Defining performance alerts

To create a performance alert definition:

  1. Select option 8 Resource Definitions from the CICS PA Primary Option Menu.
  2. On the Resource Definitions Menu, specify the data set name of the Repository, then select option 3 Performance Alerts.

    This displays the Performance Alert Definitions panel:

    Figure 1. Performance Alert Definitions
       File  Options  Help
     -------------------------------------------------------------–--–--------------
                             Performance Alert Definitions          Row 1 to 3 of 3 
     Command ===> NEW_____________________________________________ Scroll ===> PAGE 
                                                                                    
     Edit Alert Template (T) or Alert Values (S). Enter NEW command to define a new
     Alert Definition.                                                             
                                                                              
     /  Name                Description              Changed        ID
     __ PROD1XCP    Production System 1 Alerts   2008/05/01 16:34 AXS 
     __ PROD2XCP    Production System 2 Alerts   2008/05/01 16:34 AXS 
     __ PROD3XCP    Production System 3 Alerts   2008/05/01 16:34 AXS
     ***************************** Bottom of data ****************************
  3. To define a new Alert Definition, enter NEW on the command line, and then enter a name for the Alert Definition in the pop-up window. You can bypass the prompt by specifying the name in the command. For example, NEW PROD4XCP.

    Alternatively, you can create a new Alert Definition modeled on an existing one. Enter line action C next to the definition you want to copy. In the pop-up window, enter the name of the new definition and destination repository. If a definition of the same name already exists in the destination repository, it will not be overwritten unless you select the option Replace Alert Definition if it exists.

    An Alert Definition name consists of 1-8 characters. The first character must be an alphabetic character (A-Z) or a national character (@, #, or $). The remaining characters can be alphabetic, national, or numeric (0-9) characters.

  4. The definition has two parts: the template, which is defined first, and the alert values based on the template.
    The following line actions can be entered against an Alert Definition:
    /
    Display the menu of line actions.
    S
    Select to edit the alert values. Same as E.
    T
    Edit the alert template. Same as TE.
    V
    View the alert values.
    TV
    View the alert template.
    D
    Delete the alert definition.
    C
    Copy the alert definition to this or another repository.
  5. To edit the template of an existing Alert Definition, enter line action T next to the Alert Definition. If you do not intend to make and save changes, enter line action TV to view the template.

    The Alert Template edit panel has four views. To cycle through the views, press Right (F11).

    Figure 2. Performance Alert Template edit panel - initial view
       File  Edit  Confirm  Options  Help
                   EDIT Performance Alert Template - PROD4XCP   Row 1 of 18 More: >
    Command ===> ________________________________________________ Scroll ===> CSR_
                                                                                  
    Description . Performance Alert Definition____            Page width . . 104 
    
       Field    Sort                  ----- Alert -----
    /  Name +   K  O Type    Function Severity Report                   
    __ TRAN____ K  A _______ RESOURCE ________ ________
    __ TASKCNT_    _ _______ ________ ________ ________
    __ ALERT  _    _ _______ SEV_____ CRITICAL PERCENT_
    __ ALERT  _    _ _______ SEV_____ WARNING_ PERCENT_
    __ RESPONSE    _ _______ AVE_____ ________ ________
    __ RESPONSE    _ _______ SEV_____ CRITICAL PERCENT_ 
    __ RESPONSE    _ _______ SEV_____ WARNING_ PERCENT_
    __ RESPONSE    _ _______ MAX_____ ________ ________                              
    __ CPU_____    _ TIME___ AVE_____ ________ ________                              
    __ CPU_____    _ TIME___ SEV_____ CRITICAL PERCENT_ 
    __ CPU_____    _ TIME___ SEV_____ WARNING_ PERCENT_
    __ CPU_____    _ TIME___ MAX_____ ________ ________ 
    __ EOR_____    _ _______ ________ ________ ________                              
    __ APPLID__ K  * _______ RESOURCE ________ ________
    __ ALERT___    _ _______ SEV_____ INFO____ PERCENT_
    __ RESPONSE    _ _______ SEV_____ INFO____ PERCENT_ 
    __ CPU_____    _ TIME___ SEV_____ INFO____ PERCENT_ 
    __ EOX_____    _ _______ ________ ________ ________                              
    ******************************* Bottom of data *******************************

    Enter a description and specify template details:

    Description
    Free-format text of up to 36 characters describing the alert definition. This description appears on the Performance Alert Definitions panel to help identify each definition, but it does not appear in reports.

    The template details are:

    Field Name
    The name of any CMF field. Fields that do not have SEV nor RESOURCE in the Function field will be treated as normal report fields when the template is used in place of a Report Form when reporting. Fields that have SEV or RESOURCE can also be used for reporting as described below.

    Relevant to: List and Summary reports.

    List report: Only the first of multiple entries for the same field+type+alert function is reported.

    Summary report: Field name ALERT provides the total count or percentage of transactions for each alert severity level (Critical, Warning, or Info) for the summary key. If no alerts are specified, the ALERT field name is ignored.

    Sort K
    Relevant to: Summary reports. Same function as in a Summary Report Form.
    Sort O
    Relevant to: List and Summary reports.
    List report:
    *
    Field is excluded from the report.
    A, D or blank
    Field is included in the report.

    Summary report: Same function as in a Summary Report Form.

    Type
    Relevant to: List and Summary reports. Same function as in the Report Form.
    Function
    Relevant to: List and Summary reports. Same function as in the Report Form with the following additional values:
    RESOURCE
    Indicates the resource field to be included in the alert values definition. At least one and a maximum of three RESOURCE fields must be specified. If a RESOURCE field is type APG (Application Group), it must be the first RESOURCE field specified.
    SEV
    Indicates an alert field to be included in the alert values definition.
    Alert Severity
    Relevant to: Summary reports. Field alert severity, either CRITICAL, WARNING, or INFO.
    Alert Report
    Relevant to: Summary reports. Field alert reporting type:
    COUNT
    Total number of field alerts for the severity.
    PERCENT
    Percentage of field alerts for the severity based on the number of transactions processed.
    Page width
    Relevant to: List and Summary reports. This is a calculated, display-only field showing the width of the report page containing all the fields above the EOR indicator. It is displayed when you press Enter or scroll right (F11) or left (F10). It is automatically adjusted as you add or delete fields above EOR.

    Note: The page width automatically adjusts to the calculated total length of the fields above EOR (plus one space between fields). This is in contrast to the way it works in Report Forms where you can specify the page width and EOR automatically moves to fit within the specified width.

    The following line actions can be entered against a row in the template:
    /
    Display the menu of line actions.
    S
    Select a field name from a scrolling prompt list of fields with long descriptions.
    I
    Insert a new entry.
    R
    Repeat this entry.
    C
    Copy this entry.
    M
    Move this entry.
    A
    Copy/Move after this entry.
    B
    Copy/Move before this entry.
    D
    Delete this entry. When you delete alert fields from the template, associated alert values are also deleted.
    H
    Field help with long description.
    RR, CC, MM, DD
    Block commands: Repeat, Copy, Move, Delete

    When the template specification is complete, press F3 to save changes.

  6. To specify the threshold values, enter line action S or E next to the alert definition. If you do not want to make and save changes, enter line action V to view the definition.

    The Alert Values edit panel might have too many columns to display in a single view. Scroll Right (F11) or Left (F10) to see all columns.

    Figure 3. Performance Alert Values edit panel (with filter)
       File  Edit  Options  Help
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   EDIT Performance Alert Values - EMERALDS     Row 1 of 8 More: >
    Command ===> ________________________________________________ Scroll ===> CSR_
                                                                                  
        1                    2 
                        Critical      Warning       Critical  3 
      TRAN     APPLID   SUSPEND       SUSPEND       CPU      
    /                   COUNT         COUNT         TIME      4  
      H*___ 5  ________ _____________ *5_______ 7   ____________ 
    _ HRP*____ PROD____ >10__________ >5__________  >0.5________ 
    _ HRP*_ 6  PROD____ >7___________ >3_______ 8   >0.5________ 
    _ HRP*____ PROD____ >5___________ >2__________  >0.5________
    _ HR*_____ TEST____ >15__________ >10_________  >0.5________ 
    _ H*______ TEST____ >20__________ >15_________  >0.5________ 
    _ H*______ TEST____ >17__________ >12_________  >0.5________ 
    _ H*______ FINANCE_ >23__________ >15_________  >0.5________ 
    _ ________ ________ >27__________ <10_________  <0.5________ 
    ******************************* Bottom of data ********************************

    The fields and their order in the panel are determined by the Template and are altered with changes to the Template. Only fields with Function RESOURCE and SEV from the Template are displayed here. Report fields are excluded.

    This panel is used to specify the resource and threshold values associated with the resource and alert fields in the Template. In addition, the panel allows for global adjustment of threshold column values for easy alteration of thresholds.

    Complete the performance alert definition by specifying threshold values:

     1 
    Resource fields.
     2 
    Alert fields.
     3 
    Field severity specified in the template. Possible values are: Critical, Warning, Info.
     4 
    Field type. TIME or COUNT for S type fields, APG for Application Group fields, blank for all others. If there are no S type or APG fields specified, this row is not displayed.
     5 
    Filter. Optional value used to filter the display to only show matching alert resource values. The filter value is not saved when you exit the panel. If two or three filter values are specified, they are AND'd.
     6 
    Resource field value. Used to select the transactions to compare with the associated thresholds. Resource values support wild characters (for example, PRODC*) and application group names. A blank resource value field will not be checked and is the same as specifying * (asterisk).

    Resource field columns remain fixed while other columns are scrollable left and right. At least one resource value must be specified in each row.

     7 
    Threshold adjustment value. This is a number with or without a preceding operator. It is used to adjust all threshold values in the column. Supported mathematical operators are: + - * / (add, subtract, multiply, divide). Supported comparison operators are: = < > =< >= <> ¬= !=.

    If you specify a number with a mathematical operator, all threshold values in the column are adjusted by performing the specified mathematical operation. For example, *2 will double all values in the column. If the adjusted result is negative, it is set to zero.

    If you specify a number without a mathematical operator, it replaces all threshold values in the column.

    If you specify both a mathematical operator and a comparison operator in the adjustment value, the comparison operator is ignored.

    Press Enter to do the adjustment. The adjustment field is then cleared.

    Enter RESET in the adjustment field to clear all threshold values in the column.

     8 
    Threshold value for the alert field and severity combination. Attributes are:
    • The field can contain numeric characters only and comparison operators = < > =< >= <> ¬= !=. The default operator is >.
    • Supports a decimal point. For example, 0.000001
    • The maximum length for the number, including the decimal point, is 9 characters. For example, 999999999 is valid, but 9999999.00 is invalid.
    • Storage fields will allow all currently supported unit values: K, M, G, T, P. The value specified will be multiplied by the unit using 1024 base. This is the same implementation as statistics alerts.
    • Time fields of type seconds and milliseconds will both specify base unit of seconds. That is, a 500 millisecond threshold will be specified as 0.5.
    The following line actions can be entered against a row of values:
    /
    Display the menu of line actions
    I
    Insert a new row
    R
    Repeat this row
    C
    Copy this row
    M
    Move this row
    A
    Copy/Move after this row
    B
    Copy/Move before this row
    D
    Delete this row

    When the definition is complete, press F3 to save changes.

  7. The definition can now be used for performance alert reporting in List or Summary reports or extracts.

The EDIT Performance Alert Values panel allows you to specify the actual resource fields values and alert fields thresholds that constitute the alert.

You can specify different thresholds for different resource values, thus allowing you to measure different resources within the same alert report run.

The resource values are AND'd. That is, a transaction's resource values must match ALL the resource values in the alert entry to be eligible for threshold checking.

The order of the resource fields is only important when the alert definition is used in place of a Form in the report. For the List report, the resource fields will be reported in the order and position they are defined in the Template. If printed in the Summary report, they will determine the summary key, hence the summarized data values. The Summary report will generate errors if the resource fields do not conform to summary key rules.

Since you can specify one, two, or three resource fields in the Template, this panel is dynamic in terms of the number of resource field columns.

The order of the alert entries is important since a transaction's field values will only be compared against the thresholds for the first alert entry that matches the transaction's resource values. Once the resource values combination is matched, no other alert entries are checked, regardless of whether the matched entry generates an alert or not. Only when the resource values do not match, then the next entry in the alert definition is checked against the transaction. This makes it extremely important to define the resource values in the correct order when using wild characters in the resource values.

If a row contains all * (asterisk) resource values, it should be placed last in the list as it will be a catchall for transactions that don't match previous resource values. If it is placed before rows with resource values, it will render the subsequent rows irrelevant as it will match all transactions.

The threshold levels within a single field are hierarchical. That is, Critical severity is checked before Warning, which is checked before Information, with only the first exceeded threshold level reported.

Each alert field is independent of all other fields, with each field checked and reported separately.

The order of the alert fields is only important when the alert definition is used in place of a Form in the report.


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Timestamp icon Last updated: Friday, 8 February 2013


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