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Configuring Tracer settings

Updated on November 15, 2021

Maintain the quality of your application and quickly locate any issues by tracing selected events with the Tracer tool. Analyze the Tracer results conveniently by defining what information you want to include in the output.

For example, you can specify when you want the Tracer to pause processing, or how many events you want to display in the output.
  1. In the footer of Dev Studio, click the Tracer icon.
  2. On the Tracer toolbar, click Settings.
  3. In the Tracer Settings window, in the Events to trace section, select check boxes of events that you want to include in the Tracer output:
    • To trace when an event starts, select the check box in the Start column.
    • To trace when an even ends, select the check box in the End column.
  4. In the Break conditions section, select the conditions under which you want the Tracer to pause processing:
    • To pause processing on the first Java exception, select Exception.
    • To pause processing when a step ends with a Fail status in the pxMethodStatus property value, select Fail Status.
    • To pause processing when a step ends with a Warn status in the pxMethodStatus property value, select Warn Status.
  5. In the General options section, select the options that determine the quantity of output in specific conditions:
    • To include the Java class details from those properties in the Tracer output, if processing has properties of mode Java Pages, select Expand Java Pages.

      This option might significantly slow processing.

    • To capture the status of local variables for Begin and End events of activities and their steps, select Local Variables. Tracer creates an output row each time the system sets the value of a local variable in an activity.

      For local variables with a value of Java null, the Tracer output displays the string null – No Value for the value of the local variable.

    • To reduce the performance impact by limiting the amount of clipboard detail for each row in the Tracer window, select Abbreviate Events.
  6. In the Event types to trace section, select event types that you want the Tracer to monitor.
  7. Optional: To add additional event types, in the Event Type field, enter the event type, and then click Add.
  8. In the Rulesets to trace section, select the rulesets that you want to trace.
  9. Optional: To trace additional pages, in the Pages to trace section, in the Page name field, enter a page name, and then click Add.

    While the Tracer session runs, the Tracer watches the pages that you add. If the Tracer locates the pages, links to their content display in the Properties on Page window when you open an event from the Tracer output.

    Note: When you add multiple pages, the Tracer might work slower.

    The option to add pages is unavailable if you select Abbreviate Events in the General options section.

  10. In the User interface section, in the Max Trace Events to Display field, enter the number of trace events to display in the output.
  11. Click OK.
  • Tracer events to trace

    You can select the following events to trace in the Tracer Settings dialog box. When selected, the tracer output includes these events. Events are most relevant for debugging activities rather than flows or declarative rules.

  • Tracer event types to trace

    You can trace the progress of various events that occur in the system by selecting event types to trace in the Tracer Settings dialog box. Examples of rules that produce events are flows, declarative rules, and decision trees rules. You can also trace events related to services and database operations.

  • Rulesets to trace

    You can select the rulesets to trace in the Tracer Settings dialog box. The dialog box lists all of the rulesets that you can access, in the order they appear in your ruleset list, based on your access group and other sources.

  • Reducing Tracer event output

    You can reduce the amount of clipboard detail that is sent to the Tracer by using the Abbreviate Events option. Reducing the amount of output improves the performance of the requestor session that is being traced so that elapsed time statistics during tracing are closer to the normal values, that is, the values when processing is not being traced.

  • Setting the number of lines to display in Tracer

    You can change the number of lines that are displayed in the Tracer window to manage network and workstation load. By default, the Tracer displays the 500 most recent trace lines. You can set a higher value, which requires additional workstation memory. If you only want to view Tracer output as an XML file and save it to your local system, set the number of lines to display to zero (0) to reduce the network and workstation load.

  • Adjusting the buffer size of the Tracer header

    You can adjust the buffer size of the Tracer header to increase the limit for unprocessed events. By default, the system saves up to 50,000 items for unprocessed events during a Tracer operation. If the buffer exceeds this limit, Tracer processing ends.

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