This section includes the following topics:
The Precise for Microsoft .NET user interface is made up of three tabs. Each tab has a different focus and provides a different view into the performance of your .NET applications. You can easily move between these tabs to examine the information necessary to successfully track your system's performance and identify patterns in resource consumption.
The table below describes the various tabs available in Precise for Microsoft .NET.
Table 1 Microsoft .NET tabs
Tab | Description |
---|---|
Dashboard | Lets you quickly visualize the overall health and status of all monitored .NET instances. |
Activity | Lets you examine the applications performance over time and helps locate performance bottlenecks in its behavior. |
Memory & Statistics | Lets you examine detailed Performance Monitor information on the instances comprising your .NET instance and their variation over time. It is primarily used for instance tuning. |
Though each tab is structured differently, most tabs consist of two different areas. Each area can include different control elements, such as tabs and view controls, and displays information in various formats, such as tables, graphs, or charts. The various areas are related to each other in that performing an action in one area affects the information displayed in other areas on the page.
The entities displayed in the Association area are associated with the selected entity or related application displayed in the Main area. At times, the relationship between the entity displayed in the Main area and those displayed in the Association area is that of parent to child, and sometimes it merely represents that there is a relationship between the selected entity and the entities displayed in the Association area (such as when a statement is the selected entity displayed in the Main area and the list of programs associated with the selected statement is displayed in the Association area).
The Precise bar enables you to keep track of where you have been and provides various controls. The following table describes the function of each of the toolbar buttons.
Table 2 Precise bar functions
Icon | Name | Description |
---|---|---|
Back | During a work session, keeps track of where you have navigated to. The Back button enables you to navigate between previously visited views. The Back control displays your previous view. | |
Forward | Enables you to navigate to the next view. This button is only enabled if you clicked Back or if you chose a history option. | |
AdminPoint | Opens Precise AdminPoint. | |
Home | Navigates to the highest level entity, usually the instance or Tier (all instances). The time frame settings remain the same. | |
Stop | Stops a request for information from the server. | |
Refresh | Updates the data currently displayed. | |
Favorites | Enables you to add or remove favorites in your Favorites list. | |
Send | Opens a new email message in your email program with the link to the current application in context. | |
Settings | Opens the General Settings and Time Frame Settings dialog boxes. | |
Help | Opens the online help in context. |
In most workspaces, the left or top area is the Main area. This area displays an overview of all instances monitored by your Precise product. This information can be displayed in either graph, table, or tree format. The time frame that the information is displayed for can be seen in the workspace toolbar, alongside the selected instance name (and drop-down menu) and auto-refresh status. The times displayed are the local times on the FocalPoint server where the page was generated.
The Association area displays in-depth information for the entity selected in the Main area. Each workspace has analysis tabs specific for that workspace. As you navigate through Precise for Microsoft .NET, the analysis tabs change to enable you to view specific information relevant to the selected workspace and entity.
For example, the following analysis tabs are available in the Dashboard workspace:
For selected workspaces 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 deteriorations 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.
The table below describes the information that is displayed in the Findings area.
Table 3 Information displayed in the Findings area
Column | Description | |
---|---|---|
Severity | The severity of the finding is calculated using a formula. The position of the finding in the list is determined by an internal scoring system that is based on the knowledge of Precise product experts. The severity is indicated by the following colors:
By default, findings are displayed according to severity. | |
Finding | A short name of the Finding. | |
Context | Entity/Method name (unless specified for the whole instance). The entity/method name is a short name but the long name is displayed in the ToolTip. Some of the findings are identified in specific Methods while others are relevant for the entire instance. In the latter case, a finding is specified as an instance-related finding.
| |
Finding overview | Displays specific details regarding the finding in context.
| |
Learn more (advice) | Provides recommendations for solving the selected finding. For each finding, it lists all relevant pieces of advice and all applicable solutions. You should carefully review all data for the finding and then choose the advice that best suits your needs.
| |
Proceed with the following (bullets) | Provides expert knowledge about the selected finding. The information displayed will direct you if you have difficulties deciding which advice to take or which solution to implement.
|
Perform the following steps to investigate a finding.
To investigate a finding
For more information, see “Examining findings” on page 37.
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.
For example, when viewing information on an instance in the Dashboard tab, you can click a link in the Details area (right pane) to view additional information on the related tab, in context of your original selection.
Or, when viewing a list of alerts for your product in Alerts, you can open your product in context and continue investigating the factors that led the system to issue that alert.
In short, the information displayed when drilling down in context is always related to your original selection’s settings.
The Settings menu on the Precise bar allows you to control the appearance and behavior of the user interface. The following settings can be configured through this menu:
The Collection settings dialog lets you select which instances you want to monitor.
The Display Settings dialog allows you to retain the selected view or tab, if applicable, when you drill down on an entity or when selecting a different entity. This is sometimes referred to as sticky tabs. For example, if you have chosen the Scalability view in the Activity tab, this will become the default view for all entities, where applicable.
The Instrumentation Settings dialog lets you select an instance and either add or delete a DLL file location for instrumentation.
The Automatic Detection agent can be used to detect all DLLs that are in use in the .NET application.
You can determine the resolution of the data that is displayed in the overtime graphs using the Time Frame Settings dialog box. By using this dialog box you can define the default time frame to display.
The Tree View Settings dialog allows you to define the parameters controlling the Tree View display. You can select:
The following tasks are commonly performed in most tabs:
You can configure Precise for Microsoft .NET to display transaction performance data for a specific time frame using the predefined time frame options or calendar icons.
Selecting a predefined time frame from the toolbar displays transaction performance data for the selected time period up to the current time.
See “Selecting a predefined time frame from the Precise for Microsoft .NET toolbar” on page 14.
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 a time frame using the calendar icon” on page 14. The predefined time frame options are:
The time frame selected affects all information displayed in Precise for Microsoft .NET. Only data that falls within the selected time frame is shown in these areas.
To select a predefined time frame, from the Precise for Microsoft .NET toolbar, select one of the predefined time frames.
To select a time frame
Some entities display an overtime graph. The overtime graph displays entity statistics over a specified time period. Depending on the number of points displayed in the graph, you may need to zoom in or out. The text displayed on the x-axis varies according to the time frame. If there is a year or day change, x-axis labels will display accordingly.
Use the vertical or horizontal scroll bars (if displayed) to view additional information on the graph. Click the double-arrow (>>) icon to either hide or show the overtime graph legend.
Use the small zoom (spyglass) icon, displayed on the upper right of a time range and above the overtime graph legend, to select a desired time frame that you wish to focus. To select an area on the graph, first click and drag the mouse pointer and then click the spyglass icon.
You can send an email message to one or more recipients from the Precise toolbar. The default subject for the message will be “Link to a Precise 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
The Favorites feature enables you to save a specific location in your application and to retrieve the same location later without having to navigate to it.
The new Favorites feature includes the following options:
An Add/Delete Favorites option under the Favorites menu allows you to save the current location or delete an existing one.
To add a new Favorite location
To view a Favorites location
To delete an existing Favorite location
The favorite address is displayed in the Address field and cannot be edited. |
Tables are used to display information about a set of related entities in the Main and Association areas. It is possible to determine which columns to display in the Association area tables.
To determine which columns to display in the Association area
The Export to the Precise Custom Portal Portlet feature enables you to export the view of the chosen table or graph and generate a portlet with that view in the Precise Custom Portal, so that it will provide you with another way of monitoring your application.
To be able to use this feature, you need to have the following rights in Precise:
If you do not have sufficient rights, you will get an error message when trying to execute this feature.
You can either export a table view or a graph view.
The name field has the following restrictions: maximum 100 characters. |
To export a table view
To export a graph view