the Current_Timestamp function but formats the date and time in a specific way.
Tile 2 (Page Time Frame) – A Case statement the demonstrates how the Page Timeframe is passed into a SquaredUp tile.
Tile 3 (Current Time with Time Zone) – A Select query utilizing the SysDateTimeOffset function and formats the Date and Time with the time zone. The formatting used is different from the formatting used in Tile #1.
Tile 4 (Time zone of the server) – The Time Zone of the server hosting SquaredUp. This information is essential to note when working with a server in a different time zone.
Tile 5 (SQL GetDate Function) – A cornucopia of Date and Time values formatted for each Page Timeframe selection. These are hardcoded so that for comparison purposes with Tile #6.
Tile 6 (Page Time Frame) – Demonstrates how to use the dynamic page timeframe feature. Plus, it includes some date manipulation to change how you want the starting date. For example, start at midnight of the target day, or target the same time as now.

How do I import and configure this dashboard?

Download pack for SCOM Dashboard Server

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Download and import this dashboard pack.
Download pack for SCOM Dashboard Server
1. Download the dashboard pack zip file for the dashboard pack you wish to import.
  There may be additional steps before or after the import to get the dashboard working in your environment.
2. In DS for SCOM go to the top right hand menu ☰ > Import Dashboard Packs and drag the zip file into the Manual Import box.
3. The dashboard pack is imported and if the pack contains top-level dashboards, these will automatically appear in the navigation bar, usually in a folder called 'Community Dashboards' for dashboard packs from the SquaredUp Community. If the dashboard pack also contains perspectives (see Working with perspectives), then you'll see these when you drilldown to the relevant object.
4. Carry out any additional steps required to make the dashboard work in your environment. These steps will be described on the download page for each dashboard. For example, you may need to create the correctly named Web API provider, create a PowerShell profile, or edit tile collections.
5. Edit the imported dashboard as required.
Replace the connection string in each of the seven SQL tiles with the connection string to your own OperationsManagerDW database.
Note: This dashboard requires a connection to SQL Server, but any database can be used. To make things simpler, the Master database was chosen, but the target database can be changed as needed.
1. Edit the tiles by clicking the Edit button.
2. Open the connection panel.
3. Enter the connection string global:dw.
Publish the dashboard.
A newly created dashboard will not be visible to others until it is published.
Only admins can publish dashboards, unless you have been given author permissions to a Team Folder see Team Folders
If you made changes to an existing dashboard, the changes will only be visible to others after you published the dashboard again.
You can identify a dashboard that has not been published yet or has unpublished changes by the unpublished button at the top:
When you click on the unpublished button, you'll have two options:
- Publish will make the dashboard or changes visible to others.
  Note: A newly created dashboard will appear on the menu where you created it. To move the dashboard to a different place on the navigation bar see How to edit the Navigation Bar.
- Discard will delete your draft dashboard if it has never been published or, if you made changes to an already published dashboard, discard the changes.
Publishing dashboards to different audiences
Find out how to publish dashboards to a subset of users using Team Folders or visible to anyone even unlicensed users with Open Access (Sharing Dashboards with anyone - Open Access).

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