Using Strobe for CICS

This topic describes how to invoke Strobe for CICS, collect Strobe CICS Transaction Profile information, and produce the Strobe CICS Transaction Profile and the CICS Performance Supplement.

With Strobe for CICS, you can also request that Strobe collect Transaction Profile data or Performance Supplement data. Transaction Profile data includes all states of transaction activity for one transaction or a group of transactions, as well as region-level activity. Also available is the aggregate of the wait time for the address space during the measurement session. Performance Supplement data includes time distribution of transaction activity, transaction activity, network activity, I/O activity, and configuration parameters and system-wide statistics.

Measuring a CICS Region

If your installation uses the standard IBM-supplied name (beginning with the prefix DFHSIP) for the load module invoked from the EXEC statement that initializes the CICS job step, Strobe will automatically invoke Strobe for CICS whenever you measure a CICS region. However, you can also request that Strobe for CICS collect CICS Performance Supplement data instead of the default transaction-level and region-level performance data.

You can find detailed instructions for submitting measurement requests in the Strobe/ISPF Online Tutorials and in the Using-Strobe-to-measure-online-applications-and-batch-programs.

To measure a CICS region, follow these steps:

  1. Select Option 1 from the Strobe Options menu. Strobe displays the Strobe - Add Active Request panel (see the following figure).Strobe - Add Active Request Panel

    image2021-2-5_10-32-16.png  

  2. Enter the name of the CICS region in the JOBNAME field.
  3. Specify the target system in the SYSTEM field or clear this field to select from a list of systems.
  4. Configure the measurement session by specifying:
    • How long you want to measure the process in the SESSION DURATION field
    • How many performance samples you want Strobe to take in the TARGET SAMPLE SIZE field
    • TSO user ID in the TSO USER ID TO NOTIFY field. Strobe notifies this user ID when the measurement request is complete.
  5. Specify the sample data set information in the SAMPLE DATA SET INFORMATION fields.

  6. Specify a Y in the DATA COLLECTORS field and press Enter. The Strobe - Data Collectors panel is displayed (See the following figure).Strobe - Data Collectors Panel

    image2021-8-11_12-9-39.png

  7. Specify a Y in the CICS field of the DATA COLLECTORS section of the panel and press Enter. The Strobe - CICS Data Collector Options panel (See the following figure) is displayed.Strobe - CICS Data Collector Options Panel

    image2021-9-9_22-10-17.png

  8. Perform one of the following steps:

    • To collect transaction service time, enter Y in the "Collect Transaction Service Time" field.

      Tip

      By default,  for CICS collects transaction service time data if any transaction names have been specified in the Detail by Transaction field. To suppress transaction service time collection, enter N in the Collect Transaction Service Time field. Also, if you want to exclude any system transactions from being measured by , you can specify which ones through a system task table. See Advanced-Configuration-Guide for information about making these specifications.

    • To request the CICS Performance Supplement, enter a Y in the Produce Performance Supplement field. Additionally, enter a Y in the Collect Terminal Activity field to request that Strobe collect data on terminal activity.

      Important

      The CICS Performance Supplement option cannot be used in conjunction with the Transaction Profile option or the Region-Level option.

  9. If you entered a Y in the Collect Transaction Service Time field in the previous step, you can choose to request detail by transaction, terminal, or user as follows:

    • To request detailed measurement data for a specific transaction or a set of transactions, enter up to five CICS transaction names in the Detail by Transaction field. Note that this field is case-sensitive.

      Tip

      You can use a wildcard character (*) after a string of one or more characters in the Detail by Transaction field to measure transactions that meet the specified search criteria. The wildcard character cannot be inserted between two alphanumeric sequences.

    • To request detailed measurement data for a specific terminal or a set of terminals, enter up to five terminal IDs in the Detail by Terminal field. Note that this field is case-sensitive.

      Tip

      You can use a wildcard character (*) after a string of one or more characters in the Detail by Terminal field to measure transactions that meet the specified search criteria. The wildcard character cannot be inserted between two alphanumeric sequences.

    • To request detailed measurement data for a specific user or a set of users, enter up to user IDs in the Detail by User field. Note that this field is case-sensitive.

      Tip

      You can use a wildcard character (*) after a string of one or more characters in the Detail by User field to measure transactions that meet the specified search criteria. The wildcard character cannot be inserted between two alphanumeric sequences.

Controlling the Size of Strobe for CICS Data Storage Areas

If you request performance data for a transaction, or if you request region-level data, Strobe for CICS uses a buffer and a data space to collect and compress CICS statistics. For very active CICS regions, you may need to increase the size of the buffer Strobe uses to store transaction count and service time data during the measurement session, or the size of the data space Strobe uses to compress the data. The default for the buffer is 34 KB, and the default for the data space is 2048 KB.

Important

You cannot specify CICS measurement information on the  - CICS Data Collector Options panel and on the  - Other Parameters panel for the same measurement request. Therefore, if you want to change the size of the data storage areas, you must enter CICS data collection information on the  - Other Parameters panel only. Refer to the Using-Strobe-to-measure-online-applications-and-batch-programs for complete details on submitting measurement requests with the  Command Language.

To change the size of the data storage areas, follow these steps:

  1. Enter Y in the OTHER PARAMETERS field and press Enter. Strobe displays the Strobe - Other Parameters panel.Strobe - Other Parameters Panel

    image2021-2-5_10-43-34.png

  2. In the OTHER PARAMETERS field, specify the sizes for the buffer and data space, respectively, using the following parameters:


      • CICS=CAPTBUFF=nnnn (where nnnn is a value from 34 to 1000)
      • CICS=DSSIZE=nnnn (where nnnn is a value from 100 to 3072).
    Example
    CICS=(RLI,DSSIZE=3072,CAPTBUFF=1000,TRAN=(TX1,TN*))

    Important

    Do not set DSSIZE to a value less than the value specified for CAPTBUFF. Also, you must include the RLI or TRAN parameter with the specifications for DSSIZE and CAPTBUFF.

  3. Press Enter to submit the measurement request.

Producing a Performance Profile

You can find detailed information about creating a Strobe Performance Profile in the Strobe/ISPF Online Tutorials, or the Using-Strobe-to-measure-online-applications-and-batch-programs.

Important

A Performance Profile contains a Transaction Profile or a CICS Performance Supplement, depending on what you specified when you submitted the measurement request.

  1. Select Option 4 from the Strobe Options menu. Strobe displays the Strobe - Produce a Performance Profile panel.
  2. Specify a processing option, B for background (a batch job step) or F for foreground, by entering the appropriate option code in the OPTION field.
  3. Enter the name of the sample data set in the SAMPLE DATA SET NAME field. If you do not know the name of the sample data set, clear the SAMPLE DATA SET NAME field and press Enter. Strobe displays a list of all available sample data sets.

  4. Enter Y in the TAILOR REPORTS field. Strobe displays the Strobe - Tailor Reports panel as shown in the following figure.

    Strobe

     - Tailor Reports Panel (Scrollable)
    image2021-2-5_10-56-14.png

  5. Customize the level of detail contained in the Performance Profile by selecting the appropriate options, as described in .
  6. Press Enter to produce the Performance Profile.

Controlling the Level of Detail in the CICS Transaction Profile

You can compress or expand the level of report detail in the CICS Transaction Profile and the CICS Region-Level reports, as well as control which reports are produced, by specifying certain options when you create the Performance Profile. These options are described in the following sections.

Compressing Transaction Detail Lines That Do Not Exceed a Specified Threshold

You can specify a minimum amount of time that must be observed for information associated with a transaction to appear as an individual line on the report. If the threshold is not reached, the information (a related command, class, or resource) is condensed into a single line under the pseudo-section called .COMPRES. The line is presented as the last line in the report.

To compress information associated with transactions that do not exceed a specified threshold, specify the minimum time, in seconds, in the appropriate field of the Compress below column on the Strobe - Tailor Reports panel, as described below.

  • To compress the CICS Region-Level reports, specify a baseline threshold between 0 and 99.999 seconds (the default is 00.005) in the Compress below column of the CICS REGION LEVEL field. Enter the value with or without a decimal point (for example, 2 or 2.0).
    • For the Region Suspend by Class report, this option compresses all suspend category classes with average suspend times that do not meet the threshold.
    • For the Region Suspend by Resource within Class report, this option suppresses all resources with average suspend times that do not meet the threshold. If none of the resources within a class meets the specified threshold, the entire class is suppressed. If none of the resources meets the specified threshold, the entire report is suppressed.
  • To compress the CICS Transaction Profile reports, specify a baseline threshold between 0 and 99.999 seconds (the default is 00.005) in the Compress below column of the CICS TRANSACTION PROFILE field. Enter the value with or without a decimal point (for example, 2 or 2.0).
    • For the API Service Time subreport, this option compresses all instances of commands with SUSPEND and EXEC mean service times that do not meet the threshold.
    • For the NON-API Service Time subreport, this option compresses all resources, modules, and CSECTs with mean service times that do not meet the threshold.
    • For the API Service Time Detail subreport, this option suppresses all resources, modules, and CSECTs with mean service times that do not meet the threshold. If all instances of a resource do not meet the threshold, the resource is suppressed. If none of the resources meets the specified threshold, the entire report is suppressed.

Press Enter to produce the Performance Profile.

Suppressing the Strobe for CICS Transaction Profile Reports

To produce a Performance Profile that does not contain the CICS Transaction Profile or the CICS Region-Level reports, specify a Y in the Suppress column to the right of the CICS TRANSACTION PROFILE field or the CICS REGION LEVEL field on the Strobe - Tailor Reports Panel (Scrollable) - Tailor Reports panel.

 

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