Monitoring system performance with IBM System Dashboard for Enterprise Content Management

You can monitor Datacap system performance through the IBM System Dashboard for Enterprise Content Management.

You must download the dashboard software separately and install it in your environment, along with a supported version of Java™. You can then enable the associated dashboard listener component that is installed automatically with Datacap. Ensure that the dashboard product is not collocated on a computer with the Datacap components that you want to monitor.

Tip: The System Dashboard for Datacap provides a simple interface that you can use to view events. The license for IBM System Dashboard is included with all Datacap licenses. However, for additional functionality, you can purchase IBM ECM System Monitor under a separate license.

The dashboard listeners that are installed with the Datacap software provide counters to monitor client login activity, server requests, database actions, batch tasks, and file access. You can monitor actions for the Datacap Server, Rulerunner, and Datacap Web Client components.

By default, Datacap Server and Rulerunner are always available for dashboard monitoring. Datacap Web Client is also installed to be available for system monitoring, but you have the added ability to disable and re-enable the associated listeners through a setting in the server.ini file.

Enabling dashboard listeners

To enable or disable dashboard listeners for monitoring Datacap events, enter a value of 1 (enable) or 0 (disable) for the InformPCH parameter in the General section of the install_path\datacap\tmweb.net\server.ini file. The server.ini file is located on the affected Datacap Web Client server where you want system activities monitored.

Note: Rulerunner does not have the option to configure static port.

Datacap Server events

In the dashboard, you can monitor the Datacap Server events. All time-related counters are in nanoseconds.

The dashboard outputs Datacap Server information in a hierarchical presentation. For example:

	Batches
	Batches/Created
	Batches/Created/Create time
	Batches/Grabbed
	Batches/Grabbed/Grab time
	Batches/Released
	Batches/Released/Release time
	...

Table 1. Client actions for Datacap Server
Event	Description
Connect	A new client connected.
Login	A client logged in.
Logoff	A client logged off.
Disconnect	A client disconnected.

Table 2. OLEDB database events for Datacap Server
Event	Description
Open	A new connection to a database was created through OLEDB.
Time to open	The time it took to create a database connection through OLEDB.
Close	A connection to a database through OLEDB was closed.
Execute	An execute of an SQL statement was done through OLEDB, as in, any SQL statement that includes SELECT.
Execute time	The time it took for an execute of an SQL to be done through OLEDB, as in, any SQL statement other than SELECT.
Open recordset time	The time it took to open a recordset through OLEDB, as in, execute SELECT.

Table 3. ADO database events for Datacap Server
Event	Description
Open	A new connection to a database was created through ADO.
Time to open	The time it took to create a database connection through ADO.
Close	A connection to a database through ADO was closed.
Execute	An execute of an SQL statement was done through ADO, as in, any SQL statement that includes SELECT.
Execute time	The time it took for an execute of an SQL to be done through ADO, as in, any SQL statement other than SELECT.
Open recordset time	The time it took to open a recordset through ADO, as in, execute SELECT.
selectXML time	The time it took to open a recordset through ADO and return results in XML format.
atomic selectXML	An atomic selectXML action was done through ADO. This action creates a connection to a database, executes a SELECT SQL statement, formats the resulting recordset in XML, and closes the connection to the database.
atomic selectXML time	The time it took to do an atomic selectXML action through ADO.

Table 4. Batch events for Datacap Server
Event	Description
Created	A new batch was created.
Create time	The time that was required to create a batch.
Grabbed	A batch was grabbed by a client for processing.
Released	A batch was released by a client after processing.

Table 5. Files events for Datacap Server
Event	Description
Opened	A file was opened for a client.
Closed	A file was closed by a client.
IO	A file system input/output was done on a file that was requested by a client.
Time to open	The time that was required to open a file for a client.
Time to read	The time that was required to read a file contents for a client.
Time to write	The time that was required to save data to a file for a client.
Time to close	The time that was required to close a file for a client.

Rulerunner events

The Rulerunner events can also be monitored in the dashboard. All time-related counters are in nanoseconds. Some of the event counters are fixed, and some are dynamically created. Each configured thread creates a separate executable process of Rulerunner (RRProcessor.exe), and each process has an associated dashboard listener. Each listener has the same name, Rulerunner:, but with a unique ID number appended to it, such as Rulerunner::49205. Every event begins with the node Thread0. Two categorical nodes are always displayed: Applications and General.

Important: Rulerunner threads are actually separate processes. The initial node Thread0 is a historical artifact and can be ignored.

The dashboard outputsRulerunner information in a hierarchical presentation, for example:

	Thread0
	Thread0/Applications
	Thread0/Applications/1040EZ
	Thread0/Applications/1040EZ/Query Application Service
	Thread0/Applications/1040EZ/Query Application Service/Duration
	Thread0/General
	Thread0/General/No pending batches

Under the Applications node, a subnode is displayed for each application that is configured, for example, TravelDocs, 1040EZ, or Datacap Accounts Payable (APT). Under each application node is a Main Job and a Query Application Service counter. Individual application-specific tasks are noted under the Main Job node.

Table 6. Application events for each Rulerunner process
Event	Description
Applications	A listener node under which all configured applications are displayed.
`application_name`	A listener node whose name is a configured application, for example, TravelDocs.
Main Job	The listener node under which typical application-specific tasks are listed.
`task_name`	A listener node whose name is a configured task, for example, PageID, Profiler, and Vscan.
Batch grabbed	The number of batches that were grabbed by an application for processing a task.
Batch released	A listener node that represents the number of batches that were released by an application after processing a task.
`batch_status`	A sublevel counter of Batch released, whose name shows the status of each released batch, for example, pending, aborted, hold, offline.
Batch statistics updated	The average time that was required to update the statistics through a SQL request.
Running RRS	The average time that was required for the Rulerunner Service to complete its running of rules.
Query Application Service	A counter that contains the total number of requests to Datacap Application Manager. Under this node is an accumulator that contains the average time spent to request information from Datacap Application Manager.

Table 7. General events for each Rulerunner process
Event	Description
Disconnected All	All Rulerunner threads disconnected.
Disconnected from TM server	A Rulerunner thread has disconnected from the Datacap server.
Logged off	A Rulerunner user logged off.

Datacap Web Client events

In the dashboard, you can monitor the Datacap Web Client events. All time-related counters are in nanoseconds.

The dashboard outputs Datacap Web Client information in a hierarchical presentation, for example:

	application/Hits//tmweb.net/Task/gstopb.aspx
	application/Hits//tmweb.net/Task/uplbfcl.aspx
	application/Hits//tmweb.net/Task/utility.asmx
	application/Hits//tmweb.net/Task/vscancl.aspx
	application/Hits//tmweb.net/buttons.aspx
	application/Hits//tmweb.net/jmonitor.aspx
	application/Hits//tmweb.net/wflow.aspx
	Clients
	Clients/application/TMLogin
	Clients/application/TMLogoff
	...

Table 8. Application events for Datacap Web Client
Event	Description
Application	The application that was run.
Bits	The functions that were run and the time spent for each.
Get Buttons	The time that was required to present a URL for the user interface to present the user with list of buttons, shortcuts, or similar elements.
Stop Batch	The time that was required to stop a batch process.
TMLogin	A user action to log into Datacap Web Client.
TMLogoff	A user action to log out of Datacap Web Client.
Tricky Select XML	The time that was required to display database information in the user interface by using an internal database SQL select action, for example, for data lookup.
Hits	A designated number of bits that represents a user request in the user interface, for example, a request for a particular URL to display.

Table 9. Client events for Datacap Web Client
Event	Description
Clients	A node that represents a set of Datacap Web Client users.
Application	The application that a user is running, for example, Datacap Accounts Payable.
TMLogin	The time that was required to log into Datacap server.
TMLogoff	The time that was required to log out of Datacap server.
Session End	The time that was required to end a Datacap Web Client session.
Session Start	The time that was required to start a Datacap Web Client session.