5. DATABASE FILES › 5.2 SNT Information Area › 5.2.11 NPDA Generic Alert File (SNTGAF) › 5.2.11.3 Usage Considerations

5.2.11.3 Usage Considerations

This section identifies the special considerations or
techniques related to using the SNTGAF File.  Additionally,
several retrieval examples are provided to facilitate the use
of this file.


In the examples, a SAS macro variable is used to specify the
DDname part of the CA MICS file name. These macro variables
are a standard part of CA MICS and are available for all
files. The macro variable name has the form &diiit, where d
is the database identifier, iii is the information area
name, and t is the timespan.  For the examples, a database
identifier of P is used.  The identifier is installation
dependent, so you should find out what the identifiers are at
your installation.

Special Considerations/Techniques

1. Care must be exercised in using the special date and time
   data elements contained in each CA MICS file.  As the
   files granularity increases in higher timespans certain
   fields lose significance and should not be used in those
   cases.

   o HOUR should not be used in MONTHS.
   o DAY and DAYNAME should not be used in WEEKS or MONTHS.
   o WEEK should not be used in MONTHS.

2. The following data elements are user-defined.  The value
   in each is dependent on user-selected options or user
   supplied SAS code:

   o NETWRKID - Network Identifier.  A one to eight-character
     descriptive name for each network represented in the
     data.  NETWRKID is set in the Network Identifier Exit
     Routine, SNTNIDRT, discussed in Chapter 7.

   o TMOFFSET - Time offset applied to the data in the file.
     The user can associate a time offset with each unique
     NETWRKID/SYSID combination.  This offset is used to
     adjust data times when data from multiple time zones is
     brought together in the CA MICS database.  To determine
     the original time at which the data was recorded,
     subtract TMOFFSET from the value.  Time offset is
     assigned in the SNTOPS member of prefix.MICS.PARMS,
     discussed in Chapter 7.

3. The following data elements lose significance once
   summarization has been performed.  These data elements
   should only be referenced when the last observed value in
   a summarization interval is significant.

   NPDAVRRL - NPDA Version/Release
   TMOFFSET - Time Offset
   SNTCMPLI - Complex Link Indicator (Y or N)


Retrieval Examples

1. Produce a count of the number of NPDA Generic Events by
   resource type.  Use last week's data.

   PROC FREQ DATA=&PSNTW..SNTGAF01;
     TABLES SNTFRTYP / NOROW NOCUM NOCOL;
     WEIGHT SNTNRGEV;

2. Produce a report showing the 50 resources having the
   highest incident rate for NPDA Generic Alerts.  Use last
   month's data.

   PROC SORT DATA=&PSNTM..SNTGAF01 OUT=WKGAF;
     BY DESCENDING SNTNRALT;

   OPTIONS OBS=50;

   PROC PRINT DATA=WKGAF;
     ID SNTFRTYP SNTFRNAM;
     VAR SNTNRGEV SNTNRALT SNTGADSC;