Application page

2.1+

The application page of IBM® watsonx Code Assistant for Z Code Optimization Advice consists of the Application overview tab, Programs tab, Problems tab, and the Environment details section. This page shows all information at the application level.

Application overview tab

The Application overview is the first view that displays. It shows the performance of the application, timing statistics, programs that are top candidates for optimization, CPU allocation, a summary of runtime options, and environment details. Use this view to determine where to start optimizing program performance.

Timing statistics

This chart shows key performance metrics about the application being analyzed, including:
  • CPU time: The total of the application
  • Elapsed time: The total clock time of the application
  • Application samples: The total number of times the profile observed the execution of instructions in the application
  • EXCPs: The total count of execute channel programs. For more information, refer to I/O activity
  • Application run start time
  • Application run end time

Top programs for optimization

This table shows the top 10 programs using the most CPU in the application. Use this table to quickly identify if there are COBOL programs that have significant CPU usage and optimization opportunities.

This table shows:
  • Program: The name of the optimization candidate program
  • Language: The language the program is written in
    Note: Performance optimization advice is only available for programs written in COBOL.
  • CPU %: The percentage of the application's CPU the program consumes
  • Problems: The number of performance problems identified by the analysis engine

Select any program listed in this table to go to its programs details page.

CPU allocation

This table shows a summary of where the application's CPU usage was measured.

Usage is grouped into several categories:
  • Languages
  • Subsystems
  • Systems
  • Other

This table shows the total CPU usage in terms of measured samples and percentage. This data is sorted by category and broken down into each specific language, subsystem, or system. Anything that cannot be sorted into these categories is placed in the "Other" category.

Runtime options summary

This section lists all the options specified for the application's runtime environment.

Programs tab

The programs tab in the main report view shows a full list of programs in the application. This view shows which programs have or have not been successfully analyzed.

Programs table

The table shows:
  • Analysis status: A symbol showing users if the analysis was successful or not. There are two analysis states:
    • Successful analysis
    • Failed analysis: There are a number of reasons why a program might have failed to be analyzed. Open the program preview to learn why the analysis failed
  • Program: The name of the program
  • Language: The language the program was written in
  • Version: The version of the compiler the program was compiled with
  • CPU %: The percentage of the application's total CPU usage the program consumed
  • Problems: The number of performance problems detected in the program
Programs in this list are organized by CPU percentage by default. This table can be sorted by selecting any of the column headers. Use the search bar to filter through table content. The search field acts as a live filter and displays any content matching what has been specified.
Note: The search field is case sensitive.

Select any of the rows in the table to open the Program preview side panel and explore additional information about the program.

Program preview side panel

The program preview side panel shows key information about the program to help determine if a program is worth investigating further.

It shows:
  • Build information
    • Language: Language the program is written in
    • Compiler version: The version of the compiler the program was compiled with
    • PTF level: The level of program temporary fixes (PTFs) installed on the compiler
    • Date compiled: The day and time the program was last compiled
  • Timing statistics
    • Chart showing program CPU time as a part of application CPU time
    • CPU time: The total amount of time the CPU spent running the program
    • Program samples: Total number of times the profiler observed the execution of instructions in the program.
    • Program CPU: The percentage of CPU usage from the program compared to the application total

Problems tab

The problems tab on the application page shows a list of all the problems detected in the application.

Application performance problems table

It includes:
  • Problem name
  • Program: The name of the program the problem originates
  • Line number: Line number of the program the problem is found
  • Data item/Option: The name of the data item or option causing the problem
  • Problem priority: The priority level of the problem based on the CPU usage at the application level

Select any problem in the list to display the problem details side panel. Refer to Problem details side panel for more information.

Search for a specific problem using the search bar, or show problems from a specific problem class using the problem class filter in the drop down menu.
Note: The search field is case sensitive.

By default, this table is organized by priority. Use the header line in the table to change how the list is organized.

Problem details side panel

The problem details component in the Problems tab of the Application page shows a detailed explanation of a performance problem in the application, explaining what the problem is, recommended actions to take to fix the problem, and highlights any considerations that need to be made before making any changes. This summary also shows the performance impact of the problem when available, as well as general problem information.

Problem overview

The problem overview shows descriptive information about the performance problem.

This includes:
  • Problem class
  • Program: Name of the program where the problem is found
  • Line: The line number of the problem in the compiler listing, and the line number of the problem in the COBOL source file.
  • Data items/Option: The names of any data items/options involved in the problem
  • Problem priority

Understand at a glance what the problem is, and select Open source to navigate directly to the source code where the problem is found.

Problem details

This section contains valuable information to help users understand and fix the performance problem.

This includes:
  • Problem description: This description tells users what the problem is and how it affects the program's performance.
  • Recommended actions: This tells users what needs to be done to improve performance. Some problems might have more than one recommendation, choose the approach best suited for your needs.
    • Justification: This explains how and why the recommended action improves performance.
    • Considerations: This highlights potential adverse effects that may occur in the program if the recommendation is applied.
  • Documentation links: Links to IBM Documentation that provide more information about the problem and related terms.

This allows users to quickly decide on an appropriate action to fix a performance problem, and helps users understand why the problem occurred. For more information, refer to Correcting a performance problem.

Performance impact

This section shows the performance impact of the problem at the application level. It compares the number of samples involved in the problem against the total number of samples for the application, summarizing it as a percentage of the whole.

Documentation

This section links users to helpful documentation that can be referred to for more information.

Environment details

This section displays an overlay showing information about the system that the application was run on. This section is accessed by selecting Environment details in the header.

This section shows:
  • Application name
  • z/OS version
  • Z model
  • Sysplex name
  • LPAR name