Implementing Message Profiles › Message Profiles

Message Profiles

You can define profiles that capture different types of messages. When you create or change a message profile, the data is automatically distributed to the knowledge bases in connected regions.

Note: You can define message profiles in focal point regions only; however, the defined profiles are available to subordinate regions through knowledge base synchronization.

A message profile contains the following criteria types that determine which messages a consolidated console receives:

• The system from which the message comes
• The ID (or the first word) of the message
• The job for which the message is generated
• The message routing and descriptor codes
• The message types and levels, and the types and classes of job for which the message is generated

A message profile must use at least one criterion from the last four criteria types.

Each profile has a status that determines whether it can be activated for use. Profiles must be activated, either by you or automatically during region startup, before they can be used. After you define the profiles, you activate them for use by the operators.

Rules for Defining and Using Message Profiles

This section contains rules about entering data on panels and about how to get the best results when defining message profiles.

Create New Message Profiles in a Single System First

Create a new message profile to select messages from one system only, using selection criteria that are unique to that system. For example, if each system uses different message classes, specify a message class that is unique to your system. When this profile is working successfully in one system, you can copy it into a new profile for other systems whose messages you want to monitor.

Unique Message Profile Names and IDs

Unique profile names and IDs identify message profiles. When messages are captured, they are associated with a specific profile ID. The profiles replace the message routing codes corresponding to the IDs as the means for the region to direct relevant messages to operators. An operator who wants to receive specific messages on a consolidated console enables the relevant profiles. Alternatively, if the operator always wants to see consolidated messages for certain profiles, the operator can specify this information in the user profile.

Important! A profile acts on messages after they are processed by EventView message rules. For example, if a rule changes the routing code and you want to capture the message, use a profile ID that corresponds to the changed routing code.

You cannot include special characters (for example, _, -, (, ), and ~) or spaces in a profile name.

Wildcards

Use wildcard characters to represent character patterns at particular positions in a character string. The supported wildcard characters are as follows:

• *, representing any character as follows:
  • If the * is at the beginning of or embedded in a character string, it represents one character.
  • If the * is at the end of a character string, it represents any number of characters.

  You cannot use an * by itself. In the following example, messages are selected for any system that starts with the letters EAST:

  Systems to Include
  EAST*

• #, representing one numeric character. In the following example, messages are selected for systems EAST0 through EAST9:

  Systems to Include
  EAST#

• @, representing one alpha character. In the following example, messages are selected for systems EAST0A through EAST9Z:

  Systems to Include
  EAST#@

Type as many characters as necessary to select the required information.

If you want to use a wildcard character in the literal sense, precede the character by a backslash (\), for example:

• ABC### matches any value that starts with ABC followed by three numeric characters.
• ABC##\# enables you to match a value that starts with ABC followed by two numeric characters and ending in a # character.

Ranges

Use a colon (:) to specify ranges.

The character strings on each side of the colon must be of equal length.

Note: The backslash (\) is regarded as one character when the length of the string is calculated.

The asterisk (*) wildcard character can only be used at the end of a string.

Example: Select Messages in a Range of Systems

This example selects messages for systems EAST0, EAST1, and EAST2.

Systems to be Included
EAST0:EAST2

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

In each profile, you specify the criteria that determine the messages to display on the consolidated console. Most panels have inclusion fields and exclusion fields, or allow you to specify N(o) or Y(es), according to whether you want to include or exclude messages with certain attributes. The rules for including and excluding messages are as follows:

• If you leave all the fields on a panel blank, the criteria specified on the other panels determine what messages are displayed. For example, if you leave the System Specification panel blank, messages from all connected regions are potentially available for display.

  However, if you do not specify any criteria (that is, if you leave the criteria fields on all the panels blank), the profile receives no messages.

• If you specify inclusion and exclusion values for a particular criterion, the inclusion values take priority. The exclusion values are then applied to the resulting set of included messages.

  For example, using message ID as a criterion, if you want to include all message IDs except the IDs starting with AAA111, you can use the following values:

  • A*:9* as inclusion values
  • AAA111* as exclusion values
• Messages are selected for display only if they meet the criteria specified on all panels. For example, YES in the Sess field on the Message Job Specification panel specifies that only SESS type messages are displayed, even if messages of other types meet the criteria specified on the other panels.
• Items selected with N or Y have an OR relationship. For example, if you include routing codes 1, 2, and 11, messages that have a routing code of 1 or 2 or 11, or a combination of these codes, are displayed if they satisfy the other criteria.
• If you complete an exclusion field or specify N, a message that meets this criterion is not displayed, even if it satisfies all the inclusion criteria.

Note: The consolidated console does not receive messages suppressed by EventView rules.