Working with Distribution over time charts

A Distribution over time chart tracks how a DEX property changes across your managed endpoints over a selected period. Use the chart controls to set the time range, change the aggregation interval, group the metric by a device attribute, and open the underlying data.

The Distribution over time card is displayed on the Create Charts step only when the columns that you selected in the Data Sets step include at least one DEX property, such as Dex Score, Dex Boot Score, Dex Device Score, or Dex Application Score. If the report includes no DEX property, the card is hidden.

You can render the chart as a Bar Chart - Vertical, which shows the score for each time interval as a separate bar, or as a Line Chart, which shows the trend as a continuous line.

Time range

Set Time range on the Create Charts step to define the period that the chart reports on. Select one of the following values:

  • Last month
  • Last quarter
  • Last year
  • Current month – the default value.
  • Current quarter
  • Current year
  • Custom – select the start and end dates in the calendar.

Aggregation interval

On the Preview Report step and on the report details page, use the View by list in the chart header to set the interval that the chart aggregates the scores into:

  • View by Day – one value for each day.
  • View by Week – one value for each seven-day window, for example 01 - 07 Sep. This is the default value.
  • View by Month – one value for each month.

View by list in the chart header, expanded to show the View by Day, View by Week, and View by Month options, with View by Week selected.

Group the metric by a device attribute

By default the chart aggregates the scores of all contributing devices into a single series, and the button in the chart header is labeled Group By All. Group the metric to compare the scores of different device categories against each other.

  1. In the chart header, select Group By. The Group by drawer opens.
  2. From the Choose grouping feature list, select All, Manufacturer, DEX Device Type, or OS Name and Version.
  3. If you select a feature other than All, the Select values to chart list opens. Select the check box of each value that you want the chart to plot as a separate series, and then select Apply.
    • Use the search field to locate a value quickly.
    • Select Reset in the list to clear the selected values.
  4. Select Save to apply the grouping, or Cancel to close the drawer without applying it.
Note:
Selecting the values is required, and you can select a maximum of five. The drawer displays the message "You can only choose: 5" and Save stays dimmed until you apply at least one value.

To restore the default grouping, open the drawer again and select Reset next to the Choose grouping feature list.

Group by drawer showing the Choose grouping feature list expanded with the All, Manufacturer, DEX Device Type, and OS Name and Version options, next to the Reset icon and the Cancel and Save buttons.

Group by drawer with DEX Device Type selected as the grouping feature, showing the Select values to chart list with a search field, the maximum of five values message, a value check box, and the Reset and Apply options.

Chart controls

The chart header and canvas provide the following controls:

  • Refresh icon – reloads the latest scores from the server.
  • Average Devices Score – the benchmark average across the contributing endpoints, displayed above the chart and drawn on the canvas as a dotted line.
  • Zoom in, zoom out, and Reset Zoom – adjust the magnification of the horizontal axis to focus on a shorter period.
  • Left and right arrows – page through the intervals that do not fit on the canvas at one time.

Chart data table

Select the See data in data table format with download options icon in the upper-right corner of the chart to open the data drawer. The drawer provides two tabs:

  • Aggregated data – lists the aggregated score for each interval in the selected time range, in a Date column and a column named after the charted DEX property. The benchmark Average Devices Score is displayed above the table. Intervals with no reported data show N/A.
  • Details by (Historical property) – lists the devices that contributed to the selected interval, with their individual scores, so that you can trace a change back to specific endpoints.

The drawer provides its own View by list, so you can change the interval without closing it.

Sorting, copying, and exporting the table work the same way as they do for any chart in BigFix UI. For the steps, see Viewing chart data in a table.

Chart data drawer showing the Aggregated data and Details by (Historical property) tabs, the View by Week list, the Export as list, the Copy option, the average devices score, and a table with the Date and DEX Boot Score columns.

Content list behavior

Note:
When a report includes a Distribution over time chart, the Content list table is not displayed on the Preview Report step or on the report details page, for any of the charts in the report. Review the endpoint records in the Details by (Historical property) tab of the chart data drawer instead.