Analyzing the performance summary by using charts

You can use the CICS® PA plug-in for CICS response time, user CPU time, threadsafe, storage usage, and file request activity analysis. You can view the data selected for analysis as pie charts, bar charts, or timeline charts. You can also view the properties and values of a transaction ID.

Before you begin, check that the analysis that you want is available. By default, all charts are available, but you can set CICS PA plug-in preferences to disable specific categories of analysis and restrict the associated charts. If the analysis you require is not available, check the Categorization enablement preferences. See CICS Performance Analyzer Preferences.

Pie charts

Pie charts are displayed in the Transaction detail view. The pie charts show a detailed breakdown of a single transaction ID in the time period selected.

To display the Transaction detail view, right-click a transaction summary record in the Sheet view, then click Performance summary. Click on a pie chart thumbnail to view a full sized pie chart and its associated details. For more information about this view, see Transaction detail view.

Transaction detail view for CRTP transaction with CICS Response time selected for detailed analysis.

Bar charts

A bar chart provides a visual comparison of two or more transactions selected for analysis. To display a bar chart, use the following procedure:
  1. Select two or more transaction summary records in the Sheet view. You can use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select additional transaction summary records.
  2. Right-click a selected record, click Transaction performance, then click the required analysis type from the following options:
    • CICS Response time
    • User CPU time
    • Threadsafe
    • Storage usage
    • File Request activity

A bar chart for the selected analysis, with a bar for each selected transaction, is displayed in a new view. Depending on the type of analysis, a bar might have more than one segment. Click the Legend icon Legend icon to display the segment descriptions.

The following example screen capture shows a CICS response time analysis.

CICS response time bar chart for four transactions
The bar chart view displays the following information:
  • The view title shows the source of the data and the analysis type.
  • The information line shows the selection criteria for the data the records were selected from, for example, APPLID and time period.
  • Legend icon Legend icon. Click this icon to display the chart legend for the segments in the current chart.
  • A stack of bars for each selected transaction ID. Each bar in a stack has one or more segments to represent different fields for the transaction ID. You can hover over a segment to show further information about the field.

To change the time scale on the vertical axis of the chart and show more detail, you can use the zoom bar.

To analyze a transaction ID further, right-click a bar, then use the menu options to select a performance summary (pie chart) or timeline analysis.

For more information about bar chart details for a specific analysis type, see the related links at the end of this information.

Timeline charts

A timeline chart displays all instances of a transaction ID in the selected APPLID across either all the data, or the data in a specified period. To display a timeline chart, use the following procedure:

  1. To restrict the analysis to a specific period, click the Performance Analyzer date dialog icon Performance Analyzer date dialog icon without arrow on the toolbar of the CICS SMF Records view, or the Selected records tab, to display the Date-time selection window. Select the date and time period you require, then click OK. For more information, see Refining the data selection.
  2. On the Selected records tab of the CICS SMF Records view, right-click the transaction ID for analysis, click Transaction timeline, then click the required analysis type from the following options:
    • CICS Response time
    • User CPU time
    • Storage usage
    • File Request activity
    Transaction section of the Selected Records tab showing the Transaction timeline menu

A timeline chart for the selected analysis is displayed in a new view. Depending on the type of analysis, a bar might have more than one segment. Click the Legend icon Legend icon to display the segment descriptions.

The following example screen capture shows a CICS response time analysis.

Response time analysis timeline chart
The timeline chart view displays the following information:
  • The view title shows the source of the data and the analysis type.
  • The information line shows the selection criteria for the data the records were selected from, for example, APPLID, transaction ID, and time period.
  • Legend icon Legend icon. Click this icon to display the chart legend for the segments in the current chart.
  • Stacked bars consist of one bar for each instance of the selected transaction ID in the APPLID. Each bar in a stack consists of one or more segment to represent different fields, for example types of CPU time or file request types. You can hover over a segment to show the type of field and its corresponding value.

To change the time scale on the vertical axis of the chart and show more detail, you can use the zoom bar.

To analyze an instance of a transaction further, right-click a bar, then use the menu options to select a performance summary (pie chart) or timeline analysis.

You can use multiple timeline charts to compare transaction performance in one application with transaction performance in another application, and identify potential problems. The following example shows the time lines for the same transaction ID over the same period, but running under different applications.

For more information about timeline chart details for a specific analysis type, see the related links at the end of this information.

Properties view

You can display the properties of a transaction ID in the Properties view. Use the following procedure:

  1. Click Window > Show View > Properties from the workbench menu to display the Properties view.
  2. Select the transaction ID you require in the Project Explorer view, Sheet view, or a suitable chart view.

Details of the selected transaction ID are displayed in the Properties view.

Properties view showing details for a single transaction