Filters

Cisco Cloud Observability displays all active entities on the Observe and list views by default. 

From the Observe and list views, you can use filters to refine your view to display only the entities and data you are interested in. Cisco Cloud Observability provides you the ability to filter by these options:

• Attributes 
• EntityStatus 
• EntityType 
• Id
• Tags 
• Metrics

The EntityStatus = 'active' filter is applied by default. 

Active entity metrics, events, logs, and health status are read and processed by Cisco Cloud Observability services. Active entities become inactive when data is not reported after a specified period of time.

To filter lists, you can use the mouse to select built-in filter options, or you can use the keyboard to enter search parameters. Using the keyboard may save you time when selecting from a long list. For example, selecting Attributes may display a long Key list. If you type a character, the list options are reduced to only those values containing the character you typed. Entering another character trims the list further. When you apply a filter on an entity list page, the filter is applied to only the entity and not the related entities; the entities count shown on relationship map is inclusive of all types of related entities. 

Other keyboard functions:

• Type characters: Begins filtering the list alphanumerically for you to select from the dropdown more quickly
• Up/Down arrow keys: Move up and down in lists
• Enter/Return: Select the highlighted item in a list; also activates Apply when highlighted
• Escape/esc: Exit dropdown list; completes statement
• Tab: Highlights the next area of focus on the page

Filter Your Data

There are two options to filter by: Classic and Natural Language. Classic filtering includes entering a query while Natural Language filtering involves typing a filter statement using human language. The filter feature functions differently depending on which page you are on. Data is filtered differently on the Observe list page than it is on other list pages. For example, you cannot filter by Metrics or use the natural language filter on the Observe page.

Classic Filter

To use the Classic filtering option for entities on Observe and list pages, filter by Attributes, EntityStatus, EntityType, Metrics (list pages only), or Tags:

1. Click on the filter statement bar that is denoted by EntityStatus = 'active', and either backspace or delete the current filter statement, or add to it. If you add to the current filter, the autocomplete feature will populate suggestions.
2. Select Attributes, EntityStatus, EntityType, Metrics (list pages only), or Tags. 
3. Select an Operator: = (equal to), != (not equal to), IN, or &&.
4. Complete the filter statement.
5. Click Apply to filter your data, or click Enter or return on your keyboard to add multiple filters. 
6. When finished adding optional additional filters, click Apply to display the results of your filter selections. 
   If your filter parameters yield no results, No Data Found displays. If there is an error with your filter statement, Filter expression is not applicable displays. 

7. To remove filters, backspace or delete the current filter statement. 
   

   

   If a filter is already selected on the Observe page, the filter will carry over to the Services, Service Instances, or Business Transactions page, once you click the purple background for Services, Service Instances, or Business Transactions.

   

   Healthy = [0]
   Unhealthy = [2, 3]
   Normal = [0]
   Warning = [2]
   Critical = [3]
   Unknown = [1, null]

   

   The following operators are available:

   • = (equal to)
   • ~ (contains)
   •  != (is not equal to)
   • IN (multiple section, where you can filter by two or more attribute)
   • && (and, where you can connect two complete clauses)

   The following list of operators are supported:

   • tags: =, !=, IN, ~
   • attributes: =, !=, IN, ~
   • isActive: =, !=
   • attribute(status): =, !=, IN
   • metrics: !=, =, >, >=, <, <=

   When using the operator ~ (contains) you need to use * to indicate start with, end with and contains. For example, use:

   • attribute(service.name) ~ 'cloud*' to get any attribute(service.name) that start with 'cloud'
   • attribute(service.name) ~ '*cloud' to get any attribute(service.name) that end with 'cloud'
   • attribute(service.name) ~ '*cloud*' to get any attribute(service.name) that contains 'cloud'

Natural Language Filter 

To use the Natural Language filtering option:

1. Navigate to any entity from Observe or the the Spans or Traces pages from Explore.
2. Click Natural Language.
3. Enter a query using Natural Language.
   Suggestions will populate, for example, "show critical service instances." Click Regenerate to populate additional suggestions. 
4. Click Apply. 
   
   

Currently, natural language filtering while using a Favorites shortcut on the Business Transactions (BT) list page is not supported.

Filtering Metrics

When filtering Metrics, depending on what metrics you are filtering, a new column displays. For example, in the following image, when entering EntityStatus = 'active' && metrics('k8s:cpu.limits')>0 into the filter statement, a new CPU Limit column displays. The type of new column depends on the type of filter entered. If the filter is removed, the column disappears.