Monitoring Database Tables with the Alert Monitor 

Purpose

You can investigate any database tables for any entries in the alert monitor. When doing so, you can specify comparison operations for a table column, which must be fulfilled to report an alert. If the monitoring architecture detects a match, you can choose whether the alert should have an alert with the color red, or a node with the color green.

This data supplier extends the monitoring architecture in an important area, since vital information is often stored in database tables, but there is not a clear display of this information.

Process Flow

To start the monitoring of the database tables, you must adjust the parameters of the relevant data collection methods. There are two methods with identical transfer parameters, but which display monitoring tree elements (MTEs) of different colors if the search conditions are fulfilled:

Method	Color of the MTE
CCMS_GEN_TAB_G	green
CCMS_GEN_TAB_R	red

You can use these two definitions as templates for your methods. Use CCMS_GEN_TAB_R if you want to monitor the database tables using alert tracing and observation; otherwise, use CCMS_GEN_TAB_G.

Adjusting the Parameters

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       1.      Choose CCMS ® Konfiguration ® Alert-Monitor, or call transaction RZ21.

       2.      The Monitoring: Properties and Methods screen appears. Select the Method Definitions radio button and choose Display Overview.

       3.      We recommend that you leave the delivered methods CCMS_GEN_TAB_G and CCMS_GEN_TAB_R unchanged. You should therefore copy a method to a new method by selecting the desired original method and choosing Copy (). Copy the original method for each table that you want to monitor.

       4.      The Monitoring: Methods screen appears. Start change mode by choosing the Display « Change () button. Enter a suitable description for the method.

       5.      When you copy the method definition, the authorizations for the method are reset. Choose the Release tab page and in the Execute Method as group box, select Data Collection Method.

       6.      Choose the Parameters tab page. Use the transfer parameters displayed here to determine which table the method searches for and where (see also the example below):

Parameter Name	Description
TARGET_TABLE	Name of the table that is to be monitored; also the name for the monitoring object
FIELDNAME	Name of the table column that contains a description; the content of this column can be displayed in the alert monitor
FIELDVALUE	Name of the table column that is to be monitored
MAXROW	Maximum number of rows that are to be reported per run of the data supplier
WHERECLAUSE1	Condition that must be fulfilled for a table entry to be reported to the monitoring architecture; since a logical expression of this type can quickly exceed the maximum length of a parameter (40 characters), there are three parameters available to you that can be combined into one condition The condition is a logical expression in ABAP syntax – therefore note the following: ·        The condition itself must not contain any keywords (such as  WHERE, IF…). ·        If you are checking for a character-type in the logical expression, place this value in single quotation marks (such as C='ERROR').
WHERECLAUSE2
WHERECLAUSE3
TOP_FULL_NAME	Monitoring segment in which the monitoring object is to be created; if you do not set this parameter, the object is only created in the Table Content Monitoring monitor
RESCANFROMBEGIN	Name of the column with a time stamp or other constantly growing content (such as a row number); if this value is set, only those rows whose entry in this column is greater than the last checked entry (so for a column with a time stamp, only the entries that did not yet exist at the last run are checked)
T100_MESS	Message class and number that are displayed for an alert; you can transfer the value of the columns <FIELDNAME> and <FIELDVALUE> into the message using transfer variable &1 and &2

7.       Choose the Control tab page. In the Execute Method group box, select either Periodically in background process (as job)or Periodically in dialog process (short-running program). In the latter case, the method is started significantly more often (every five minutes as opposed to every 60 minutes).

8.       In the Startup Method group box, select the Execute Method Immediately After Start of a Monitoring Segment indicator. If you have scheduled the method in the dialog process, you should select Only on the central instance as the execution location to limit the workload due to the method execution.

9.       Save your changes.

10.   Since the indicator Execute Method Immediately After Start of a Monitoring Segment is now selected on the Control tab page, the method is started for the first time and the nodes created by a restart of the segment. To restart the monitoring segment, select the Segment Overview radio button on the initial screen of transaction RZ21, Monitoring: Properties and Methods and choose the Display Overview button.

11.   The system displays the Monitoring: Display Technical Topology screen of the Topology Browser. Start change mode by choosing the Display « Change () button. Select the segment of the central instance (since the startup method is only executed there in accordance with the method definition), and choose Reset Segment to WARMUP Status.

Result

After you have set up table monitoring by adjusting the method definition and starting the method, you can use the subtrees in the relevant monitors (by default, in the Table Content Monitoring monitor of the SAP CCMS Monitors for Optional Components) monitor set. The Database Monitoring subtree for monitoring database tables has the following structure (see also the example below):

Example

In systems with the Oracle database, there is a table SDBAH, in which data backups are logged. The table contains the following columns, which are relevant for the monitoring:

Column	Description
OBJ	Object of the database operation
RC	Return code of the action; if RC > 1, the backup was terminated
ENDE	End of the database operation (time stamp)

All new terminations are to be reported.

You must therefore assign the following values to the parameters in the method definition:

Parameter	Value
TARGET_TABLE	SDBAH
FIELDNAME	OBJ
FIELDVALUE	RC
MAXROW	Any
WHERECLAUSE1	RC > '1'
WHERECLAUSE2
WHERECLAUSE3
TOP_FULL_NAME
RESCANFROMBEGIN	ENDE
T100_MESS	Any