Working with Conditions

This section explains how you complete the following tasks in working with conditions:

Viewing Condition Alert Information, provides information on viewing alert counts and alerts that are generated when a condition is met.

Enabling and Disabling Fault Monitoring

When you create a transaction, a fault monitoring condition is automatically created on the transaction and is disabled.

To Check Fault Monitoring Status

  1. Select the transaction of interest.

  2. Click the Conditions tab. Fault Monitoring state is shown.

  3. You can click the Edit button to enable fault monitoring, or you can use the Modify menu as described next.

To Enable Fault Monitoring

  1. Select the transaction for which you want to enable fault monitoring.

  2. Select Modify > Enable/Disable Fault Monitoring for TransactionName. Business Transaction Management displays the Edit Fault Monitoring tool for the selected object.

  3. Use the Severity drop down list to select the severity level you want to associate with fault-generated alerts for this object. Business Transaction Management shows the fault monitoring is enabled for the service on the Conditions tab for the service, and also shows the severity status for fault monitoring.

  4. To disable, you can click the Edit button in the Conditions tab and deselect the enable check box in the resulting dialog. (You can also use the Enable/Disable Monitoring item from the Modify menu.

Defining a Condition

How you define a condition differs, depending on whether it's a content-based condition or a missing message condition. Both options are described below.

To Define a Content-Based Condition

  • Select the transaction for which you want to define a condition.

  • Select Create > Transaction Condition > Content Condition for TransactionName. Business Transaction Management displays the Create Condition tool dialog.

  • Specify the name of the condition in the Name text box.

  • Select a value for the severity you want to associate with this condition from the Severity drop-down list.

    Associating a severity level with a condition allows you to filter your views of alerts based on this attribute.

  • Use the Enabled check box to enable or disable the condition.

  • Optional: Use the Description text field to provide a description that helps you understand the nature or use of this condition without having to read through the boolean expression.

  • Use the buttons and the items in the Criteria area to create the boolean expression that will be used when the condition is evaluated. Three buttons are displayed from which you can select the elements that will compose your condition. (All clauses must belong to the same message (operation phase).

    The Property button is displayed only if you have defined properties for the selected object.) The table below describes the use of the buttons. Once you click a button to select an element, a row is added to the Criteria used to define the condition. For each row, select an operator, and a value to test.

    When you are done, click Apply.

    Buttons Description
    New Property If you need to define a property to base the condition on and you have not done so already, you can use the New Property button to create one.
    Property Select an existing property.
    Fault Select the operation whose status interests you, and specify whether you are looking for a particular code or any fault in the Criteria section.

To Define a Missing-Message Condition

To define a missing message condition, you must specify the message whose arrival time interests you and how much time must elapse before its absence raises an alert. The absent message can be a request, a response, or any fault.

  1. Select the transaction for which you want to define a condition.

  2. Select Create > Transaction Condition > Missing Message Condition for TransactionName. Business Transaction Management displays the Create condition tool dialog.

  3. Specify the name of the condition in the Name text box.

  4. Select a value for the severity you want to associate with this condition from the Severity drop-down list. Associating a severity level with a condition allows you to filter your views of alerts based on this attribute.

  5. Use the Enabled check box to enable or disable the condition.

  6. Optional: Use the Description text field to provide a description that helps you understand the nature or use of this condition without having to read through the boolean expression.

  7. Use the drop down lists in the Criteria area to create the boolean expression that Business Transaction Management will evaluate when the condition is evaluated. Three drop down lists are displayed from which you can select the elements that will compose your condition.

    Drop-down list Description
    Operation name Select an operation from the drop down list.
    Operation phase Select request, response, or fault from the drop down list
    Evaluation period Select the period of evaluation: either before the transaction's maximum duration has expired or Use timer.

    If you select Use timer, you must specify the time period in milliseconds.

    In either case, Business Transaction Management will start timing on a per instance basis when the transaction's start message arrives.


Enabling and Disabling Conditions

You can enable and disable conditions individually or multiple conditions at once.

To Enable or Disable an Individual Condition

  1. Select the transaction for which this condition is defined.

  2. Click the Conditions tab in the detail area.

  3. Click the Edit button for the condition you want to enable or disable.

  4. Select Modify from the drop down list.

  5. In the ensuing dialog click the Enabled/Disabled check box to change the status of the condition.

  6. Click Apply.

To Enable or Disable Selected Conditions

  1. Select the transaction whose conditions you want to enable or disable.

  2. Select Modify > Enable/Disable Conditions for TransactionName.

  3. In the ensuing dialog click the Enable All or Disable All buttons to change the status of the conditions or use the radio buttons to select the conditions of interest.

  4. Click Apply.

Viewing Condition Information

  1. Select the transaction of interest. from the Transactions view.

  2. Click the Conditions tab to see all defined conditions. An icon indicates the severity level of the condition: green for Information, yellow for Warning, red for Failure.

Modifying a Condition Definition

  1. Select the transaction of interest.

  2. Click the Conditions tab in the detail area.

  3. Select Edit from the Edit drop-down list for the condition.

  4. Use the Condition tool to modify the definition.

Duplicating a Condition Definition

  1. Select the transaction of interest.

  2. Click the Conditions tab.

  3. Select Duplicate from the Edit drop-down list for the condition.

  4. Modify the definition if needed.

  5. Click Apply.

Deleting a Condition

  1. Select the transaction of interest.

  2. Click the Conditions tab.

  3. From the drop-down Edit menu for the condition of interest, select Delete.