Service Flow Visualization

The Service Flow visualization provides a graphical representation of service communication flow within an application or distributed environment. It enables users to visualize how requests move between services and related components using operational metrics such as total requests, error percentage, latency contribution, and request contribution. Service Flow visualizations are configured using separate query definitions for nodes and links. The node query defines the services or components displayed in the flow, while the link query defines the relationships or communication paths between them.

Creating a Service Flow Visualization

To create a Service Flow visualization:

1. Select Service Flow from the Visualization Type drop-down.
2. Configure the Query Builder for Nodes.
3. Configure the Query Builder for Links.
4. Review the generated query summaries.
5. Validate the service flow in the Preview Panel.
6. Configure optional customization settings if required.
7. Click Save.

Query Configuration

Service Flow visualizations use a specialized query configuration framework available in Smart-Frame Studio. Similar to other service-based visualizations, Service Flow requires separate query configurations for nodes and links so that both service entities and service connections can be represented correctly.

The Query Builder allows users to:

• Configure service nodes that will be displayed in the Service Flow.

• Define relationships and communication paths between services.

• Select separate data models for nodes and links.

• Choose predefined metrics.

• Configure aggregations, filters, ordering, and limits.

• Review query summaries before execution.

• Validate the generated service flow before saving.

The Service Flow query configuration consists of the following sections:

Query Builder for Nodes

The Query Builder for Nodes is used to define the services or components that appear as nodes in the Service Flow visualization. This configuration determines which entities are displayed in the flow.

Node queries allow users to:

• Select the data model containing service flow node information.

• Configure the metrics used to display service information.

• Define aggregation fields for node-level values.

• Apply filters to restrict the node data.

• Configure ordering to control query output.

• Set a limit for the number of records returned.

Each record returned by the node query is represented as an individual node in the Service Flow.

Query Builder for Links

The Query Builder for Links is used to define the relationships and communication paths between services. This configuration determines how nodes are connected and how service interactions are represented in the visualization.

Link queries allow users to:

• Select the data model containing service flow edge information.

• Configure metrics for service connections.

• Define aggregation fields for link-level values.

• Apply filters to restrict link data.

• Configure ordering to control query output.

• Set a limit for the number of records returned.

Each record returned by the link query is represented as a connection between two nodes in the Service Flow. For detailed information about all Query Builder fields and configuration options, see Query Builder.

Preview Panel

The Preview Panel displays the Service Flow generated by the configured node and link queries. As configuration changes are applied, the preview updates to reflect the latest query settings.

The preview can be used to:

• Validate service nodes.

• Verify service connections.

• Review the generated service flow.

• Confirm metric visibility.

• Analyze node and edge relationships before saving the visualization.

Service Flow Characteristics

Service Flow visualizations are designed to display:

• Service communication flow.
• Node-level service metrics.
• Edge-level interaction metrics.
• Directional relationships between services.
• Request flow across connected services.
• Error and latency-related service context.
• Anchor-based service flow representation.

Each service or component is displayed as a node, while communication paths are represented as links between nodes.

Common Use Cases

Service Flow visualizations are commonly used for:

• Reviewing request flow from the selected anchor service.
• Analyzing total request distribution across connected service nodes.
• Identifying services with higher error percentage.
• Reviewing latency contribution across services in the flow.
• Understanding egress service communication paths.
• Validating node and edge relationships in the generated service flow.
• Comparing the same service flow using different metric views such as Total Requests, Error Percentage, and Latency Contribution.

Example

A Service Flow visualization may be configured to display service communication using metrics such as:

• Total Requests
• Error Percentage
• Latency Contribution

For the selected time range, these metric views help users understand how requests move across connected services, identify services with error impact, and review latency contribution within the service flow.

Customizations

Service Flow visualizations provide customization options that allow users to control how metric values, thresholds, icons, labels, and service flow behavior are displayed within the visualization.

The customization options are available under:

• Units and Formatting
• Data Controls
• Service Visualization Controls

Units and Formatting

The Units and Formatting section allows users to configure how metric values are calculated and shown in the Service Flow visualization.

Users can define:

• Metric-specific display formats.
• Input and display units.
• Decimal precision.
• Rounding behavior.
• Prefix and suffix values.

Value Format

The Value Format section allows users to configure formatting settings for individual metrics displayed in the Service Flow. Each metric can be configured independently using the available formatting fields.

To configure a metric:

1. Select a metric from the metric drop-down list.

2. Select the appropriate value type.
3. Configure input and display units.
4. Configure decimal limit and rounding behavior.
5. Add prefix or suffix values if required.
6. Preview the changes in the visualization panel.

The available data types include:

• Numeric
• Data
• Data Rate
• Date & Time
• Time

Add Metric

Click Add Metric to create formatting rules for additional metrics displayed in the Service Flow. Each metric can have its own independent formatting configuration.

Input Unit

The Input Unit defines the original unit of the selected metric.

Display Unit

The Display Unit defines how the metric value is displayed within the visualization.

Decimal Limit

The Decimal Limit setting controls the number of decimal places displayed for metric values. This helps maintain consistent metric readability in the Service Flow visualization.

Rounding

The Rounding option determines how values are rounded before display.

Available options include:

• Round (Default)
• Ceil
• Floor

Prefix

The Prefix field allows users to add text before a metric value.

Suffix

The Suffix field allows users to append text after a metric value.

Locale and Formatting Style

The Locale and Formatting Style section allows users to apply region-specific number and currency formatting rules for Service Flow metrics. This ensures that metric values are displayed according to the selected locale and formatting style.

Metric Selection

Select the metric for which locale-based formatting should be applied.

Locale

Select the locale used for formatting metric values.

The selected locale influences:

• Number grouping
• Decimal separators
• Currency formatting
• Sign conventions

Currency Type

Specifies the currency type to be used when the selected metric value needs to be displayed in a currency format.

Show Currency Symbol

Controls whether the currency symbol should be shown with the metric value.

Available options include:

• Before value (Default)
• After value

Sign Style

Defines how positive and negative values are displayed for the selected metric.

Available options include:

• Auto (only negative values show signs)
• Show always (+/-)
• Parentheses for negative values

Example:

• -100
• +100
• (100)

Exponent Style

Controls exponent-based formatting for large numeric values.

Available options include:

• e notation (1.23e+4)
• E notation (1.23E+4)

Grouping

Controls digit grouping behavior for large numbers based on the selected grouping style.

Available options include:

• Locale
• Thousand
• Indian

Examples:

• Locale: 1,234,567
• Thousand: 1,234,567
• Indian: 12,34,567

Data Controls

The Data Controls section allows users to define threshold rules for nodes displayed in the Service Flow visualization. These thresholds help identify node health or status based on configured metric conditions. Data Controls consist of the following section:

• Node Thresholds – Configure threshold rules for service flow nodes.

Node Thresholds

Node Thresholds allow users to define threshold conditions for node-level metrics. These rules are applied to the selected metric and help determine how node values should be evaluated in the Service Flow visualization.

Configure Node Thresholds

To configure node thresholds:

1. Expand the Node Thresholds section.
2. Select the threshold inheritance mode:
   ● Custom Threshold – Define thresholds specific to the visualization.
   ● Data Model defined – Use threshold definitions configured in the associated Data Model.
3. Click Add Metric.
4. Select the metric for which thresholds must be configured.
5. Click Add Threshold.
6. Define the threshold condition by selecting the severity, type, operator, and value.
7. Save the visualization.

Each configured metric can include one or more threshold rules. The delete icon can be used to remove a configured metric or threshold rule.

Threshold Inheritance

The Threshold Inheritance option determines how threshold values are applied.

Option	Description
Custom Threshold	Allows users to create threshold rules specific to the visualization.
Data Model defined	Uses threshold definitions configured in the associated Data Model.

Add Metric

Use Add Metric to create threshold rules for one or more Service Flow node metrics.

Available metrics are based on the selected Service Flow configuration and may include:

• Requests
• Rpm
• Err_count
• Error_pct
• Latency_p95
• contribution_pct

Multiple metrics can be configured independently. Each metric can have one or more threshold rules.

Threshold Severity

Each threshold rule can be assigned a severity level.

Available severity options include:

• Critical
• Warning
• Healthy

These severity levels help indicate the status of a node based on the configured threshold condition.

Threshold Types

Each threshold can be configured using one of the following types:

Static

Defines a fixed threshold value for the selected metric.

Example

Condition	Result
error_pct >= 10	Critical
rpm > 0	Healthy

Range

Defines a threshold between two values.

Example

Min Value	Max Value	Result
50	100	Warning
100	500	Healthy

When Range is selected, the system displays:

• Value - Min
• Value - Max

This allows users to define a minimum and maximum value range for the selected metric.

Comparison

Compares the selected metric against another available metric.

Configuration Fields

Field	Description
Compare With	Metric to compare against
Operator	Comparison operator

Example

error_pct > rpm

The threshold is triggered when the Error Percentage exceeds the RPM metric value.

Expression

Allows users to define a custom expression for threshold evaluation.

Example

error_pct / rpm > 0.5

or

colA / colB > 10

Use expressions when threshold evaluation requires multiple metrics or calculations.

Delete Metric

To remove a configured metric:

1. Locate the metric block.
2. Click the Delete icon.
3. Save the visualization.