Conference 44.370::system_management

    Hi Tony,
    
    I believe that PCA V2.0 is the current SDC version. However 2.1
    is available. The kits can be found on TLE::PCA$KIT complete with
    the documentation. The version on the FUTURS cluster is T0.5-1!
    
    Have fun,
    
    Pete' Platt.

    Please excuse my ignorance.........
    
    but what is PCA?
    
    Peter.
    

    PCA is the VAX Performance and Coverage Analyzer.
    
    What it allows you to do is to monitor how youre program executes,
    by producing histograms of such things as number of times each line
    or module has been executed. It also allows you to find out how
    many page faults occur and where in the code they occur.
    It does all this without you  having t change your code, you jut
    link in the pca obj (after compiling with debug).
    
    Very useful in trying to speed up your programs.
    
    
Tony
    

    BTW can someone install V".x on FUTURS please (Jerry?)
    
    Tony

    Thanks for the info Tony.
    
    It explains why I have never heard of it, or have the need to
    use it.
    
    I use PDP's primarily, and so have no need to optimise my programs,
    asthey run much faster than VAX programs do......  ;^)
    
    Peter.
    

    I wrote the following evaluation a good while ago, but it may still
    be of interest.
    
    Pete' Platt.     
    
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    Performance And Coverage Analyser Tool Evaluation.
   
    Overview.
    
    The VAX Performance and Coverage Analyser is a tool designed to help
    the software developer improve program efficiency by measuring the
    performance of that program, and by performing test coverage analysis
    on that program. 

    
    How it works.
    
    PCA is composed of the Collector and the Analyser; the Collector
    gathers information on the user program, and the Analyser then
    processes this data. 

    The Collector is an image which allows the developer to collect data
    from selected program,  and place that data in a file. The developer
    may enter various commands that specify what performance or coverage
    data he/she wants to gather.  A few of the Collector commands  that may
    be appropriate are SET PC_SAMPLES, SET PAGE_FAULTS, SET IO_SAMPLES, and
    SET COVERAGE. 

    The Analyser provides a variety of reporting capabilities in an
    interactive environment. A considerable number of tables and/or
    histograms may be produced, yielding data such as the percentage of
    execution time spent within each routine ( or specific routines ), the
    number of page faults generated by the 'program' and so on. 
    
    The Advantages.
    
    PCA could provide valuable information relating to the performance of
    an application. This information could then be used to 'tune' the
    application to eradicate performance problems. 
                                                       
    
    The Disadvantages.
    
    The 'tuning' of an application can be a relatively complicated
    operation requiring a knowledge of VMS beyond that required for day to
    day programming. This, when taken in conjunction with the somewhat
    awkward syntax used by PCA may produce a substantial 'familiarisation'
    overhead for developers new to the PCA. 
    
    Summary.
    
    PCA is potentially useful as a performance problem solver, but it is
    not easy to use and therefore may prove to be unpopular as a day to day
    tool. It could be very useful if used properly and it would be
    worthwhile 'publicising' the fact that it exists and is available for
    use if the need arises. 
    
    Finally it should be noted that this preliminary investigation was
    carried out using a field test release and without the aid of
    documentation. It will therefore be worth briefly reviewing PCA when we
    have the VMS V4.5 system which is required for the first release of
    PCA. 

>        Finally it should be noted that this preliminary investigation was
>    carried out using a field test release and without the aid of
>    documentation. It will therefore be worth briefly reviewing PCA when we
>    have the VMS V4.5 system which is required for the first release of
>    PCA. 
    
    
Thanks pete,
    I now have a copy of the PCA documentation V2.0, which states on
    the front page that VMS4.0 or higher, or MicroVMS V4.6 is required.
    So I think we should be able to install it on FUTURS.
    
    Tony

    Sorry for the delay in getting it installed - PCA V2.0 is now
    available on FUTURS cluster.