Predefined UALs

The configuration of User Action Libraries (UALs) is displayed under the UALs node in the Workspace Tree of the RootCause GUI. The first of these is the Trace UAL, which is a central feature of RootCause. This is configured using the Trace Setup dialog opened with the Setup button.

The remaining items in the UALs list are "Predefined UALs", or "Predefined Probes", shipped with the product. You can add your own using the "Add UAL" option in the Setup menu. Because there are so many things RootCause UALs can do, we add new ones nearly every release. As such they are not documented in the printed user's guide but only in on-line form.

Some predefined UALs have configuration dialogs associated with them. Open these by double-clicking on the name of the probe, or by using "Edit UAL" in the popup menu. Those that do not provide their own dialogs will display a default Edit UAL dialog which enables you to change some basic attributes of the UAL's integration.

Each UAL can be selected by checking the box to the left of the UAL name, and disabled by clearing the checkbox.

application.trace

Use the Trace predefined UAL to trace your application. The functions and methods traced are selected using the Trace Setup dialog opened by double-clicking on this probe or using the Setup button. Yu must select this probe for the performance probes (perf_cpu and perf_rusage) to work, and to enable Load Shedding.

log_env

Use the log_env predefined UAL to collect information about the environment in which the program is running. This information includes environment variables, the current user and machine, and other information. This information will appear in the Program Information Pane of the Trace Display window.

sigsegv (Unix only)

The sigsegv predefined UAL, enabled by default, logs a traceback when one of several program-termination signals occurs: SIGQUIT, SIGILL, SIGABRT, SIGBUS, SIGSEGV, or SIGTERM. The traceback will appear int he Event Details Pane of the Trace Display window.

verify

Enable the verify predefined UAL to verify the traced modules are the same between run-time and format-time. This introduces some startup overhead, but is recommended when deploying a workspace for use in a different environment. See Deploying A RootCause Workspace in the User's Guide for more information.

exceptions

Enable the exceptions predefined UAL to trace C++ (and Ada) exceptions that occur in the program. These will show up as exception events in the Trace Index Dialog, and a full traceback will appear in the Event Details Pane of the Trace Display window.

java_exceptions

Enable the java_exceptions predefined UAL to trace Java exceptions that occur in the program. These will show up as exception events in the Trace Index Dialog, and a full traceback will appear in the Event Details Pane of the Trace Display window. In addition, some Java run-time exceptions will cause a snapshot to be taken as well. The actions associated with specific Java exceptions may be specified using the Java Exceptions Configuration Dialog.

java_memstat

The java_memstat probe collects data about Java object and memory usage, and performs analyses on this data. It includes an extensive configuration available by double-clicking on the probe name. See Memory Usage Probes for a full description.

memstat

The memstat probe collects data about Java object and memory usage, and performs analyses on this data. It includes an extensive configuration available by double-clicking on the probe name. See Memory Usage Probes for a full description.

perf_cpu

Use the perf_cpu UAL in combination with the trace UAL collect elapsed CPU time for each traced function and method. The CPU data is displayed in the Event Summary at the end of the Event Tree in the Trace Display window. See Performance Probes for a full description.

perf_rusage (Unix only)

The perf_rusage probe collects a number of system statistics provided by the rusage() system call. The individual statistics samples are displayed in the Trace Display Event Tree, and the total usage of each resource by each unique function invocation is displayed in the Event Summary. See Performance Probes for a full description.