You can group remote services—or backends—in the flow map configuration to have two or more services of the same type to appear as a single icon in the flow map.
Backend grouping can improve readability and the focus of the flow map, for example, if individual databases or remote service instances are not important to the flow map users.
The following screenshot shows grouped databases on a flow map:
If you want to ungroup backends on a flow map, right-click the backend group and choose Ungroup Backends.
Grouped backend services must meet the following conditions:
- All backends must be of the same type
- All backends are called by the same tiers
- No backend in the group calls other backends or calls into other tiers
The following example shows the scenarios in which a set of backends could be grouped.
You can configure backend grouping in the Databases & Remote Services tab of the Configure Flow Map dialog.
You can set a few parameters around grouping, such as the minimum number of backends must be present before they are grouped. For example, if you set the minimum to 4 and only three backends are detected, they are not grouped.
You can exclude a specific backend server from ever being grouped by the flow map, regardless of the grouping configuration, by checking the Ungroupable checkbox for that backend in the Visibility and Grouping list.
If there are specific database or remote services that you do not want to see or group in the flow map, check the Hidden or Ungroupable check box.