WebFOCUS Debugging Techniques

Transcript WebFOCUS Debugging Techniques

WebFOCUS Debugging Techniques

Introduction

“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Murphy’s Law  The strangest errors can have the simplest solutions.  Finding bugs is an acquired skill based on experience.

Incorrect Output

Defined Field Problem

Issue 1:

A defined field doesn’t seem to calculate the correct value. Only Non-Sales department employees are to receive a 1% bonus. Except for Sales the bonus is 1% In Sales, there should be no bonus Copyright 2007, Information Builders. Slide 5

Defined Field Problem

(continued)

Issue 1:

A defined field doesn’t seem to calculate the correct value. Only Non-Sales department employees are to receive a 1% bonus. Remove sorting for detail report Bonus is the same from the record above the

SALES

Defined Field Problem Solution

Issue 1:

A defined field doesn’t seem to calculate the correct value. Only Non-Sales department employees are to receive a 1% bonus.

Solution:

Define needs an

ELSE

condition. Always code an

ELSE

condition in an

Aggregation Problem

Issue 2:

Adding a new field to the report changes the results.

Aggregation Problem

(continued)

Issue 2:

Adding a new field to the report changes the results.

Aggregation Problem

(continued)

Issue 2:

Adding a new field to the report changes the results.

First report used data from

EMPINFO

Second report used data from

TRNHIST

Aggregation Problem

(continued)

Issue 2:

Adding a new field to the report changes the results.

Unspecified defers to the “

ALL

Aggregation Problem

(continued)

Issue 2:

Adding a new field to the report changes the results.

Aggregation Problem

(continued)

Issue 2:

Adding a new field to the report changes the results.

Aggregation Problem Solution

Issue 2:

Adding a new field to the report changes the results.

Solution:

Either set

ALL

or declare a left outer

JOIN

Note:

MATCH FILE Problem

Issue 3:

Data is appearing with blank values when there should be values. The procedure is using

MATCH FILE

MATCH FILE Problem

(continued)

Issue 3:

Data is appearing with blank values when there should be values. The procedure is using

MATCH FILE

Extracting all

MATCH FILE Problem

(continued)

Issue 3:

Data is appearing with blank values when there should be values. The procedure is using

MATCH FILE

Department and name listed for first course only Create a report on

CRSHOLD

MATCH FILE Problem

(continued)

Issue 3:

Data is appearing with blank values when there should be values. The procedure is using

MATCH FILE

Note:

When using

PRINT

for the old file and new file,

MATCH

assumes there are duplicate

PIN

values in the old and new files, so it will match the first employee 30 in the old file to the first employee 30 in the new file. It needs a second old file employee 30 to match it to the second new file employee 30 and so forth.

MATCH FILE Problem Solution

Issue 3:

Data is appearing with blank values when there should be values. The procedure is using

MATCH FILE

Solution:

Use

SUM

for the old file.

SUM EMPINFO

fields instead

MATCH

MATCH FILE Problem Solution

(continued)

Issue 3:

Data is appearing with blank values when there should be values. The procedure is using

MATCH FILE

Solution:

Use

SUM

for the old file.

Sort Group Calculation Problem

Issue 4:

Calculation for a subfoot is incorrect for some of the groups. The report is using a

RECAP

with invisible fields.

Sort Group Calculation Problem

(continued)

Issue 4:

Calculation for a subfoot is incorrect for some of the groups. The report is using a

RECAP

with invisible fields.

NOPRINT

fields

RECAP

Sort Group Calculation Problem

(continued)

Issue 4:

Calculation for a subfoot is incorrect for some of the groups. The report is using a

RECAP

with invisible fields.

Use

LET

to “deactivate” the

NOPRINT

Note:

LET translates a word or phrase into another word or phrase.

Sort Group Calculation Problem

(continued)

Issue 4:

Calculation for a subfoot is incorrect for some of the groups. The report is using a

RECAP

with invisible fields.

NOPRINT

Sort Group Calculation Problem Solution

Issue 4:

Calculation for a subfoot is incorrect for some of the groups. The report is using a

RECAP

with invisible fields.

Solution:

CNTR

should be set to 1 for each course.

Note:

Delete LET when finished debugging!

Sort Group Calculation Problem Solution

(continued)

Issue 4:

Calculation for a subfoot is incorrect for some of the groups. The report is using a

RECAP

with invisible fields.

Incorrect Ratio Problem

Issue 5:

Wrong ratio displayed at the end of the report.

Incorrect Ratio Problem

(continued)

Issue 5:

Wrong ratio displayed at the end of the report.

Incorrect Ratio Problem Solution

Issue 5:

Wrong ratio displayed at the end of the report.

Solution:

Use Summarize instead of Column totals.

Incorrect Column Total Problem

Issue 6:

Percentages don’t add up to 100%.

Where is the other 2%?

Incorrect Column Total Problem

(continued)

Issue 6:

Percentages don’t add up to 100%.

Incorrect Total Problem

(continued)

Issue 6:

Percentages don’t add up to 100%.

Note:

The percent of total was calculated as an integer value, which truncates the decimal portion of a number. The result is then changed to the decimal format.

Incorrect Total Problem Fixed

Issue 6:

Percentages don’t add up to 100%.

Solution:

Change the format of the counter to a decimal number.

Incorrect Output Review

  Isolate the Problem     When aggregating data, look at some or all of the detail.

Display data without sort fields.

Check the temporary field expression syntax.

Display

NOPRINT

fields.

 A different numeric format could change the results.

Common Remedies   With

…THEN…, always To control the handling of short path records, use:   The

SET ALL

Declare

Inner

code an

ELSE

Left Outer

too.

command for an

Unspecified JOIN

in the

JOIN

component.

  In

MATCH FILE

Use

Summarize

use

SUM

for the

Old

file to replicate data in the

New

for column totals and

Recompute

for subtotals to recalculate computed values in summary lines.

file.

 Don’t use Integer fields when decimal results are needed in calculations.

Incorrect Output Review

(continued)  Helpful Debugging Commands To display a setting: ? SET setting

Note:

Use

ALL.

to display the ALL setting.

To “disable” NOPRINT:

LET NOPRINT =

No Report

Multi-path Problem

Issue 7:

Path error message occurs when running a report.

Note:

Report is sorted by SITE, FULLNAME, and COURSESTART.

Multi-path Problem

(continued)

Issue 7:

Path error message occurs when running a report.

Multi-path Problem

(continued)

Issue 7:

Path error message occurs when running a report.

Delete the Other component

Note:

With the double arrowheads (

- >>

), the Reporting Server assumes multiple sites exist for each employee with an independent number of course start dates for each employee.

Multi-path Problem Solution

Issue 7:

Path error message occurs when running a report.

Solution:

Since Site is unique, specify a single path.

No Data Selected

Issue 8:

No data appears in a report when a selection statement is added.

No Data Selected

(continued)

Issue 8:

No data appears in a report when a selection statement is added.

No Data Selected Solution

Issue 8:

No data appears in a report when a selection statement is added.

Solution:

Screen for aggregated values.

Column Notation Problem

Issue 9:

Changing a field format loses all data for a report.

Column Notation Problem

(continued)

Issue 9:

Changing a field format loses all data for a report.

Multi-set request Column notation to avoid duplicate field names

Note:

Report is OK.

Column Notation Problem

(continued)

Issue 9:

Changing a field format loses all data for a report.

Column Notation Problem

(continued)

Issue 9:

Changing a field format loses all data for a report.

Column Notation Problem Solution

Issue 9:

Changing a field format loses all data for a report.

Solution:

Define fields with the desired format and use them instead.

Column Notation Problem Solution

(continued)

Issue 9:

Changing a field format loses all data for a report.

Solution:

Define fields with the desired format and use them instead.

Including a Non-MR Procedure

Issue 10:

A Standard Report in Managed Reporting is trying to include a procedure on the Report Server.

Web Server WebFOCUS Client (Managed Reporting)

Including a Non-MR Procedure

(continued)

Issue 10:

A Standard Report in Managed Reporting is trying to include a procedure on the Report Server.

Web Server

debug_10

resides on the WebFOCUS Client

WebFOCUS Client (Managed Reporting) Data Source

debug_01s

resides on the WebFOCUS Report Server

WebFOCUS

Report Server

Including a Non-MR Procedure Solution

Issue 10:

A Standard Report in Managed Reporting is trying to include a procedure on the Report Server.

Solution:

Use –MRNOEDIT to pass commands “as is” to the Report Server.

No Report Review

 Check to see if there are any error messages.

 Usually fixing the first one clears up subsequent error messages.

 If there are no error messages, check your selection criteria.

 Common Remedies     Don’t use sort fields from independent paths.

Use

WHERE TOTAL

to screen on aggregated data.

Avoid column notation by creating “shadow” fields.

For Managed Reporting, use

–MRNOEDIT

to pass commands directly to the Report Server.

No Report Review

(continued)  Helpful Commands: To display additional information for an error message ? error_nbr To pass Managed Report commands to the Report Server

-MRNOEDIT BEGIN

command …

-MRNOEDIT END

Relational Database Considerations

RDBMS Response Time Problem

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

RDBMS Response Time Problem

(continued)

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

RDBMS Response Time Problem

(continued)

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

RDBMS Response Time Problem

(continued)

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

Command

SET TRACEOFF=ALL SET TRACEON=SQLAGGR… SET TRACEON=STMTRACE… SET TRACEUSER=CLIENT SET XRERTIEVAL = OFF

Purpose Turn off all current traces.

Show if RDBMS will aggregate the data.

Show SQL code generated.

Display traces in a Web page.

Do not execute the procedure.

RDBMS Response Time Problem

(continued)

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

RDBMS Response Time Problem

(continued)

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

CATLEN

RDBMS Response Time Problem Solution

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

Solution:

Compute

CATLEN

and use

Order Report By

(

BY TOTAL

RDBMS Response Time Problem Solution

(continued)

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

Solution:

Compute

CATLEN

and use

Order Report By

(

BY TOTAL

)

RDBMS will

RDBMS Response Time Problem Solution

(continued)

Issue 11:

A report is taking a long time to run. Data is retrieved from a relational database and aggregated into product categories.

Solution:

Compute

CATLEN

and use

Order Report By

(

BY TOTAL

Relational Database Considerations Review

 When the RDBMS cannot aggregate the data:  Individual rows are returned to the WebFOCUS Report Server from the RDBMS.

  WebFOCUS Report Server will have to aggregate the data.

Processing is slowed down.  Common Remedies  Turn on traces to determine if the RDBMS is to aggregate the data.

  Use

SET XRETRIEVAL=OFF

to not retrieve data when tracing.

Avoid defining sort fields that will turn off aggregation; if possible, compute them instead.

For more information, see:

Course 402

–

Reporting Concepts and Efficiencies for Relational Databases

Other Considerations

Parameterized Reports

Question:

How can I display the value of variables?

Answer A:

Parameterized Reports

(continued)

Question:

How can I display the value of just the variables?

Answer B:

Parameterized Reports

(continued)

Review

To control the display of Dialogue Manager variables:

-SET &ECHO = OFF | ON | ALL;

To display of Dialogue Manager variables:

-? & [ & ]

variable

To control creating a report or not:

SET XRETRIEVAL ON | OFF

To terminate a procedure:

-EXIT

Using -EXIT

Note:

Except for debugging purposes, avoid using

–EXIT

: • ReportCaster may not work properly.

• A procedure that is included with a

–EXIT

will terminate the procedure invoking it.

Profiles

Question:

Why does a procedure work for one user, but not another?

Answer A:

Check for Profiles    Profiles are files that contain commands.  Can contain any valid report server core language command.

 Executed every time a procedure is run in

WebFOCUS

Three types of profiles:   Global Group  

Note:

Never assume a setting; establish it in your procedure.

Executed after the global profile Can override commands found in the global profile  User  Executed after the group profile  Can override commands in the group profile Commands in a procedure override commands in a profile.

Application Namespace

Question:

Why does a procedure work for one user, but not another?

Answer B:

Application Namespace

Application Namespace

, commonly referred to as

APP PATH

Application Namespace

(continued)

Question:

How can I display the APP path search order?

Answer:

WHENCE Command

Question:

How do I know from which application the metadata is being used?

Answer:

Use the WHENCE command EMPINFO.MAS in the DEBUG application will be used To display from which application a file will be utilized: WHENCE filename FOCEXEC

| MASTER | ACCESS | FOCSTYLE | FOCUS

Additional Help

Question:

What can I do when all else fails?

Answer:

WebFOCUS Development Center http://www.informationbuilders.com/support/wf_dev_center.html

Review

 Debugging is not an exact science.

 Never assume anything.

   Try to isolate the problem and work from there.

Sometimes the strangest errors have the simplest solutions.

Look at what is and not what you are expecting.

 Debugging is an acquired skill based on experience.

 Learn as much as possible about the product and tools.

WebFOCUS Debugging Techniques

Transcript WebFOCUS Debugging Techniques