Add option to reset buckets on flush to histogram aggregator (#5641)

plugins/aggregators/histogram/README.md

@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ Values added to a bucket are also added to the larger buckets in the
 distribution.  This creates a [cumulative histogram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histogram#/media/File:Cumulative_vs_normal_histogram.svg).
 
 Like other Telegraf aggregators, the metric is emitted every `period` seconds.
-Bucket counts however are not reset between periods and will be non-strictly
+By default bucket counts are not reset between periods and will be non-strictly
-increasing while Telegraf is running.
+increasing while Telegraf is running. This behavior can be changed by setting the
+`reset` parameter to true.
 
 #### Design
 
@@ -34,6 +35,10 @@ of the algorithm which is implemented in the Prometheus
   ## aggregator and will not get sent to the output plugins.
   drop_original = false
 
+  ## If true, the histogram will be reset on flush instead
+  ## of accumulating the results.
+  reset = false
+
   ## Example config that aggregates all fields of the metric.
   # [[aggregators.histogram.config]]
   #   ## The set of buckets.

plugins/aggregators/histogram/histogram.go

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ const bucketInf = "+Inf"
 // HistogramAggregator is aggregator with histogram configs and particular histograms for defined metrics
 type HistogramAggregator struct {
 	Configs      []config `toml:"config"`
+	ResetBuckets bool     `toml:"reset"`
 
 	buckets bucketsByMetrics
 	cache   map[uint64]metricHistogramCollection
@@ -72,6 +73,10 @@ var sampleConfig = `
   ## aggregator and will not get sent to the output plugins.
   drop_original = false
 
+  ## If true, the histogram will be reset on flush instead
+  ## of accumulating the results.
+  reset = false
+
   ## Example config that aggregates all fields of the metric.
   # [[aggregators.histogram.config]]
   #   ## The set of buckets.
@@ -201,9 +206,15 @@ func (h *HistogramAggregator) groupField(
 	)
 }
 
-// Reset does nothing, because we need to collect counts for a long time, otherwise if config parameter 'reset' has
+// Reset does nothing by default, because we typically need to collect counts for a long time.
-// small value, we will get a histogram with a small amount of the distribution.
+// Otherwise if config parameter 'reset' has 'true' value, we will get a histogram
-func (h *HistogramAggregator) Reset() {}
+// with a small amount of the distribution. However in some use cases a reset is useful.
+func (h *HistogramAggregator) Reset() {
+	if h.ResetBuckets {
+		h.resetCache()
+		h.buckets = make(bucketsByMetrics)
+	}
+}
 
 // resetCache resets cached counts(hits) in the buckets
 func (h *HistogramAggregator) resetCache() {

plugins/aggregators/histogram/histogram_test.go

@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 // NewTestHistogram creates new test histogram aggregation with specified config
-func NewTestHistogram(cfg []config) telegraf.Aggregator {
+func NewTestHistogram(cfg []config, reset bool) telegraf.Aggregator {
-	htm := &HistogramAggregator{Configs: cfg}
+	htm := &HistogramAggregator{Configs: cfg, ResetBuckets: reset}
 	htm.buckets = make(bucketsByMetrics)
 	htm.resetCache()
 
@@ -69,11 +69,12 @@ func BenchmarkApply(b *testing.B) {
 func TestHistogramWithPeriodAndOneField(t *testing.T) {
 	var cfg []config
 	cfg = append(cfg, config{Metric: "first_metric_name", Fields: []string{"a"}, Buckets: []float64{0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0}})
-	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg)
+	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg, false)
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
 
 	histogram.Add(firstMetric1)
+	histogram.Reset()
 	histogram.Add(firstMetric2)
 	histogram.Push(acc)
 
@@ -88,12 +89,36 @@ func TestHistogramWithPeriodAndOneField(t *testing.T) {
 	assertContainsTaggedField(t, acc, "first_metric_name", map[string]interface{}{"a_bucket": int64(2)}, bucketInf)
 }
 
+// TestHistogramWithPeriodAndOneField tests metrics for one period and for one field
+func TestHistogramWithReset(t *testing.T) {
+	var cfg []config
+	cfg = append(cfg, config{Metric: "first_metric_name", Fields: []string{"a"}, Buckets: []float64{0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0}})
+	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg, true)
+
+	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
+
+	histogram.Add(firstMetric1)
+	histogram.Reset()
+	histogram.Add(firstMetric2)
+	histogram.Push(acc)
+
+	if len(acc.Metrics) != 6 {
+		assert.Fail(t, "Incorrect number of metrics")
+	}
+	assertContainsTaggedField(t, acc, "first_metric_name", map[string]interface{}{"a_bucket": int64(0)}, "0")
+	assertContainsTaggedField(t, acc, "first_metric_name", map[string]interface{}{"a_bucket": int64(0)}, "10")
+	assertContainsTaggedField(t, acc, "first_metric_name", map[string]interface{}{"a_bucket": int64(1)}, "20")
+	assertContainsTaggedField(t, acc, "first_metric_name", map[string]interface{}{"a_bucket": int64(1)}, "30")
+	assertContainsTaggedField(t, acc, "first_metric_name", map[string]interface{}{"a_bucket": int64(1)}, "40")
+	assertContainsTaggedField(t, acc, "first_metric_name", map[string]interface{}{"a_bucket": int64(1)}, bucketInf)
+}
+
 // TestHistogramWithPeriodAndAllFields tests two metrics for one period and for all fields
 func TestHistogramWithPeriodAndAllFields(t *testing.T) {
 	var cfg []config
 	cfg = append(cfg, config{Metric: "first_metric_name", Buckets: []float64{0.0, 15.5, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0}})
 	cfg = append(cfg, config{Metric: "second_metric_name", Buckets: []float64{0.0, 4.0, 10.0, 23.0, 30.0}})
-	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg)
+	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg, false)
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
 
@@ -127,7 +152,7 @@ func TestHistogramDifferentPeriodsAndAllFields(t *testing.T) {
 
 	var cfg []config
 	cfg = append(cfg, config{Metric: "first_metric_name", Buckets: []float64{0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0}})
-	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg)
+	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg, false)
 
 	acc := &testutil.Accumulator{}
 	histogram.Add(firstMetric1)
@@ -166,7 +191,7 @@ func TestWrongBucketsOrder(t *testing.T) {
 
 	var cfg []config
 	cfg = append(cfg, config{Metric: "first_metric_name", Buckets: []float64{0.0, 90.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0}})
-	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg)
+	histogram := NewTestHistogram(cfg, false)
 	histogram.Add(firstMetric2)
 }