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Conference azur::mcc

Title:DECmcc user notes file. Does not replace IPMT.
Notice:Use IPMT for problems. Newsletter location in note 6187
Moderator:TAEC::BEROUD
Created:Mon Aug 21 1989
Last Modified:Wed Jun 04 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:6497
Total number of notes:27359

2273.0. "QUESTION - Alarm FM behaviour" by BIS1::COLLEYE () Wed Feb 05 1992 09:34

Hello,

I have two questions regarding the DECmcc alarm FM.
I would be very grateful if someone could provide me with an answer.

Thank you,

Maurice.


HW: VAX 6430
SW: VMS 5.5
    DECmcc V1.1

QUESTIONS
=========

1. I do not properly understand what is the purpose of an Alarm Notification
   procedure; more precisely, refering to the Alarm FM Use, p4-6, I do not
   precisely understand what is meant by "whenever an error condition occur
   during the processing of an alarm": what is the processing of the alarm ?
   Is it a) the evaluation of a rule (in this case what could go wrong) 
         b) the batch processing of the notification script command procedure

2. Trying to identify the possibility of the second alternative (b), I made
   the following experiment:
   - I copied in my directory MCC_COMMON:MCC_ALARMS_MAIL_ALARM.COM
   - I corrupted this command procedure to replace the mail recipient
     (PARAMETER) by a fictive non existant user name on the DCL mail
     command
   - I created/enabled an alarm rule, specifying 
       - the corrupted mail fired alarm command procedure
       - a valid user_name for mail notification (myself)
       - the delivered mail exception command procedure
   - I generated the corresponding condition which cause the alarm to be
     activated.
   - Nothing happend: - the iconic map did not indicate that an alarm occured
                      - no exception mail has been receipt
                      - no notification mail has been receipt (of course !)
                      - the alarm status indicates that the alarm rule
                        is still enabled and running
                      - the alarm counters indicates that the alarm rule
                        has been evaluated as true (no evaluation error)
                      - The alarm notification batch log files shows that
                        the mail could not be sent since there was no such
                        user, as expected.
   Question: why hasn't the iconic map reflect that an alarm occured ?
             I am a bit concerned by this since such a condition could
             happen in the reality: an alarm can occur and as a result
             should send a mail to a user of another node which is 
             (Murphy) not currently reachable... 
             Is this a supported feature/bug ? Is there a patch/work-around ?
     
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2273.1SUBWAY::REILLYMike Reilly - New York Bank DistrictWed Feb 05 1992 13:3624
> 1. I do not properly understand what is the purpose of an Alarm Notification
>    procedure; more precisely, refering to the Alarm FM Use, p4-6, I do not
>    precisely understand what is meant by "whenever an error condition occur
>    during the processing of an alarm": what is the processing of the alarm ?
>    Is it a) the evaluation of a rule (in this case what could go wrong) 
>         b) the batch processing of the notification script command procedure
    
    When evaluating a rule many things can go wrong:
    o	The entity could be de-registered.
    o	The entity does not respond so you cannot determine if the
    	conditions for firing the rule have been met.
    o	The entity returns an error message when you request parameters
    	needed to evaluate the rule.
    
    When one of the above continions exist it is impossible to tell if
    the conditions for firing the rule have been met, thus an exception
    procedure is executed rather than the normal alarm notification
    procedure.  
    
    I agree that the documentation should explain what the 'processing'
    of an alarm means.
    
    - Mike
                
2273.2More about question 2 in .0BIS1::COLLEYEWed Feb 05 1992 14:4335
    Mike,
    
    Thank you for your reply.
    
    About the second question I had, I think that I have been "victim" of
    my hardware/software environment:
    
    I work on a VAXstation 2000 - color monitor. 
    My station is used as an EWS (V1.1) terminal, connected to a host system 
    (TPLAB), a VAX 6430, running VAX VMS 5.5, DECwindow/Motif. 
    
    As a consequence, I already experienced some color issues.
    
    In the experiment I made in .0, the alarm severity was such that
    the fired entity (circuit BNA-0) should have been hilighted
    in yellow.
    
    In the meantime I redo the experiment, changing the alarm severity
    (corresponding now to red). This time, the iconic map displayed the
    fired entity.
    
    I redo again the experiment, resetting the initial alarm severity
    (corresponding to yellow). This time, the iconic map did not display the
    fired entity. However, I received a message window with the error
    "ILVTNF - specified tag not found within current constructor.".
    Having a lot of windows opened, I should have missed that message
    the first time I made the experiment.
    
    But... the next question is:
    shouldn't this message ("ILVTNF - specified tag not found within
    current constructor.") have been written in a file 
    MCC_COMMON:MCC_ALARMS_<today-date>_ERROR.LOG ?
    No such file is existing.
    
    Maurice.
2273.3Could be a resource problem?TOOK::MINTZErik Mintz, DECmcc DevelopmentWed Feb 05 1992 23:3011
>    "ILVTNF - specified tag not found within current constructor.".

This error is reported due to a parameter passing problem.
It may be coming from somewhere other than the alarms module, and
so is not written to the log file.

While on the surface this indicates a coding problem, it often
actually indicates a resource limitation.  Have you checked your
sysgen parameters and available pagefile space?


2273.4More info neededBIS1::COLLEYETue Feb 11 1992 14:1015
  > While on the surface this indicates a coding problem, it often
  > actually indicates a resource limitation.  Have you checked your
  > sysgen parameters and available pagefile space?

    Eric,
    
    Could you please indicate me which sysgen parameter I should check
    (and what should be their value) and what should be the available
    pagefile space.
    
    Thank you,
    
    Maurice.
    

2273.5TOOK::MINTZErik Mintz, DECmcc Development, dtn 226-5033Tue Feb 11 1992 15:286
The installation guide has a list of sysgen parameters, and pagefile
recommendations.  You could also contact Rob (TOOK::R_SPENCE) Spence
and ask about his audit command file.

-- Erik

2273.6Solved: modify PGFLQUOTABIS1::COLLEYEThu Feb 13 1992 06:5611
    Erik,
    
    Having changed my Page file quota (from 30,000 to 50,000), 
    the message "ILVTNF - specified tag not found within current
    constructor" does not appear anymore.
    
    Thank you.
    
    Maurice.
    
    PS: many thanks to Rob for his audit tool which works fine.