Sightline EDM 7.1 is here, and this release brings some meaningful interface and usability improvements for a more visually appealing dashboard. Whether you spend your day building reports, analyzing trends, or monitoring live performance data across your systems, the updates in 7.1 are designed to make that work faster, more intuitive, and more powerful.
Below, we walk through the three standout usability upgrades in this release then summarize what else is included. You can also download the full release notes for complete technical details.
More Flexible Report Templates
This one will be immediately noticeable to anyone who builds or maintains EDM report templates.
In previous versions of EDM, report templates worked within a fairly rigid structure: charts were placed into fixed-height rows, and you had to specify how many charts went in each row. That worked, but it put real constraints on how you could present your data, especially when you needed one chart to breathe a little more than another.
EDM 7.1 removes those constraints entirely. Charts can now be any height and any width. Simply drag the edges of the chart icon in the template to resize it. Want one large chart spanning the full width at the top of a report with several smaller ones below? Done. Need a particularly tall meter chart to display all your metric labels without clipping? No problem. The template editor now gives you the flexibility to design reports the way you actually want to see them.
This update also directly addresses a known display issue: meter charts with many metrics sometimes truncating label names due to fixed height limits. With flexible sizing, you can expand those charts to show every label clearly.
New Combo Chart Type: Column + Line in One View
EDM 7.1 introduces a new chart type that many users have been looking for: the Combo chart, which combines a column chart and one or more line charts into a single view.
The logic is straightforward. In the chart definition, the first metric you list is rendered as a column. Every additional metric is rendered as a line overlaid on top. This makes it easy to compare a primary volume or count metric against one or more trend lines in the same chart without needing to build separate charts or toggle between views.
This is the first time EDM has combined chart types in a single view, and it opens up new possibilities for visualizing relationships between metrics that previously required side-by-side comparisons.
Dynamic View Management, Directly on the Page
Managing your EDM views just got a lot more efficient.
In previous releases, creating or updating a User View required navigating away from your current page: you’d select Managed Views, land on the Views page, make your changes, and then return to where you were. It wasn’t broken, but it interrupted your workflow.
In EDM 7.1, views are managed dynamically, right where you’re working. A Managed Views option icon in the left pane lets you configure or update your view without leaving the page. There’s also a new Columns icon that lets you dynamically show or hide columns in your current view on the fly.
For users who regularly work across multiple views or need to adjust what’s visible based on the task at hand, this is a meaningful time-saver.
Other Notable Updates in EDM 7.1
Beyond the three headline usability features, EDM 7.1 includes a number of additional improvements:
- Time controls in Quick Chart view mode: You can now change the time range directly from the Quick Chart toolbar without switching to edit mode – select a preset time definition or specify a custom range in seconds.
- Period-over-period comparison in Quick Charts: Overlay up to four historical time periods on a single line chart using the Compare button. Each period is visually distinguished with unique line dash styles, making trend analysis across days, weeks, or months much easier.
- SSL configuration simplified: SSL settings have been moved to Settings > System Settings > SSL Settings. You no longer need to manually edit EDM and DCS configuration files to enable SSL.
- Export to CSV replaces Print links: Print and Print with Details links across the EDM interface have been replaced with Export to CSV, which downloads a clean CSV file rather than opening a print preview.
- REST API token authentication: REST API endpoints now require authentication via an API Token, generated under Settings > System Settings > API Settings.
- Views on Saved Reports tab: You can now create user-specific views directly on the Saved Reports tab under Visualization.
- log4j updated to version 2.25.3: This security update is included in EDM 7.1.
- Active Directory credential validation fix: A bug where EDM incorrectly performed a second credential check against the Users table (rather than relying solely on Active Directory) has been corrected.
- Several additional bug fixes: Including corrections to MIX event data display, stacked area chart rendering, event column sorting, SCIM user role defaults, and Power Agent reconnect status messaging.
Ready to Upgrade?
For full technical details, system requirements, and upgrade instructions, see the Full 7.1 Release Notes. Before upgrading, confirm that your current version is EDM 7.0; upgrades from versions prior to 7.0 are not supported.
Questions about the upgrade process or specific features? Contact your Sightline representative or reach out to Sightline Systems Technical Support.
Brandon Witte is the CEO of Sightline Systems, a global leader in real-time performance monitoring and analytics software. With nearly two decades at the helm of Sightline, Brandon has driven innovation across industries, recently expanding into aquaculture with the launch of AQUA Sightline.
An experienced executive with a Bachelor of Science in Management Science from Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business, Brandon’s career spans expertise in enterprise software, IT strategy, and professional services.
Under Brandon’s leadership, Sightline has established a reputation for delivering actionable insights through advanced analytics, empowering businesses to optimize operations for higher profit margins and more successful day-to-day operations.
About Sightline Systems
Sightline Systems is an Industry 4.0 data intelligence company headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. For more than three decades, Sightline has helped enterprises turn high-volume machine and system data into clear, actionable intelligence. Its flagship platform, Sightline EDM (Enterprise Data Manager), unifies real-time monitoring, anomaly detection, root cause analysis, and machine learning forecasting across IT, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), manufacturing, and aquaculture operations. Sightline supports enterprise and Fortune-level organizations in more than 15 countries and maintains a 98% client renewal rate.