Transform data - Amazon Managed Grafana
Transformation typesOrder of transformationsAdd a transformationDebug a transformationDisable a transformationFilter a transformationDelete a transformation

Transform data

This documentation topic is designed for Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 10.x.

For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 9.x, see Working in Grafana version 9.

For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 8.x, see Working in Grafana version 8.

Transformations are a powerful way to manipulate data returned by a query before the system applies a visualization. Using transformations, you can:

  • Rename fields

  • Join time series data

  • Perform mathematical operations across queries

  • Use the output of one transformation as the input to another transformation

For users that rely on multiple views of the same dataset, transformations offer an efficient method of creating and maintaining numerous dashboards.

You can also use the output of one transformation as the input to another transformation, which results in a performance gain.

Note

Sometimes the system cannot graph transformed data. When that happens, click the Table view toggle above the visualization to switch to a table view of the data. This can help you understand the final result of your transformations.

Transformation types

Grafana provides a number of ways that you can transform data. There is a complete list of transformation functions below.

Order of transformations

When there are multiple transformations, Grafana applies them in the order they are listed. Each transformation creates a result set that then passes on to the next transformation in the processing pipeline.

The order in which Grafana applies transformations directly impacts the results. For example, if you use a Reduce transformation to condense all the results of one column into a single value, then you can only apply transformations to that single value.

Add a transformation function to data

The following steps guide you in adding a transformation to data. This documentation does not include steps for each type of transformation.

To add a transformation to a panel

  1. Navigate to the panel where you want to add one or more transformations.

  2. Hover over any part of the panel to display the actions menu on the top right corner.

  3. From the actions menu choose Edit.

  4. Select the Transform tab.

  5. Select a transformation. A transformation row appears where you configure the transformation options.

  6. To apply another transformation, Choose Add transformation. This transformation acts on the result set returned by the previous transformation.

Debug a transformation

To see the input and the output result sets of the transformation, choose the debug (bug) icon on the right side of the transformation row. This will display the input data, and the result of the transformation as output.

The input and output results sets can help you debug a transformation.

Disable a transformation

You can disable or hide a transformation by choosing the show (eye) icon on the top right of the transformation row. This disables the applied actions of that specific transformation and can help to identify issues when you change several transformations one after another.

Filter a transformation

If your transformation uses more than one query, you can filter these, and apply the selected transformation to only one of the queries. To do this, choose the filter icon on the top right of the transformation row. This opens a dropdown with a list of queries used on the panel. From here, you can select the query you want to transform.

You can also filter by annotations (which includes exemplars) to apply transformations to them. When you do so, the list of fields changes to reflect those in the annotation or exemplar tooltip.

The filter icon is always displayed if your panel has more than one query or source of data (that is panel or annotation data), but it may not work if previous transformations for merging the queries' outputs are applied. This is because one transformation takes the output of the previous one.

Delete a transformation

We recommend that you remove transformations that you don’t need. When you delete a transformation, you remove the data from the visualization.

Prerequisites:

Identify all dashboards that rely on the transformation and inform impacted dashboard users.

To delete a transformation

  1. Open a panel for editing.

  2. Select the Transform tab.

  3. Choose the trash icon next to the transformation you want to delete.