HP 3000 Manuals

HP LaserRX/MPE: A Journey of Discovery

Swooping Down for a Closer Look 

Now you can examine the graphs in more detail.  Close the current graph
window either by double clicking the upper left corner of the window or
by clicking the upper left corner once and then clicking Close.

   1.  Return to the Draw Graphs dialog box and select the following:

          a.  Graph=Global Bottlenecks.

              Global Bottlenecks should still be highlighted.

          b.  X-Axis=Month.

          c.  Points Every...=Day.

          d.  Shift=All Day.

          e.  Starting Day=1 March 1988.

   2.  Click  OK.

The easiest way to reposition the graph to a particular date is by using
the mouse (cursor) in conjunction with the scroll box in the horizontal
scroll bar.  Position the mouse over the scroll box and depress the
button.  A small window appears in the middle of the graph indicating the
graph's current starting date.  Holding the mouse button down, drag the
mouse (and scroll box) left or right until the date in the window changes
to the date you want.  The window will remain visible as long as you
depress the mouse button.  Release the button, and the graph will be
redrawn beginning from the date you selected.

Reposition the graph to 11 April.


          Scrolling to a Selected Starting Date (11 April) 


NOTE  If you move the mouse too far above or below the scroll box, the
      displayed date will change to the beginning date.  To return to the
      desired date, simply move the cursor back to the scroll bar without
      releasing the mouse button.


Let's reconsider our earlier observation of the memory manager curve, and
how the curve runs just above zero until about 21 April and then drops.
Admittedly, it is difficult to see a curve that is so close to the zero
baseline, but you can remedy this situation.

You can get a better view of curves that are close to zero or close to
each other using Log Scaling--logarithmic scaling of the Y-Axis.  To do
this:

   1.  Select the Options command from the Configure menu.

   2.  Select the Log Scaling option.

   3.  Click  OK.

The graph displayed on your screen did not change because the Log Scaling
option does not affect an existing graph.  It takes effect only when you
draw or redraw a graph.  To do this:

   1.  Select the Draw Graphs dialog box.

       The ensuing dialog box looks the same as it did before except that
       the starting date is now 11 April 1988.

   2.  Click  OK.

The redrawn graph still shows a month of data, but now the Y-Axis is
labeled in a logarithmic progression of 1, 10, and 100 instead of an
arithmetic (linear) progression of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100.


          Log Scaling Example 

The memory manager curve (green) appears much higher on this redrawn
graph.  Although the values have not changed, they appear different
because the scale on the Y-Axis has changed.  If you examine both graphs,
you will see that they show exactly the same data.  Regardless of the
scale, the Mem Mgr value for 11 April is 3.7 I/Os per second, Phys Disc
is 7.9 I/Os per second, and CPU Util is 61.7 percent.

Log scaling emphasizes differences among lower values on a graph's
Y-Axis, while diminishing the differences among higher values.

The overlapping (cascading) windows feature lets you examine both graphs
at the same time.  The log-scaled graph you just drew lies in the
forefront, with the first, arithmetic-scale graph behind it.  You can
move any graph to the forefront by clicking on it.  Also, you can
position them side-by-side or one above the other if you want to examine
both at once.

You can use this technique to put multiple windows on the screen at the
same time for comparison.  To do this:

   1.  Click the Up Arrow in the upper right corner of the window to
       maximize the size of the window.

       The graph will fill the HP LaserRX/MPE window, and its four
       borders will line up with the sides of the window.

   2.  Move the cursor to the top or bottom border of the window.

       The cursor will change to a two-headed arrow when it is positioned
       properly over the border.

   3.  Hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse to the center of the
       screen, pulling the border with it.  Exact positioning is not
       important.

   4.  Release the button, and the window will reposition at the top or
       bottom of the screen (depending on which border you moved in which
       direction).

Next, maximize the other window.  (If the upper right corner of the other
window is covered by another window, just click anywhere on the desired
window to bring it to the front.)  Once the second window is maximized,
press the mouse button and drag the opposite border from the first window
to the center.  The result will be two nicely positioned windows.  You
can fine-tune the fit of the windows if you want to, or you can let them
overlap or have a gap between them.


          Positioning Two Windows 

You can also use this technique to put windows side by side.  Simply drag
the left and right borders instead of the top and bottom borders.  You
can reposition three or four windows by dragging appropriate borders (or
just the corners).


NOTE  You must reduce the size of graphs to be able to fit them in the
      same window.  Doing this will usually eliminate several of the
      Y-Axis metrics.  As a result, a scale that formerly contained the
      metrics 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 may be reduced to only 0, 50,
      and 100.  Do not confuse this reduced scale with a log scale that
      contains 1, 10, and 100.  The tick marks on an arithmetic (linear)
      scale will always be evenly spaced, while on a log scale, the
      distance between the tick marks will be logarithmic and become
      closer as the values increase.

MPE/iX 5.0 Documentation