View definition artifact in Azure Managed Applications

View definition is an optional artifact in Azure Managed Applications. It allows you to customize the overview page and add more views such as Metrics and Custom resources.

This article provides an overview of view definition artifact and its capabilities.

View definition artifact

The view definition artifact must be named viewDefinition.json and placed at the same level as createUiDefinition.json and mainTemplate.json in the .zip package that creates a managed application definition. To learn how to create the .zip package and publish a managed application definition, see Quickstart: Create and publish an Azure Managed Application definition

View definition schema

The viewDefinition.json file has only one top level views property, which is an array of views. Each view is shown in the managed application user interface as a separate menu item in the table of contents. Each view has a kind property that sets the type of the view. It must be set to one of the following values: Overview, Metrics, CustomResources, Associations. For more information, see current JSON schema for viewDefinition.json.

Sample JSON for view definition:

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/viewdefinition/0.0.1-preview/ViewDefinition.json#",
  "contentVersion": "0.0.0.1",
  "views": [
    {
      "kind": "Overview",
      "properties": {
        "header": "Welcome to your Azure Managed Application",
        "description": "This managed application is for demo purposes only.",
        "commands": [
          {
            "displayName": "Test Action",
            "path": "testAction"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "kind": "Metrics",
      "properties": {
        "displayName": "This is my metrics view",
        "version": "1.0.0",
        "charts": [
          {
            "displayName": "Sample chart",
            "chartType": "Bar",
            "metrics": [
              {
                "name": "Availability",
                "aggregationType": "avg",
                "resourceTagFilter": [
                  "tag1"
                ],
                "resourceType": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
                "namespace": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts"
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "kind": "CustomResources",
      "properties": {
        "displayName": "Test custom resource type",
        "version": "1.0.0",
        "resourceType": "testCustomResource",
        "createUIDefinition": {},
        "commands": [
          {
            "displayName": "Custom Context Action",
            "path": "testCustomResource/testContextAction",
            "icon": "Stop",
            "createUIDefinition": {}
          }
        ],
        "columns": [
          {
            "key": "name",
            "displayName": "Name"
          },
          {
            "key": "properties.myProperty1",
            "displayName": "Property 1"
          },
          {
            "key": "properties.myProperty2",
            "displayName": "Property 2",
            "optional": true
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "kind": "Associations",
      "properties": {
        "displayName": "Test association resource type",
        "version": "1.0.0",
        "targetResourceType": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
        "createUIDefinition": {}
      }
    }
  ]
}

Overview

"kind": "Overview"

When you provide this view in viewDefinition.json, it overrides the default Overview page in your managed application.

{
  "kind": "Overview",
  "properties": {
    "header": "Welcome to your Azure Managed Application",
    "description": "This managed application is for demo purposes only.",
    "commands": [
      {
        "displayName": "Test Action",
        "path": "testAction"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Metrics

"kind": "Metrics"

The metrics view enables you to collect and aggregate data from your managed application resources in Azure Monitor Metrics.

{
  "kind": "Metrics",
  "properties": {
    "displayName": "This is my metrics view",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "charts": [
      {
        "displayName": "Sample chart",
        "chartType": "Bar",
        "metrics": [
          {
            "name": "Availability",
            "aggregationType": "avg",
            "resourceTagFilter": [
              "tag1"
            ],
            "resourceType": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts",
            "namespace": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Chart

Metric

Custom resources

"kind": "CustomResources"

You can define multiple views of this type. Each view represents a unique custom resource type from the custom provider you defined in mainTemplate.json. For an introduction to custom providers, see Azure Custom Providers Preview overview.

In this view you can perform GET, PUT, DELETE, and POST operations for your custom resource type. POST operations could be global custom actions or custom actions in a context of your custom resource type.

{
  "kind": "CustomResources",
  "properties": {
    "displayName": "Test custom resource type",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "resourceType": "testCustomResource",
    "icon": "Polychromatic.ResourceList",
    "createUIDefinition": {},
    "commands": [
      {
        "displayName": "Custom Context Action",
        "path": "testCustomResource/testContextAction",
        "icon": "Stop",
        "createUIDefinition": {},
      }
    ],
    "columns": [
      {
        "key": "name",
        "displayName": "Name"
      },
      {
        "key": "properties.myProperty1",
        "displayName": "Property 1"
      },
      {
        "key": "properties.myProperty2",
        "displayName": "Property 2",
        "optional": true
      }
    ]
  }
}

Commands

The commands property is an array of more toolbar buttons that are displayed on page. Each command represents a POST action from your Azure Custom Provider defined in mainTemplate.json. For an introduction to custom providers, see Azure Custom Providers overview.

{
  "commands": [
    {
      "displayName": "Start Test Action",
      "path": "testAction",
      "icon": "Start",
      "createUIDefinition": {}
    },
  ]
}

Associations

"kind": "Associations"

You can define multiple views of this type. This view allows you to link existing resources to the managed application through the custom provider you defined in mainTemplate.json. For an introduction to custom providers, see Azure Custom Providers Preview overview.

In this view, you can extend existing Azure resources based on the targetResourceType. When a resource is selected, it creates an onboarding request to the public custom provider, which can apply a side effect to the resource.

{
  "kind": "Associations",
  "properties": {
    "displayName": "Test association resource type",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "targetResourceType": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
    "createUIDefinition": {}
  }
}

Looking for help

If you have questions or need an answer about Azure Managed Applications, try asking on Stack Overflow. Use the tag azure-managed-app when you post a question.

Next steps

• For an introduction to managed applications, see Azure Managed Application overview.
• For an introduction to custom providers, see Azure Custom Providers overview.
• For creating an Azure Managed Application with Azure Custom Providers, see Tutorial: Create managed application with custom provider actions and resource types