snm_gr manual page
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NAME

snm_gr - Site/SunNet/Domain Manager results grapher

SYNOPSIS

snm_gr [ -b ]

DESCRIPTION

snm_gr is an OPEN LOOK application that allows the display of information sent to it by snm(1), the Site/SunNet/Domain Manager console, and by snm_br(1), the Site/SunNet/Domain Manager browser. The grapher aids in the visual analysis of information collected in Site/SunNet/Domain Manager data and event reports.

You must explicitly start snm_gr from the command line or from the snm Tools menu before it can receive any data from snm or snm_br.

If the -b switch is given, backgrounds will appear White rather than Black. You might want to use this option if you intend to print the graphs.

Data Sets
Each snm_gr graph consists of one or more data sets, with each data set representing a series of values for a single attribute received from an agent. Two types of data sets are supported: dynamic and static.

Dynamic data sets are initially empty but receive updates during the lifetime of the graph. The resulting graphs are similar to "perfmeter" graphs. Dynamic data sets only retain the 180 most recent update value.

Static data sets are initially filled with values but cannot receive updates. Static data sets may contain an unlimited number of values.

USAGE

Sending data from snm
When preparing a data report within the Site/SunNet/Domain Manager console, you may specify that received report information be passed to the results grapher program. Do this by selecting the Graph Tool option in the data report's attribute specification pane. When that data report is launched, the snm program contacts the results grapher and tells it to prepare a dynamic graph. This causes a graph window to appear, which initially contains no information. As snm receives periodic updates from that data report, it forwards these results to snm_gr, which then displays them.

Sending data from snm_br
Data streams within snm_br can be sent to the results grapher. See the snm_br(1) man page for more information on how this is done.

Results Grapher Main Window
When snm_gr is started, a single window entitled Results Grapher appears. This indicates that the grapher is now ready to receive graphs sent to it by snm and snm_br. When these graphs arrive, a separate Graph Window is displayed, and the name of the graph is added to the scrolling list in the Results Grapher window. You may then select one or more of the items in the scrolling list, and manipulate them using the View, Properties, Remove, and Merge buttons, as explained below:

· View - displays and pins the selected graphs. This is
useful for retrieving graphs that have been dismissed by unpinning them.

· Properties - displays and pins the properties window for
the selected graphs.

· Remove - deletes and frees the storage associated with
the selected graphs.

· Merge - creates a new graph containing the data sets of
the selected graphs. The selected graphs are not automatically removed after they are merged.

Graph Windows
As each graph is started, a window is created that contains the graph of the data. The graph window initially contains a 3 dimensional graph in the center, a legend for the data sets in the graph, and the starting and ending times of the graph in the lower left and right corners of the window.

It is possible to manipulate some aspects of the displayed graph by selecting from the Graph Menu, which is obtained by pressing the MENU mouse button while within a graph window.

Graph Menu entries include:

· Replot graph with new times. You can "zoom" into a graph
to get finer readings. This is accomplished by pressing the SELECT mouse button at a point within the graph and then dragging the mouse to another point within the graph. As the mouse is dragged from one position to another, two time labels appear at the bottom of the graph. The time label on the left displays the start boundary time, and the label on the right displays the end boundary time. Clicking on the Replot Graph with new times menu item then causes the graph to be replotted, based on the boundary times between the two points you selected.

· Show entire graph causes all data points to be displayed,
undoing the effect of any "zoom" requests.

· Properties displays the properties window for this graph.

Graph Properties Windows
This window provides fields that affect the display and interpretation of the data. It contains the following fields of interest:

· Data Scale determines whether the data sets for a graph
are plotted using Absolute or Relative values.

If Absolute data scale is chosen, all data sets are displayed using the same vertical scale. In addition, vertical scale labels are printed on the graph. Use Absolute data scale when displaying multiple data sets whose data values are of the same units (for example, cpu% for multiple systems).

If Relative data scale is chosen, each data set is drawn using its own scale. This scale forces the maximum and minimum values of the data set to be displayed over the full height of the graph. Use Relative data scale when displaying multiple data sets whose data values are of different units (for example, cpu%, interrupts, and collisions for a single system).

· Time Scale determines whether the timestamps of the data
sets are plotted in Absolute or Relative scale. In Absolute time scale, the timestamps of all data reports are interpreted literally, and the data sets are displayed in (possibly overlapping) chronological order. Use Absolute time scale when displaying data sets from reports with overlapping times (for example, yesterday's cpu% for three systems).

In Relative time scale, all data sets are assumed to start at time zero (that is, 00:00:00) and thus are displayed side-by-side on the graph. This is useful for comparing data sets whose timestamps differ by large amounts (for example, cpu% on three different days). Since there is no concept of a true starting time for relative graphs, the timestamps at the bottom of the graph only display the relative time (in hours, minutes, seconds) from their first data value.

· Order determines the order in which the data sets are
displayed if there is more than one data set in the graph. If Normal is chosen, the first data set in the Data Set scrolling list will correspond to the data set drawn furthest to the back of the graph. Reverse causes the first data set in the scrolling list to correspond with the dataset drawn at the front of the graph. This field is useful to get a clearer view of data sets are partially obscured by other data sets.

· Data Set Scrolling List shows a list of all the data sets
for a graph. This is an exclusive list; that is, only one item may be selected at any time.

The following properties only affect the selected Data Set Scrolling List item:

· Data Set controls the visibility of the selected data
set. Show makes the data set information visible, while Hide makes the data set information invisible.

· Plot Value specifies that the data set is to be plotted
in one of three modes: Absolute, which plots the values of the data set as is; Cumulative, which sums up each successive data value and plots them; and Delta, which takes the difference between each pair of data values and plots them.

No changes to this window take effect until the Apply button is pressed. The Reset button resets all fields to their values from the last time the Apply button was pressed.

Graph Rotation Angles
The Rotation Angles window allows you to change the default viewing angles in the graph using the following controls:

· Elevation controls the rotation of the graph about the
horizontal axis. A zero elevation angle will view the graph from the side, and a 90 degree viewing angle allows you to view the graph from the top.

· Rotation controls the rotation of the graph about the
vertical axis.

SEE ALSO

snm(1), snm_br(1)

NOTES

To help keep graphs reasonable, a maximum of four lines of attribute names are displayed in the legend. Increasing the width of the graph window allows more attribute names to be displayed.
No timestamps or legends are displayed when the graph window size is shrunk to less than 250x250 pixels. The display of dynamic data sets from snm data reports is both extremely CPU-intensive and consumes large amounts of memory. Starting multiple data reports with low report intervals is not recommended. Your results may vary. If a console data report (which contains a "Graph Tool" attribute request) is started when snm_gr is not running, a dynamic graph is not created and no updates are processed. Thus, if the runtime database contains any restartable data requests, snm_gr should be started before snm, so that any graphs will be automatically created during the snm initialization. When displaying dynamic graphs, snm_gr attempts to use X11 server pixmaps for double-buffering. X11 pixmaps are a limited server resource that may not be available on all servers. If snm_gr is unable to acquire a pixmap, it will instead perform dynamic update redisplays directly to the screen. The resulting flicker may make the graph hard to read.
The maximum value snm_gr can handle is limited to 2^31 - 1.


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