Advanced Templates | Templates

Introduction to Advanced Templates

Grafana provides a powerful templating feature that allows users to create dynamic dashboards. Advanced templates enhance the basic templating capabilities by enabling more complex data queries, better organization, and improved user interactivity. In this tutorial, we will explore advanced template features including template variables, multi-value variables, and custom queries.

1. Understanding Template Variables

Template variables in Grafana allow you to create dynamic dashboards that can change based on user selection. Variables can be defined at the dashboard level and can be used in different panels throughout the dashboard.

To create a template variable:

Open your dashboard and click on the settings gear icon.
Select Variables from the left-hand menu.
Click Add variable.

Example: Creating a variable called region

Name: region

Type: Query

Data source: Your Data Source

Query: SELECT DISTINCT region FROM sales_data

2. Multi-Value Variables

Multi-value variables allow users to select multiple values from a dropdown list. This is particularly useful when filtering data across various dimensions.

To enable multi-value selection:

While creating or editing a variable, enable the Multi-value option.
Use the variable in your queries with the IN clause.

Example: Modifying the region variable to allow multiple selections

Multi-value: True

3. Custom Queries for Dynamic Data

Grafana allows you to write custom queries to dynamically populate your template variables. This can include filtering based on other variables or user input.

For instance, to create a variable that filters based on a selected region:

Example: Create a product variable that changes based on the selected region.

Name: product

Type: Query

Data source: Your Data Source

Query: SELECT DISTINCT product FROM sales_data WHERE region = '$region'

4. Using Variables in Queries

Once you've created your variables, you can reference them in your queries. This allows your panels to dynamically adjust based on user selections.

Example: Using the region and product variables in a panel query.

SELECT * FROM sales_data WHERE region = '$region' AND product = '$product'

5. Summary

Advanced templates in Grafana significantly enhance your dashboard's interactivity and usability. By utilizing template variables, multi-value selections, and custom queries, you can create dynamic, user-friendly visualizations that cater to specific needs.

Remember to always test your queries to ensure they return the expected results based on the selected template variables.