path: root/man/man1/pmview.1

.TH PMVIEW 1 "" "Performance Co-Pilot"
.SH NAME
\f3pmview\f1 \- performance metrics 3D visualization back-end
.SH SYNOPSIS
\f3pmview\f1
[\f3\-Cz\f1]
[\f3\-A\f1 \f2align\f1]
[\f3\-a\f1 \f2archive\f1[\f3,\f2archive\f3,\f1...]]
[\f3\-c\f1 \f2configfile\f1]
[\f3\-h\f1 \f2host\f1]
[\f3\-n\f1 \f2pmnsfile\f1]
[\f3\-O\f1 \f2origin\f1]
[\f3\-p\f1 \f2port\f1]
[\f3\-R\f1 \f2logconfig\f1]
[\f3\-r\f1 \f2addconfig\f1]
[\f3\-S\f1 \f2starttime\f1]
[\f3\-t\f1 \f2interval\f1]
[\f3\-T\f1 \f2endtime\f1]
[\f3\-x\f1 \f2version\f1]
[\f3\-Z\f1 \f2timezone\f1]
[\f3\-geometry\f1 \f2geometry\f1]
[\f3\-display\f1 \f2display\f1]
[\f3\-name\f1 \f2name\f1]
[\f3\-title\f1 \f2title\f1]
[\f3\-xrm "\f1\f2resourceName\f1\f3:\f2 value\f3"\f1 ...]
[\f2other X11-args\f1]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B pmview 
is a
generalized 3D performance metrics visualization tool for the
Performance Co-Pilot
.RB ( PCP (1)).
.PP
.B pmview
is the base utility behind performance metrics visualization tools such as
.BR dkvis (1),
.BR mpvis (1),
.BR osvis (1)
and
.BR nfsvis (1),
It is also used by a range of related tools that are specific to optional
Performance Domain Agents
(PMDA)
and/or PCP add-on products.
.B pmview
may also be used to construct customized 3D performance displays.
.PP
.B pmview
displays performance metrics as colored blocks and cylinders arranged
on monochrome base planes. Each object may represent a single performance
metric, or a stack of several performance metrics.  Since the objects
are modulated by the value of the metric they represent, only
numerical metrics may be visualized.  Objects representing a single
metric may be modulated in terms of height, color, or height and
color.  Objects in a stack may only be height modulated, but the stack
can be normalized to the maximum height.  Labels may be added to the
scene to help identify groups of metrics.
.PP
A configuration file (as specified by the
.B \-c
option, or read from standard input) is used to specify the position,
color, maximum value and labels of metrics and metric instances in the
scene.  The maximum value acts as a normalization factor and is used
to scale the object height and/or color in proportion to the metric
values.  Metric values which exceed the associated maximum value are
displayed as solid white objects.  If a metric is unavailable, the
object will have minimum height and will be colored grey.
.PP
Normally, the tool operates in ``live'' mode where performance metrics
are fetched in real-time.  The user can view metrics from any host
running
.BR pmcd (1).
.B pmview
can also replay archives of performance metrics (see
.BR pmlogger (1))
and allow the user to interactively control the current replay time and rate
using the VCR paradigm.  This is particularly useful for retrospective
comparisons and for post-mortem analysis of performance problems where a remote
system is not accessible or a performance analyst is not available on-site.
.PP
All metrics in the Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS) with numeric value
semantics from any number of hosts or archives may be visualized.
.B pmview
examines the semantics of the metrics and where sensible, converts metric 
values to a rate before scaling.
.SH COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
The 
.BR -S ,
.BR -T ,
.B -O
and
.B -A
options may be used to define a time window to restrict the samples retrieved,
set an initial origin within the time window, or specify a ``natural''
alignment of the sample times; refer to 
.BR PCPIntro(1) 
for a complete description of these options.
.PP
The other available options are:
.TP
\f3-a\f1 \f2archive\f1[\f3,\f2archive\f3,\f1...]]
Specify an 
.I archive
from which metrics can be obtained for a particular host.  
.I archive
is the basename of an archive, previously created by
.BR pmlogger (1).
Multiple archives (separated by commas or in different \f3\-a\f1 options)
from different hosts may be given, but an error will occur if there is more
than one archive from the same host. Any metrics that are not associated with a
specific host or archive in the configuration file will use the first archive
as their source.
.TP
.B \-C
Parse the configuration file and exit before displaying the
.B pmview
window.  Any errors in the configuration file are displayed.
.TP
\f3\-c\f1 \f2configfile\f1
Load the configuration from
.I configfile
rather than standard input.
.TP
\f3\-h\f1 \f2host\f1
Fetch performance metrics from
.BR pmcd (1)
on
.IR host ,
rather than the default localhost.  Implies that 
.B pmview
will run in live mode, so no archives can be specified on the command line or 
in the configuration file.  Only one 
.B \-h
option may be given.
.TP
\f3\-n\f1 \f2pmnsfile\f1
Normally
.B pmview
operates on the distributed Performance Metrics Name Space (PMNS), however if
the
.B \-n
option is specified an alternative local PMNS is loaded from the file
.IR pmnsfile .
.TP
\f3\-p\f1 \f2port\f1
Connect to the time controls (see
.BR pmtime (1))
on this
.BR port .
Used when a tool launches another tool so that they can connect to the
same time controls.
.TP
\f3\-R\f1 \f2logconfig\f1
Use 
.I logconfig
as the
.BR pmlogger (1)
config when recording.
.TP
\f3\-r\f1 \f2addconfig\f1
Append 
.I addconfig
onto the
.BR pmlogger (1)
config generated by
.B pmview
when recording.
.TP
\f3\-t\f1 \f2interval\f1
The update
.I interval
used to fetch metrics from the live or archive sources.
The
.I interval
argument follows the syntax described in
.BR PCPIntro (1),
and in the simplest form may be an unsigned integer (the implied
units in this case are seconds).
The default is 2.0 seconds.
.TP
\f3\-x\f1 \f2version\f1
Use the specified
.I version
of the
.BR pmlaunch (5)
specification.  The versions currently supported are ``1.0'' and the default
version ``2.0''.
.TP
\f3\-Z\f1 \f2timezone\f1
By default,
.B pmview
reports the time of day according to the local timezone on the system where
.B pmview
is run.  The
.B \-Z
option changes the default timezone to 
.I timezone
which should be in the format of the environment variable
.B TZ
as described in 
.BR environ (5).
.TP
\f3\-z\f1
Change the reporting timezone to the local timezone at the host that is the
source of the performance metrics, as identified via either the
.B \-h
option, or the first
.B \-a
option.
.PP
\f3\-geometry\f1 \f2geometry\f1
.br
\f3\-display\f1 \f2display\f1
.br
\f3\-name\f1 \f2name\f1
.br
\f3\-title\f1 \f2title\f1
.br
\f3\-xrm\f1 \f3"\f2resourceName: value\f3"\f1
.IP
Most standard 
.BR X (1) 
command line arguments may be used.
.SH WINDOW
The
.B pmview 
window is comprised of a menu bar, time and scale controls, metric and time
values, and an ``examiner'' viewer (see
.BR ivview (1)),
which displays the 3D scene.
.SH EXAMINER VIEWER
The left, right and bottom edges of the examiner viewer contain a variety of
thumb wheels and buttons that can be used to adjust the visualization of the
3D scene.  The 
.I Rotx
and
.I Roty
thumb wheels allow the user to rotate the scene about the x and y axes, 
respectively.  The
.I dolly
thumb wheel moves the virtual camera closer and further from the scene allowing
the user to examine specific parts in detail or view the entire scene.  On the 
right edge of the viewer are eight buttons which affect the way the user can 
interact with the scene.
.TP 4n
.I Pointer
Changes the cursor to a pointer which allows blocks to be selected in the
scene.  See the Metric Selection section below.
.TP 4n
.I Hand
Changes the cursor to a hand which allows the scene to be rotated, translated
and dollied using a combination of mouse buttons.  The left mouse button can
be used to rotate the scene in the direction of the mouse.  Releasing the
left mouse button before the mouse has stopped moving will cause the scene to
continue to rotate, which can be stopped by pressing the left mouse button
again.  The middle mouse button will ``pan'' the scene, and both mouse buttons
act as a dolly for the virtual camera.
.TP 4n
.I Question Mark
Displays the SGI Help information for the examiner viewer.
.TP 4n
.I Home
Changes the scene back to its original position, unless the home position has
been changed by the home pointer button.
.TP 4n
.I Home Pointer
Changes the home position of the scene to be the scene currently in view.
.TP 4n
.I Eye
Resizes the scene so that it completely fits into the 3D viewing area.
.TP 4n
.I Cross-hairs
Moves the object under the cursor to the center of the viewing area, if the
hand cursor has been selected.  Pressing the ``s'' key while the cursor is
over an object has the same effect.
.TP 4n
.I Perspective Box
Switches the display between perspective and orthogonal projections.
.PP
Pressing the right mouse button within the scene window will bring up a menu 
of options which affect how the 3D scene is drawn.  The options include
drawing the blocks as wire frames, and turning on stereo viewing.
.SH METRIC SELECTION
When the pointer cursor is active, more information about the 3D scene can 
be obtained.  Text describing the metric represented by the block under the 
cursor will be displayed in the top text box of the
.B pmview
window.  The text contains the source and name of the metric, current value and
units, and the percentage of the expected maximum (or normalization) value.
The text box is updated whenever the scene is updated with the
latest metric values or when the cursor is moved over another block in the
scene.  Moving the cursor over a base plane block, text or the surrounding
space will clear the text box.
.PP
Clicking the left mouse button on a block will bind the text box on that metric
instance so that the metric can be monitored while performing other actions
with the mouse.  The block will be highlighted with a red wire frame.
Clicking the left mouse button on text or the space surrounding the scene
will unselect the object, causing the text box to revert to the original
behavior of showing the metric underneath the cursor.
.PP
Selecting a base plane instead of a modulated block will cause all the blocks
on that base plane to be selected.  When more than one object is selected, the
text box behaves as if nothing is selected, so the metric displayed is the
metric currently under the cursor.  Multiple selections are also possible by
pressing the SHIFT key while selecting an object with the left mouse button.
.SH MENUS
There are four menus in
.BR pmview 's
user interface which allow scenes to be recorded, saved and printed
.RB ( File ),
access to the time controls
.RB ( Options ),
launching other tools
.RB ( Launch )
and
online help
.RB ( Help ).
.TP 4n
.B "File/Record"
When in ``live'' mode, this option will launch 
.BR pmlogger (1)
processes to record the current scene into an archive folio (see 
.BR pmafm(1))
so that it may be
replayed at a later time.  This option is not available in ``replay'' mode.

When
.B "File/Record"
is selected, a file chooser dialog will prompt for the name of the new archive
folio.  If the directory to the folio does not exist, 
.B pmview
will attempt to create it.  It is usually convenient to keep each folio within
its own directory as there will be several other files associated with the
folio, including the generated archives.

Once a valid folio has been created,
.B pmview
will launch a
.BR pmlogger (1)
process for each host to collect the metrics required from that host in the
current scene.  The current selections do not affect the set of metrics that
are recorded.  

While recording is in progress, a red dot will appear in the time controls 
button in the top left-hand corner of the
.B pmview
window.  The 
.B "File/Record"
option will also change to
.BR "File/Stop Recording"
as only one recording session is possible at any one time.  Selecting blocks or
launching other tools will have no affect on the recording session.

The record session may be terminated by selecting 
.BR "File/Stop Recording" .
This will display dialogs for each
.BR pmlogger (1)
instance describing the size and location of the archive files before
terminating each process.  When all
.BR pmlogger (1)
processes have been terminated, the red dot is removed from the time controls
button, and the menu reverts back to
.B "File/Record"
to allow another recording session to take place.

If the application exists while recording, a dialog will appear allowing you to
terminate each
.BR pmlogger (1)
process, or leave it running unattached.

An archive folio may be replayed using the command:
.RB `` pmafm
.I folio
.BR replay ''.
See 
.BR pmafm (1)
for more details.

It is not uncommon for a front-end script which generates a
.B pmview
scene to use metrics that are not contained in the scene.  For example,
.BR osvis (1)
uses several
.I hinv
metrics to determine the size and layout of some objects.  As these metrics are
also needed when replaying the generated archive with the front-end script, 
a complete 
.BR pmlogger (1)
config can be specified 
.RB ( \-R )
that overrides the
.B pmview
generated config, or an additional config can be appended
.RB ( \-r )
to the
.B pmview
generated config.
.TP 4n
.B "File/Save"
Saves the current scene to a human-readable Open Inventor file (see 
.BR inventor (1)).
A file dialog will prompt for the location of the file.  The default file
extension is ``.iv'' which is recognized by
.BR ivview (1)
and some Web browsers.
.TP 4n
.B "File/Print"
Outputs the current scene to a printer.  A print dialog will be displayed
allowing a specific printer to be selected.
.TP 4n
.B "File/Quit"
.B pmview
immediately exits.  If recording was active, dialogs will be displayed for
each
.BR pmlogger (1)
process so that they may be terminated.
.TP 4n
.B "Options/Show Time Control"
Displays the time controls (see
.BR pmtime (1))
that are driving this instance of
.BR pmview .
The time controls may be shared by other tools, including
.BR pmchart (1), 
that have been launched by other instances of
.B pmview
and
.BR oview (1).
Therefore, this menu item may appear to have no affect if the time controls 
are already visible.
.TP 4n
.B "Options/New Time Control"
Disconnect with the current time controls (which may be shared by other tools,
see
.BR pmtime (1))
and use a new time control that is not connected to any other tools.  The new
time control will be immediately displayed.
.TP 4n
.B "Launch"
The launch menu is generated from a menu specification file (see 
.BR pmlaunch (5)).
The menu contains tools that may be launched based on the sources and names of
the selected metrics in the scene.  For example, if the selected metrics are 
from three different hosts, then three copies of a tool may be launched, 
one for each host.  The behavior of a launch depends on the selected metrics
and the tools being launched.

On selection of a
.B Launch
menu item
.BR pmview
generates state information in the 
.BR pmlaunch (5)
metrics specification format.  This provides a description of the selected
metrics (or if there are no selections, all the metrics) in the scene without 
any geometry information.

Tools which can monitor multiple hosts and user specified metrics may be
launched only once for those metrics (eg 
.BR pmdumptext (1)).
Other tools which have a fixed view for one host (eg
.BR mpvis (1)),
may be
launched multiple times, once for each host in the selected metric list.  If 
the launched tools have time controls, they will share the
time controls with the launching
.BR pmview .

The set of launched tools is configurable, and may include IRIX and user
applications.  See 
.BR pmlaunch (5)
for more details.
.TP 4n
.B "Help/..."
If 
.I pcp.books.help
has been installed, then the 
.BR insight (1)
books for
.B pmview
are displayed.
.SH TIME CONTROLS
In addition to the menu options for time controls, the current direction of the
time controls (see
.BR pmtime (1))
is shown in a button in the top-left corner of the 
.B pmview
window.  Pressing this button will display the time control and is identical 
in behavior to
.BR "Options/Show Time Control" .
.SH SCALE CONTROLS
Above the examiner window is a thumb wheel and an editable text box which 
allow the user to apply a multiplier to all values represented in the scene.  
Spinning the wheel to the right and/or increasing the text value for the scale
will increase the height of the bars.  Spinning the wheel to the left and/or
lowering the text value will decrease the height of the bars.  The button to 
the right of the thumb wheel will reset the scale so that the bars appear at
the original height for their current value.
.SH TIME INFORMATION
Beside the scale controls is another text box which displays the time of the
fetched metrics.  The time will change with the time controller (see
.BR pmtime (1)).
.SH ENVIRONMENT
The default face of the 3D font in the 
.B pmview 
window can be altered via 
.I PMVIEW_FONT
environment variable which can be set to the base name of a Type1 font 
file in the default Inventor fonts directory.
.SH FILES
.TP 10
.B "$PCP_VAR_DIR/pmns/*"
default PMNS specification files
.TP
.B "$PCP_VAR_DIR/config/pmlaunch/pmlaunchrc"
menu specification file - provides a mapping between menu item and
launched program
.TP
.B "$HOME/.pcp/pmlaunch/pmlaunchrc"
individual users menu specification
.TP
.B "/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/PmView"
application resources
.TP
.B "/usr/lib/images/PmView.icon"
icon for
.BR pmview
.TP
.B "$PCP_SHARE_DIR/lib/pmview-args"
shell procedures for parsing
.B pmview
command line options in front end scripts
.TP
.B "/usr/lib/DPS/outline/base/"
directory where Inventor normally looks for the outlines of Type1 fonts.
.SH "PCP ENVIRONMENT"
Environment variables with the prefix
.B PCP_
are used to parameterize the file and directory names
used by PCP.
On each installation, the file
.I /etc/pcp.conf
contains the local values for these variables.
The
.B $PCP_CONF
variable may be used to specify an alternative
configuration file,
as described in
.BR pcp.conf (4).
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR dkvis (1),
.BR insight (1),
.BR inventor (1),
.BR ivview (1),
.BR mpvis (1),
.BR nfsvis (1),
.BR osvis (1),
.BR oview (1),
.BR pcp (1),
.BR PCPIntro (1),
.BR pmafm (1),
.BR pmcd (1),
.BR pmchart (1),
.BR pmdumptext (1),
.BR pmlogger (1),
.BR pmtime (1),
.BR pmview (1),
.BR X (1),
.BR xconfirm (1),
.BR xlv_vis (1),
.BR pcp.conf (4),
.BR pmview (4),
.BR environ (5)
and
.BR pmlaunch (5).
.P
Relevant information is also available from the on-line PCP
Tutorial.  Provided the
.B pcp.man.tutorial
subsystem from the PCP images has been installed, access the
URL 
.B file:$PCP_DOC_DIR/Tutorial/pmview.html 
from your web browser.

.SH DIAGNOSTICS
Are intended to be self-explanatory.  The environment variable 
.B PCP_STDERR
can be set to force most startup warnings and errors to be sent to the
standard error stream rather than posted in a dialog.