I currently have set up an Ubidots dashboard that I use to monitor several near real-time metrics.
The dashboard has 2 widgets, both of which are Metric widgets using Synthetic variables.
I’ve been watching the synthetic variables through the Devices UI and they update within 30 seconds to 1 minute, which is acceptable.
However, it seems like my dashboard is not updating whenever these variables update. In the Devices UI, the variables clearly show that they have updated, but the dashboard does not reflect this unless I refresh the dashboard.
I have several questions:
I need my Ubidots dashboard/widgets to update whenever these variables update. Shouldn’t Ubidots be doing this automatically? I assume that the widgets are should be using Ajax, and hence update in real time?
If this is not the case, then how often do Ubidots dashboards refresh/update? Does this mean that I cannot use the dashboard to provide near-real time monitoring?
Note that I have an Industrial Ubidots account which I’m using to display these metrics in my dashboard.
Glad to know you’re aware of the Synthetic variables mean update rate. This is also explained in here
Yes, Ubidots dashboard should update automatically upon a raw or synthetic variable update. I’ve been now for a couple of hours testing this and so far, the dashboard updates once data become available to either type of variable. With that in mind, can you check the following:
– Make sure the real-time engine is active. This can be seen in the play/pause button next to the date-time picker: it should be enabled:
– If you have an Aggregation method in the widget settings different than “Last value”, e.g., count, sum, mean, etc. please note that this methods don’t yet have real-time support (it is a WIP), so it requires refreshing the dashboard to obtain new data.
As long as there are not Aggregation method set within the widget settings, the update should be instantaneously as data becomes available. It’s worth noting that you may experience, from time to time, the RT disconnecting, and this could be because a drop in the internet connection. Most of the time, widgets will pick up the connection automatically themselves, but in rare occasions, a refresh will be needed.
Thanks for your quick and detailed response. We are using the Aggregation method so this is causing the issue, I am glad you raised this issue.
Having the dashboard refresh by itself is very important for use case, so I will need to investigate a workaround for this. Is there an estimated date we may expect to see this feature implemented for Aggregation?
Glad to have been helpful and clarify this behavior.
A workaround, for the time being, is using a browser extension that reloads the tab every now and then. For example, this one is for Chrome, or Firefox. I guess there should be extension available for oher browsers.
Now, in terms of the Aggregation Methods addition to the RT engine, I can’t yet comment on the timeline.
Hi! I would like to pick up a question on this thread, although I see it as solved, I would like to know if over the years any different function has been added for the automatic refresh with the arrival of available data, other than the Chrome or Firefox extension. Thanks!
The last value type of aggregation still works in real-time as it used to be. However, there has been indeed an update in terms of “real-time” for the other type of aggregations (mean, sum, min, max and count): these now update not in realtime, but periodically. Ubidots implemented a polling-based data retrieval method for such aggregations, which means the calculation will run at intervals of anything in between 30s to 10 mins. That’s the frequency at which you can expect to see update in widget using said aggregations.
