Using the Attribute Editor

The Attribute Editor provides features that support various activities. Some of these activities use other features in addition to the Attribute Editor. Information about performing simple Attribute Editor-only functions, such as defining intervals for history logs and screen refreshes, is provided here. Detailed information about alarm-related functions is provided in Chapter 12, Managing Alarms.

To Open the Attribute Editor for a Specific Data Property

You can open the Attribute Editor for a specific data property value. For some data properties, you can also access the Attribute Editor for a column of values. For more information, see To Open the Attribute Editor for a Data Property Column.

1. Navigate through the topology or hierarchy view until you have accessed a data property table.

2. Place your cursor in the value section of the table and use either of the following methods:

   • Press mouse button 1 and choose Attribute Editor from the pop-up menu.

   • Click the Attributes icon.

   The Attribute Editor window shows specific information about the selected data property. The displayed tabs depend on the specific data property that you selected.

   For information about defining alarm thresholds for the selected data property, see Managing and Controlling Alarms and Alarm Management Examples.

To Open the Attribute Editor for a Data Property Column

Choosing a data property column, rather than a specific data property value, enables you to define attributes for all values in that column. For example, consider the CPU Utilization Table. If you open the Attribute Editor for the column % CPU User Time, you could define alarm thresholds and actions for all CPUs. If you open the Attribute Editor for a specific % CPU User Time value, such as the value that applies to CPU 1, any alarm threshold or action that you defined would apply only to that specific CPU.

1. Navigate through the topology or hierarchy view until you have accessed a data property table.

2. Click the column heading for the column in which you are interested.

3. To access the Attribute Editor, use one of the following mechanisms:

   • Press mouse button 1 and choose Attribute Editor from the pop-up menu.

   • Click the Attributes icon.

   The Attribute Editor window shows specific information about the selected data column. For information about defining alarm thresholds for the selected data column, see Managing and Controlling Alarms and Alarm Management Examples.

To Set a Refresh Interval

The refresh interval indicates, in seconds, how frequently an agent acquires data. The following example illustrates how to set a refresh interval for a property in the System Load Statistics module.

1. Click the Module Browser tab in the Details window.

2. Click the expansion icon next to the Operating System icon in the hierarchy tree view.

   The Operating System modules are displayed.

3. Click the expansion icon next to the Kernel Reader icon.

   The Kernel Reader properties are displayed.

4. Double-click the System Load Statistics icon.

   The System Load Statistics properties table is displayed.

5. Select the table cell for Load Averages Over the Last 5 Minutes.

6. Click the Attributes button.

   The Attribute Editor window is displayed.

7. Click the Refresh tab button.

   The refresh panel is displayed.

8. Type a value in seconds in the Refresh Interval field or click the Advanced button.

   For example, 300 seconds equates to five minutes.

9. To apply the refresh interval and close the Attribute Editor window, click the OK button.

   Data for System Load Statistics are acquired every five minutes.

   ---

   Note –

   The agent uses less CPU cycles if you provide a larger refresh interval.

   ---

To Set a History Interval

1. Open the Attribute Editor for the data property on which you want to set the history information.

   For example, follow these steps to access the Attribute Editor for Load Averages Over the Last 5 Minutes:

   1. Click the Module Browser tab in the Details window.

   2. Click the expansion icon next to the Operating System icon in the hierarchy tree view.

   3. Click the expansion icon next to the Kernel Reader icon.

   4. Double-click the System Load Statistics icon.

   5. Select the table cell for Load Averages Over the Last 5 Minutes.

   6. Click the Attributes button.

2. Click the History tab.

   The history panel is displayed.

3. Type a value in seconds in the Sample Interval field or click the Advanced button.

   For example, to collect a history data point every two minutes, type 120 in the Sample Interval field.

4. Select Save History as Disk File or Save History in Memory Cache.

5. To save history as a disk file:

   1. Determine the file type, either circular or text.

      • A circular file has a predefined length of 1000 lines. If the amount of data that is written to the file exceeds that length, then the file rewrites from the beginning.

      • A flat text file has no predefined length. Information is appended to the flat file until you stop the process or until the disk space is exceeded. Use this feature if you need to keep history files for data warehousing purposes.

   2. For a text file, type the file name in the Text File Name field.

      If you do not choose a file name for your text file, data are saved automatically in the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/log/agent_default.history file.

      The file name cannot contain special characters, such as / or #.

6. To save history in a memory cache, type the number of history data points in the Max Size (sample) field.

   For example, if you set this field to 1000, only the most recent 1000 data points are stored in the memory cache. Any older data points are discarded. These data points can be graphed. See To Create a Graph of a Monitored Data Property for more information.

7. To apply your history file changes and close the History panel, click the OK button.