Analyzing data

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

Before you begin

Check that the analysis that you want is available. You can use the CICS PA plug-in 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 shows the different types of analysis. If an item has no check mark against it, the options associated with the item are not available, and you cannot perform that type of analysis. Select or clear 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 chart 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:

Right-click a transaction in the Sheet view and select Detail breakdown. The Transaction detail view is displayed. Click a pie chart to show the details for a specific analysis type.

Transaction detail view for CATD transaction with suspend time selected for detailed analysis.

You can click the pie segments to highlight the corresponding component in the adjacent table.

The Transaction detail view displays the following information:
  • A view tab with the analysis type and the name of the Transaction ID.
  • An information bar in the view, 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.

Bar charts

A bar chart displays a bar for each transaction selected to provide a visual comparison of those tasks. You display a bar chart in the following way:

  1. Select two or more transactions in a Sheet view.
  2. Right-click the selection, hover over Performance history and from the sub-menu, select the type of analysis.
  3. Depending on the analysis selected, there may be more than one segment to a bar. Click the legend icon The legend icon to display the different fields.

A new view opens displaying a bar chart for the selected analysis. In the following screen capture a response time analysis is selected, and the view shows a bar chart for each of the selected transaction IDs.

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

The bar chart view displays the following information:
  • A view tab, containing the name of the analysis; in this case, Storage. You can hover over the tab to show the data source file and number of records in the sample.
  • An information bar in the view, containing the path and name of the data source file that contains the data.
  • Stacked bars consist of a 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. 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 for further analysis by right-clicking and selecting a new analysis from the 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 displays all instances of a Transaction ID in the selected APPLID across either the whole data file, or a range of dates specified in the Date dialog when selecting the data. You display a timeline chart in the following way:

  1. If you want to restrict the analysis to a specific period, click the date-time selection icon on the toolbar Date-time selection tool. The date selection dialog is displayed:
    Date-time selection dialog
  2. Select the time period to restrict the display to show only data between the two dates. Click OK to save the settings and close the dialog. For more information, see Selecting and viewing data.
  3. Select a single transaction in the Transaction ID view.
    Timeline analysis selection menu
  4. Right-click the selection, hover over Transaction timeline and select the type of timeline analysis from the submenu.

A new view opens displaying a timeline chart. In the following screen capture an analysis of transaction ID CRTP in application ID IYCYZC20 is selected.

A screen capture with the timeline for all instances of transaction ID CRTP in application ID IYCYZC20

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 in the view, containing the name of the CSV or database file that contains the data, the Application ID, and the Transaction ID.
  • Stacked bars consist of 1 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 processor time field.
  • A Legend icon The legend icon. Click this icon to display the chart legend.

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

Using multiple timeline charts you can compare transaction performance in one application against the way their performance in another application, and identify potential problems. The following screen capture shows the time lines for the same Transaction ID over the same period, 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.

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.