Managing workspaces

Customizing workspaces

Every workspace has a set of properties associated with it. You can customize the workspace by working in the Properties Editor to change the style and content of each view. Another way to customize the workspace is to change the type of view or to add views to the workspace. Be aware that the changes you make to the workspace are lost when you switch to another workspace unless you save them first.

To customize a workspace, perform these steps:

1. Open a workspace. Click File > Save as, and give the new workspace a name. You can now modify the workspace.
2. Select one of the panes in the workspace that you want to change from, for example, a bar chart to a pie chart.
3. Click the Pie chart icon in the toolbar. The result is that a pie chart replaces the bar chart in the pane that you have selected.
4. Right-click the new chart, and click Properties. The new view shows the Properties Editor, where you can add a query, filters or change the style. For this example, click Style.
5. From the Style pane, you can change the name of the header, footer, values, legends and categories. For the header, for example, you can choose to display or hide the header, change the text, font and its font size. When you have completed the modifications, click Apply.
6. You can view the effects of your changes through the Preview pane at the top of the Properties Editor.
7. When you have finished, click OK to save your changes.

Formats of information

Tivoli Enterprise Portal information can be presented to you in any of the following views:

• Table view
• Pie chart view
• Bar chart view
• Plot chart view
• Linear gauge view
• Circular gauge view
• Notepad view
• Event console view, which shows the status of the situations associated with the system.
• Take Action view, which is used to send a command to the system.
• Terminal view, which enables you to start a 3270 or 5250 work session.
• Browser view, which permits you to open a browser to see HTML pages and Web sites.
• Topology view, which lets you choose a background picture or map and overlay it with icons representing Navigator items.

Associating workspaces with attributes

There is a direct relationship between attributes and workspaces. An attribute group typically corresponds to a table view within a named workspace and attribute items correspond to columns in the table view.

Each Tivoli Enterprise Portal workspace displays real time information for many of the attributes. The information is available to you, independent of whether you are using OMEGAMON AI for CICS to monitor situations.

Defining workspace properties

Every workspace has a set of properties associated with it. You can customize the workspace by working in the Properties Editor to change the style and content of each view. Changes you make to workspace properties, such as adding or editing a view are only temporary. They will be lost when you exit Tivoli Enterprise Portal unless you save the workspace.

A workspace can include some or all of the following properties:

Query

Specify what data you want displayed in a chart or table.

Filters

Refine the view by filtering out unwanted data from a chart or table.

Thresholds

Establish threshold values and color indicators for a table view.

Configuration

Specify the script to run or the connection to make when you open the terminal view.

Style

Change the behavior and appearance of the view.

Using OMEGAMON AI for CICS information

You can view information about each managed system that you are monitoring. Use this information to perform the following tasks:

• Monitor the performance of each managed system, helping you to identify bottlenecks and evaluate tuning decisions
• Select the most effective threshold values for situations you create
• Review status information when a change in the state of a given resource occurs, for example, from OK to Warning or Critical

Investigating a situation event

When the conditions of a situation have been met, the situation evaluates to True, causing a situation event indicator to be displayed in the Navigator. You can investigate the situation event by opening its workspace.

The situation event workspace shows two table views, one with the values of the attributes when the situation evaluated to True, and the other with the attributes' current values.

The situation event workspace can also display a text view with any expert advice written by the author of the situation, and the Take Action view so you can send a command to the application started on that system.

Filtering, sorting, adding, and deleting workspaces

Filtering

To manually set up filtering for a given table view, place the cursor on the table view, press the right mouse button, and click Properties. From the displayed dialog box, click the Filters tab. Here you can select the columns to display, as well as set up the criteria for which rows to display. To save your filtering specifications, you must save the workspace before exiting.

Sorting

Sorting is handled by clicking a column heading. Click once and the view is sorted in ascending order. Click a second time to resort the view into descending order. A third click returns you to the report's default sort.

Adding to your favorites list

When using Tivoli Enterprise Portal in browser mode, you can start it from any workstation by entering the URL for the web server where the browser mode client is installed. Each Tivoli Enterprise Portal workspace also has a URL so that you can save the workspace to your Favorites list or specify it as your home page.

Deleting your workspace

From the Tivoli Enterprise Portal, click anywhere within the workspace. From the File menu, click Delete workspace. This removes any workspace that you have defined. You are not allowed to delete one of the predefined workspaces.

Linking to OMEGAMON for CICS (3270) interface workspaces

Context sensitive linking is provided from an OMEGAMON AI for CICS workspace to an OMEGAMON for CICS (3270) panel. This feature uses the dynamic terminal integration support that is implemented in IBM Tivoli Monitoring. Dynamic terminal integration support is an extension to the Tivoli Enterprise Portal that provides seamless access to 3270 based applications through context sensitive links.

The data that is used for the connection to the target workspaces is gathered by OMEGAMON AI for CICS at runtime during the autodiscovery process. OMEGAMON AI for CICS uses the updated Service Task Details query, which provides the required data, that includes the host name and port number for the terminal emulator connection.

You can override the discovery default settings during your initial configuration of OMEGAMON AI for CICS using the RTE_TN3270_DXL_HOSTADDRESS parameter in PARMGEN or in the process of executing a link once you have defined it. For more information about RTE_TN3270_DXL_HOSTADDRESS, see "Common parameters" in the Reference section of the OMEGAMON shared documentation Version 6.3.0 Fix Pack 2 .

When you click a link icon in one of the eligible workspaces, and select a 3270 view, the OMEGAMON for CICS (3270) interface is displayed enabling you to examine much more historical data (from 250 to 300 historical data items) than is available in the Tivoli Enterprise Portal workspace. Each of the predefined workspace links to a 3270 session has an associated sample script. You should review these scripts prior to using them in your environment.

You can use the links, workspaces, and scripts as a basis for any further creation or modification.

See the Tivoli Enterprise Portal help for more information on the dynamic terminal integration support and how to use predefined links with workspaces.

Creating or modifying links for the OMEGAMON for CICS (3270) session

You can create new links or modify the predefined links with dynamic terminal integration support. The links that are used are similar to other links in the Tivoli Enterprise Portal, and you follow the same rules and processes for their creation and modification. Any value that is passed on the link is then passed to the terminal emulator session and overrides any value that might have been sent by the query.

When the terminal emulator initially connects to the host system, it is possible that the initial terminal panel is not the expected log on panel. This might occur, if you have different welcome/log on panels defined for different systems. Attempting to log on to a 3270 session with an unexpected welcome/log on panel might result in a log on failure. It is possible to include a check in the log on script for a suitable log on panel before the script attempts to log onto the 3270 session. This check uses the USSCHECK field to specify a text string to be searched for on the log on panel before the attempt is made to log on. The USSCHECK value can be specified on the link. The predefined scripts provide a commented-out example of how to use the USSCHECK field in this manner. To make use of this, the script must be modified to uncomment this block of code, and a suitable value must be specified on the link.

Using a link for the OMEGAMON for CICS (3270) session

The process to run a link once you have defined it is very similar to that for any other link between a workspace in the Tivoli Enterprise Portal, but now you must enter a user ID and password to complete the log on to a 3270 session.

Using the terminal emulator query

The extended version of the CICSSER (CICS Service Task Details) query is used for dynamic XE to 3270 linking.

The query is used by the terminal emulator when it is driven by a link to request data from OMEGAMON AI for CICS that cannot be provided by the link itself. This data is used either by the terminal emulator to create a connection to the OMEGAMON for CICS (3270) session, with the host name and port number, or it can be used in a script, with APPLIDs. The query is driven by the Tivoli Enterprise Portal client before the terminal emulator is connected to the host, and expects one or more values to be passed to it from the link.

The Tivoli Enterprise Portal client already contains a terminal emulator. You can configure this emulator to emulate numerous terminal types, specify the host name and port number to connect to, and specify a connection for a script. You can have some of the values read dynamically from a query, when the terminal emulator is launched, and also add new attributes.

The Properties dialog for the terminal emulator differs slightly from that of the preexisting terminal emulator. The Connection tab, which enables you to specify the host name, port number, and terminal type, specifies whether these fields should be enabled or the values should be used from a query (the result of a link) before the emulator is started.

When the values are used by a script, a dialog is displayed that prompts you for a user ID and password. The default setting uses the specified host, port, and terminal type. The Query tab in the Properties dialog, enables you to select a query that you want to associate with the terminal view. The values from this tab are used if you select the appropriate radio button in the Connection tab.

See the appropriate IBM Tivoli Monitoring documentation or Tivoli Enterprise Portal online help for further details on the Properties Editor and the corresponding tabs.

Using the terminal emulator script

OMEGAMON AI for CICS provides scripts that are driven when the terminal emulator session is used by the dynamic XE to 3270 OMEGAMON linking feature.

The product provided scripts are sample scripts that you can use many times without modification, however, in some environments you might have to make small changes especially with the initial log on panel.

The scripts that you use are created by recording key presses in the Scripts tab of a terminal emulator, and then, editing the generated script. This script has hard coded values for user ID and passwords, but you can replace these variables, by editing the generated script, or writing a script in its entirety. Once you have created a sample script, you can edit it to read the variables from the values that are returned by your query. You can use these values in place of the hard coded values.

The following example returns the OMEGAMON for CICS (3270) APPLID.

CLASSIC_APPLID = getProperty(“CICS_AGT_AP”)

LOGONCMD = “LOGON (“ + CLASSIC_APPLID + “)”;
SetString(LOGONCMD, 1, 2);
SendKey(“ENTER”);

//checkUSS = getProperty("TRM_QUERYUSSCHECK");
//ussPos = findString(checkUSS);
//if (ussPos < 0)
//{
// msgBox("Unrecognized Logon Panel");
// disconnect();
// return;
//}
// now that we have a suitable screen, check for the required parameters
//
// The APPLID of Omegamon Classic is referenced by symbol VTAMAPPLID
// and the CICS region JOBNAME is referenced by symbol CICSNAME
//
APPLID = getProperty("TRM_QUERYKOCCIAPPL");
CICSNAME = getProperty("TRM_QUERYCICSNAME");
if (APPLID == "")
{
msgBox("No classic VTAM APPLID discovered, check classic status");
disconnect();
return;
}
if (CICSNAME == "")
{
msgBox("No CICS job name discovered, check OMEGAMON status");
disconnect();
return;
//
// clear the screen before we log in
//
SendKey("Clear");
WaitForScreen(1000);
//
// Build the LOGON command and send it.
//
LOGONCMD = "LOGON APPLID(" + APPLID + ") DATA(CICS=" + CICSNAME + ")";
SetField(LOGONCMD);
SendKey("ENTER");
WaitForScreen();
//
// Retrieve userid and password
//
classicUser = getProperty("SCRIPT-USERID");
password = getProperty("SCRIPT-PASSWORD");
//
// If there is a SAF signon screen fill in the userid and password.
//
msgPos = findString("ENTER USERID ==>");
if (msgPos > 0)
{
SetField(classicUser); // The cursor is positioned at the userid field
SendKey("TAB"); // Tab to the password field
SetField(password); // Fill in the passticket
SendKey("TAB"); // Tab to the group field
SetField(safGroup); // Fill in the group
SendKey("ENTER"); // ENTER to send logon
WaitForScreen(); // Wait for result
//
// If we have a the OB0978 message from the TEP userid we need to
// retry the logon, otherwise we'll take what we have.
//
msgPos = findString("OB0978");
if (msgPos > 0 && tepUser == classicUser)
{
//
// Resend the USS LOGON command.
//
while (msgPos > 0)
{
msgPos = findString("OB0978"); // Wait for the logon panel to return
sleep(500);
}
SendKey("Clear"); // Clear
WaitForScreen(); // Wait for clear screen
SetField(LOGONCMD); // Logon command is already built
SendKey("ENTER");
WaitForScreen();
//
// Retry the SAF logon with userid.
//
classicUser = user;
password = ticket;
SetField(classicUser); // Positioned at the userid field
SendKey("TAB"); // Tab to the password field
SetField(password); // Fill in the passticket
SendKey("TAB"); // Tab to the group field
SetField(safGroup); // Fill in the group
SendKey("ENTER"); // ENTER to send logon
WaitForScreen();
}
}
else
{
//
// This is a non-SAF logon so just send ENTER to skip past the
copyright notice.
//
SendKey("ENTER");
WaitForScreen();
}
//
// If the logon was successful we should have the ZMENU panel
displayed.
//
setCursor(1);
msgPos = findString("ZMENU");
if (msgPos < 0)
{
msgBox("Logon to OMEGAMON CICS Classic Failed");
disconnect();
return;
}
//**************************************************//
// //
// We are logged on to OMEGAMON CICS Classic at the
Main Menu panel. //
// //
// Navigate to the Transaction details panel for the //
// passed task number. //
// //
//**************************************************//
taskNumber = getProperty("TRM_QUERYUSERD8");
if (taskNumber != " ")
{
// enter the command 'task number nnnnn' on the second line
command = " TASK NUMBER " + taskNumber + " ";
SetString(command,2,1);
SendKey("ENTER");
WaitForScreen();
}
else
{
msgBox("Missing task number");
return;
}
SetCursor(1); // Position cursor to TOP
show(); // Make window visible

See the appropriate IBM Tivoli Monitoring documentation or Tivoli Enterprise Portal online help for further details on how to record a terminal emulator script and the actual scripting language.

Linking to cross product workspaces

IBM Tivoli Monitoring provides the dynamic workspace linking feature to enable you to quickly access workspaces in multiple products. This feature aids problem determination and improves integration across the monitoring products, allowing you to quickly determine the root cause of a problem. Predefined cross-product links provided by the OMEGAMON products allow you to obtain additional information about systems, subsystems, resources, or network components that are being monitored by other monitoring agents.

OMEGAMON AI for CICS uses this feature to provide predefined links that go to the analysis of CICS monitoring data in the Coupling Facility Structures Data for Sysplex workspace of OMEGAMON on z/OS or the DBCTL Detailed Thread Activity (Active) workspace provided by IBM Tivoli OMEGAMON for IMS on z/OS, among others.

When you right-click a link, the list of links is displayed. This list might contain links to workspaces provided by one or more monitoring products. Dynamic linking is available only for instances of OMEGAMON products that report to the same Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server as OMEGAMON AI for CICS and that run in the same logical partition.

If you choose a workspace from the list and the target workspace is not available, you receive the KFWITM081E message. Refer to the OMEGAMON AI for CICS Troubleshooting Guide for more information. Also, the Target Not Found topic in the Tivoli Enterprise Portal help describes options for responding to failed links.

Navigating workspaces