Chapter 5 - The DECevent dia Command Verb

5.1 Introduction

The DECevent command verb that allows the translation of an event file residing on a Digital UNIX system is dia. DECevent allows you to append four main flags to the dia command verb, each accomplishing different functions on an input event file. The four main flags are shown and described in Table 5-1.

         Table_5-1:_DECevent_Main_Flags_________________________________

         Main
         Flag______Description__________________________________________

         -a        The default qualifier for the dia command allowing
                   the translation of events into a report.

         -b        Allows smaller binary event log files to be created
                   from larger event log files.

         -c        Allows events to be formatted as they are logged by
                   the operating system event logger.

         -d        Allows the canonical format of events to be output
         __________in_a_hexidecimal_dump_format.________________________

Each main flag is discussed in this chapter.

5.1.1 The dia -a Command

The dia -a command option performs a bit-to-text translation on the default system event file or on a user specified file if the -f flag is used. The default system event log file on a Digital UNIX operating system is /usr/adm/binary.errlog.

The dia command defaults to the -a flag if no main flag is specified on the command line. The dia -a command is the equivalent of the dia command.

The following syntax is used for the dia -a command option:

dia [-a -f infile[ ...]]

5.1.1.1 Flags and Parameters for the -a Flag

The following flags can be appended to the dia -a command to further expand the utility function. Refer to Appendix C for a definition of these flags.

-f infile [ ...]
-v
-R
-e [s:start_number][e:end_number]
-i keyword [=val] [ ...]
-x keyword [=val] [ ...]
-H hostname [ ...]
-t [s:time][e:time]
-o output_type
> outfile

The infile Parameter

The dia -a command allows you to use the optional infile parameter. This allows you to choose one or more alternative input event files for translation. Reporting is done in sequential order. If you do not supply a file name for this parameter, the default event file is used. The default event file is defined as either the default system event log for each operating system, or a file specified using the set evt command.

The default system event log file on a Digital UNIX system is /usr/adm/binary.errlog.

Examples

The following example results in the translation of events from the binary_errlogold.sys event file:

% dia -f /usr/adm/binary_errlogold.sys

5.1.2 The dia -b Command

The dia -b command creates a binary event file, containing specified events, from another event log file. The binfile is the output file created from the -b command and is not optional.

The following syntax is used for the dia -b command option:

dia -b binfile [-f infile[ ...]]

5.1.2.1 Flags and Parameters for the -b Flag

The following list presents the valid flags and parameters for the dia -b command. Refer to Appendix C for definitions of these flags.

-f infile [ ...]
-v
-R
-j [rejfile]
-e [s:start_number][e:end_number]
-i keyword [=val] [ ...]
-x keyword [=val] [ ...]
-H hostname [ ...]
-t [s:time][e:time]

The binfile Parameter

The dia -b command creates a binary output file using the binfile parameter. You must supply a name for the binary output file with the .bin extension, as shown in the following examples.

Examples

The following example selects disk entries from the input file errlogold.sys and creates the disk.bin file:

% dia -b disk.bin -f errlogold.sys -i disk

5.1.3 The dia -c Command

The dia -c command reads and displays events as they occur directly from the system event logger. The output goes to the user terminal by default unless it is redirected to a file.

The following syntax is used for the dia -c command option:

dia -c

Note

A special file is created in the /tmp directory when you use the dia -c command.

DECevent_MbxYYYY, where YYYY is a four digit number assigned by the system.

Do not delete this file while DECevent is running.

These files are deleted upon normal termination of the dia -c command.

5.1.3.1 Flags and Parameters for the -c Flag

The following list presents the valid flags and parameters for the dia -c command. Refer to Appendix C for definitions of these flags.

-i keyword [=val] [ ...]
-x keyword [=val] [ ...]
-o output_type
> outfile

Examples

The following example reads events in real time and displays them on screen in the brief report format.

% dia -c -o brief

Halting Continuous Display Mode

To halt the continuous display of events as they occur, enter Ctrl/C. This stops the display, and the system prompt appears on the screen.

5.1.4 The dia -d Command

The dia -d command provides a brief report type followed by a dump of a generic buffer.

The following syntax is used for the dia -d command option:

dia -d

5.1.4.1 Flags and Parameters for the -d Flag

The following list presents the valid flags and parameters for the dia -d command. Refer to Appendix C for definitions of these flags.

-f infile [ ...]
-v
-R
-e [s:start_number][e:end_number]
-i keyword [=val] [ ...]
-x keyword [=val] [ ...]
-H hostname [ ...]
-t [s:time][e:time]
> outfile

The infile Parameter

The dia -d command allows you to use the optional [infile] parameter. This allows you to choose one or more alternative input event files for translation. Reporting is done in sequential order. If you do not supply a file name for this parameter, the default event file is used. The default file is defined as either the default system event log for each operating system, or a file specified using the set evt command.

The default system event log file on a Digital UNIX system is /user/adm/binary.errlog.

Examples

The following example provides an ASCII output file called errlog.dmp containing disk entries from the errlogold.sys input file.

% dia -d -f errlogold.sys -i disk > errlog.dmp