Several methods exist to adjust or fine-tune the appearance of your map. You can:

  • Change the layout from circular to hierarchical. Right-click in the map and select Hierarchical Layout from the shortcut menu. Objects in your map are rearranged and the layout indicator changes accordingly.

  • Change the layout from circular to orthogonal. Right-click in the map and select Orthogonal Layout from the shortcut menu. Objects in your map are rearranged and the layout indicator changes accordingly.

  • Change the layout to manual. Right-click in the map and select Manual Layout from the shortcut menu. The initial positions of existing nodes are retained. (This option is especially useful for large, complex maps.)

    In manual layout, any new nodes or edges that appear later due to topology changes, the Expand Map Element option, or Increment Hops, display in the lower-left area of the map. You can drag them from the center to new positions that will be maintained as long as the layout type is manual.

    When elements on a map are removed from the topology, their corresponding representation on the map is also removed. When you view the map in Manual Layout, the remaining map elements are not repositioned.

    If you change the manual layout to circular or hierarchical, all manual positions are lost. If you save a map with manual layout, the positions are saved. To return to the map’s default layout or to its layout when last saved, select Map > Reset Map (this resets all map attributes). A layout indicator at the top of the right panel identifies the layout of a selected map.

  • For a MPLS VPN map, change the layout based on internal logic. Right-click in the map and select Organize from the shortcut menu.

  • For NPM maps, enable the display of labels for routers. Right-click in the map and select Node Labels from the shortcut menu.

  • Move or reposition individual nodes in the map by dragging them.

    Note:

    To select multiple nodes, press Ctrl while making your selections.

  • Enlarge the right panel and hide the map tree. To do so, click the leftarrowhead on the panel divider. To display the map tree again, click the rightarrowhead.

  • Scale the entire map to fit the right panel of the Map Console.

  • Right-click in the map and select Fit to Window from the shortcut menu.

  • Magnify or shrink a map with Zoom or Overview toolbar buttons.

  • Increase or decrease the scope of your map by one increment at a time. This adds new nodes to or subtracts nodes from an existing map.

    Right-click in the map and select Increment Hops or Decrement Hops from the shortcut menu.

  • Expand a selected node with the plus sign to increase the scope for it. Right-click the node and select Expand Map Element from the shortcut menu. This adds new nodes connected to the selected node.

    Note:

    To select multiple nodes, press Ctrl while making your selections and continue to press the Ctrl key when you select Expand Map Element.

    Using the Expand Map Element option and the Increment Hops or Decrement Hops options together may result in unexpected behavior. To avoid this, use the Reset Map option after the Expand Map Element option but before you use the Increment Hops or Decrement Hops option.

  • Add and remove classes using a filter. “Filtering maps” on page 99 contains additional information.

  • Color only map objects experiencing root-cause events (IsRoot = Yes). Click the Color-by-Root-Cause toolbar button (tool tip labeled Toggle Root Cause Coloring). Map objects without root-cause events turn gray. Map objects with root-cause events are colored based only on the severity of the root-cause events.

    The Color-by-Root-Cause indicator, at the top of the right panel, indicates when this option is enabled. This option remains enabled for allmaps until you click the toolbar button again.

    For example, a router with two events—a non-root event (IsRoot = No) with severity 1 and a root-cause event (IsRoot = Yes) with severity 2—is colored red. It is colored to reflect the collective state of the active events and, in this case, the most critical severity is 1 (red). If you click the Color-by-Root-Causetoolbar button, the router changes from red to orange, because the lone root-cause event has a severity 2.

  • Specify a user-defined background. “Customizing map backgrounds” on page 96 contains additional information.

    To undo your adjustments, including those made by a filter, and reset the map back to its original layout, select Map > Reset Map.

    “Saving a mapâ€� on page 143 contains additional information.

    “Navigating among mapsâ€� on page 85 describes several navigation methods.

    Chapter 9, “Customizing Your Console,â€� contains additional information on creating a customized console.