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Using the WebLogic Diagnostic Framework Console Extension

# Overview of the WLDF Console Extension

The WLDF Console Extension has two panels, the Tabs panel and the View panel, plus a toolbar and a status bar, as shown in Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1 WLDF Console Extension Panels

# View Panel Overview

A view is a collection of one or more charts, which display captured monitoring and diagnostic data, as shown in Figure 3-2. Views are displayed in the View panel, on the right side of the WLDF Console Extension page. The View panel displays a single, active view at a time.

Figure 3-2 Two Views

Each chart contains a legend, labels, and controls for identifying and displaying the data. A chart can display data from one or more data sources. Each data source is displayed as a distinct graph, which shows the values of data points over a time span. The relationship between views, charts, and graphs is shown in Figure 3-3.

Figure 3-3 Relationships of Graphs to Charts and of Charts to Views

# Tabs Panel Overview

The Tabs panel, on the left side of the page, contains tabs with controls for creating and modifying the views and charts that are displayed in the View panel, on the right.

The Tabs panel contains four tabs:

- The Views tab contains controls for creating, modifying, and deleting views. See Working with Views.
- The Metrics tab contains a tree of all known runtime MBean types, instances, and attributes. You can drag attributes onto a view to create one or more graphs that show the state of those attributes over time. See Creating and Modifying Charts and Graphs.
- The Requests tab contains a tree of events generated by instrumented code. You can drag methods onto a view to create a graph that shows the execution performance (that is, the elapsed performance time) of those methods over time. See Creating and Modifying Charts and Graphs.
- The Properties tab contains two subtabs:

- Use the controls in the Properties > Selected Properties tab to change the appearance of individual graphs and charts. See Setting Chart Properties and Setting Graph Properties.
- Use the controls in the Properties > Global Properties tab to set polling and display properties that apply to all active views. See Setting Global Polling and View Scrolling Properties.

# Toolbar and Scrollbar Overview

The toolbar and scrollbar are available at all times, regardless of which tab is displayed in the Tabs panel.

The toolbar is displayed directly above the Tabs and View panels. The buttons and icon in the toolbar are described in Table 3-1.

Table 3-1 Buttons and Icon in the Toolbar

Button or icon | Name | Action
--- | --- | ---
| Focus Context | Click to change focus between the Tabs panel to the View panel.
| Save All Modified Views | Click to save all custom views.
| Stop All Active Views | Click to stop all active views.
| Delete | Click to delete selected graph or chart.
| Status of data polling | Displays the status of the data poller: Green indicates that data is being retrieved from the server with no problem. Yellow indicates that there are some problems retrieving data from the server. Red indicates that no data is being retrieved from the server.

The status bar at the bottom of the page displays information about the selected item.

# Displaying Tooltips for Controls, Views, Graphs, and Charts

You can display short messages, called tooltips, about several types of objects in the WLDF Console Extension by positioning the mouse pointer over the objects. To display a tooltip for an item, move the mouse pointer to point to the object, and pause. Do not click the mouse. After a momentary delay, a short message about the item is displayed.

In all areas of the WLDF Console Extension, you can display tooltips for standard controls such as buttons, text fields, sliders, etc., which tell you what the each control does. But you can also display details about the objects you use to visualize information, as described in the following sections, all found in Creating and Modifying Charts and Graphs.

- Displaying Details About MBean Instances and Attributes in the Metrics Tab
- Displaying Details About Metrics Charts and Graphs
- Displaying Details About Requests
- Displaying Details About Instrumentation Events
- Displaying Details about Requests and Methods in the Requests Tab
- Displaying Details About Method Performance Charts

# Basic Steps for Creating Views, Graphs, and Charts

The basic steps for creating a view and adding charts and graphs is as follows:

1. From the Views tab, create or select a view.
2. Select which kind of chart you want to create:

- Display the Metrics tab for creating a Metrics chart, or
- Display the Requests tab for creating a Method Performance chart.

3. Drag items from the Metrics or Requests tab in the left panel to the active view in the right panel. Drop an item into a blank area in the view to create a new chart and graph, or drop it into an existing chart to add a new graph to the other graph(s) in the chart.
4. Optionally, select the Properties tab, and use the tools on that tab to change the appearance of graph(s) and chart(s).
5. If you created a custom view, save the view.

For detailed instructions, see:

- Working with Views
- Creating and Modifying Charts and Graphs

# Alternative Ways to Manipulate Objects

The WLDF Console Extension is a graphical user interface with visual tools for setting attributes and manipulating objects. Alternative interaction techniques are available for accomplishing many activities:

- Drag and drop and other direct manipulation with the mouse. For example, you can drag an MBean instance attribute from the Tabs panel to the View panel to create a new chart. Another direct manipulation technique is to Shift-drag across a graph in a chart to zoom in on the data.
- Right-click, then select from a context menu. You can right-click attributes in the Metrics tab, methods in the Requests tab, and charts in the View panel to display context menus, from which you can select a command to act on the selected object. For example, you can right-click an MBean instance attribute in the Tabs panel, then choose Create New Chart to create a new chart.
- Keyboard interaction. You can use the Tab key, the arrow keys, and the Enter key to select different tools and objects on the page and then perform actions on them. For full documentation, see Keyboard Access.