Panes

Purpose	The Panes App allows users to transform raw query results into dynamic visualizations, offering intuitive insights at a glance and enabling real-time updates through cron scheduling.

Last Updated	March 26, 2025

---

What are Panes?

Panes in Raven provide a visual representation of your data, transforming raw query results into intuitive and interactive visualizations. They allow you to move beyond traditional rows and columns, offering insights at a glance.

Panes are dynamic and can be set to refresh automatically using a cron schedule, ensuring your visualizations always display up-to-date data. Without a cron schedule, panes remain static.

Accessing Panes

When you navigate to the Panes App in Raven, you’ll see an overview of all panes created by your team. This centralized view allows you to:

• Review existing panes.
• Manage panes (edit, change schedule or delete).
• Access shared panes created by your teammates.

How to Create a Pane

Follow these steps to create a pane:

1. Go to the Query Analyzer App

   • Navigate to the Query Analyzer from the sidebar menu.

2. Write and Execute a Query

   • Use SQL to extract the data you want to visualize.

3. Visualize Results

   • Once your query runs successfully, click on the “Visualize Results” button below the query results.

4. Save as Pane

   • After configuring the visualization:

     • Click on the “Save as Pane” button.

     • You will be prompted to provide:

       • A Name for your pane.
       • A Description (optional).
       • A Cron Schedule (optional): This determines how often the query behind the pane will execute and refresh its data.

5. Finalize and Save

   • Click “SAVE” to add the pane to your team’s Panes library.

Managing Panes

Once created, panes can be accessed and managed from the Panes App:

• Edit Pane Details

  • Navigate to the Panes App

    • Open the Panes App from the sidebar menu.

  • Select the Pane to Edit

    • Click on the pane you want to modify.
    • You will be directed to a detailed view of your selected pane.

  • Click "Modify"

    • In the top-right corner of the pane view, click the “Modify” button to enter editing mode.

  • Update Pane Details

    • Change the name of the pane.
    • Add or edit its description.
    • Adjust its cron schedule, which determines how often the pane refreshes its data.
    • Via the pane configurator you can:
      • Add or remove fields from your pane’s data fields.
      • Adjust aggregation types (e.g., sum, average, count) to refine how data is displayed.
      • Modify the source query feeding data into your pane for updated insights.

  • Save Changes

    • Once you’ve made your updates, ensure you save your changes to apply them.

• Delete Panes

  • Navigate to the Panes App

    • Open the Panes App from the sidebar menu.

  • Locate the Pane to Delete

    • Browse through the list of panes to find the one you want to remove.

  • Delete the Pane

    • Click on the delete icon located on the right side of the pane entry.
    • Confirm the deletion when prompted.

Using Cron Schedules

A cron schedule automates how often a pane refreshes its data by re-executing its underlying query. Without a cron schedule, panes remain static and do not update automatically. Cron scheduling uses a series of five numbers, separated by spaces:

    # ┌───────────── minute (0 - 59)
    # │ ┌───────────── hour (0 - 23)
    # │ │ ┌───────────── day of the month (1 - 31)
    # │ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1 - 12)
    # │ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of the week (0 - 6) (Sunday to Saturday)
    # │ │ │ │ │
    # │ │ │ │ │
    # │ │ │ │ │
    # * * * * *

Example Cron Use Cases:

• Refresh every hour: 0 * * * *
• Refresh daily at midnight: 0 0 * * *

For more cron documentation, refer to Wikipedia.

Best Practices for Panes

1. Use unique and descriptive names and descriptions for easy identification.
2. Set appropriate cron schedules for frequently updated datasets.