Introduction to the metrics and events data explorer
Navigate all your data visually using Metrics and events and without needing to know how to write NRQL-format queries.
Need to perform a more detailed search? Read how to query your data. If you haven't already, create your free New Relic account below to start monitoring your data today.
Why it matters
Do you research the state of your systems? Do you need to plan resources, identify and respond to incidents, or troubleshoot faulty behaviors? Metrics and events makes it easy to identify, fetch and visualize the data you are looking for through visual menus, without ever using NRQL or building queries.
With Metrics and events you can access all data stored in the New Relic database (NRDB) in a quick, intuitive way. You can then select Dimensions to facet by specific dimensions of that data.
Other things metrics and events helps you do:
See data from different points of view: from raw data to different visualizations that provide insights on evolution, distribution, and more.
Metric timeslice data: agents, mobile agents, and the agent report this data type. To explore this type of data, you must choose an entity monitored by one of those agents, and then you'll see those options.
Logs: the Log data type (which you can also explore via our logs UI).
Traces: the Span data type (which you can also explore via our trace UI).
Explore your data
To access the data explorer, go to one.newrelic.com > All capabilities > Metrics and events.
Metrics and events consist of these:
Scoping section on the top. You can select between metrics or events and account. If you select metrics, you can filter by entity.
Data browsing area on the left. If you choose metrics, the options are metric and dimensions. If you choose events, the options are event type, plot, and dimensions.
Workspace. This area shows you the result of your choices.
Use the blocks on the left to browse the available data and build your search. You can only select one element per block. Blocks are searchable.
Event type
Lists all available events for the selected account. By default, the sort of events is by Name.
Plot
Lists all the numeric attributes of the event previously selected.
By default, the sort of attributes is by Name.
The first item on the list is count(*), which is not an attribute. It calculates the count of the selected event.
Select the function that you want to plot. By default each attribute is set to the function Average.
Dimensions
Lists all the dimensions of the event and plot previously selected.
By default, the sort of dimensions is by Name.
Dimensions are string values that provide information on the event.
They represent the cardinality, that is, the uniqueCount of the different values of that attribute in the selected time range. If there is only one element it shows the value of the attribute.
To explore APM timeslice data, select AppID, AppName, or EntityGuid as dimensions (or group by those dimensions). Otherwise, you'll get aggregated data for all entities.
Metric
Lists all the metrics available for the selected account. By default, the sort of metrics is by Name.
Dimensions
Lists all the dimensions of the metric previously selected.
By default, the sort of dimensions is by Name.
Dimensions are string values that provide information on the metric.
They represent the cardinality, that is, the uniqueCount of the different values of that attribute in the selected time range. If there is only one element it shows the value of the attribute.
Important
We use the metric system (including metric SI prefixes) to display our units.
Visualize and refine your exploration
The working space on the right displays the result of your exploration.
At the working space you can see:
The querying area breaks down the query into its different constituents. Here, you can easily read the result of your exploration as an NRQL query, and check the exact data being plotted.
If you are not familiar with NRQL, check this area to learn about the build of the queries.
The different parts of the query are these:
SELECT: the plot or metric selected. This input plots only one value and one function.
GROUP BY: represents the FACET clause, and groups the data by the selected dimension.
LIMIT: type in the amount of values you want to see.
WHERE: use this field to further filter results. This input plots n values.
You can see the full query, which is composed of the fields above and the time range selected with the time picker. If you move the mouse pointer over the query and click it, you'll edit the NRQL query in the query builder.
By default, you see the data on a line chart. Change the view easily to Area chart, Pie chart, and Bar chart using the chart picker. You can also choose to see your results' raw data as a table, or as in JSON format.
If you have selected a dimension, the chart is updated with the different facets. Below the chart you can see the facets' table with the list of facets and the value for each one.
Use the facet table to drill down data. By clicking on a facet, it is applied as a filter. The table stays visible so you can easily select another facet to continue your exploration.
You can get the chart as an image, share it as a link, or add it to a dashboard using the Options menu on the top right corner.
You can also copy the URL and share your whole exploration with other New Relic users.
Visualize your custom metric after creating it
Follow these steps to visualize your custom metric through the metrics explorer:
Access the data explorer, go to one.newrelic.com > All capabilities > Metrics and events.
Choose your entity.
Click See timeslice metrics for your entity link.
Use cases
See the following examples to learn how and when to use metrics and events.
I've just connected new instrumentation and want to see if new data is available.
Select the account and event or metric that's generating the new data.
Use the different tools in metrics and events to toy around the new data that has become available: have a look at the raw data of that event or metric as a table, shape it as a list, or click to see it plotted as a chart.
After selecting an event or metric, discover the shape of the data in its dimensions. Guided by cardinality, you can see the different points of view of any data.
Found anything relevant? Save it to a dashboard or share it with a colleague.
I changed a custom event/metric and need to check if this change has been successful.
In metrics and events, select the account, data type and event/metric you made changes to.
Verify the entity is reporting data, and that all the attributes are being plotted.
Find the attribute you made changes to and check the update was successful.
I know there's something off with an event/metric from an alert or dashboard. I need to know the root cause about the event/metric/attribute behavior.
In metrics and events, use the menus to select the event or metric that's not behaving as expected and let metrics and events plot that chart.
From there, you can drill down in the dimensions of that data and filter by those attributes that are relevant.
You can also see that data from different perspectives: its distribution, ranking of values, or evolution over time.
Found anything relevant? Save it to a dashboard or share it with a colleague.
