Create and Manage Views

A view is a custom query that runs against the database on an endpoint. Views define the data that agents collect and upload to the cloud when they condense data.

Go to Configure > SysTrack Settings > Views to create, edit, delete, or duplicate views.

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Create a View

Go to Configure > SysTrack Settings > Views.
Click Add.
Complete the fields in the View Identification, Lifespan, and Refresh panels. See View Identification Panel, Lifespan Panel, and Refresh Panel below.
In the SQL Selection panel, enter the query that defines the view. Provide a Generic query, or both a SQLite query and a SQL Server query.
Use Test SQL to check the query on the currently active tab before you save the view. Test SQL is unavailable when the SQLite tab is active.
Save the view.
Add the view to the role assigned to the systems from which you want to collect data.

To start a new view from an existing one instead, see Duplicate a View.

IMPORTANT: All custom views require a WGUID column with the GUID data type.

Manage Views

Go to Configure > SysTrack Settings > Views and select a view in the grid to edit, duplicate, or delete it. Factory views cannot be edited, duplicated, or deleted. In the grid, the Editable column shows True for user-defined views and False for factory views.

Edit a View

Editing a view changes its settings without creating a new view.

WARNING: Changing the view name changes the table name and deletes all data collected for the view.

Select a user-defined view in the grid. Its View Identification, Lifespan, Refresh, and SQL Selection settings become editable below the grid.
Change the required fields. See View Identification Panel, Lifespan Panel, and Refresh Panel below
Click Save Changes.

Duplicate a View

Duplicating a view creates a new user-defined view with the same settings as the source view, under a new name. Use it to start a variant of an existing view, for example with a modified query, a different lifespan or refresh schedule, or a different system selection, without changing the source view or its collected data.

Select a user-defined view in the grid.
Click Duplicate.
In the Duplicate View dialog, enter a name for the new view. The name must be unique among existing view names, regardless of case.
Click Duplicate.

SysTrack creates the new view with its own table and copies the SQL queries, system selection, category, description, lifespan, and refresh settings of the source view. It does not copy collected data into the new view and is not assigned to any roles. Add the new view to the roles assigned to the systems from which you want to collect data.

Delete a View

Deleting a view removes it and its data.

IMPORTANT: Deleting a view deletes its data table from the database and removes the view from every role and configuration that referenced it. This action cannot be undone.

Select a user-defined view in the grid.
Click Delete.
Confirm the deletion.

SysTrack shows a confirmation message when the view is deleted.

View Identification Panel

The View Identification panel identifies the view and determines where it appears in the views list.

Table Name: A read-only field that SysTrack generates automatically from the view name as you type it. SysTrack adds the prefix VU, converts the name to uppercase, and replaces spaces with underscores. For example, a view named My App Usage generates the table name VUMY_APP_USAGE. If the generated table name already belongs to another view, saving is blocked, so two view names that differ only by case, or by a space versus an underscore, can conflict with each other.
View Name: Required. Up to 25 characters, using letters, digits, underscores, and spaces only.
Existing Category: A dropdown listing the categories already used by existing, non-hidden system views.
New Category: A free-text field for a new category name. If you enter a value here, it overrides any selection in Existing Category.
Description: An optional free-text description of the view.

Lifespan Panel

Configure the lifespan of a view to control how long its data remains available. Longer retention periods can affect database performance, particularly in cloud environments. SysTrack does not impose a fixed maximum retention period for views. On-premises environments generally support extended retention periods more effectively than cloud environments.

Expires In: A number and a unit that together set the retention period of the view. The available units are Never, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, and Months. A newly created view defaults to 30 Minutes. A week is treated as 7 days and a month as 30 days, rather than a calendar month. Selecting Never means rows are not removed based on age. SysTrack checks views periodically rather than continuously, so rows can remain in place for some time after they pass their configured lifespan before they are removed. Rows are removed once the value in the VWTime column is older than the lifespan set in Expires In. If the view query does not return a VWTime column, Expires In has no effect, and rows are never removed by age.
When Expired: Sets how the results of each refresh are stored. The default is Overwrite Data. Despite the name, this setting does not change when data is removed — data is purged based on Expires In the same way regardless of this setting.
- Append Data: Each refresh adds new rows. Earlier rows remain until they age past the Expires In value. This option requires a VWTime column of type datetime in the custom view.
- Overwrite Data: When a system reports new results, SysTrack removes the existing rows for that system and replaces them with the new ones, so the view always holds only the latest result per system. If a system reports no results, its existing rows are removed. If several refreshes run before an upload, only the latest result is sent. A VWTime column is optional. Without it, Expires In has no effect, and the view always holds only the latest result per system. With VWTime, Expires In can remove the rows for a system once the latest result for that system is older than the Expires In value — for example, after that system stops reporting.

To set the lifespan of a view:

Go to Configure > SysTrack Settings > Views.
Select the view.
Go to Lifespan.
Set the required retention period.
Save the view.

NOTE: A view collects data only while it exists. For example, a view with a retention period of 180 days must remain in place for 180 days before the full 180-day history is available.

Refresh Panel

The Refresh panel controls when the query for a view runs on each system, evaluated in the local time of that system.

Frequency: Daily (default), Weekly, or Monthly.
Time window: Choose Inside (default) or Outside, together with one of the configured alarm time windows. A view uses only the alarm hours configured in Alarm Time Windows. The view runs only when the current local time of the system is inside, or outside, the selected time window.
When overdue by N day(s): Cleared by default, with N defaulting to 1. When selected, the view can still run outside its time window once N or more calendar days have passed since it last ran.

The options available depend on the selected Frequency:

Frequency	Option	Behavior
Daily	Every Day (default)	Runs at most once per calendar day.
Daily	Weekdays	Runs Monday through Friday only, at most once per day.
Daily	At Interval	Runs once N or more calendar days have passed since the view last ran (default N is 1).
Weekly	Every N week(s) (default 1)	The view runs once 7 × N days have passed since it last ran. There is no option to choose specific days of the week.
Monthly	A specific day of the month (default 1)	The view runs only on that day number. If a month doesn’t have that day (for example, day 31 in a 30-day month), the view doesn’t run that month.
Monthly	A custom pattern	First, Second, Third, Fourth, or Last, combined with a day of the week and one or more months. The view runs on the matching weekday occurrence in each selected month.

A newly created view that hasn’t run yet is treated as if it last ran 1 day ago (Daily), 7 days ago (Weekly), or 30 days ago (Monthly), so it becomes eligible to run the first time its schedule allows.