Eclipse Test and Performance Tools Platform, part 2nd: monitoring applications

Before you start

About this series

Writing code for an application is just the first phase of a lengthy process required to deliver a robust product quality program. The code must be tested to verify its operation and accuracy. It is also often necessary to analyze the code to eliminate performance bottlenecks and resource waste (especially memory). Code must also be monitored to locate faults, identify usage patterns, look for opportunities for further enhancements and optimizations, and detect intrusion attempts and actual intrusions.

The Eclipse test and performance Tools Platform (TPTP) is a software architecture and several components that extend the Eclipse platform (so far), including testing, performance, and monitoring tools. This "Eclipse Test and Performance Tools Platform" series explains TPTP features. Part 1th shows how to parse a Java™ application. Part 2nd shows how to capture arbitrary log files and convert them to the widely supported Common Base Events (CBE) format. Part 3rd explains how to manage application testing.

About this tutorial

This tutorial explains how to use the Eclipse TPTP feature to convert a typical application log file to the CBE format. With a few specifications and some coding to create a series of rules, you can convert any log file into a unified, structured format. You can then quickly assemble, process, and analyze usage patterns, performance, and errors using Eclipse TPTP and other specialized tools.

Goal

In this tutorial, you will learn how to write an adapter (adapter) that converts a typical linux® software service log file into CBE data. The transformation is gradually created and debugged using the Eclipse TPTP Adapter Configuration Editor, and then the data is entered, converted, and exported with Generic Log Adapter (GLA).

Prerequisite conditions

You should have software development experience and understand the entire software development lifecycle, including testing and analysis. You should also be familiar with installing software from the command line, and setting up and managing shell and system environment variables, such as the Shell's PATH and Java CLASSPATH. In addition, it is important to have the experience of reading and writing regular expressions. It is also helpful to understand the Eclipse and Eclipse user Interface (UI) paradigm.

System Requirements

You can run Eclipse on any system that has a JVM, such as Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows. If the JVM and Eclipse are not installed on the system, then all software requires at least MB of free disk space. You also need to have enough free physical memory to run the JVM. In general, it is recommended that you use MB or more of free physical memory.

Several packages must be installed on the UNIX®, linux®, Mac OS X, or microsoft®windows® systems. Requires a Java Virtual machine (Java MACHINE,JVM), a copy of the Eclipse SDK, a copy of the Eclipse TPTP runtime, and several software that Eclipse TPTP relies on. You also need the Eclipse TPTP GLA to convert the log files in a stand-alone application or in your own application. Here are all the software you need:

Download Java technology from Sun Microsystems or IBM

Eclipse V3.1 Software Development Kit (SDK)

Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) SDK V2.1

XML Schema infoset Model (XSD) SDK V2.1

Version 1.1.1 of Eclipse Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2

Eclipse TPTP Run time

GLA Run time

Conversion and analysis of log files

In order to support future monitoring processes, complex applications, especially those requiring continuous running, typically design output log files during development, and log files are records of application activity. Some activities are detailed internal diagnostic information that is important for isolating bugs or analyzing interactions with other systems and software components. Some of the activities recorded in the log may have been initiated by the application itself-for example, by reading the configuration file or by opening the port on which to listen. Other activities may be generated by requests to the service.