Page History

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In some tabs, you can filter the contents of the view by clicking the Filter button. See “Filtering data” on page 29 Filtering data.

About the Association area

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The Association area lets you drill down to another entity by clicking a row. The information displayed in both the Main area and the Association area will change to reflect your selection. See “Filtering data” on page 29 and “Associating Filtering data and Associating entities with data that meets specific criteria” on page 30criteria.

About the Findings area

For selected tabs in Precise products, the association area includes the Findings area, displaying problematic findings for the application. The findings feature is a high level tool, designed to provide the user with an overview of performance issues within the monitored application and enable quick and efficient navigation to the relevant tab for further analysis and handling. The displayed performance findings may indicate performance deterioration as well as incorrect methods usage. Each finding appears as a row in the displayed table of findings. Hover the mouse indicator over the single-line displayed finding to expand the finding. When expanded, the finding details area provides important guidelines as to what may be the root cause for the reported problem, and what the recommended steps are to resolve this problem.

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For more information, see “Oracle Findings” on page 183 Oracle findings.

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Aboutdrillingdownincontext Aboutdrillingdownincontext

About drilling down in context

The term '"in-context' " means that you can display additional information on a selected item by drilling down to another tab or view. The filter settings you defined (for example, the selected time frame you chose) and the entity you selected are carried over to the other view or tab, to allow you to continue analyzing your subject from a different perspective. This concept takes on slightly different meanings depending upon where you are attempting to drill down in context from.

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• General settings. Includes the General, SQL, Display, Tree view, and What-If/Recommend tabs.
• Time Frame settings.
• Findings settings. Includes the Dashboard, Activity, Objects, and SQL tabs.

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Aboutconfiguringgeneralsettings Aboutconfiguringgeneralsettings

About configuring general settings

On the General tab of the General Settings dialog box, you can adjust the following:

• Number of items that will be displayed for each association. From the list, select the maximum number of items that will be displayed in a table. The default is 50 items. You can control the number of items returned for a specific association by using the More... option  option in the Association controls. This way, you can display up to 500 items.
• Maximum number of characters to display in a text ToolTip. When you move your cursor over text columns in a table listing Statements or PL/SQLs, a ToolTip appears, displaying more text than can normally fit into a table cell. This field controls the maximum number of characters that can be displayed. The default is 500 characters.
• How often the information in the Current tab is refreshed. If you select the Auto-refresh Current tab every check box, the Current tab automatically refreshes at the specified interval. By default, the tab is not refreshed automatically. If you select this option, the default refresh interval is every five minutes.
• Display concurrent managers history for the last x days.
• Display concurrent managers request history for the last x hours.

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AboutSQLsettings AboutSQLsettings

About SQL settings

On the SQL tab, you can adjust the following:

• When Precise for Oracle carries out an explain plan operation, it needs to connect to the database. By default, it uses the Oracle account specified during the installation. This option lets you override the database user and password that will be used.
• Precise for Oracle's own parsing functions can be disabled at the expense of some of the formatting features of the explain plan. This option is useful when Precise for Oracle cannot parse a statement. See “About About Precise for Oracle tabs” on page 21tabs.
• You can fine-tune the way that Precise for Oracle generates alternatives to SQL in a number of ways:
  • You can control the maximum number of alternative SQL statements.
  • You can control the percentage of the items that are highlighted in the Oracle explain tree based on “In In Oracle Time”Time.
  • You can have Precise for Oracle ignore alternatives that generate the same execution plan.
  • When Precise for Oracle generates alternatives (referred to as Related SQL), any views are expanded to show the full view text, rather than just the name.
  • If a Precise for Oracle view is expanded, Precise for Oracle may consider rewriting the text of the view itself, not just the statement that uses the view, when it generates alternatives.
  • You can have Precise for Oracle use different Oracle Optimizer modes.

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When you drill down to or choose a different entity, selecting the option on the Display tab of the General Settings dialog box allows you to maintain the selected view or tab when changing from one tab to another. This is sometimes referred to as sticky tabs.

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AboutconfiguringTreeviewsettings AboutconfiguringTreeviewsettings

About configuring Tree view settings (Only applies to Precise products that include a Tree view)

On the Tree View tab of the General Settings dialog box, you can adjust the following:

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Selecting a predefined time frame from the toolbar displays transaction performance data for the selected time period up to the current time. See “Selecting Selecting a predefined time frame from the Precise for Oracle toolbar” on page 29toolbar.

Selecting the time frame using the calendar icon, you can choose to define a time range independent of the current time, or to define a time range up to the current time. See “Selecting Selecting a time frame using the calendar icon” on page 29icon.

The predefined time frame options are:

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The time frame selected affects all information displayed in Precise for Oracle. Only data that falls within the selected time frame is shown in these areas.

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SelectingapredefinedtimeframefromthePreciseforOracletoolbar SelectingapredefinedtimeframefromthePreciseforOracletoolbar

Selecting a predefined time frame from the Precise for Oracle toolbar

To select a predefined time frame, in the Precise Menu area, select one of the predefined time frames.

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Selectingatimeframeusingthecalendaricon Selectingatimeframeusingthecalendaricon

Selecting a time frame using the calendar icon

To select a time frame

1. Click the calendar icon. In the dialog box that is displayed perform one of the following:
   1. To define a time frame independent from the current time, select the ‘Time Frame’ option and Time Frame, and then select the Start and End dates and times.
   2. To define a time frame up to the current time, select the ‘Last’ option Last, and then enter the desired time frame.
   3. To use one of the three previously used time frames, select the ‘Recently used’ option and from the drop- down menu Recently used, and then select the desired time frame.
   4. To use a previously saved time frame, select Use a previously saved time frame and from the drop-down menu , and then select the desired time frame.
2. To save your settings for future access, select Save these definitions for future use as: and  and enter a name in the corresponding field.
3. Click OK.

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1. Click the arrow located to the left of the Association controls and select More...
2. In the Associate With dialog box, on the Entries tab, select the entity you want to associate data with from the Populate table with list.
3. In the Sort entries by list, determine according to which criteria you want the information to be sorted and in which order.
4. From the Display top list, select the number of rows to display.
5. On the Criteria tab, do the following for each entity you want to associate data with:
   1. From the left drop-down list, select an entity.
   2. From the middle drop-down list, select an operator, such as, Like, <>, Not Like, In, Not In.
   3. In the text box, type the criteria (case-sensitive) for the selected entity.
      If you select the operator Like or Not Like, you can use the % wildcard character to represent 0 or more characters, and the _ wildcard character to represent exactly one character. If you select the operator In or Not In, type a comma to separate values.
6. Click OK.

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Editingthepropertiesofastatement Editingthepropertiesofastatement

Editing the properties of a statement

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To edit the properties of a statement

1. Click the Actions icon>Edit icon > Edit Properties.
2. In the Edit Statement Properties dialog box, choose the relevant properties for the statement from the drop-down lists and enter a statement name.
   The following properties are available:
   • Instance. Name of the instance that the statement belongs to. The instance cannot be changed.
   • Parsing User. Choose an Oracle user name that will parse the statement from the drop-down list.
   • Cabinet. Choose a cabinet to save the statement in, from the drop-down list or type in a name.
   • Folder. Choose a folder to save the statement in, from the drop-down list or type in a name.
   • Statement. Type a user-defined name for the statement.
   • Comment. Type an optional tuning comment that is to be associated with the statement.
   The maximum number of items displayed in the Cabinet, Folder, and Statement lists is limited. You may also type the names.
3. Click OK.

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You can send an email message to one or more recipients from the Precise toolbar. The default subject for the message will be “Link is, "Link to a Precise application”application."

The email will include a link to the Precise product in the current context (time frame and selected entries). To send an email message

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• Relative Time Frame. Saving relative time frame instead of static date. For example, saving the last 7 seven days will always display the last 7 seven days, depending on the day entered.
• One click to specific location. Once you open Precise by launching a saved Favorite item, you will not have to enter a login credential nor click the login button.
• IE Favorites support. Adding a new Favorite item in Precise will also add it to the IE Favorites menu.
• Auto Complete. The Favorites dialog includes a new combo box which supports AutoComplete.
• Auto Naming. The Favorites dialog generates item names based on the current location.

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You can configure permissions and roles in AdminPoint. For more information on configuring permissions and roles see the Precise Administration Guide.

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Howinformationiscollected Howinformationiscollected

How information is collected

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High resource consumption can be the result of an entity (such as a program or statement) with heavy resource demands running for an extended period of time (long duration, low frequency). It can also be the result of an entity with modest resource demands running often for a short period of time (short duration, high frequency). Identifying the latter entity as the cause of a performance problem can be difficult if the Oracle instance is sampled using a low sampling rate. If execution duration is short enough, complete executions of the problematic entity can take place between samples, and data on these executions will not be included in the overall picture of system performance.

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WaitStates WaitStates

Wait States

Fundamental to the operation of Precise for Oracle is the capturing of wait state information to identify resource consumption. The Precise for Oracle Collector, using its unique collection technology, samples every Oracle session and SQL statement, and at each sample point determines the Oracle wait event. It also correlates the session information with the corresponding operating system process information to capture additional wait states. In fact, it employs a two-Tier categorization: wait state and wait sub-state. It defines the status of sessions currently connected to Oracle by these states. By aggregating this wait state information over time, Precise for Oracle can give an accurate time-based, resource consumption profile for every statement, table, session, program, and so on, up to the instance level.

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In Oracle State	Icon	In Oracle Sub-State	Description	Typical Oracle Events
Using CPU		Using CPU	The session is using CPU executing SQL.	N/A
I/O Wait		Direct I/O Wait	The session is waiting on direct I/O.	direct path read; direct path write
I/O Wait		Scattered I/O Wait	The session is waiting on scattered I/O.	db file scattered read
I/O Wait		Sequential I/O Wait	the The session is waiting on sequential I/O.	db file sequential read; control file sequential read
I/O Wait		Other I/O Wait	the The session is waiting on another type of I/O.	db file parallel write; log file parallel write; control file parallel write; asynch disk I/O
I/O Wait			Info The I/O sub-states Direct I/O Wait, Scattered I/O Wait, Sequential I/O Wait, and OtherIOther I/O Wait only apply to Oracle files, objects, and storage entities. For other entities, the sub-state is simply shown as I/O Wait.
Application Lock Wait		Row Lock Wait	the The session is waiting on row locks. Enq: TX - row lock contention (Oracle 10g)
Application Lock Wait		Table Lock Wait	The session is waiting on table locks.	Enq: TM - contention (Oracle 10g)
Internal Lock Wait		Other Lock Wait	The session is waiting on other Oracle locks, such as streams, latches, or internal locks.	STREAMS events; enqueue; other enq: events; latch activity; latch free; latch: events
Application Lock Wait			Info Enqueue may appear in Row Lock Wait and Table Lock Wait, depending on the values of the P1, P2, and P3 parameters. The Collector captures these parameters and assigns the wait state accordingly. This can be seen in the Current and Activity tabs. However, the Collect Instance Statistics PMDB process does not capture the parameters so that in the Statistics tab, the wait is always shown as Other Lock Wait.
Operating System Waits		CPU Wait	The session is in the operating system queue waiting for CPU.	N/A
Operating System Waits		Memory Wait	The session is waiting on a memory operation, such as page-in or page-out. This sub-state may also include memory-mapped I/O.	N/A
Operating System Waits		Other Host Wait	The session is waiting on another type of OS operation, such as sorting.	N/A
RAC/OPS/ Other Waits		RAC/OPS Wait	The session is waiting on RAC or OPS synchronization.	DFS events; DLM events; gc events; gcs events; ges events; global events
RAC/OPS/ Other Waits		Other Wait	The session is waiting on another, less common lock event.	N/A
Commit & Checkpoint Waits		Rollback Segment Wait	The session is waiting on a rollback segment operation.	alter rbs offline; undo segment events
Commit & Checkpoint Waits		Redo Log Buffer Wait	The session is waiting on a redo log buffer operation.	log buffer space; log file syn
Commit & Checkpoint Waits		Log Switch and Clear Wait	The session is waiting for a log switch and clear operation to occur.	checkpoint events; log file switch events
Oracle Server Wait		Parallel Query Server Wait	The session is waiting for a parallel query server to become available.	PX create server; PX server shutdown; parallel query; create server; parallel query; dequeue wait
Oracle Server Wait		Parallel Query Sync. Wait	The session is waiting for a parallel query server to get synchronized with another parallel query server.	Other PX events; other parallel query events
Oracle Server Wait		Resource Manager Wait	The session is waiting for a resource to become available (only if the database resource manager is enabled).	resmgr events
Oracle Server Wait		Multi-Threaded Server Wait	The session is waiting for a multi-threaded server to become available.	alter system set dispatcher; alter system set mts_dispatcher
Oracle Server Wait		Background Process Wait	The session is waiting for an Oracle background process, such as DBWR or LGWR.	LGWR events
Client Request Wait		Request wait	Request wait is generally considered as an idle event as the Oracle server process is waiting for the client process.	Client messages
Communication Wait		Oracle/Oracle Communication Wait	The session is waiting for another Oracle instance, usually as a result of a DBLINK event or a standby database.	SQL*Net break/reset to DBLINK; SQL*Net message from DBLINK; SQL*Net message to DBLINK; SQL*Net more data from DBLINK; SQL*Net more data to DBLINK
Communication Wait		Oracle/Client Communication Wait	The session is waiting for data sent to the client, usually as a result of a selected statement, or for data sent from a client, usually as a result of bind variables.	SQL*Net break/reset to client; SQL*Net message to client; SQL*Net more data from client; SQL*Net more data to client
Internal Lock Wait		Shared Pool Wait	The session is waiting for a shared pool operation.	library cache load lock; library cache lock; library cache pin
Internal Lock Wait		Buffer Wait	The session is waiting for a buffer cache operation.	buffer busy; buffer busy wait; buffer latch

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The other In Oracle wait states, such as Using CPU, do not apply to an object. See “In Oracle” on page 36. Wait States - In Oracle.

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StatementidvsOraclehashvalue StatementidvsOraclehashvalue

Statement identifier vs. Oracle hash value

SQL statements in Precise for Oracle are assigned a numeric identifier (a 20-digit number that is divided into 4 four sections, with dot separators) or a user-defined name. The numeric identifier is similar to, but not the same as, the hash value that Oracle assigns to a SQL statement. When Precise for Oracle calculates the numeric identifier, it ignores white space and case, unlike Oracle. It also takes into account whether Collapse Statements is switched on, in which case string literals are replaced with place holders or pseudo-bind variables.

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Executionsvsopensandfetches Executionsvsopensandfetches

Executions vs. opens and fetches

Precise for Oracle employs the following methods to determine how many times a statement has been executed.

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The following is an explanation based on an example statement using a parallel query.:

When a session runs a statement for a table with parallel degree of n (4 degrees for example), the Oracle engine creates n new sessions to serve it (these sessions are called: "Parallel Server Agents"). Each of the parallel server agents runs as an individual entity and analyzes part of the requested data, while the original session (the one that you logged in with) is called the coordinator session. The last goal is to receive all the information from the parallel server agents and summarize (sort/filter/calculate/join) it. Usually the coordinator session will not perform an "In Oracle" operation. In fact it is waiting "All the time" when the parallel server agents are working. These parallel server agents can perform I/O / Locks / RAC operations - like any other regular session. These sessions (4 in our example) have the same session identifiers as the coordinator session. Therefore in the collector's aggregation phase all the sessions are aggregate into one row. For example, if a specific statement runs for 1 hour (wall clock time) you can see in the Activity tab that the statement consumed 4 hours "In Oracle" time. You can also find the parallel degree of the statement within the Activity tab.

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OraclestatisticsusagewithinPreciseforOracle OraclestatisticsusagewithinPreciseforOracle

Oracle statistics usage within Precise for Oracle

Precise for Oracle captures standard Oracle statistics that you can see in the V$SESSTAT table. However, the Collector reads the values in a low-overhead fashion directly from the SGA memory that the V$ tables map onto. Where necessary, the statistics are divided between the sessions executing each SQL statement and then aggregated to the user, program, and instance levels. You will see these statistics in the Current and Activity tabs, displayed as name-value pairs. Each statistic represents a different counter and has its own units. See Oracle’s documentation for more information on these statistics.

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PreciseInterpointhowresourceconsumptionofpackagedapplicationsisexamined PreciseInterpointhowresourceconsumptionofpackagedapplicationsisexamined

Precise Interpoint - how resource consumption of packaged applications is examined

Precise Interpoint is the only tool that helps the ERP administrator identify the exact cause of problems in ERP applications.

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The following table shows how Precise Interpoint maps the entities in each ERP application. You can find information about how to install Oracle Applications, SAP, PeopleSoft, and Siebel Tier Collectors in the Precise Installation Guideand Administration.

Table 6 Mapping of Precise Interpoint entities per technology

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PreciseforStorageOracleversionhowresourceconsumptionofstoragedevicesisexamined PreciseforStorageOracleversionhowresourceconsumptionofstoragedevicesisexamined

Precise for Storage, Oracle version - how resource consumption of storage devices is examined

Precise for Storage, Oracle version supports EMC Symmetrix and Clariion, and Hitachi HDS. It offers a unique method to identify I/O problems in your attached storage and reports I/O wait time instead of just I/O counters. This lets you easily identify the resource that is actually being waited for and tune it instead of guessing by rules of thumb. Furthermore, you can associate the storage device with the applications and statements that are waiting on I/O.

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1. Type the address of the StartPoint user interface into the Address bar of your browser and click Enter. The Precise login page opens. The login page provides secure access to Precise and to your specific product.
2. Specify your authorized role name and password. By default, both role name and password are admin. For more information about role names, see the Precise Administration Guidesee Installation and Administration.
3. Click Login. The StartPoint page opens. This is the Precise home page.
4. On the Product Selection bar, from the drop-down list, select the product you want to launch.