Extracting logs to CSV or JSON

Transaction Analysis Workbench can extract logs from their original z/OS®-based formats to comma-separated values (CSV) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format for ingestion by analytics platforms and other applications.

Before you begin

You need to understand the requirements of your destination analytics platform or application. For example:

  • Which format is more appropriate for ingestion: CSV or JSON?
  • Can you configure this destination to listen for data on a TCP socket, or do you need to transfer data in a file to the local file system?
  • Does this destination require certain fixed field names?
  • Are field names case-sensitive at this destination?
  • What time stamp formats does this destination recognize, and to what precision?

About this task

To extract logs to CSV or JSON, use the CSV or JSON command of the Transaction Analysis Workbench report and extract utility. The CSV and JSON commands can write data to a ddname, a z/OS UNIX file path, or a TCP socket.

You can write your own JCL to run the utility, or you can use the following options of the Transaction Analysis Workbench ISPF dialog to create JCL for you:

  • CSV only: option 4 Process: enter SUB next to a log, and then select the option to convert the log to CSV.
  • CSV or JSON: Option 5 Analytics creates JCL that forwards logs to a variety of analytics platforms. The JCL extracts the logs to either CSV or JSON, depending on the destination platform.

The JCL created by the ISPF dialog uses only a subset of the features of the CSV and JSON commands. You can tailor the JCL to use other features.