Flashy (flash) graphs...

[topkoa]

Hey Everyone,

I found an Open Source project that *might* be an interesting idea to find a way to include into Zabbix. (using the term 'include' loosely of course)

http://teethgrinder.co.uk/open-flash-chart/

Some of the capabilities look pretty cool.

[Tenzer]

They are some cool graphs, but I don't think they would fit into Zabbix that well. IMO are they too cartoony in order to be used professionally in a technicians tool like Zabbix. I would rather have some precise graphs like the one in Zabbix now.

Also, they doesn't seem too fitting for having many values per graph, like one value per minute in a one hour graph, that would simply be too compact.

[claytronic]

Those are indeed very nice graphs. While I agree with Tenzer about the technical quality of the current graphs, it would be very nice to have additional graph format for displaying data. I could see pie graphs for displaying gage type representations such as disk free space and 0 to 100% cpu.

--
Claytronic

[topkoa]

Essentially I agree..

That was one of the things that caught my eye with those. I also agree with Tenzer as well that they seem a little too cartoony- however the inclusion of some more diverse graph types would be a plus.

As an aside- I think a good suggestion would be to put some emphasis on graphing data in a way that represents the "latest" data like a pie chart (but with the ability to drill down to historical)...

Actually, the other day I found an other interesting project that produces Ajax Gauges: http://www.bindows.com.. Their software is "freeware" not OSS so it probably would be a bad fit for Zenoss- but as an example of what can be done. I'd like to see something similar to the Temperature Gauge and hard drive storage represented in this fashion. (possibly within a Zabbix Screen).

Your thaughts?

[Niels]

This is based on Flash, which isn't open source, and so "Open Flash Chart" is unusable on open source systems.

[Tenzer]

The source code is provided in the download package, why shouldn't that be open source then?

What is in the .zip file?
In the .zip file is the flash movie (which displays the chart) and the PHP library which is used in all the examples on this site. You also get the full source code for Open Flash Chart, these are the .fla files. I suggest you ignore them unless you are extremely curious.

Source: http://teethgrinder.co.uk/open-flash-chart/download.php

[Niels]

That's not what I'm talking about. While Open Flash Chart may well be open source, its charts can't be viewed on an open source system.

[topkoa]

Viewing flash on on open source platform

Actually, I beleive that is not entirely correct. While most people install the proprietary Flash plugin port (even in Linux) that is _not_ open source. There is however an alternative to this:

http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/

[Niels]

You're right, there's Gnash -- but my experience with it is that it doesn't work. Admittedly I haven't really tried it for some months now, but it's _not_ a drop-in replacement for Adobe's binary blob. There's also swfdec, which manages to play videos on Youtube, albeit with 101% CPU usage. Whether it works with generic, non-video content, or if it's even supposed to, I don't know. Safe to say: Flash on open source is best avoided.

[topkoa]

Your probably correct.

With no personal experience with it, I cannot vouch for its usability.

Anyhow, what do you think about the possibility of using the above technologies as a rough example or discussion points for possible improvements regarding additional graph types?

Is there any value in pursing a discussion for pie charts and gauges?

If not I'll shut up now, and refrain from bringing up the subject in further discussions.

[Niels]

I believe pie charts are coming in the next version of Zabbix, and I'm pretty certain they're done without Flash -- Ntop has them forever. In any case I strongly feel that Flash is overkill for fancy charts, and also that fancy is overkill for charts. If there's something specifically wrong with current (and upcoming) charts in Zabbix, we can discuss those issues, and find ways to solve them.

In my opinion, there are more important things to work on in Zabbix right now.

[topkoa]

Thanks

Many thanks for your insight.

I would agree that there are probably much bigger fish to fry, the whole system has come very far in a relatively short amount of time and I applaud the efforts of the Dev team.

I can't wait to get my mitts on the next release!

[Niels]

I just tried Gnash 0.8.1, and it kinda-sorta-almost shows something in Flash-objects. Some more than others. Youtube and Open Flash Chart doesn't work for me. In the process I've managed to screw up some essential mime types and slightly borked my system. Sigh.

[topkoa]

Oh my!



Sorry! I feel kinda bad I mentioned it now..

I hope your system isn't messed up too bad...

[Niels]

Nono, I fixed it. But Gnash looks to be shaping up, it might be worth checking out again in a couple of months (or cvs).