A connection by default contains a list of questions. These are the questions offered by default through the software layer on which the connection operates. Additional questions can be added by using the right click pop-up menu:
What you see next depends on whether or not all questions for the current connection are already present in the tree:
Questions can be deleted from a connection. The procedure is as follows:
A question is executed by double clicking the question node. Alternatively, right mouse click the question node, and in the pop-up menu click "Open":
On successful execution of the question, a window opens in the workspace available to the right of the interface. The following is a screen shot of a successfully executed question:
The different tabs and features related to the question output are explained next.
The Matrix or Data Dump tab
The first tab displays the output of the question in text format. The tab label is either "Data Dump" or (as above) "Matrix", signifying whether the text layout is presented in raw format or in multiple columns format respectively. The layout depends on the nature of the question and has been predefined (see also the remark on presentation type below).
Charts
Question output that is presented in matrix format can often be displayed in the form of graphic charts (bar, pie, line and/or plot). Many questions have predefined charts. For instance, in the above screen shot two bar charts and two pie charts are available (notice the tabs). Predefined charts can be viewed by clicking the appropriate tab.
New custom-defined charts can be created by a right mouse click to the right of the "Question Info" tab:
After clicking a chart type in the popup menu, a GUI window allows you to choose the columns and the chart name. If the data type of a chosen column is invalid, you are informed by means of a popup window. If your selections are valid, the graph is displayed upon clicking "OK".
Note:
Details about the question are available under the "Question Info" tab. The table below explains each element that occurs in the overview.
| Question Information | Description | ||
| Question Number | Each question has an internal number which uniquely identifies the question. | ||
| Question Version | Each question number has a version number. If the manner in which the question is retrieved by the portal undergoes change (e.g. a query is updated), the question receives a new version number. | ||
| Question Description | The question description briefly describes the retrieved information. | ||
| Presentation Type | Possible values are "RAW" or "MATRIX". A "RAW" presentation type means the output of the OS command, database query, etc. is pasted "as is" (i.e. without reformatting) in the output. A "MATRIX" presentation type means the output is reformatted, namely in rows and columns. The presentation type is useful to determine whether a question can potentially be presented in the form of a chart or not (as described above). | ||
| Execution Start Time | A time stamp is given indicating when the question execution started. | ||
| Execution End Time | A time stamp is given indicating when the question execution ended. The difference between the execution start time and end time shows how long it took to retrieve the information. | ||
| Graph Info | Graph Info only applies to questions with presentation type "Matrix". If predefined graphs have been configured, graph types (with column names) are visible in this field. | ||