Analyzing data

Using the CICS® PA plug-in you can perform threadsafe, CPU time, response time, storage, and file analysis, and view the data graphically.

Before you begin

Check that the analysis that you want to perform is available. The CICS PA plug-in provides the ability to restrict the number of charting options available by disabling different categories of analysis. To check the analysis types currently enabled, click Window > Preferences > IBM CICS Performance Analyzer > Categorization enablement. The Categorization enablement dialog is displayed showing the different types of analysis. If an item has no check mark against it, the options associated with the item will not be available, and you cannot perform that type of analysis. Select or deselect analysis types as required.

Displaying the data for analysis

The data selected for analysis can be viewed in three ways:
  • As a pie chart
  • As a bar chart
  • As a timeline chart
Each way shows the same information in a different format. In addition to the charts, you can open the Properties view and display the details for a single transaction ID. The different ways to display the data are described in the following sections.

Pie charts

Pie charts are displayed in the Transaction detail view. The pie charts contain a detailed breakdown of a single transaction ID in the time period selected. You display the Transaction detail view in the following way:

  1. Select a single transaction in the Project Explorer view or a Sheet view as described in the topic Selecting and viewing data as a spreadsheet.
  2. Right-click the selection, hover over The icon for a performance history Performance history and select The icon for a pie chart Detail breakdown.

The Transaction detail view is displayed. Click a pie chart to show the details for a specific analysis type. In the following screen capture the Transaction detail view is shown with the CPU time pie chart selected displaying detailed CPU time information for the selected transaction ID.

A screen capture showing the Transaction detail view containing the different pie charts for a single transaction

The Transaction detail view displays the following information:
  • A view tab showing the analysis source, type, and the name of the transaction ID.
  • An information bar below the view tab, containing further details of the transaction ID.
  • A pie chart for each type of analysis. Each analysis can be selected by clicking the relevant pie chart.

The Transaction detail view contains one or more pie charts depending on the data selected and categorization enablement. For example, if the Storage categorization enablement is not selected the Storage pie is not displayed. Similarly, if there is no file usage data in the selected sample, the File usage pie chart is not displayed.

For more details about the information in specific pie charts, see the related links at the end of this topic.

Bar charts

A bar chart displays a bar for each transaction selected. Each bar contains one or more sectors, each sector representing different information depending on the selection type. You display a bar chart in the following way:

  1. Select two or more transactions or select a higher tree node, such as an application ID that contains two or more transactions, either in the Project Explorer view or a Sheet view as described in the topic Selecting and viewing data as a spreadsheet.
  2. Right-click the selection, hover over The icon for a performance history Performance history and select the type of analysis to perform.

A new view opens displaying a bar chart for the selected analysis. In the following screen capture a storage analysis is selected, and the Storage view is shown with a bar chart for each of the selected transaction IDs.

A storage analysis screen capture showing a Storage bar chart for a number of different transactions.

The bar chart view displays the following information:
  • A view tab, containing the source and the name of the analysis; in this case, Database CPU time. You can hover over the tab to show the data source file and number of records in the sample.
  • An information bar below the view title, containing the path and name of the data source file that contains the data.
  • Stacked bars consisting of one bar for each transaction ID selected. Each bar in a stack consists of one or more sectors, each representing a different field. You can hover over a sector to show further information about the field.
  • A Legend icon The legend icon in the top left corner of the chart. Click this icon to display the chart legend. The legend shows only the colors in use in the current chart.

You can select one or more bars and perform a further analysis on the information by right-clicking and selecting a new analysis from the pop-up menu.

For more information about the details in specific bar charts, see the related links at the end of this topic.

Timeline charts

A timeline chart The icon for a timeline chart displays all instances of a transaction ID in the selected application ID across either the whole data file, or a range of dates specified using the Date dialog when selecting the data. For example, selecting the single record with a transaction ID of CRTP in an application ID of IYCYZC20 displays a bar for every instance of the transaction ID in the application. You display a timeline chart in the following way:

  1. Select a single transaction, either in a Sheet view or the Project Explorer view, as described in the topic Selecting and viewing data as a spreadsheet.
  2. Right-click the selection, hover over The icon for a performance history Performance history and select the type of timeline analysis The icon for a timeline chart to perform. The timeline view is displayed. A screen capture showing the timeline view
  3. (Optional) Restrict the time period to display by using Ctrl +Shift to select two different times on the timeline axis, right-click and click Use as date range. The restrict analysis time period dialog is displayed showing the date range selected:
    A screen capture of the Restrict analysis time period dialog showing the 'after' calendar and the 'before' calendar. Select dates in the calendars to restrict the data to the time period selected.
  4. Click OK to select the time period..

The data in the Sheet view is refreshed to show only the data with in selected date range. You can now select the single transaction in the sheet view and repeat the above steps to show only the timeline data in the selected date range.

The timeline chart displays the following information:
  • A view title, containing the name of the analysis; in this case, Response time. You can hover over the tab to show the data source file and number of records in the sample.
  • An information bar below the view title, containing the name of the CSV or database file that contains the data, the application ID and the transaction ID.
  • Stacked bars consisting of one bar for each instance of the selected transaction ID in the application ID. Each bar in a stack consists of one or more sectors, each representing a different time field. You can hover over a sector to show the average time value for the CPU time field.
  • A Legend icon The legend icon in the top left corner of the chart. Click this icon to display the chart legend.

You can select one or more bars and perform a further analysis on the information by right-clicking and selecting a new analysis from the pop-up menu.

By using multiple timeline charts you can compare the way transaction are performing in one application against the way they perform in another application, and identify potential problems. The following screen capture shows the timelines for the same transaction ID over the same period of time, but running under different applications.

For more information about the details in specific timeline charts, see the related links at the end of this topic.

Properties view

You can select a single transaction ID from the Project Explorer view, or from a chart, and display all its properties in the Properties view.

  1. Click Window > Show View > Properties from the workbench menu. The properties view is displayed.
  2. Select a single transaction in the Project Explorer view, Sheet view, or a chart view as described in the topic Selecting and viewing data as a spreadsheet.

All the details for the selected transaction ID are displayed in the Properties view.

A screen capture of the Properties view showing details for a single transaction

For more information about the details in specific charts, see the related links at the end of this topic.