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Bookmarks Tool Window

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Message Analyzer provides a Bookmarks Tool Window that enables you to configure the following types of bookmarks:

  • Message Bookmarks — enables you to specify a bookmark for any single message or group of messages that you select in the Analysis Grid viewer. You typically set such bookmarks in a trace for quick location of messages that have some related importance or critical context for the data analysis process. Bookmarks make it convenient to locate these messages at any time, since you can save them with your message data in the *.matp format. It also makes it convenient to share the trace with others along with the bookmarks that you configured to highlight the important focus areas.

  • Pattern Bookmarks — enables you to specify bookmarks for one or more matched instance messages in the Pattern Match viewer, after executing a Pattern expression against a set of trace results. You can set these types of bookmarks to quickly locate messages for specific matched instances of a Pattern expression, as described in Viewing Matched Instance Message Data, although the method to do so is different than you would do in the Analysis Grid viewer, as described in Viewing Bookmarked Data.

Displaying the Bookmarks Tool Window

If the Bookmarks window is not displaying in an Analysis Session, you can open it by clicking the Bookmarks item in the Windows submenu that is accessible from the global Message Analyzer Tools menu. You can also undock and reposition the Bookmarks window in a more convenient location by taking advantage of the docking navigation control that displays after you drag the Bookmarks window by its tab away from the default docking location.

Configuring Bookmarks

After you display the Bookmarks window, you can configure bookmarks for messages in the Analysis Grid viewer and for matched instances in the Pattern Match viewer. To begin, select a message or matched instance as appropriate for the entity that you want to bookmark, and then select the corresponding command in the Add drop-down menu on the toolbar of the Bookmarks window:

  • Message Bookmark — creates a bookmark for one or more messages that you select in the Analysis Grid viewer. The Bookmarks configuration grid is populated with a row of data that represents the selected message/s.

  • Pattern Bookmark — creates a bookmark for one or more matched instances that you select in the Pattern Match viewer. The Bookmarks configuration grid is populated with a row of data that represents the selected matched instance/s that contain the book marked messages.

The Bookmarks grid contains the following information columns:

  • Name — this sortable column provides a default name value of “Selected messages” or “Pattern Group <n>”, where <n> is a number placeholder. You can modify this column with a name of your choice, either by double-clicking the existing name in this text box or by right-clicking the text and selecting the Edit ‘Name’ item in the context menu that appears. The existing text is then highlighted for edit mode.

  • References — specifies a single message number or a comma-separated list of the message numbers for the messages you selected in the Analysis Grid viewer, or displays a Selected Pattern Match Instance (containing one or more messages) that you selected in the Matched Instances section of the Pattern Match viewer for which you are configuring a bookmark.

  • Category — this sortable column is empty by default, but you can specify your own Category name for any bookmark. You can do this either by double-clicking the Category text box for a particular bookmark row in the Bookmarks configuration grid, or by right-clicking the Category text box in a bookmark row and selecting the Edit ‘Category’ item in the context menu that appears. You can then create a new Category name or edit an existing one.

  • Messages — this column specifies the number of messages that exist in a bookmark row. To view these messages, click on the book icon.

  • Flag icon — this sortable column is empty by default, but you can configure it with a chosen flag color to indicate a self-defined level of importance, interest, or critical context that a bookmarked entity represents. You can set a Flag color by right-clicking a bookmark row under the Flag column, clicking the Flags item in the context menu that appears, and then selecting the Flag color in the context submenu.

  • Link icon — this sortable column enables you to attach one or more files to a bookmark, as described in Adding Attachments and Comments.

  • Comment icon — this sortable column enables you to add one or more comments to a bookmark, as described in Adding Attachments and Comments.

  • Pattern icon — becomes active when you are adding a bookmark to a Pattern Group row. This occurs after you select a pattern match in the Matched Instances section of the Pattern Match viewer and then select the Pattern Bookmark command from the Add drop-down menu on the toolbar of the Bookmarks window.

  • Scope — this column is set to Shared by default, which enables all users to see the bookmarks you configure. However, in a future Message Analyzer release, you may be able to limit the scope to Private so that only you can view the bookmarks you configure in a particular set of trace results.

Using the Bookmarks Toolbar Commands

The commands that are available on the Bookmarks toolbar consist of the following:

  • Add drop-down menu — provides the commands that enable you to configure a Message Bookmark or a Pattern Bookmark. The enabled/disabled state of these commands corresponds with the session viewer that is in focus.

  • Delete — enables you to delete a bookmark that you select/highlight in the Bookmark configuration grid.

  • View drop-down list — provides list options that enable you to display bookmarked messages or matched instances in different views:

    • Analysis Grid — select this option to display the messages in a Selected messages group in a separate instance of the Analysis Grid viewer, for analysis of message details and stack information.

    • Message Gantt — select this option to display the messages in a Selected messages group in a separate instance of the Gantt viewer, to correlate the message time range and IP address pair information of the book marked messages.

    • Pattern Viewer — select this option to display the <n> message(s) locator button in the MATCHES pane of the Pattern Match viewer for a Pattern Group bookmark that you selected in the Bookmarks configuration grid. By clicking the message locator, you can display the pattern match instance that corresponds with the Pattern Group bookmark that you selected in the Bookmarks configuration grid. This is the method you will use to redisplay previously book marked pattern match instances.

    • Pattern Gantt — select this option to display the messages of a Pattern Group in a separate instance of the Gantt viewer, to correlate the message time range and IP address pair information of the pattern matched messages.

Adding Bookmarks to an Existing Bookmark or Group

After you create a User Bookmark for one or more messages, or create a Pattern Group bookmark with one or more messages of a MATCHED INSTANCE from the Pattern Match viewer in it, you can continue to add bookmarked messages to either of these entities. You can do this by selecting the Message Bookmark item in the Add drop-down menu to display a submenu that lists any existing User Bookmark or Pattern Group bookmarks. By selecting an existing bookmark or group in this submenu, you will add any message that is highlighted to the selected bookmark or group. This is true whether you are adding highlighted messages in the Analysis Grid viewer or the Pattern Match viewer.

You can use this feature to add messages to a bookmark in any conceivable combination. For example, if you are working in the Pattern Match viewer, you can add the messages of a selected MATCHED INSTANCE to an existing Pattern Group bookmark. You could also add one or more messages that are highlighted in the Analysis Grid viewer to an existing Pattern Match group, or you can add the messages of a MATCHED INSTANCE to an existing User Bookmark.

Adding Attachments and Comments

To attach a file or add a comment to a bookmark, you must first click the book icon in the Name column of the Bookmarks configuration grid for the Selected message or Pattern Group row where you want to attach a file or add a comment. When you click the book icon (or double-click any non-editable field), a drop-down displays with the following three tabs, from where you can perform the indicated tasks:

  • Messages — the default tab that enables you to view all message rows where you added a bookmark, which includes a display of message numbers and a corresponding Summary description for each message in the selected Bookmarks message row. Whether you click the book icon for a Selected messages row or Pattern Group row, the Messages tab displays the same type of information.

  • Links — this tab enables you to add one or more file attachments to a bookmark. You can do this by clicking the open folder icon on the Links tab to launch the Open dialog and navigate to a file you want to attach; then click the + button (green icon with Add Link tooltip) to add the attachment to the attachment list. You can also delete any existing attachment by selecting it in the attachment list and clicking the delete (X) button.

  • Comments — this tab enables you to specify one or more comments for any Bookmarks message row by clicking the +Add button and entering an optional comment Title, descriptive text for the comment, and saving the comment by clicking the Save Changes icon. You can also delete any existing Comment for a selected Bookmarks message row by clicking the delete (X) button.

Tip

You can also configure a comment from the Comments Tool Window, which contains the identical interface components for configuring comments that you use in the Bookmarks window. However, the Comments window enables you to create comments that are independent of bookmark configuration.

  • Patterns — this tab enables you to view all the Pattern Group rows where you added bookmarks. This tab contains a header that specifies the following information for each row of data:

    • Pattern — the name of the Pattern expression that you executed.

    • Instance — the identifying number of the matched instance you selected for a bookmark.

    • Messages — the number of messages that exist in the selected Pattern Group that displays in a Bookmarks configuration row.

Note

The book icon in each data row in the Bookmarks configuration grid is enhanced with certain glyphs whenever a configured bookmark has an attached file and/or a specified comment. These glyphs consist of the same icons that delineate the Link and Comment column headers in the Bookmarks configuration grid, respectively.

Using Context Menu Commands

The Bookmarks Tool Window contains a right-click context menu where you can access several commands that perform the actions indicated below when selected:

  • View Message Range in ‘Analysis Grid’ — enables you to display the range of messages that a bookmark contains in a separate instance of the Analysis Grid viewer.

  • Add Message Range to Filter — enables you to automatically create the code for a view Filter based on the messages contained in a bookmark row. When applied, the filter will remove all messages from the current Analysis Grid viewer instance, except the messages that fall within the range of the selected bookmark. Note that for best results, the Analysis Grid viewer that is in the same session as the Pattern Match viewer must have the focus.

Tip

This makes it convenient to save only the messages that were bookmarked by clicking the Save As item in the Message Analyzer File menu to open the Save/Export Session dialog.

  • Delete Bookmark — enables you to delete any selected bookmark in the Bookmarks configuration grid.

  • Show Details — enables you to expand the details of a selected message row as a drop-down in the Bookmarks window. This action also occurs when you click the book icon in a message row.

  • Flags — enables you to choose a flag color to define a critical issue or level of importance that a particular set of bookmarked messages represents.

  • Open Links — enables you to open one or more files attached to a Bookmarks message row. For example, if an attachment is a trace file, the message contents of the file will display in a separate Analysis Grid viewer session tab. If an attachment is an image, it will open in the default image viewer on your system for the particular file type.

  • Copy Selected Rows — enables you to copy the text in the data columns of a selected Bookmarks data row.

  • Copy ‘columnName’ — enables you to copy the name of certain bookmark columns, for example, the Name and Category columns. The single-quoted text in this command is a placeholder for the actual selected column.

  • Edit ‘columnName’ — enables you to specify and edit the name of certain bookmark columns, for example, the Name and Category columns. The single-quoted text in this command is a placeholder for the actual selected column.

Saving and Loading Trace Files Containing Bookmarks

If you want to save bookmarks that you have configured in a message collection, you can only do so by saving your messages in the Message Analyzer native .matp format. When saving a message collection that contains bookmarks, note that if you use the Export option in the Save/Export Session dialog to save your message collection to a .cap file, bookmarks will not be saved. When you reload a saved message collection containing bookmarks, for example, through Open, Recent Files, or a Data Retrieval Session, the bookmarks you configured will display in the Bookmarks window, which should automatically open when messages are loaded.

Important

If you are adding bookmarks to a file that you loaded into Message Analyzer through a Data Retrieval Session, you must click the Save button on the global Message Analyzer toolbar to save your bookmarks. Otherwise, they will not appear in such a file when you reopen it.

Viewing Bookmarked Data

To view bookmarked messages, load a saved file that contains bookmark data into the Analysis Grid viewer. Also, if you expect to be viewing book marked messages associated with MATCHED INSTANCES of the Pattern Match viewer, you should display the Pattern Match viewer from the New Viewer drop-down list that is accessible from the global Message Analyzer Session menu or on the global toolbar. Also ensure that the Bookmarks Tool Window — which is accessible from the Windows submenu in the global Tools menu — is also displayed.

Thereafter, you can use the following methods to view bookmarked messages:

  • Selected messages drop down — with the Analysis Grid viewer in focus, highlight any Selected messages row in the Bookmarks window and then click the book icon for the selected row to display a drop-down containing your bookmarked message/s. Select each message in the drop-down to drive selection of the associated bookmarked messages in the Analysis Grid viewer.

  • Pattern Group message locator — with the Pattern Match viewer in focus, highlight any Pattern Group row in the Bookmarks window and then select the Pattern Viewer item in the View drop-down list on the Bookmarks toolbar to display the message locator button in the MATCHES pane of the Pattern Match viewer. Then do the following:

    • Click the message locator button to display the pattern match instance (associated with the selected Pattern Group row) in the MATCHED INSTANCES pane of the Pattern Match viewer.

    • Select the matched instance that displays and observe the display of messages associated with the bookmark in the Messages section of the Pattern Match viewer.

    • Select each of these messages to interactively drive selection of each message in the Analysis Grid viewer for further analysis, for example, to examine message Details.

      Note

      To provide a more convenient view of message selection correlation, undock the Pattern Match viewer by dragging it by its tab away from the default location, and then use the docking navigation controls to reposition it directly adjacent to the Analysis Grid viewer.

    More Information
    To learn more about the docking features, see Working with Message Analyzer Window Layouts.

  • Pattern Group drop down — click the book icon to the left of the Pattern Group of interest in the Bookmarks window to display a drop-down that contains the messages associated with a particular bookmarked MATCHED INSTANCE in the Pattern Match viewer.

    You can then click each message in the drop-down to interactively drive selection of corresponding messages in the Analysis Grid viewer. As previously described, you can undock and reposition the Pattern Match viewer for a better view of message selection correlation.

With these methods, you or another user can navigate through all bookmarked messages and pattern match instances.