Qualifier Reference

This page contains a complete list of all WATCH qualifiers. Subsequent pages contain detailed descriptions of each qualifier.

/BASE            Show base priority instead of current.
/COMPARISON        Format of comparison numbers
/DISK                Names of disks to display
/END_TIME            Absolute time to end record
/INTERVAL            Time (in seconds) between screen updates

/NARROW Use the narrow (80 column) display or print format - this is the default

/NODISPLAY        Suppress screen display during /RECORD
/OUTPUT            Direct the output from a summary report to a file
/PRIORITY            Execute at elevated priority

/PLAYBACK Display data from a file created by /RECORD

/PRINT            Print /RECORD file
/RECORD            Store statistics in a file for later use
/REPORT=SUMMARY    Generate a summary report on data contained in a record file
/START_TIME        Absolute time to start viewing of /RECORD file
/TOP                Type of resource to monitor in detail
/VERSION            Show current version of WATCH

/WIDE Use the wide (132 column) display or print format

/BASE
The /BASE qualifier will show the base priority in the process section of the WATCH screen. If this qualifier is not used, the current priority is shown.

FORMAT
    /BASE

KEYWORDS
    None

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/BASE

/COMPARISON
The comparison qualifier is used to specify the format for displaying the comparison numbers on the screen. There are four choices for type_of_display.

FORMAT
    /COMPARISON=type_of_display

KEYWORDS
    "ACTUAL" (default)
    Shows the actual number that was previously displayed as the current number.

    "DIFFERENCE"
    Shows the change from the previous number as a positive or negative number.

    "AVERAGE"
    Shows the average number since the start of Watch.

    "MAX"
    Shows the maximum number since the start of Watch.

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/COMPARISON=DIFFERENCE

Monitor the system showing the comparison value as a positive or negative number indicating the change from the previous value.

/DISK
The /DISK qualifier is used to select disk drives for display on the screen. The default is none. If you omit this qualifier the DISK portion of WATCH's main screen will be blank.

FORMAT
/DISK=(device_name[,...])

KEYWORDS
device-name

Device-name is the name of a disk drive that you want to display i/o statistics in the main screen for. The selected drive can consist of a single drive in the form /DISK=DRA0: or a list of up to 5 drive specifications in the form /DISK=(DRA1:,DRA2:,USER$DISK1:).

The drive specifications can contain logical names. These are translated to physical names for display.

If you use volume sets, you must specify each drive individually, not just the first drive of the volume.

EXAMPLES
$ WATCH/DISK=(DRA0:,DRA1:,USER$DISK2:)

WATCH the system and include disk statistics for DRA0:, DRA1: and USER$DISK2:.

    $ WATCH/DISK=$1$DIA0:
    WATCH the system and include disk statistics for $1$DIA0.

/END_TIME
The END_TIME qualifier is used in conjunction with the /RECORD qualifier to indicate the time when the data collection is to end. It is used primarily in batch and there is no default.

FORMAT
    /END_TIME=absolute_time

KEYWORDS
    absolute-time

Absolute-time can be any absolute time, in valid OpenVMS date format.

EXAMPLE
$ WATCH/END_TIME=17:30/RECORD=PEAK.WAT

Tells WATCH to begin recording system monitor information, recording is to stop at 17:30 (5:30 pm).

/INTERVAL
The interval qualifier indicates the number of seconds between data collections. The default
interval is 10 seconds.

FORMAT
/INTERVAL=time_in_seconds

KEYWORDS
time-in-seconds

Valid values are in the range of 5 to 900. If you are using large intervals (greater than 30), you may miss significant events. For example, subprocesses that use a lot of CPU but are initiated and completed within the interval time.

EXAMPLES
    $ WATCH/INTERVAL=15
    Run WATCH using a data collection interval of 15 seconds

    $ WATCH/RECORD=JAN05.WAT/INTERVAL=60/END=23:59:59
    Run WATCH, recording usage statistics every minute, until midnight tonight.

/NARROW
The /NARROW qualifier causes watch to display data in an 80 column screen format. This qualifier can also be used with the WATCH/PRINT command to generate a copy of recorded data in an 80 column format. In either case this is the default so it is not necessary to specify /NARROW on the command line.

FORMAT
    /NARROW

KEYWORDS
    none

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/NARROW/DISK=ALL

Run WATCH displaying data on an 80 column screen. All disks are monitored and the top 5 i/o users are shown in the disk section each interval. This command is equivalent to WATCH/DISK=ALL.

Note: When playing back or printing data you may specify either /narrow or /wide regardless of which was in effect at the time the data was recorded. These qualifiers do not affect how watch records data for subsequent playback.

/NODISPLAY
The /NODISPLAY qualifier suppresses screen display during a /RECORD operation. It is the default when WATCH is run from a batch.

FORMAT
    /NODISPLAY
KEYWORDS
    none

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/NODISPLAY/RECORD=WATCH.WAT/END_TIME=12:00

Run WATCH without displaying usage statistics but recording them in the file WATCH.WAT for future analysis. Stop recording at 12:00.

/OUTPUT
The OUTPUT qualifier is used in conjunction with the /REPORT qualifier to specify that a report be written to a file rather than displayed on the users terminal.

FORMAT
/OUTPUT=filename

KEYWORDS
filename

The filename specified can be any valid OpenVMS filename. The filename is required, WATCH will not default it.

EXAMPLES
$ WATCH/REPORT=SUMMARY/OUTPUT=PEAK.RPT/PLAYBACK=PEAK.WAT

Summarize the recorded data in the file PEAK.WAT and write the summary report to a file called PEAK.RPT. Since no starting or ending times have been specified the entire record file will be summarized.

$ WATCH /REPORT=SUMMARY /START_TIME=14:30 /END_TIME=16:00 -
/PLAYBACK=PEAK.WAT /OUTPUT=WATCH_REPORT.LIS

Generate a summary report for the afternoon peak usage period in data previously recorded in PEAK.WAT. The report will be written to a file called WATCH_REPORT.LIS.

/PLAYBACK
The playback qualifier indicates that the data is to be taken from the specified file, which was previously generated with WATCH, rather than from the running system. You can use /RECORD to record system performance data when the system is heavily loaded and use /PLAYBACK to play it back when the system has spare capacity.

You can use the /START_TIME qualifier to specify a starting time for viewing the record file. This allows you to skip around in the file and view different time intervals easily. The time specified is an absolute time, in OpenVMS standard time format. If the start time is not specified, it defaults to the start of the record file.

FORMAT
/PLAYBACK=record_file_name

KEYWORDS
record-file-name

Indicates a file created by the /RECORD qualifier that contains previously recorded WATCH data.

EXAMPLE
$ WATCH/START_TIME=17:30/PLAYBACK=SYS$LOGIN:WATCH.WAT

Replay the information WATCH collected and recorded in SYS$LOGIN:WATCH.WAT beginning with information from 17:30 and playing back to the end of the collected data.

/PRINT
The /PRINT qualifier allows you to generate printed copies of information stored in the /RECORD file. It requires 2 parameters _ the record filename and the output or destination filename. The report consists of 2 WATCH screens per page of output. You can print part of the data using the /START_TIME and /END_TIME qualifiers.

When you specify this qualifier you may use the following qualifiers to help select the data you want to have printed: /START_TIME, /END_TIME and /COMPARISION

FORMAT
/PRINT record_file_name output_file_name

KEYWORDS
record-file-name

A WATCH record file that has been previously created and contains the data you would like to print.

output-file-name

The file that WATCH should write the data to, formatted as ASCII text for printing.

EXAMPLE

$ WATCH/PRINT/START_TIME=2:00/END_TIME=4:00/COMPARISON=MAX - SYS$LOGIN:WATCH.WAT SYS$LOGIN:WATCH.LIS

Format the recorded data in the file WATCH.WAT for printing, writing the recorded data to WATCH.LIS. Only the data recorded between 2:00 and 4:00 should be formatted for printing.

/PRIORITY
WATCH normally runs at elevated priority to ensure accurate data collection. On a heavily loaded system, this can degrade performance. The /PRIORITY=priority-number qualifier tells WATCH to run at a specified base priority.
FORMAT
/PRIORITY=priority-number

KEYWORDS
priority-number

The priority-number is a numberic value between 0 and 31 that you wish WATCH to have as its' base priority. The default OpenVMS base priority is 4 so specifying 5 or 6 should give WATCH the necessary priority to record information accurately. Digital strongly suggests not to specify a base priority over 15 for any process because of potential conflicts with the systems' detached processes.

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/PRIORITY=6
    Run WATCH at a base priority of 6 to help ensure accurate data collection

/RECORD
The record qualifier indicates that the data is to be written to a file as well as displayed on the screen. This data file can then be used for playback. Using this qualifier, you can record system performance data, and then play it back at an accelerated rate by specifying a different interval.

FORMAT
    /RECORD=record_file_name

KEYWORDS
    record-file-name
    A valid OpenVMS filename that WATCH should record information into.

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/RECORD=SYS$LOGIN:WATCH.WAT

Begin WATCHing the system, recording information displayed to the screen in a file WATCH.WAT in your default login directory.

/REPORT
The REPORT qualifier is used in conjunction with the /PLAYBACK and /OUTPUT qualifiers to generate a summary report of previously recorded data. This allows you to skip around in the file and view different time intervals easily. If the start time or end time are not specified, the report will summarize the entire record file.

FORMAT
/REPORT=keyword

KEYWORDS
summary

Generate a summary report of previously recorded data.

EXAMPLES
$ WATCH/REPORT=SUMMARY/OUTPUT=PEAK.RPT/PLAYBACK=PEAK.WAT

$ WATCH /REPORT=SUMMARY /START_TIME=14:30 /END_TIME=16:00 -

/PLAYBACK=PEAK.WAT /OUTPUT=WATCH_REPORT.LIS

Generate a summary report for the afternoon peak usage period in data previously recorded in PEAK.WAT. The report will be written to a file called WATCH_REPORT.LIS.

/START_TIME
The START_TIME qualifier is used in conjunction with the /PLAYBACK and /PRINT qualifiers to specify a starting time for viewing or printing a record file. This allows you to skip around in the file and view different time intervals easily. If the start time is not specified, it defaults to the start of the record file.

FORMAT
/START_TIME=absolute-start-time

KEYWORDS
absolute-start-time

The time specified is an absolute time, in OpenVMS standard time format.

EXAMPLES
$ WATCH/START_TIME=17:30/PLAYBACK=PEAK.WAT

Start playback of recorded data in the file PEAK.WAT at 17:30 (5:30 pm). Playback will show one screen every 10 seconds, the default interval).

$ WATCH/PRINT/START_TIME=17:30 PEAK.WAT WATCH_REPORT.LIS

Reformat for printing the recorded data in file PEAK.WAT from 17:30 (5:30 pm) to the end of the recorded data.

/TOP
The top qualifier indicates the type of resource to be monitored in the process display area on the screen. When you choose a category, the process display area shows the top six users in descending order of usage. The heading of the field that processes are being selected on is highlighted.

FORMAT
    /TOP=field_name

KEYWORDS
    "CPU" (default)
    Show top CPU processes.

    "BIO"
    Show top Buffered Input/Output processes.

    "DIO"
    Show top Direct Input/Output processes.

    "FAULT"
    Show top page faulting processes.

    "WS"
    Show processes with the largest working sets.

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/TOP=FAULT

Run WATCH showing the top processes in terms of page faults in the process block of the main screen.

/VERSION
This qualifier will display the current version of WATCH that you are running.

FORMAT
    /VERSION

KEYWORDS
    None

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/VERSION
    WATCH 6.0
    Copyright Saiga Systems Inc. 1989_1999, All Rights Reserved
    Phone 1 (800) 561 8876
                1 (403) 263 1151
     Fax    1 (403) 263 0744
    WWW www.saiga.com

FTP ftp.saiga.com

E_mail sales@.saiga.com

support@saiga.com

Licensed to: SAIGA SYSTEMS SOFTWARE INC.

License name: COHORT3VAX

License node: _SITE_

License expiry: 12/31/2099

Current date: 24_NOV_1999 09:02:06.20

Node name: EAGLE

VMS version: V5.5_1

HW type: MicroVAX 3100

Cluster member: Y

Number of nodes: 3

/WIDE
The /WIDE qualifier causes watch to display data in a 132 column screen format. This qualifier can also be used with the WATCH/PRINT command to generate a copy of recorded data in a wider format. In either case the default is /NARROW so /WIDE must be specified on the command line if the wider format is desired. This format gives all displayed values that are not %s additional space and helps prevent overflowed values in the display or print output (overflows are indicated by **** instead of a numeric value wherever they occur).

FORMAT
    /WIDE

KEYWORDS
    none

EXAMPLE
    $ WATCH/WIDE/DISK=ALL

Run WATCH displaying data on a wider screen. All disks are monitored and the top 5 i/o users are shown in the disk section each interval.

Notes: 1. When playing back or printing data you may specify either /narrow or /wide regardless of which was in effect at the time the data was recorded. These qualifiers do not affect how watch records data for subsequent playback.

2. Be sure that your terminal is set to /width=132 before specifying this command in display mode. If you terminal is set to 80 columns the screen will either wrap, making the information difficult to read, or be truncating depending on the value of the /wrap terminal characteristic.