Elements

The probe breaks event data down into tokens and parses them into elements. Elements are used to assign values to ObjectServer fields; the field values contain the event details in a form that the ObjectServer understands.

The following table describes the elements that the Probe for BMC Patrol generates. Not all the elements described are generated for each event; the elements that the probe generates depends upon the event type.

Table 1. Elements

Element name

Element description

$args

This element displays a list of arguments from the event received from the BMC Patrol agent.

$catalog

This element displays the event catalog name.

$class

This element displays the class name of the event.

$description

This element displays the description of the event.

$diary

This element contains the BMC Patrol event diary entry. This contains information added by users to annotate, clarify, or further describe the event.

$eventId

This element displays the event identifier. Event IDs are assigned sequentially by the BMC Patrol Event Manager as events are generated.

$expectancy

This element displays the life expectancy of the event. Typical values are: STORED, DEL_IF_CLOSED, DEL_IF_INFO, and DO_NOT_STORE.

$extdesc

This element contains an extended description of the event.

$fqhostname

This element displays the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the agent host.

$handler

This element displays the User ID of the last person to modify the event's diary, or of the last person to perform an ACKNOWLEDGE, CLOSE, or DELETE action on the event.

$ipaddr

This element contains the IP address of the connected agent.

$node

This element displays the host name of the node that generated the event.

$origin

This element displays the BMC Patrol application name of the source of the event.

$owner

This element displays the User ID of the owner of the event. The user ID is usually a user account.

$port

This element displays the port number of the host where the agent is connected.

$severity

This element displays the event severity. This can be an integer in the range 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest severity.

$sourceId

This element contains a source identifier of the event.

$status

This element displays the status of the event:

1: open

2: acknowledged

3: closed

4: escalated

5: deleted

$type

This element displays the type of the event:

1: information

2: state change

3: error

4: warning

5: alarm

6: response

Note: If the probe fails to connect to an agent or if a connection with an agent is lost, the probe forwards an error event to the ObjectServer. This event comprises the $node, $description, and $security elements. For details about these messages, see ProbeWatch messages.