Netcool/Impact

Solutions Guide

IBM
 Note
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in "Notices".

Edition notice
This edition applies to version 7.1.0.29 of IBM Tivoli Netcool®/Impact and to all subsequent releases and modifications
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© Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2006, 2023.
US Government Users Restricted Rights – Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with
IBM Corp.
Contents

About this publication...........................................................................................ix

Intended audience...................................................................................................................................... ix
Publications................................................................................................................................................. ix
Netcool/Impact library.......................................................................................................................... ix
Accessing terminology online................................................................................................................ix
Accessing publications online............................................................................................................... ix
Ordering publications .............................................................................................................................x
Accessibility..................................................................................................................................................x
Tivoli technical training................................................................................................................................ x
Support for problem solving.........................................................................................................................x
Obtaining fixes........................................................................................................................................ x
Receiving weekly support updates.........................................................................................................x
Contacting IBM Software Support ........................................................................................................ xi
Conventions used in this publication ....................................................................................................... xiii
Typeface conventions ......................................................................................................................... xiii
PDF code examples with single quotation marks............................................................................... xiii
Operating system-dependent variables and paths.............................................................................xiii

Chapter 1. Using Netcool/Impact Solutions............................................................ 1

Solution components................................................................................................................................... 1
Data models............................................................................................................................................1
Working with services.............................................................................................................................1
Policies....................................................................................................................................................1
Solution types.............................................................................................................................................. 1
Event enrichment solution..................................................................................................................... 1
X events in Y time solution..................................................................................................................... 2
Event notification solution......................................................................................................................2
Event gateway solution.......................................................................................................................... 2
Setting up a solution.................................................................................................................................... 2
Creating a data model............................................................................................................................ 3
Setting up services................................................................................................................................. 3
Creating policies..................................................................................................................................... 3
Running a solution....................................................................................................................................... 3

Chapter 2. Working with data models.....................................................................5

Data model components..............................................................................................................................5
Data sources........................................................................................................................................... 5
Configuring data types............................................................................................................................5
Working with data items.........................................................................................................................5
Working with links.................................................................................................................................. 6
Setting up a data model............................................................................................................................... 6
Data model architecture.............................................................................................................................. 7
Data model examples.................................................................................................................................. 7
Enterprise service model........................................................................................................................8
Web hosting model.................................................................................................................................9
Working with data sources........................................................................................................................ 10
Data sources overview......................................................................................................................... 10
Data source categories.........................................................................................................................10
Data source architecture......................................................................................................................12
Setting up data sources........................................................................................................................12

iii
 Working with data types............................................................................................................................ 13
Data types overview............................................................................................................................. 13
Data type categories............................................................................................................................ 13
Data type fields.....................................................................................................................................15
Data type keys ..................................................................................................................................... 17
Setting up data types........................................................................................................................... 17
Data type caching................................................................................................................................. 19
Working with event sources.......................................................................................................................19
Event sources overview........................................................................................................................19
ObjectServer event sources................................................................................................................. 19
Non-ObjectServer event sources.........................................................................................................20
Event source architecture.................................................................................................................... 21
Setting up ObjectServer event sources............................................................................................... 21

Chapter 3. Working with services......................................................................... 23

Services overview...................................................................................................................................... 23
Predefined services................................................................................................................................... 23
User-defined services................................................................................................................................24
OMNIbus event reader service..................................................................................................................24
OMINbus event reader architecture.................................................................................................... 25
OMNIbus event reader process........................................................................................................... 25
Managing the OMNIbusEventReader with an ObjectServer pair for New Events or Inserts............. 28
Preventing an event from being reread while being processed..........................................................30
Additional customization using the ReturnEvent function to update one or more fields in
Netcool/OMNIbus........................................................................................................................... 31
Additional customization using a field other than ImpactFlag........................................................... 32
Changing the default JDBC gateway name for the Event Reader service.......................................... 32
Stopping the OMNIbus event reader retrying a connection on hitting an error................................. 32
Controlling how many times the Event Reader re-reads the same events........................................ 33
Handling Serial rollover........................................................................................................................ 33
Scenario Using a correlation policy and the OMNIbus ObjectServer event reader service to
solve flood events........................................................................................................................... 34
Database event listener service................................................................................................................ 36
Setting up the database server............................................................................................................ 36
Configuring the database event listener service ................................................................................ 40
Sending database events..................................................................................................................... 40
Writing database event policies...........................................................................................................52
OMNIbus event listener service................................................................................................................ 54
Setting up the OMNIbus event listener service...................................................................................54
How to check the OMNIbus event listener service logs .....................................................................54
Creating Triggers.................................................................................................................................. 55
Using the ReturnEvent function........................................................................................................... 56
Subscribing to individual channels...................................................................................................... 56
Controlling which events get sent over from OMNIbus to Netcool/Impact using Spid .................... 57

Chapter 4. Handling events.................................................................................. 59

Events overview......................................................................................................................................... 59
Event container and event variables......................................................................................................... 59
Using the dot notation to access the event fields..................................................................................... 59
Using the @ notation to access the event fields....................................................................................... 60
Updating event fields................................................................................................................................. 60
Adding journal entries to events................................................................................................................60
Assigning the JournalEntry variable.................................................................................................... 61
Sending new events................................................................................................................................... 61
Deleting events.......................................................................................................................................... 62
Examples of deleting an incoming event from the event source........................................................ 62

iv
Chapter 5. Handling data..................................................................................... 63
Working with data items............................................................................................................................ 63
Field variables...................................................................................................................................... 63
DataItem and DataItems variables......................................................................................................63
Retrieving data by filter..............................................................................................................................63
Working with filters.............................................................................................................................. 63
Retrieving data by filter in a policy.......................................................................................................66
Retrieving data by key................................................................................................................................68
Keys...................................................................................................................................................... 68
Key expressions....................................................................................................................................68
Retrieving data by key in a policy.........................................................................................................69
Retrieving data by link............................................................................................................................... 70
Links overview...................................................................................................................................... 70
Retrieving data by link in a policy........................................................................................................ 70
Adding data................................................................................................................................................ 71
Example of adding a data item to a data type..................................................................................... 72
Updating data.............................................................................................................................................72
Example of updating single data items................................................................................................73
Example of updating multiple data items............................................................................................73
Deleting data.............................................................................................................................................. 74
Example of deleting single data items.................................................................................................74
Example of deleting data items by filter.............................................................................................. 74
Example of deleting data items by item.............................................................................................. 75
Calling database functions........................................................................................................................ 75

Chapter 6. Setting up the Slack Integration project...............................................77

Chapter 7. Event enrichment tutorial....................................................................81

Tutorial overview........................................................................................................................................81
Understanding the Netcool/Impact installation....................................................................................... 81
Understanding the business data..............................................................................................................81
Analyzing the workflow..............................................................................................................................82
Creating the project................................................................................................................................... 82
Setting up the data model......................................................................................................................... 83
Creating the event source.................................................................................................................... 83
Creating the data sources.................................................................................................................... 84
Creating the data types........................................................................................................................ 84
Creating a dynamic link........................................................................................................................ 85
Reviewing the data model....................................................................................................................86
Setting up services.....................................................................................................................................86
Creating the event reader.....................................................................................................................86
Reviewing the services.........................................................................................................................86
Writing the policy....................................................................................................................................... 86
Looking up device information............................................................................................................. 87
Looking up business departments.......................................................................................................87
Increasing the alert severity................................................................................................................ 88
Reviewing the policy.............................................................................................................................89
Running the solution..................................................................................................................................89

Chapter 8. Configuring the Impact policy PasstoTBSM.......................................... 91

Overview.................................................................................................................................................... 91
Configuration..............................................................................................................................................91
Exporting and Importing the ForImpactMigration project....................................................................... 92
Creating a policy.........................................................................................................................................92
Creating a policy activator service.............................................................................................................94
Create a new template and rule to collect weather data......................................................................... 94

v
 Create the CityHumidity rule for the CityWeather template.....................................................................96
Create a city service...................................................................................................................................97
Customizing a Service Tree portlet............................................................................................................98
Adding a custom Services portlet to a freeform page.............................................................................. 99

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider............................ 101

Getting started with the UI data provider............................................................................................... 101
UI data provider components............................................................................................................ 102
Configuring user authentication........................................................................................................ 102
Data types and the UI data provider..................................................................................................102
Integrating chart widgets and the UI data provider..........................................................................103
Names reserved for the UI data provider..........................................................................................104
General steps for integrating the UI data provider and the console................................................ 104
Accessing data from Netcool/Impact policies........................................................................................106
Configuring policy settings.................................................................................................................107
Accessing Netcool/Impact object variables in a policy.................................................................... 108
Accessing data types output by the GetByFilter function........................................................... 109
Accessing data types output by the DirectSQL function............................................................... 110
Accessing an array of Impact objects with the UI data provider......................................................111
UI data provider and the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub..................................................... 113
Filtering data in the console...............................................................................................................113
Integrating the tree widget with an Impact object or an array of Impact objects........................... 114
Integrating data from a policy with the topology widget.................................................................. 117
Displaying status and percentage in a widget...................................................................................119
Controlling node images in the topology widget...............................................................................121
Setting the topology node to have multiple parents in the topology widget....................................123
UI data provider custom-defined Status functionality for Dashboard Application Services Hub.........126
Configuring custom-defined Status values and names.................................................................... 126
Using the new Status objects............................................................................................................ 127
Visualizing data from the UI data provider in the console..................................................................... 129
Example scenario overview............................................................................................................... 129
Visualizing data from the Netcool/Impact self service dashboards...................................................... 157
Installing the Netcool/Impact Self Service Dashboard widgets.......................................................157
Editing an Input Form widget............................................................................................................ 158
Editing a Button widget...................................................................................................................... 159
Reference topics...................................................................................................................................... 161
Large data model support for the UI data provider...........................................................................161
UI data provider customization......................................................................................................... 166
Column labels in the browser locale inside the console...................................................................169
Customizing tooltips to display field value descriptions...................................................................171
Known issue when viewing field values when a mouse hovers over a column................................172
Accessing the Netcool/Impact UI data provider...............................................................................172
Known issue with JavaScript and the UI data provider.................................................................... 173
Running policies and accessing output parameters......................................................................... 173
Mapping field types to the correct output parameters in UI Data Provider .................................... 174
Customizing a topology widget layout...............................................................................................174

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact............................................181

Introducing OSLC.....................................................................................................................................181
OSLC resources and identifiers..........................................................................................................183
OSLC roles.......................................................................................................................................... 183
Working with data types and OSLC......................................................................................................... 183
Accessing Netcool/Impact data types as OSLC resources............................................................... 184
Retrieving OSLC resources that represent Netcool/Impact data items........................................... 185
Displaying results for unique key identifier....................................................................................... 186
OSLC resource shapes for data types................................................................................................186
Configuring custom URIs for data types and user output parameters.............................................189

vi
 Working with the OSLC service provider................................................................................................. 190
Creating OSLC service providers in Netcool/Impact.........................................................................191
Registering OSLC service providers with Netcool/Impact................................................................ 192
Registering OSLC resources...............................................................................................................194
Working with Netcool/Impact policies and OSLC................................................................................... 202
Accessing policy output parameters as OSLC resources..................................................................202
Configuring custom URIs for policy results and variables................................................................ 212
Passing argument values to a policy..................................................................................................214
Configuring hover previews for OSLC resources.....................................................................................214
Hover preview properties for OSLC resources.................................................................................. 216
Example scenario: Using OSLC with Netcool/Impact policies............................................................... 218
OSLC reference topics............................................................................................................................. 219
OSLC urls............................................................................................................................................ 219
OSLC pagination................................................................................................................................. 220
Support for OSLC query syntax.......................................................................................................... 221
RDF functions..................................................................................................................................... 226

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting .........................................239

SLO terminology overview....................................................................................................................... 240
SLO reporting prerequisites.....................................................................................................................241
SLO reporting migration considerations................................................................................................. 241
Updating the SLORPRT database schema.........................................................................................241
Importing the projects for SLO.......................................................................................................... 242
SLO sample report..............................................................................................................................243
Installing and enabling SLO report package........................................................................................... 244
Defining service definition properties..................................................................................................... 245
Service definition properties file........................................................................................................246
Configuring the time zone.................................................................................................................. 249
Configuring business calendars.............................................................................................................. 250
Creating common properties in business calendars.........................................................................251
Business calendar properties file...................................................................................................... 252
Retrieving SLA metric data...................................................................................................................... 254
SLO reporting policies........................................................................................................................ 254
SLO reporting policy functions...........................................................................................................255
Using the getDataFromTBSMAvailability sample policy................................................................... 258
Configuring getDataFromTBSMAvailability........................................................................................258
Reports.....................................................................................................................................................259
Example SLO reporting configuration..................................................................................................... 259
Properties files examples........................................................................................................................ 261
Operational hours service level example.......................................................................................... 261
Single SLA example............................................................................................................................262
Time zone example............................................................................................................................ 262
Simple service definition example.....................................................................................................263
Multiple identities in a service definition example............................................................................263
Common US calendar properties.......................................................................................................264
US Calendar example.........................................................................................................................264
Common calendar properties file example....................................................................................... 265
Canada calendar example................................................................................................................. 265
SLO Utility Functions................................................................................................................................265
Maintaining the reporting data in the SLORPRT database................................................................ 266
Removing service, SLA, and calendar definitions............................................................................. 266
Exporting service and calendar definitions....................................................................................... 267
Removing specific outage data.......................................................................................................... 268
Restoring outage data........................................................................................................................ 268
Setting SLO configuration values....................................................................................................... 269

Chapter 12. Configuring Maintenance Window Management............................... 271

vii
 Activating MWM in a Netcool/Impact cluster......................................................................................... 271
Configure the MWM_Properties policy.............................................................................................. 271
Configuring MWMActivator service properties..................................................................................272
Logging on to Maintenance Window Management............................................................................273
About MWM maintenance windows.................................................................................................. 273

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation..................................... 277

Overview.................................................................................................................................................. 277
Installing Netcool/Impact and the DB2 database..................................................................................278
Installing the Discovery Library Toolkit...................................................................................................278
Updating the RCA views.....................................................................................................................279
Event Isolation and Correlation policies................................................................................................. 281
Event Isolation and Correlation Services................................................................................................282
Event Isolation and Correlation operator views..................................................................................... 282
Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation data sources.....................................................................282
Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation data types.........................................................................283
Configuring policies for Event Isolation and Correlation........................................................................284
Creating, editing, and deleting event rules............................................................................................. 284
Creating an event rule........................................................................................................................ 285
Configuring WebGUI to add a new launch point.....................................................................................286
Launching the Event Isolation and Correlation analysis page ...............................................................286
Viewing the Event Analysis......................................................................................................................287
Visualizing Event Isolation and Correlation results in a topology widget.............................................. 287
Reference information for the Service Component Repository API ......................................................289
Components of the SCR API.............................................................................................................. 289
Creating a Netcool/Impact policy using the SCR API....................................................................... 297

Chapter 14. Simple email notification.................................................................299

Installation...............................................................................................................................................299
Creating the database table...............................................................................................................299
Importing Netcool/Impact Artifacts..................................................................................................300
Updating the email service................................................................................................................ 300
Importing the exported page into the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub...........................300
Creating a Remote Connection................................................................................................................301
Updating the Object Server data source configuration.....................................................................301
Email notification GUI..............................................................................................................................301
Creating an email notification............................................................................................................ 302
Viewing configured email notifications and sample results............................................................. 302
Activating email notifications............................................................................................................ 302
Using DB2 as the database .....................................................................................................................302
Creating the database and the table................................................................................................. 303
Updating the notificationConstants policy..............................................................................................303

Index................................................................................................................ 305

viii
About this publication
The Solutions Guide contains end-to-end information about using features in Netcool/Impact.

Intended audience
This publication is for users who are responsible creating Netcool/Impact data models, writing Netcool/
Impact policies and running Netcool/Impact services.

Publications
This section lists publications in the Netcool/Impact library and related documents. The section also
describes how to access Tivoli® publications online and how to order Tivoli publications.

Netcool/Impact library
• Administration Guide
Provides information about installing, running and monitoring the product.
• Policy Reference Guide
Contains complete description and reference information for the Impact Policy Language (IPL).
• DSA Reference Guide
Provides information about data source adaptors (DSAs).
• Operator View Guide
Provides information about creating operator views.
• Solutions Guide
Provides end-to-end information about using features of Netcool/Impact.

Accessing terminology online

The IBM® Terminology Web site consolidates the terminology from IBM product libraries in one
convenient location. You can access the Terminology Web site at the following Web address:
http://www.ibm.com/software/globalization/terminology

Accessing publications online

Publications are available from the following locations:
• The Quick Start DVD contains the Quick Start Guide. Refer to the readme file on the DVD for instructions
on how to access the documentation.
• IBM Knowledge Center web site at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v8r1/topic/
com.ibm.netcoolimpact.doc6.1.1/welcome.html. IBM posts publications for all Tivoli products, as they
become available and whenever they are updated to the Tivoli Information Center Web site.
Note: If you print PDF documents on paper other than letter-sized paper, set the option in the File →
Print window that allows Adobe Reader to print letter-sized pages on your local paper.
• Tivoli Documentation Central at http://www.ibm.com/tivoli/documentation. You can access publications
of the previous and current versions of Netcool/Impact from Tivoli Documentation Central.
• The Netcool/Impact wiki contains additional short documents and additional information
and is available at: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#!/wiki/
Tivoli%20Netcool%20Impact/page/Overview%20and%20Planning

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 ix

Ordering publications
You can order many Tivoli publications online at http://www.elink.ibmlink.ibm.com/publications/servlet/
pbi.wss.
You can also order by telephone by calling one of these numbers:
• In the United States: 800-879-2755
• In Canada: 800-426-4968
In other countries, contact your software account representative to order Tivoli publications. To locate the
telephone number of your local representative, perform the following steps:
1. Go to http://www.elink.ibmlink.ibm.com/publications/servlet/pbi.wss.
2. Select your country from the list and click Go.
3. Click About this site in the main panel to see an information page that includes the telephone number
of your local representative.

Accessibility
Accessibility features help users with a physical disability, such as restricted mobility or limited vision,
to use software products successfully. In this release, the Netcool/Impact console does not meet all the
accessibility requirements.

Tivoli technical training

For Tivoli technical training information, refer to the following IBM Tivoli Education Web site at http://
www.ibm.com/software/tivoli/education.

Support for problem solving

If you have a problem with your IBM software, you want to resolve it quickly. This section describes the
following options for obtaining support for IBM software products:
• “Obtaining fixes” on page x
• “Receiving weekly support updates” on page x
• “Contacting IBM Software Support ” on page xi

Obtaining fixes
A product fix might be available to resolve your problem. To determine which fixes are available for your
Tivoli software product, follow these steps:
1. Go to the IBM Software Support Web site at http://www.ibm.com/software/support.
2. Navigate to the Downloads page.
3. Follow the instructions to locate the fix you want to download.
4. If there is no Download heading for your product, supply a search term, error code, or APAR number in
the search field.
For more information about the types of fixes that are available, see the IBM Software Support Handbook
at http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/handbook/home.html.

Receiving weekly support updates

To receive weekly e-mail notifications about fixes and other software support news, follow these steps:
1. Go to the IBM Software Support Web site at http://www.ibm.com/software/support.
2. Click the My IBM in the toobar. Click My technical support.

x About this publication

 3. If you have already registered for My technical support, sign in and skip to the next step. If you have
not registered, click register now. Complete the registration form using your e-mail address as your
IBM ID and click Submit.
4. The Edit profile tab is displayed.
5. In the first list under Products, select Software. In the second list, select a product category (for
example, Systems and Asset Management). In the third list, select a product sub-category (for
example, Application Performance & Availability or Systems Performance). A list of applicable
products is displayed.
6. Select the products for which you want to receive updates.
7. Click Add products.
8. After selecting all products that are of interest to you, click Subscribe to email on the Edit profile
tab.
9. In the Documents list, select Software.
10. Select Please send these documents by weekly email.
11. Update your e-mail address as needed.
12. Select the types of documents you want to receive.
13. Click Update.
If you experience problems with the My technical support feature, you can obtain help in one of the
following ways:
Online
Send an e-mail message to [email protected], describing your problem.
By phone
Call 1-800-IBM-4You (1-800-426-4409).
World Wide Registration Help desk
For word wide support information check the details in the following link: https://www.ibm.com/
account/profile/us?page=reghelpdesk

Contacting IBM Software Support

Before contacting IBM Software Support, your company must have an active IBM software maintenance
contract, and you must be authorized to submit problems to IBM. The type of software maintenance
contract that you need depends on the type of product you have:
• For IBM distributed software products (including, but not limited to, Tivoli, Lotus®, and Rational®
products, and DB2® and WebSphere® products that run on Windows or UNIX operating systems), enroll
in Passport Advantage® in one of the following ways:
Online
Go to the Passport Advantage Web site at http://www-306.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/
passportadvantage/pao_customers.htm .
By phone
For the phone number to call in your country, go to the IBM Worldwide IBM Registration Helpdesk
Web site at https://www.ibm.com/account/profile/us?page=reghelpdesk.
• For customers with Subscription and Support (S & S) contracts, go to the Software Service Request Web
site at https://techsupport.services.ibm.com/ssr/login.
• For customers with IBMLink, CATIA, Linux®, OS/390®, iSeries, pSeries, zSeries, and other support
agreements, go to the IBM Support Line Web site at http://www.ibm.com/services/us/index.wss/so/its/
a1000030/dt006.
• For IBM eServer™ software products (including, but not limited to, DB2 and WebSphere products
that run in zSeries, pSeries, and iSeries environments), you can purchase a software maintenance
agreement by working directly with an IBM sales representative or an IBM Business Partner. For more

About this publication xi

 information about support for eServer software products, go to the IBM Technical Support Advantage
Web site at http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/techsupport.html.
If you are not sure what type of software maintenance contract you need, call 1-800-IBMSERV
(1-800-426-7378) in the United States. From other countries, go to the contacts page of the
IBM Software Support Handbook on the Web at http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/
handbook/home.html and click the name of your geographic region for phone numbers of people who
provide support for your location.
To contact IBM Software support, follow these steps:
1. “Determining the business impact” on page xii
2. “Describing problems and gathering information” on page xii
3. “Submitting problems” on page xii

Determining the business impact

When you report a problem to IBM, you are asked to supply a severity level. Use the following criteria to
understand and assess the business impact of the problem that you are reporting:
Severity 1
The problem has a critical business impact. You are unable to use the program, resulting in a critical
impact on operations. This condition requires an immediate solution.
Severity 2
The problem has a significant business impact. The program is usable, but it is severely limited.
Severity 3
The problem has some business impact. The program is usable, but less significant features (not
critical to operations) are unavailable.
Severity 4
The problem has minimal business impact. The problem causes little impact on operations, or a
reasonable circumvention to the problem was implemented.

Describing problems and gathering information

When describing a problem to IBM, be as specific as possible. Include all relevant background
information so that IBM Software Support specialists can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save
time, know the answers to these questions:
• Which software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
• Do you have logs, traces, and messages that are related to the problem symptoms? IBM Software
Support is likely to ask for this information.
• Can you re-create the problem? If so, what steps were performed to re-create the problem?
• Did you make any changes to the system? For example, did you make changes to the hardware,
operating system, networking software, and so on.
• Are you currently using a workaround for the problem? If so, be prepared to explain the workaround
when you report the problem.

Submitting problems
You can submit your problem to IBM Software Support in one of two ways:
Online
Click Submit and track problems on the IBM Software Support site at http://www.ibm.com/software/
support/probsub.html. Type your information into the appropriate problem submission form.
By phone
For the phone number to call in your country, go to the contacts page of the IBM Software Support
Handbook at http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/handbook/home.html and click the
name of your geographic region.

xii About this publication

 If the problem you submit is for a software defect or for missing or inaccurate documentation, IBM
Software Support creates an Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR). The APAR describes the
problem in detail. Whenever possible, IBM Software Support provides a workaround that you can
implement until the APAR is resolved and a fix is delivered. IBM publishes resolved APARs on the
Software Support Web site daily, so that other users who experience the same problem can benefit from
the same resolution.

Conventions used in this publication

This publication uses several conventions for special terms and actions, operating system-dependent
commands and paths, and margin graphics.

Typeface conventions
This publication uses the following typeface conventions:
Bold
• Lowercase commands and mixed case commands that are otherwise difficult to distinguish from
surrounding text
• Interface controls (check boxes, push buttons, radio buttons, spin buttons, fields, folders, icons,
list boxes, items inside list boxes, multicolumn lists, containers, menu choices, menu names, tabs,
property sheets), labels (such as Tip:, and Operating system considerations:)
• Keywords and parameters in text
Italic
• Citations examples: titles of publications, diskettes, and CDs
• Words defined in text (example: a nonswitched line is called a point-to-point line)
• Emphasis of words and letters (words as words example: "Use the word that to introduce a
restrictive clause."; letters as letters example: "The LUN address must start with the letter L.")
• New terms in text (except in a definition list): a view is a frame in a workspace that contains data.
• Variables and values you must provide: ... where myname represents....
Monospace
• Examples and code examples
• File names, programming keywords, and other elements that are difficult to distinguish from
surrounding text
• Message text and prompts addressed to the user
• Text that the user must type
• Values for arguments or command options

PDF code examples with single quotation marks

How to resolve issues with PDF code examples with single quotation marks.
Throughout the documentation, there are code examples that you can copy and paste into the product.
In instances where code or policy examples that contain single quotation marks are copied from the PDF
documentation the code examples do not preserve the single quotation marks. You need to correct them
manually. To avoid this issue, copy and paste the code example content from the html version of the
documentation.

Operating system-dependent variables and paths

This publication uses the UNIX convention for specifying environment variables and for directory notation.

About this publication xiii

 When you use the Windows command line, replace the $variable with the %variable% for environment
variables and replace each forward slash (/) with a backslash (\) in directory paths. The names of
environment variables are not always the same in the Windows and UNIX environments. For example,
%TEMP% in Windows environments is equivalent to $TMPDIR in UNIX environments.
Note: If you are using the bash shell on a Windows system, you can use the UNIX conventions.
• On UNIX systems, the default installation directory is /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact.
• On Windows systems, the default installation directory is C:\Program Files\IBM\Tivoli\impact.
Windows information, steps, and process are documented when they differ from UNIX systems.

xiv Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 1. Using Netcool/Impact Solutions
A solution is an implementation of Netcool/Impact that provides a specific type of event management
functionality.
This section contains information about creating data sources, data types, services and policies to set
up event management. It also contains end-to-end information about the following features in Netcool/
Impact:
• Event enrichment
• Netcool/Impact as a UI data provider.
• Visualizing data from the UI data provider in the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub in Jazz for
Service Management.
• Visualizing data from the Netcool/Impact self service dashboards in the IBM Dashboard Application
Services Hub in Jazz for Service Management.
• Working with OSLC and Netcool/Impact.
• Setting up Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting.
• Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation.
• Configuring Maintenance Window Management.
• SLO reports.

Solution components
The components of a solution are a data model, services, and policies.
Most solutions use a combination of these three components.

Data models
A data model is a model of the business and metadata used in a Netcool/Impact solution.
A data model consists of data sources, data types, data items, links, and event sources.

Working with services

Services are runnable components of the Impact Server that you start and stop using both the GUI and
the CLI.

Policies
A policy is a set of operations that you want Netcool/Impact to perform.
These operations are specified using one of the following programming languages, JavaScript or a
language called the Netcool/Impact policy language (IPL).

Solution types
You can use Netcool/Impact to implement a wide variety of solution types. Some common types are event
enrichment, X events in Y time, event notification, and event gateways.

Event enrichment solution

Event enrichment is the process by which Netcool/Impact monitors an event source for new events, looks
up information related to them in an external data source and then adds the information to them.
An event enrichment solution consists of the following components:

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 1

 • A data model that represents the data you want to add to events
• An OMNIbus event reader service that monitors the event source
• One or more event enrichment policies that look up information related to the events and add the
information to them
For a sample event enrichment solution, see Chapter 7, “Event enrichment tutorial,” on page 81.

X events in Y time solution

X events in Y time is the process in which Netcool/Impact monitors an event source for groups of events
that occur together and takes the appropriate action based on the event information.
An X events in Y time solution consists of the following components:
• A data model that contains internal data types that are used to store metadata for the solution.
• An OMNIbus event reader service that monitors the event source.
• The hibernation activator service, which wakes hibernating policies at timed intervals.
• One or more policies that check the event source to see if a specified group of events is occurring and
then take the appropriate action.
For information about removing disassociated files that result from XinY policy, see the Troubleshooting
section.

Event notification solution

Event notification is the process by which Netcool/Impact monitors an event source for new events and
then notifies an administrator or users when a certain event or combination of events occurs.
Event notification is often part of a more complicated event management automation that includes
aspects of Netcool/Impact functionality.
An event notification solution has the following components:
• An event reader service that monitors the event source
• An e-mail sender service that sends e-mail to administrators or users, or the JRExec server used to
launch an external notification program
• One or more policies that perform the event notification

Event gateway solution

An event gateway is an implementation of Netcool/Impact in which you send event information from the
ObjectServer to a third-party application for processing.
An event gateway solution has the following components
• A data model that includes a data source and data type representing the third-party application
• An OMNIbus event reader service that monitors the event source
• One or more policies that send event information to the third-party application

Setting up a solution
To set up a Netcool/Impact solution, you create a data model, set up services, and create policies.
For more information, see “Setting up a solution” on page 2.

2 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Creating a data model
While it is possible to design a solution that does not require a data model, almost all uses of Netcool/
Impact require the ability to handle internal or external data of some sort.
To create a data model, you create a data source for each real world source of data that you want to use.
Then, you create a data type for each structural element (for example, a database table) that contains the
data you want to use.
Alternatively, you can create dynamic links between data types or static links between data items that
make it easier to traverse the data programmatically from within a policy.

Setting up services
Different types of solutions require different sets of services, but most solutions require an OMNIbus
event reader.
Solutions that use hibernations also require the hibernating policy activator. Solutions that receive, or
send email require an email reader and the email sender service.
The first category of services is built in services like the event processor and the command-line service
manager. You can have only a single instance of this type of service in Netcool/Impact. The second
category is services like the event reader and policy activator. You can create and configure multiple
instances of this type of service.

Creating policies
You create policies in the GUI Server, that contains a policy editor, a syntax checker, and other tools you
need to write, run, test, and debug your policies.
For more information, see Managing Polices section in IBM Documentation or the Netcool/Impact Policy
Reference Guide.

Running a solution
To start a solution, you start each of the service components.
Start the components in the following order:
• Hibernating policy activator, e-mail sender, and command execution manager.
• Event processor
• Event reader, event listener, e-mail reader, or policy activator
You can configure services to run automatically at startup, or you can start them manually using the GUI
and CLI. By default, services that run automatically at startup run in the proper order. If all other services
are already running, starting services like the event processor that trigger policies effectively starts the
solution.
To stop a solution, you stop any services, like the event processor, that trigger your policies.

Chapter 1. Using Netcool/Impact Solutions 3

4 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide
Chapter 2. Working with data models
You set up a data model once, when you first design your Netcool/Impact solution.
After that, you do not need to actively manage the data model unless you change the solution design. You
can view, create, edit, and delete the components of a data model in the GUI Server.

Data model components

A data model is made up of components that represent real world sources of data and the actual data
inside them.
Data sources
Data sources are elements of the data model that represent real world sources of data in your
environment.
Data types
Data types are elements of the data model that represent sets of data stored in a data source.
Data items
Data items are elements of the data model that represent actual units of data stored in a data source.
Links
Links are elements of the data model that define relationships between data types and data items.
Event sources
Event sources are special types of data sources. Each event source represents an application that
stores and manages events.

Data sources
Data sources are elements of the data model that represent real world sources of data in your
environment.
These sources of data include third-party SQL databases, LDAP directory servers, or other applications
such as messaging systems and network inventory applications.
Data sources contain the information that you need to connect to the external data. You create a data
source for each physical source of data that you want to use in your Netcool/Impact solution. When you
create an SQL database, LDAP, or Mediator data type, you associate it with the data source that you
created. All associated data types are listed under the data source in the Data Sources and Types task
pane.

Configuring data types

Data types are elements of the data model that represent sets of data stored in a data source.
The structure of data types depends on the category of data source where it is stored. For example, if the
data source is an SQL database, each data type corresponds to a database table. If the data source is an
LDAP server, each data type corresponds to a type of node in the LDAP hierarchy.

Working with data items

Data items are elements of the data model that represent actual units of data stored in a data source.
The structure of this unit of data depends on the category of the associated data source. For example, if
the data source is an SQL database data type, each data item corresponds to a row in a database table. If
the data source is an LDAP server, each data item corresponds to a node in the LDAP hierarchy.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 5

Working with links
Links are elements of the data model that define relationships between data types and data items.
You set up links after you create the data types that are required by your solution. Static links define
relationships between data items, and dynamic links define relationships between data types. Links are
an optional component of the Netcool/Impact data model. When you write policies, you can use the
GetByLinks function to traverse the links and retrieve data items that are linked to other data items.

Setting up a data model

To set up a data model, you must first determine what data you need to use in your solution and where
that data is stored. Then, you create a data source for each real world source of data and create a data
type for each structural element that contains the data you need.

Procedure
1. Create data sources
Identify the data you want to use and where it is stored. Then, you create one data source for each real
world source of data. For example, if the data is stored in one MySQL database and one LDAP server,
you must create one MySQL and one LDAP data source.
2. Create data types
After you have set up the data sources, you create the required data types. You must create one data
type for each database table (or other data element, depending on the data source) that contains data
you want to use. For example, if the data is stored in two tables in an Oracle database, you must create
one data type for each table.
3. Optional: Create data items
For most data types, the best practice is to create data items using the native tools supplied by the
data source. For example, if your data source is an Oracle database, you can add any required data to
the database using the native Oracle tools. If the data source is the internal data repository, you must
create data items using the GUI.
4. Optional: Create links
After you create data types, you can define linking relationships between them using dynamic links.
You can also define linking relationships between internal data items using static links. That makes it
easier to traverse the data programmatically from within a policy. Use of links is optional.

5. Create event sources

Most process events are retrieved from a Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer. The ObjectServer is
represented in the data model as an event source.

6 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Data model architecture
This diagram shows the relationship between data sources, data types, and data items in a Netcool/
Impact solution.

Figure 1. Data Model Architecture

Data model examples

The examples provided here are, most likely, scaled down versions of data models you might be required
to implement in the real world.
They are designed to give you an idea of how all the different parts of a data model work together, rather
than provide a realistic sampling of every type of data you might access with Netcool/Impact.
If you are uncertain about the definition of major concepts mentioned in these examples, such as data
sources or data types, you can skip ahead to the next four chapters of this book, which provide detailed
information about the various components of the data model. Once you have a better understanding of
these concepts, you can return to this section.

Chapter 2. Working with data models 7

Enterprise service model
The enterprise service model is a data model that is designed for use in an enterprise service
environment.
The enterprise service environment is one of the most common network management scenarios for the
Netcool product suite. While the data model described in this section is relatively simple, real world
enterprise environments can often rival a small telecommunications or ISP environment in complexity.
The goal of the data model in this example is to provide the means to access a set of business data that
has been previously collected and stored in an external database. This business data contains information
about the users, departments, locations, and servers in the enterprise. If you were designing a complete
solution for this environment, you would tap into this data model from within policies whenever you
needed to access this data.
The enterprise service environment in this example consists of 125 users in five business departments,
spread over three locations. Each user in the environment has a desktop computer and uses it to connect
to a file server and an email server.
The solution proposed to manage this environment is designed to monitor the file servers and e-mail
servers for uptime. When a file server goes down, it notifies the on-call administrator through email with a
service request message. It also determines which business units are served by the file server and sends
an e-mail to each user in the unit with a service interruption message. When an e-mail server goes down,
it notifies the on-call administrator through pager.
All the data used by this solution is stored in a MySQL database. This database has six tables, named
USER, ADMIN, DEPT, LOC, FILESERVER, and EMAILSERVER.

Enterprise service model elements

The enterprise service model consists of data sources, data types, data items, links, and event sources.
Data sources
Because all the data needed is stored in a single MySQL database, this data model only requires one
data source. For the purposes of this example, the data source is named MYSQL_01.
Data types
Each table in the MYSQL database is represented by a single SQL database data type. For the
purposes of this example, the data types are named User, Admin, Department, Location,
Fileserver, and Emailserver. In this case, the names of the data types are the same as the
table names.
Data items
Because the data is stored in an SQL database, the data items in the model are rows in the
corresponding database tables.
Links
Links represent relationships between data types. The relationship between the data types in this
data model can be described as a set of the following dynamic links:
• User -> Department
• User -> Location
• Location -> Emailserver
• Department -> Fileserver
• Emailserver -> Location.
• Fileserver -> Departments
• Administrator -> Location
Event sources
This data model has a single event source, which represents the Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer that
stores events related to activity in their environment.

8 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Web hosting model
The Web hosting model is a data model designed for use in a Web hosting environment.
The Web hosting environment is another common network management scenario for the Netcool product
suite. Managing a Web hosting environment presents some unique challenges. It requires you to assure
the uptime of services, such as the availability of customer websites, that consist of groups of interrelated
software and hardware devices, in addition to assuring the uptime of the devices themselves. As with
the other examples in the chapter, the web services hosting environment that is described here is scaled
down from what you might encounter in the real world.
The goal of the data model in this example is to provide the means to access a set of device inventory and
service management data that is generated and updated in real time by a set of third-party application.
This data contains information about the server hardware that is in racks in the hosting facility and various
other data that describes how instances of HTTP and email server software is installed and configured
on the hardware. Policies that are developed for use with this information would tap into this data model
whenever they needed to access this data.
The Web services hosting model in this example consists of 10 HTTP server clusters and three email
servers clusters, spread over 20 machines. Each HTTP cluster and each email cluster consist of one
primary and one backup server. This environment serves 15 customers whose use is distributed across
one or more clusters, depending on their service agreement.
The solution that manages this environment is designed to monitor the uptime of the HTTP and email
services. When a problem occurs with one of these services, it determines the identity of the cluster
that is causing the problem and the hardware where the component server instances are installed. It
then modifies the original alert data in Netcool/OMNIbus to reflect this information. This solution also
determines the customer that is associated with the service failure and sets the priority of the alert to
reflect the customer's service agreement.
The data in this model is stored in two separate Oracle databases. The first database has five tables that
are named Node, HTTPInstance, HTTPCluster, EmailInstance, and EmailCluster. The second
database is a customer service database that has, among other tables, one named Customer.

Web hosting model elements

The Web hosting model consists of data sources, data types, data items, and links.
Data sources
Because this model has two real world sources of data, it requires two data sources. For this example,
these sources are called ORACLE_01 and ORACLE_02.
Data types
Each table in the MySQL database is represented by a single SQL database data type. For
the purposes of this example, the data types are named Node, HTTPInstance, HTTPCluster,
EmailInstance, EmailCluster, and Customer.
Data items
Because the data is stored in an SQL database, the data items in the model are rows in the
corresponding database tables.
Links
The relationship between the data types in this data model can be described as a set of the following
dynamic links:
• HTTPServer -> Node
• EmailServer -> Node
• HTTPServer -> HTTPCluster
• EmailServer -> EmailCluster
• Customer -> HTTPCluster
• Customer -> HTTPServer

Chapter 2. Working with data models 9

Working with data sources
A data source is an element of the data model that represents a real world source of data in your
environment.

Data sources overview

Data sources provide an abstract layer between Netcool/Impact and real world source of data.
Internally, data sources provide connection and other information that Netcool/Impact uses to access the
data. When you create a data model, you must create one data source for every real world source of data
you want to access in a policy.
The internal data repository of Netcool/Impact can also be used as a data source.

Data source categories

Netcool/Impact supports four categories of data sources.
SQL database data sources
An SQL database data source represents a relational database or another source of data that can be
accessed using an SQL database DSA.
LDAP data sources
The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) data source represent LDAP directory servers.
Mediator data sources
Mediator data sources represent third-party applications that are integrated with Netcool/Impact
through the DSA Mediator.
JMS data sources
A Java™ Message Service (JMS) data source abstracts the information that is required to connect to a
JMS Implementation.

SQL database data sources

An SQL database data source represents a relational database or another source of data that can be
accessed using an SQL database DSA.
A wide variety of commercial relational databases are supported, such as Oracle, Sybase, and Microsoft
SQL Server. In addition, freely available databases like MySQL, and PostgreSQL are also supported. The
Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer is also supported as a SQL data source.
The configuration properties for the data source specify connection information for the underlying source
of data. Some examples of SQL database data sources are:
• A DB2 database
• A MySQL database
• An application that provides a generic ODBC interface
• A character-delimited text file
You create SQL database data sources using the GUI. You must create one such data source for each
database that you want to access. When you create an SQL database data source, you need to specify
such properties as the host name and port where the database server is running, and the name of the
database. For the flat file DSA and other SQL database DSAs that do not connect to a database server, you
must specify additional configuration properties.
Note that SQL database data sources are associated with databases rather than database servers. For
example, an Oracle database server can host one or a dozen individual databases. Each SQL database
data source can be associated with one and only one database.

10 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

LDAP data sources
The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) data source represent LDAP directory servers.
Netcool/Impact supports the OpenLDAP and Microsoft Active Directory servers.
You create LDAP data sources in the GUI Server. You must create one data source for each LDAP server
that you want to access. The configuration properties for the data source specify connection information
for the LDAP server and any required security or authentication information.

Mediator data sources

Mediator data sources represent third-party applications that are integrated with Netcool/Impact through
the DSA Mediator.
These data sources include a wide variety of network inventory, network provisioning, and messaging
system software. In addition, providers of XML and SNMP data can also be used as mediator data sources.
Typically Mediator DSA data sources and their data types are installed when you install a Mediator DSA.
The data sources are available for viewing and, if necessary, for creating or editing.
Attention: For a complete list of supported data source, see your IBM account manager.

Internal data repository

The internal data repository is a built-in data source for Netcool/Impact.
The primary responsibility of the internal data repository is to store system data.
Restriction: You must use internal data types solely for testing and demonstrating Netcool/Impact, or for
low load tasks.

JMS data source

A Java Message Service (JMS) data source abstracts the information that is required to connect to a JMS
Implementation.
This data source is used by the JMSMessageListener service, the SendJMSMessage, and
ReceiveJMSMessage functions.

Chapter 2. Working with data models 11

Data source architecture
This diagram shows the relationship between Netcool/Impact, data sources, and the real world source of
data in your environment.

Figure 2. Data Source Architecture

Setting up data sources

When you create a Netcool/Impact data model, you must set up a data source for each real world source
of data in your environment.
You set up data sources using the GUI. To set up a data source, you need to get the connection
information for the data source, and then use the GUI to create and configure the data source.

12 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Creating data sources
Use this procedure to create a user-defined data source.

Before you begin

Before you create a data source, you must get the connection information for the underlying application.
The connection information that you need varies depending on the type of event source. For most SQL
database data sources, this information is the host name and the port where the application is running,
and a valid user name and password. For LDAP and Mediator data sources, see the DSA Reference Guide
for the connection information required.

Procedure
1. Click Data Model to open the Data Model tab.
2. From the Cluster and Project lists, select the cluster and project you want to use.
3. In the Data Model tab, click the New Data Source icon in the toolbar. Select a template for the data
source that you want to create. The tab for the data source opens.
4. Complete the information, and click Save to create the data source.

Working with data types

Data types are an element of the data model that represent sets of data stored in a data source.

Data types overview

Data types describe the content and structure of the data in the data source table and summarize this
information so that it can be accessed during the execution of a policy.
Data types provide an abstract layer between Netcool/Impact and the associated set of data in a data
source. Data types are used to locate the data you want to use in a policy. For each table or other data
structure in your data source that contains information you want to use in a policy, you must create one
data type. To use a data source in policies, you must create data types for it.
Attention: Some system data types are not displayed in the GUI. You can manage these data types
by using the Command Line Interface (CLI).
The structure of the data that is stored in a data source depends on the category of the data source where
the data is stored. For example, if the data source is an SQL database, each data type corresponds to a
database table. If the data source is an LDAP server, each data type corresponds to a type of node in the
LDAP hierarchy.
A data type definition contains the following information:
• The name of the underlying table or other structural element in the data source
• A list of fields that represent columns in the underlying table or another structural element (for
example, a type of attribute in an LDAP node)
• Settings that define how Netcool/Impact caches data in the data type

Data type categories

Netcool/Impact supports four categories of data types.
SQL database data types
SQL database data types represent data stored in a database table.
LDAP data types
LDAP data types represent data stored at a certain base context level of an LDAP hierarchy.

Chapter 2. Working with data models 13

 Mediator data types
Mediator data types represent data that is managed by third-party applications such as a network
inventory manager or a messaging service.
Internal data types
You use internal stored data types to model data that does not exist, or cannot be easily created, in
external databases.

SQL database data types

SQL database data types represent data stored in a database table.
Each data item in an SQL database data type corresponds to a row in the table. Each field in the data
item corresponds to a column. An SQL database data type can include all the columns in a table or just a
subset of the columns.

LDAP data types

LDAP data types represent data stored at a certain base context level of an LDAP hierarchy.
Each data item in an LDAP data type corresponds to an LDAP node that exists at that level and each
field corresponds to an LDAP attribute. LDAP data types are read-only, which means that you cannot add,
update or delete data items in an LDAP data type.

Mediator data types

Mediator data types represent data that is managed by third-party applications such as a network
inventory manager or a messaging service.
Usually the data types, and their associated data sources are installed when you install the Mediator DSA
(CORBA or Direct), so you do not have to create them. The installed data types are available for viewing
and, if necessary, for editing. Typically, Mediator data types do not represent data stored in database
tables. Rather, they represent collections of data that are stored and provided by the data source in
various other formats. For example, sets of data objects or as messages.
These data types are typically created using scripts or other tools provided by the corresponding DSA. For
more information about the mediator data types used with a particular DSA, see the DSA Reference Guide.

Internal data types

You use internal stored data types to model data that does not exist, or cannot be easily created, in
external databases.
This includes working data used by policies, which can contain copies of external data or intermediate
values of data. This data is stored directly in a data repository, and you can use it as a data source. To
create and access this data you define internal data types.
Netcool/Impact provides the following categories of internal data types:
System data types
System data types are used to store and manage data used internally by Netcool/Impact.
Predefined internal data types
Pre-defined data types are special data types that are stored in the global repository.
User-defined internal data types
Internal data types that you create are user-defined internal data types.
Restriction: Use internal data types only for prototyping and demonstrating Netcool/Impact.

14 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 System data types
System data types are used to store and manage data used internally by Netcool/Impact.
These types include Policy, Service, and Hibernation. In most cases, you do not directly access the
data in these data types. However, there are some occasions in which you can use them in a policy. Some
examples are when you start a policy from within another policy or work with hibernating policies.

Predefined internal data types

Pre-defined data types are special data types that are stored in the global repository.
The following predefined internal data types are provided:
• Schedule
• TimeRangeGroup
• Document
You use Schedule and TimeRangeGroup data types to manage Netcool/Impact scheduling. You can use
the Document data type to store information about URLs located on your intranet.
Predefined data types are special data types that are stored in Netcool/Impact. The non-editable pre-
defined data types are:
• TimeRangeGroup
• LinkType
• Hibernation
The following predefined data types can be edited to add new fields:
• Schedule
• Document
• FailedEvent
• ITNM
Restriction: You cannot edit or delete existing fields. None of the pre-defined data types can be deleted.

User-defined internal data types

Internal data types that you create are user-defined internal data types.
The data items in these data types are stored in the internal data repository, rather than in an external
data source. User-defined data types function in much the same way as SQL database data types. You
must use internal data types solely for testing and demonstrating Netcool/Impact, or for low load tasks.
User-defined internal data types are slower than external SQL database data types.

Data type fields

A field is a unit of data as defined within a data type. The nature of this unit of data depends on the
category of the data type that contains it.
If the data type corresponds to a table in an SQL database, each field corresponds to a table column. If
the data type corresponds to a base context in an LDAP server, each field corresponds to a type of LDAP
attribute.
When you set up an SQL database data type, the fields are auto-populated from the underlying table by
Netcool/Impact. For other data types, you must manually define the fields when the data type is created.
ID
By default, the ID field is the same as the name of the data element that corresponds to the field in
the underlying data source. For example, if the data type is an SQL database data type, the underlying
field corresponds to a column in the table. By default, the field ID is the same as the column name in
the database.

Chapter 2. Working with data models 15

 You can change the ID to any other unique name. For example, if the underlying column names in the
data source are unreadable, or are difficult to type and remember, you can use the ID field to provide
a more easy-to-use alias for the field.
The field ID overrides the actual name and display name attributes for the field in all cases.
Field Name
The field name attribute is the name of the corresponding data element in the underlying data source.
Although you can use the GUI to freely edit this field, it must be identical to how it displays in the data
source. If these fields are not identical, an error occurs when the data type is accessed.
Format
The format is the data format of the field. For SQL database data types, Netcool/Impact auto-
discovers the columns in the underlying table and automatically deduces the data format for each
field when you set up the data type. For other data types, you must manually specify the format for
each field that you create.
STRING
Represents text strings up to 4 KB in length.
INTEGER
Represents whole numbers.
LONG
Represents long whole numbers.
FLOAT
Represents floating point decimal numbers.
DOUBLE
Represents double-precision floating point decimal numbers.
DATE
Represents formatted date/time strings.
TIMESTAMP
Represents a time stamp in the following format, YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.
Restriction: The Microsoft SQL server table treats the TIMESTAMP field as a non-date time
field. The JDBC driver returns the TIMESTAMP field as a row version binary data type, which is
discovered as STRING in the Microsoft SQL server data type. To resolve this issue, in the Microsoft
SQL server table, use DATEITEM to display the property time format instead of TIMESTAMP.
BOOLEAN
Represents Boolean values of true and false.
CLOB
Represents large-format binary data.
LONG_STRING
Represents text strings up to 16 KB in length (internal data types only).
PASSWORD_STRING
Represents password strings (internal data types only). The password shows in the GUI as a string
of asterisks, rather than the actual password text.
Display Name
You can use the display name attribute to specify a label for the field that is displayed only when you
browse data items in the GUI. This attribute does not otherwise affect the functions of the data type.
You can use this field to select a field from the menu to label data items according to the field value.
Choose a field that contains a unique value that can be used to identify the data item for example, ID.
To view the values on the data item, you must go to View Data Items for the data type and select the
Links icon. Click the data item to display the details.

16 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Description
You can use the description attribute to specify a short description for the field. This description is
only visible when you use the GUI to edit the data type. Like the display name, it does not otherwise
affect the functions of the data type.

Data type keys

Key fields are fields whose value or combination of values can be used to identify unique data items in a
data type.
For SQL database data types, you must specify at least one key field for each data type you create. Most
often, the key field that you specify is a key field in the underlying data source. Internal data items contain
a default field named KEY that is automatically used as the data type key.
You can use the policy function called GetByKey to retrieve data from the data type using the key field
value as a query condition. Keys are also used when you create GetByKey dynamic links between data
types.

Setting up data types

When you create a data model, you must set up a data type for each structural element in a data source
whose data you want to use.
For example, if you are using an SQL database data source, you must set up a data type for each table that
contains the data. If you are using an LDAP data source, you must set up a data type for each base context
in the LDAP hierarchy that contains nodes that you want to access. You set up data types using the GUI.
To set up a data type, you get the name of the structural element (for example, the table) where the data
is located, and then use the GUI to create and configure the data type.

Getting the name of the structural element

If the data type is an SQL database data type, you must know the fully qualified name of the underlying
table in the database before you can set it up.
This name consists of the database name and the table name. Some databases use case-sensitive table
names, so make sure that you record the proper case when you get this information. If the data type is an
LDAP data type, you must know the name of the base context level of the LDAP hierarchy where the nodes
you want to access are located.

Auto-populating the data type fields

After you have specified the name of the database and table, the next step is to auto-populate the data
type fields.
You can also specify the fields manually in the same way that you do for internal data types, but in most
cases, using the auto-populate feature saves time and ensures that the field names are accurate.
When you auto-populate data type fields, the table description is retrieved from the underlying data
source, and a field in the data type is created for each column in the table. The ID, actual name, and
display name for the fields are defined using the exact column name as it appears in the table.
A set of built-in rules is used to determine the data format for each of the auto-populated fields. Columns
in the database that contain text data, such as varchar, are represented as string fields. Columns that
contain whole numbers, such as int and integer, are represented as integer fields. Columns that
contain decimal numbers are represented as float fields. Generally, you can automatically assign the
formats for data type fields without having to manually attempt to recreate the database data formats in
the data type.
If you only want a subset of the fields in a table to be represented in the data type, you can manually
remove the unwanted fields after auto-population. Removing unwanted fields can speed the performance
of a data type.

Chapter 2. Working with data models 17

 To auto-populate data type fields, you click the Refresh button in the Table Description area of the Data
Type tab. The table description is retrieved from the data source, and the fields are populated. The fields
are displayed in the Table Description area.
After you auto-populate the data type fields, you can manually change the attributes of any field
definition. Do not change the value of the actual name attribute. If you change this value, errors will
be reported when you try to retrieve data from the data type.

Specifying a data item filter

The data item filter specifies which rows in the underlying database table can be accessed as data items
in the data type.
This filter is an optional setting. The syntax for the data item filter is the same as the contents of the
WHERE clause in the SQL SELECT statement that is supported by the underlying database.
For example, if you want to specify that only rows where the Location field is New York are accessible
through this data type, you can use the following data item filter:

Location = 'New York'

If you want to specify that only rows where the Location is either New York or New Jersey, you can
use the following expression:

Location = 'New York' OR Location = 'New Jersey'

Make sure that you enclose any strings in single quotation marks.
To specify the data item filter, type the filter string in the Filter text box in the Data Filter and Ordering
area of the data type editor.

Specifying data item ordering

Data item ordering defines the order in which data items are retrieved from the data type.
The order settings are used both when you retrieve data items using the GetByFilter function in
a policy and when you browse data items using the GUI. You can order data items in ascending or
descending alphanumeric order by any data type field. Data item ordering is an optional part of the data
type configuration.
You specify data item ordering in the data type configuration as a comma-separated list of fields, where
each field is accompanied with the ASC or DESC keyword.
For example, to retrieve data items in ascending order by the Name field, you use the following ordering
string:

Name ASC

To retrieve data items in descending order first by the Location field and then in ascending order by
Name, you use the following string:

Location DESC,Name ASC

To specify data item ordering:

1. In the Data Type Editor, scroll down so that the Data Filtering and Ordering area is visible.
2. Type the data item ordering string in the Order By field.

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Data type caching
You can use data type caching to reduce the total number of queries that are made against a data source
for performance or other reasons.
Caching helps you to decrease the load on the external databases used by Netcool/Impact. Data caching
also increases system performance by allowing you to temporarily store data items that have been
retrieved from a data source.
Important: Caching works best for static data sources and for data sources where the data does not
change often.
Caching works when data is retrieved during the processing of a policy. When you view data items in the
GUI, cached data is retrieved rather than data directly from the data source.
You can specify caching for external data types to control the number of data items temporarily stored
while policies are processing data. Many data items in the cache use significant memory but can save
bandwidth and time if the same data is referenced frequently.
Important: Data type caching works with SQL database and LDAP data types. Internal data types do not
require data type caching.
You configure caching on a per data type basis within the GUI. If you do not specify caching for the data
type, each data item is reloaded from the external data source every time it is accessed.

Working with event sources

When you design your solution, you must create one event source for each application that you want to
monitor for events, then you can create event reader services and associate them with the event source.
Typically, a solution uses a single event source. This event source is most often an ObjectServer database.

Event sources overview

An event source is a special type of data source that represents an application that stores and manages
events, the most common such application being the ObjectServer database.
An event is a set of data that represents a status or an activity on a network. The structure and content
of an event varies depending on the device, system, or application that generated the event but in most
cases, events are Netcool/OMNIbus alerts.
The installer automatically creates a default ObjectServer event source, defaultobjectserver. This event
source is configured using information you provide during the installation. You can also use other
applications as non-ObjectServer event sources.
After you have set an event source, you do not need to actively manage it unless you change the solution
design but, if necessary, you can use the GUI to modify or delete event sources.

ObjectServer event sources

The most common event source are ObjectServer event sources that represent instances of the Netcool/
OMNIbus ObjectServer database.
ObjectServer events are alerts stored in the alerts.status table of the database. These alerts have a
predefined set of alert fields that can be supplemented by additional fields that you define.
ObjectServer event sources are monitored using an OMNIbus event reader service. The event reader
service queries the ObjectServer at intervals and retrieves any new, updated, or deleted events that
matches its predefined filter conditions. The event reader then passes each event to the policy engine for
processing.

Chapter 2. Working with data models 19

Non-ObjectServer event sources
Non-ObjectServer event sources represent instances of other applications, such as external databases or
messaging systems, that provide events to Netcool/Impact.
Non-ObjectServer events can take a wide variety of forms, depending on the nature of the event source.
For SQL database event sources, an event might be the contents of a row in a table. For a messaging
system event source, an event might be the contents of a message.
Non-ObjectServer event sources are monitored using an event listener service. The event listener service
passively receives events from the event source and then passes them to the policy engine for processing.
The DatabaseEventReader service monitors Non-ObjectServer data sources. The Database Event Reader
service queries the SQL data source at intervals and retrieves any new or updated events that match
its predefined filter conditions. The Database Event Reader passes each event to the policy engine for
processing.

20 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Event source architecture
This diagram shows how event sources interact with event sources and event listeners with their
underlying event management applications.

Figure 3. Event source architecture

Setting up ObjectServer event sources

Use this procedure to set up an ObjectServer event source.

Procedure
• Get the connection information for the ObjectServer.
This information is the host name or IP address of the ObjectServer host system and the port number.
The default port number for the ObjectServer is 4100.

Chapter 2. Working with data models 21

 • Create and configure the event source.
For more information, see Configuring the default ObjectServer data source in the Administration Guide.
• After you create the event source, you can then create and configure an associated event reader
service.
For more information about creating and configuring an event reader service, see the online help.

22 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 3. Working with services
You work with services by configuring predefined services, and creating and configure user-defined
services.

Services overview
Services perform much of the functionality associated with the Impact Server, including monitoring event
sources, sending and receiving e-mail, and triggering policies.
The most important service is the OMNIbus event reader, which you can use to monitor an ObjectServer
for new, updated or deleted events. The event processor, which processes the events retrieved from the
readers and listeners is also important to the function of the Netcool/Impact.
Internal services control the application's standard processes, and coordinate the performed tasks, for
example:
• Receiving events from the ObjectServer and other external databases
• Executing policies
• Responding to and prioritizing alerts
• Sending and receiving e-mail and instant messages
• Handling errors
Some internal services have defaults, that you can enable rather than configure your own services, or
in addition to creating your own. For some of the basic internal services, it is only necessary to specify
whether to write the service log to a file. For other services, you need to add information such as the port,
host, and startup data.
User defined services are services that you can create for use with a specific policy.
Generally, you set up services once, when you first design your solution. After that, you do not need to
actively manage the services unless you change the solution design.
To set up services, you must first determine what service functionality you need to use in your solution.
Then, you create and configure the required services using the GUI. After you have set up the services,
you can start and stop them, and manage the service logs.

Predefined services
Predefined services are services that are created automatically when you install Netcool/Impact. You can
configure predefined services, but you cannot create new instances of the predefined services and you
cannot delete existing ones.
These services are predefined:
• Event processor
• E-mail sender
• Hibernating policy activator
• Policy logger
• Command-line manager

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 23

User-defined services
User-defined services are services that you can create, modify, and delete. You can also use the default
instance of these services that are created at installation.
You can create user-defined services by using the defaults that are stored in the global repository or
select them from a list in the services task pane in the navigation panel. All user-defined services are also
listed in the services panel where you can start them and stop them, just as you do the internal services.
You can add these services to a project as project members.
These services are user-defined:
• Event readers
• Event listeners
• E-mail readers
• Policy activators

OMNIbus event reader service

OMNIbus event readers are services that monitor a Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer event source for new,
updated, and deleted alerts and then runs policies when the alert information matches filter conditions
that you define.
The event reader service uses the host and port information of a specified ObjectServer data source so
that it can connect to an Objectserver to poll for new and updated events and store them in a queue.
The event processor service requests events from the event reader. When an event reader discovers new,
updated, or deleted alerts in the ObjectServer, it retrieves the alert and sends it to an event queue. Here,
the event waits to be handled by the event processor.
You configure this service by defining a number of restriction filters that match the incoming events,
and passing the matching events to the appropriate policies. The service can contain multiple restriction
filters, each one triggering a different policy from the same event stream, or it can trigger a single policy.
You can configure an event reader service to chain multiple policies together to be run sequentially when
triggered by an event from the event reader.
Important: Before you create an OMNIbus event reader service, you must have a valid ObjectServer data
source to which the event reader will connect to poll for new and updated events.

24 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

OMINbus event reader architecture
This diagram shows the relationship between Netcool/Impact, an OMNIbus event reader, and an
ObjectServer.

Figure 4. Event reader architecture

OMNIbus event reader process

The phases of the OMNIbus event reader process are startup, event polling, event querying, deleted event
notification, and event queueing.
Startup
When the event reader is started it reads events using the StateChange or serial value that it used
before being shut down. To read all the events on start-up, click Clear State.
Event Polling
During the event polling phase, the OMNIbus event reader queries the ObjectServer at intervals for all
new and unprocessed events. You set the polling interval when you configure the event reader.
Event Querying
When the OMNIbus event reader queries the ObjectServer, either at startup, or when polling for
events at intervals, it reads the state file, retrieves new or updated events, and records the state file..
For more information, see “Event querying” on page 26.
Deleted Event Notification
If the OMNIbus event reader is configured to run a policy when an event is deleted from the
ObjectServer, it listens to the ObjectServer through the IDUC interface for notification of deleted
alerts. The IDUC delete notification includes the event field data for the deleted alert.
Event Queueing
After it retrieves new or updated events, or has received events through delete notification, the
OMNIbus event reader compares the field data in the events to its set of filters. For more information,
see “Event queuing” on page 26.

Chapter 3. Working with services 25

 Event querying
When the OMNIbus event reader queries the ObjectServer, either at startup, or when polling for events at
intervals, it reads the state file, retrieves new or updated events, and records the state file.
Reading the state file
The state file is a text file used by the OMNIbus event reader to cache state information about the
last event read from the ObjectServer. The event reader reads the state file to find the Serial or
StateChange value of the last read event. For more information, see “Reading the state file” on page
26.
Retrieving new or updated events
The event reader connects to the ObjectServer and retrieves new or updated events that have
occurred since the last read event. During this phase, the event reader retrieves all the new or
updated events from the ObjectServer, using information from the state file to specify the correct
subset of events.
Recording the state file
After the event reader retrieves the events from the ObjectServer, it caches the Serial or
StateChange value of the last processed event.

Reading the state file

The state file is a text file used by the OMNIbus event reader to cache state information about the last
event read from the ObjectServer.
If the event reader is configured to get only new events from the ObjectServer, the state file contains the
Serial value of the last event read from the ObjectServer. If the event reader is configured to get both
new and updated events from the ObjectServer, the file contains the StateChange value of the last read
event.
The event reader reads the contents of the state file whenever it polls the ObjectServer and passes the
Serial or StateChange value as part of the query.

Event queuing
After it retrieves new or updated events, or has received events through delete notification, the OMNIbus
event reader compares the field data in the events to its set of filters.
If the event matches one or more of its filters, the event reader places the event in the event queue with
a pointer to the corresponding policy. After the events are in the event queue, they can be picked up by
the event processor service. The event processor passes the events to the corresponding policies to the
policy engine for processing.

Mappings
Event mappings allow you to specify which policies you want to be run when certain events are retrieved.
Each mapping consists of a filter that specifies the type of event and a policy name. You must specify at
least one event mapping for the event reader to work.
The syntax for the filter is the same as the WHERE clause in an SQL SELECT statement. This clause
consists of one or more comparisons that must be true in order for the specified policy to be executed. For
more information about the SQL filter syntax, see the Policy Reference Guide.
The following examples show event mapping filters.

AlertKey = 'Node not responding'

AlertKey = 'Node not reachable by network ping' AND Node = 'ORA_Host_01'

26 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Event matching
You can specify whether to run only the first matching policy in the event mappings or to run every policy
that matches.
If you choose to run every policy that matches, the OMNIbus event reader will place a duplicate of the
event in the event queue for every matching policy. The event will be processed as many times as their are
matching filters in the event reader.

Actions
By default, the event broker monitors the ObjectServer for new alerts, but you can also configure it to
monitor for updated alerts and to be notified when an alert is deleted.
In addition, you can configure it to get all the unprocessed alerts from the ObjectServer at startup.

Event locking
Event locking allows a multithreaded event broker to categorize incoming alerts based on the values of
specified alert fields and then to process them within a category one at a time in the order that they were
sent to the ObjectServer.
Event locking locks the order in which the event reader processes alerts within each category.
Remember: When event locking is enabled in the reader, the events read by it are only processed in the
primary server of the cluster.
You use event locking in situations where you want to preserve the order in which incoming alerts are
processed, or in situations where you want to prevent a multithreaded event processor from attempting to
access a single resource from more than one instance of a policy running simultaneously.
You specify the way the event reader categorizes incoming alerts using an expression called a locking
expression. The locking expression consists of one or more alert field names concatenated with a plus
sign (+) as follows:

field[+field...]

Where field is the name of an alert field in the alerts.status table of the ObjectServer.
When an event reader retrieves alerts from the ObjectServer, it evaluates the locking expression for each
incoming alert and categorizes it according to the contents of the alert fields in the expression.
For example, when using the locking expression Node, the event broker categorizes all incoming alerts
based on the value of the Node alert field and then processes them within a category one at a time in the
order that they were sent to the ObjectServer.
In the following example:

Node+AlertKey

The event broker categorizes all incoming alerts based on the concatenated values of the Node and
AlertKey fields. In this example, an alert whose Node value is Node1 and AlertKey value is 123456 is
categorized separately.
Note: Event locking on a certain field or fields affects all event readers that lock on those fields.

Event order
The reader first sorts based on StateChange or Serial value depending on whether Get Updates is used or
not.
Each event has a unique Serial so the Order by field is ignored. In instances where there is more than one
event with the same StateChange, the reader uses the Order By field to sort events after they are sorted in
ascending order of StateChange.

Chapter 3. Working with services 27

Managing the OMNIbusEventReader with an ObjectServer pair for New
Events or Inserts
The OMNIbusEventReader service uses the StateChange field by default when querying Netcool/
OMNIbus so that Netcool/Impact can fetch both New and Updated events. To configure the
OMNIbusEventReader to receive only new events or inserts, you can clear the Get updated events check
box in the OMNIbusEventReader configuration pane. Then, the query that is issued to Netcool/OMNIbus
uses Serial instead of StateChange.
The limitation with using Serial is that in a Netcool/OMNIbus failover configuration each ObjectServer
has its own unique values for Serial. During failover and failback the query that is issued by Netcool/
Impact can result in events not being read or the same events being read again. The Serial value used
in the OMNIbusEventReader query does not consider the unique value Serial has for each ObjectServer
instance.
Scenario
The two ObjectServer instances are NCOMSA and NCOMSB. For NCOMSA, the current Serial is 9000. For
NCOMSB, the current Serial is 7000.
When Netcool/Impact is connected to NCOMSA, the query is:

select top 1000 * from alerts.status where Class != 10500 AND Serial >
9000 order by Serial;

NCOMSA goes down and Netcool/Impact connects to the secondary ObjectServer which is NCOMSB.
When connected, Netcool/Impact issues a select statement:

select top 1000 * from alerts.status where Class != 10500 AND Serial >
9000 order by Serial;

NCOMSB has Serial 7000 and any new events that are inserted into NCOMSB would have Serial values
as 7001, 7002, and so on. However, Netcool/Impact does not maintain a Serial value per ObjectServer
instance and continues to look for events that are based on its last internal check pointed value, which
was 9000.
As a result Netcool/Impact does not pick up the new events 7000, 7002, 7003, and so on. It would miss
reading 2000 events from 7000 to 9000.
Once the inserted event gets a Serial value of 9001, Netcool/Impact starts fetching those events.

Configuring the OMNIbusEventReader with an ObjectServer pair for New

Events or Inserts

About this task

To configure an OMNIbuseventReader to work in an ObjectServer failover or failback configuration, you
must add properties to the eventreader.props file. Adding properties to the eventreader.props file
overrides selecting or clearing the Get Updates Events check box in the UI.

Procedure
1. Identify the OMNIbusEventReader that is to query the Netcool/OMNIbus failover/failback pair. A new
Netcool/Impact installation provides a reader that is called OMNIbusEventReader but you can create
more instances in the Services UI.
2. Stop the Impact Server. In a Netcool/Impact clustered environment, stop all the servers.
3. Go to your $IMPACT_HOME/etc directory and look for the .props file that corresponds to your
OMNIbusEventReader.
The file is in the following format:

28 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 <servername>_<readernameinlowercase>.props

where <servername> is the name of your Impact Server instance.

For example, If your Netcool/OMNIbus server instance is NCI1 and your reader is
OMNIbusEventReader, the file would be NCI1_omnibuseventreader.props
4. Edit the .props file and add the following lines:

impact.<readernameinlowercase>.objectserver.queryfornewevents=true
impact.<readernameinlowercase>.objectserver.updatefornewevents=true

For example:

impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.queryfornewevents=true
impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.updatefornewevents=true

Note:
The queryfornewevents property configures the event reader to add "ImpactFlag=0" to the
SQL query. The updatefornewevents property configures the event reader to automatically set
ImpactFlag to 1 after the event is processed.
If you have two or more readers that are processing the same events, you should use different flags for
each reader so that one reader does not set the flag before the other reader(s) get an opportunity to
pick up the event. See . “Additional customization using a field other than ImpactFlag” on page 32.
5. Copy the sql file nci_omnibus_update.sql in the $IMPACT_HOME/install/dbcore/OMNIbus
folder to the machines where the primary and secondary instances of the ObjectServer are running.
This script adds the Integer field ImpactFlag to the alerts.status schema. Run this script against
both the primary and secondary ObjectServer pairs.
• For UNIX based platforms, you can run the SQL script:

cat <path to nci_omnibus_update.sql> | ./nco_sql -server '<servername>

-user '<username>' -password '<password>'

For example, if the nci_omnibus_update.sql is placed in the /opt/scripts folder and I want
to run this script against the ObjectServer instance NCOMS, connecting as the root user with no
password, the script can be run as:

cat /opt/scripts/nci_omnibus_update.sql | ./nco_sql -server 'NCOMS'

-user 'root' -password “”

• For Windows platforms, you can run the SQL script as:

type <path to nci_omnibus_update.sql> | isql.bat -S <servername>

-U <username> -P <password>

For example, place the nci_omnibus_update.sql file in the OMNIHOME/bin folder and run this
script against ObjectServer instance NCOMS, connecting as root with no password:

type nci_omnibus_update.sql | isql.bat -S NCOMS -U root -P

Make sure that -P is the last option. You can ignore providing the password and enter it when
prompted instead. For information aboutNetcool/OMNIbus, see the IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus
Administration Guide available from the following website:
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSSHTQ/landingpage/NetcoolOMNIbus.html.
6. When the script is completed, an Integer field ImpactFlag is added to the alerts.status schema.
Check that the integer field called ImpactFlag is added for each ObjectServer instance primary and
secondary.
Important: The ImpactFlag must be included in the omnibus bidirectional gateway mapping file.
7. Start your Netcool/Impact server and the OMNIbusEventReader.

Chapter 3. Working with services 29

 In a clustered setup, start the primary server first followed by all the secondary servers.
8. You can check the OMNIbusEventReader logs and verify that the query now has ImpactFlag = 0
as a condition. Once Netcool/Impact finishes processing events, which match the ImpactFlag = 0
criteria, it automatically updates the alerts.status table so that ImpactFlag gets set to 1. This
prevents the OMNIbusEventReader from reading the same events again and Netcool/Impact reads
and processes only new events and inserts that it has not read before.

Preventing an event from being reread while being processed

To prevent an event from being reread while it is being processed, the reader can be configured to set an
appropriate flag on the event.
This flag indicates that the event is being processed. The reader will only read events when the flag
on the event that you have specified for rereading prevention is set to the value configured by the
updateforreadeventsexpr property.
After it has read the event, it will set the flag (indicating that the event is being processed), and then send
the event for processing.
The specified flag is set for the entire time that the event is being processed. The processing policy must
be configured to unset the flag after processing.
This functionality is set by the following properties:

impact.<reader name>.objectserver.updateforreadevents
impact.<reader name>.objectserver.updateforreadeventsexpr

updateforreadevents
This property instructs the reader to update a field in the event after reading it and before sending it for
processing.
To enable this feature for a reader, add the following property to the event reader .props file and restart
the server:

impact.<reader name>.objectserver.updateforreadevents=true

For example:

impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.updateforreadevents=true

updateforreadeventsexpr
This property allows you to specify an alternative field and value that the reader sets after the event is
read.
To change the field that the reader sets and the value that the field gets set to, add the following property
to the reader .props file and restart the server:

impact.<reader name>.objectserver.updateforreadeventsexpr=

The default value for this property is:

impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.updateforreadeventsexpr=ImpactReadFlag=1

This instructs the reader to set the ImpactReadFlag field to 1 after reading and before processing.
Note: The processing policy should handle the new field, namely: it should check that
@ImpactReadFlag = 0; is added before the ReturnEvent gets issued:

@ImpactReadFlag = 0;
ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

30 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 A filter should be added to the reader to check for ImpactReadFlag=0. To prevent an endless loop, the
reader must also use another field to stop re-reading/re-processing events whose only change is that the
ImpactReadFlag went from 1 to 0.

Filter level properties

If any filter level settings are set (regardless of whether this particular event passes the filter) then only
filter level will apply. If no filter level settings are set, only reader level will apply. This is to avoid the
situation where the reader level is set to update ImpactFlag = 1 and a filter set to update ImpactFlag
= 2
So the filter level setting are instead of the reader level settings:
• If only reader level settings are set, then they apply.
• If only filter level settings are set, then they apply.
• If both filter level and reader level settings are set, then the reader level settings are ignored.
To set filter level field/value to update, edit the etc\<server>_<reader name>.props properties file
for the reader. Any changes require a restart of the impact server.
The properties are:

impact.<reader name>.updateforreadevents.<filter number>=true/false

impact.<reader name>.updateforreadeventsexpr.<filter number>=field=value
The latter is optional. If not set, the default is ImpactReadFlag = 1

For example:

impact.omnibuseventreader.updateforreadevents.2=true
impact.omnibuseventreader.updateforreadeventsexpr.2=ImpactReadFlag2\=4

impact.omnibuseventreader.updateforreadevents.3=true
impact.omnibuseventreader.updateforreadeventsexpr.3=ImpactReadFlag\=7

Additional customization using the ReturnEvent function to update one or

more fields in Netcool/OMNIbus
If your policy is already using the ReturnEvent function to update one or more fields in Netcool/OMNIbus,
you can add the ImpactFlag field in the update statement to avoid Netcool/Impact internally issuing an
update to set the ImpactFlag.

Procedure
1. For the policy to handle the ImpactFlag field, check that @ImpactFlag = 1; is added before the
ReturnEvent gets issued.

@ImpactFlag = 1;
ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

2. To remove the issued update, especially by Netcool/Impact: Either, set:

impact.<readernameinlowercase>.objectserver.updatefornewevents=false or do not
add the impact.<readernameinlowercase>.objectserver.updatefornewevents=false
property to the .props file of the reader since default value is false.
Remember: Changing values in the .props file is done only when the server is shut down. If you are
running a cluster, make sure all the servers are down. Change the .props of the primary server only
and it replicates to the secondary servers when they are started.

Chapter 3. Working with services 31

Additional customization using a field other than ImpactFlag
If you cannot use the ImpactFlag field for the setup because a field called ImpactFlag already exists, you
can customize the field using the following procedure.

Procedure
1. Customize the field Netcool/Impact uses by adding the following additional properties:

impact.<readernameinlowercase>.objectserver.queryforneweventsexpr=<select
expression>
impact.<readernameinlowercase>.objectserver.updateforneweventsexpr=<update
expression>

For example, your reader name is OMNIbusEventReader and you want to use a Integer field called
Impacted for this reader instead of ImpactFlag, the properties become:

impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.queryfornewevents=true
impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.updatefornewevents=true
impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.queryforneweventsexpr=Impacted = 0
impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.updateforneweventsexpr=Impacted = 1

2. Make sure that the field Impacted in this example exists in both the primary and backup Netcool/
OMNIbus instances configured for the data source. You can edit the nci_omnibus_update.sql
script and change ImpactFlag to Impacted.
3. Then run the script against Netcool/OMNIbus using steps 5 and “6” on page 29 in Configuring the
OMNIbusEventReader with an ObjectServer pair for New Events or Inserts.

Changing the default JDBC gateway name for the Event Reader service
The default name for the JDBC gateway is gateway. If you want, you can change this name.
Procedure
1. Stop the Impact Server.
2. Add the following properties to the <NCI>_server.props file in the $IMPACT_HOME/etc/
directory:

impact.objectserver.appname=<qualified_name>
impact.objectserver.username=<user>
impact.objectserver.password=<password>

where <qualified_name> is the name that you want to use for the JDBC gateway, <user> is the
name of the user, and <password> is the associated password.

3. Save your changes and start the Impact Server.

Stopping the OMNIbus event reader retrying a connection on hitting an error

By default, from Fix Pack 5, Impact automatically tries to reconnect to OMNIbus if the connection dies.
This behaviour can be overridden if required.
This automatic reconnection is controlled by the
impact.omnibuseventreader.retry.connection.enabled parameter in the backend Impact
server <SERVERNAME>_server.props file.properties file.
You can override this option by setting the
impact.omnibuseventreader.retry.connection.enabled parameter to false.

32 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Controlling how many times the Event Reader re-reads the same events
By default, the Event Reader re-reads the same StateChange 200 times before ordering the rows to be
read by StateChange and Serial and attempting to work through the events in order by adding SKIP to
the SQL.
You can change this amount by setting the following property in the properties file of the ObjectServer
reader:

impact.<readername>.objectserver.maxrereadsamestatechange=xxx

For example:

impact.omnibuseventreader.objectserver.maxrereadsamestatechange=500

Note: This only affects ObjectServer readers with Get Updates selected.

Handling Serial rollover

How to set up Serial rollover with Netcool/Impact.

Symptoms
If you are not using the Get Updates option in the OMNIbus reader service, Netcool/Impact uses the
Serial field to query Netcool/OMNIbus. Serial is an auto increment field in Netcool/OMNIbus and has a
maximum limit before it rolls over and resets.

Resolution
Complete the following steps to set up Netcool/Impact to handle Serial rollover:
1. Identify the OMNIbusEventReader that queries the Netcool/OMNIbus failover/failback pair. A Netcool/
Impact installation provides a reader called OMNIbusEventReader but you can create more instances
in the Services GUI.
2. Stop the Impact Server. In a Netcool/Impact clustered environment, stop all the servers.
3. Copy the sql file serialrotation.sql in the $IMPACT_HOME/install/dbcore/OMNIbus folder
to the machines where the primary and secondary instances of the ObjectServer are running. This
script creates a table called serialtrack in the alerts database and also creates a trigger called
newSerial to default_triggers.
4. Run this script against both the primary and secondary ObjectServer pairs.
• For UNIX based operating systems:

cat <path_to_serialrotation.sql> | ./nco_sql -server '<servername>

-user '<username>' -password '<password>'

For example, if the serialrotation.sql is placed in the /opt/scripts folder and I want to run
this script against the ObjectServer instance NCOMS, connecting as the root user with no password,
the script can be run as:

cat /opt/scripts/serialrotation.sql | ./nco_sql -server 'NCOMS'

-user 'root' -password “”

• For Windows operating systems:

type <path to serialrotation.sql> | isql.bat -S <servername>

-U <username> -P <password>

For example, place the serialrotation.sql file in the OMNIHOME/bin folder and run this script
against the ObjectServer instance NCOMS, connecting as a root user with no password:

type serialrotation.sql | isql.bat -S NCOMS -U root -P

Chapter 3. Working with services 33

 Make sure that -P is the last option. You can ignore providing the password and enter it
when prompted instead. For information about Netcool/OMNIbus, see the IBM Tivoli Netcool/
OMNIbus Administration Guide available from the following website: https://www.ibm.com/support/
knowledgecenter/SSSHTQ/landingpage/NetcoolOMNIbus.html.

Further steps
When the script completes, make sure that you enable the newSerial trigger.
1. Start your Netcool/Impactserver and the OMNIbusEventReader. In a clustered setup, start the primary
server first followed by all the secondary servers.
2. Log in to the Netcool/Impact GUI and create an instance of the DefaultPolicyActivator service. In the
Configuration, select the policy to trigger as SerialRollover and provide an interval at which that policy
gets triggered.
3. The SerialRollover policy assumes that the data source used to access Netcool/OMNIbus
is the defaultobjectserver and the event reader that accesses Netcool/OMNIbus is the
OMNIbusEventReader. If you are using a different data source or event reader, you must update the
DataSource_Name and Reader_Name variables in the policy accordingly.
4. Start the instance of the DefaultPolicyActivator service that you created.

Scenario Using a correlation policy and the OMNIbus ObjectServer event

reader service to solve flood events
How to use the Netcool/Impact policy EventCorrelationUsingXinYExample.ipl and the OMNIbus
ObjectServer event reader service to perform event correlation to solve events flood.
In Netcool/Impact, you create an OMNIbus event reader service that is based on a specific filter that
executes the EventCorrelationUsingXinYExample.ipl policy. The policy queries the OMNIbus
ObjectServer again based on the same filter as the reader or a different one to check if there are older
events within a threshold and how many they are.
The scenario uses a simple X in Y correlation example. Where X is the number of events that occurred in a
specified time window threshold Y, for example 50 events in the past 120 seconds.
This specific scenario focuses on an IBM Tivoli Monitoring Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server that sends
a flood of events that are tagged as MS_Offline. MS_Offline events are sent when the Tivoli Enterprise
Monitoring Server agents detect that servers are down or restarted. For example, if IBM Tivoli Monitoring
Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server sends 3 events per second per agent for 5 agents until the agents are
responsive, it would result in:
3 events * 5 * (5*60 seconds) = 4500 events in 5 minutes.
Because the 4500 events are coming from the same source, they should be correlated by either updating
the new incoming event or deleting them. In this example, the events are updated.
IBM Tivoli Monitoring Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server sends events to the OMNIbus ObjectServer table
with updated fields such as:
• Summary Like 'MS_Offline',
• ITMHostname='TEMS hostname',
• Agent = 'ITM'
The fields are used to query the ObjectServer.
This particular scenario is using a standard Netcool/Impact policy and an OMNIbus ObjectServer Event
Reader service for Version 5.x and up.

34 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Updating the policy to match the filter

Procedure
1. The correlation policy is EventCorrelationUsingXinYExample.ipl and is in the Global project
folder
2. Update the policy to match a specific filter. Each section of the policy has a description. Also, note that
the policy uses @ITMHostname for ITM TEMS because this example is specifically for MS_Offline event
floods. Make sure to update the filter accordingly.
a) Setting the thresholds for the time window and number of existing events.

/*Threshold time window in seconds:*/

CorrelationThreshold =120;

/*
* number of older events exist in the database before the incoming events
*/
numberOfEventsToCheck=5;

Log("LastOccurrence : " + @LastOccurrence );

/**
*DiffTime can be calculated using DiffTime = GetDate() - Int(CorrelationThreshold)
*Using GetDate() instead of @LastOccurrence makes sure that the
*policy checks period of time from "now time" - Threshold
*which keeps the time constant to check instead of using
*relative timestamp from LastOccurrence
*/
//DiffTime=@LastOccurrence - Int(CorrelationThreshold);
DiffTime=GetDate() - Int(CorrelationThreshold);
Log("DiffTime: " + DiffTime);

b) Filter

/*The following filter is used to correlate the events. It can be changed as needed
*This specific example is to filter events to handle ITM MS_OFFLine events flood
*/
CorrelationFilter="ITMHostname='" + @ITMHostname + "' AND Summary Like 'MS_Offline'
AND Severity = 5 AND Serial != " + @Serial ;
CorrelationFilter = CorrelationFilter + " AND LastOccurrence <= " + DiffTime ;

/*ORDER BY can be used to rank the events and check which one came in first
*/
CorrelationOrderBy = "ORDER BY LastOccurrence ASC";

c) Number of Events (X)

/* The following is to get COUNT(*) as EventCount

*from the same object server data source used by
*reader
*/
CorrelationFields="COUNT(*) AS EventCount";

/*form the correlation query including the Threshold filter*/

SQLQuery = "SELECT " + CorrelationFields + " FROM status WHERE " + CorrelationFilter ;
Log("Reader Policy Query: " + SQLQuery);
Log("Check older events...");
Nodes=DirectSQL('defaultobjectserver',SQLQuery,NULL);
Log("Number of Old Events: " + Nodes[0].EventCount );

/*The following if condition checks if there is an X events occurred in the threshold

*default is numberOfEventsToCheck (default 5) events older than the incoming event
*that was picked up by the reader.
* If there are older events, the incoming event will be correlated by updated the Severity
* and SuppressEscl
*/
if (Nodes[0].EventCount > numberOfEventsToCheck) {
Log("Found older events correlating this event: " + @Serial);
@Severity=2;
@SuppressEscl=6;
//event can deleted if the following is uncomented:
//@DeleteEvent=true;
ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

} else {

Chapter 3. Working with services 35

 Log("No older events found that greater than the number of events to check
( " +numberOfEventsToCheck +") ...");
}

3. Create an ObjectServer Event Reader service that runs the EventCorrelationUsingXinYExample

policy. See Configuring the OMNIbus event reader service in the online help.
For example, the following filter is used in the Event Mapping.
Summary Like 'MS_Offline' AND Severity = 5 AND ITMHostname <> '' AND Agent
='ITM'
4. Run the Event Reader service and send some test events.

Results
When the Event Reader finds a matching event, it runs the correlation policy. The policy queries the same
ObjectServer by using the same filter (or different, based on the configuration) and adds a threshold
and time window (Y) as well as number of events found. If the number of events that are found in the
threshold is greater than the count required (X), the incoming event is correlated by updating the Severity
and the SupressEscl fields.

Database event listener service

The database event listener service monitors an Oracle event source for new, updated, and deleted
events.
This service works only with Oracle databases. When the service receives the data, it evaluates the event
against filters and policies that are specified for the service and sends the event to the matching policies.
The service listens asynchronously for events that are generated by an Oracle database server and then
runs one or more policies in response.
You configure the service by using the GUI. Use the configuration properties to specify one or more
policies that are to be run when the listener receives incoming events from the database server.
The database event listener agent is unable to communicate to the Name Server through SSL.

Setting up the database server

Before you can use the database event listener, you must configure the database client and install it into
the Oracle database server.

Before you begin

The java classes contained within the client package require Oracle to be running in a JVM of 1.5 or higher.

About this task

The database client is the component that sends events from the database server to Netcool/Impact. It
consists of a set of Oracle Java schema objects and related properties files. When you install the Impact
Server, the installer copies a compressed client package that contains the client program files to the local
system.
Perform these steps to set up the database server:

Procedure
1. Copy the client package to the system where Oracle is running and extract its contents.
a) Copy the relevant client package from Netcool/Impact into a temporary directory on the system
where Oracle is running.
On UNIX systems, copy $IMPACT_HOME/install/agents/oracleclient-1.0.0.tar.
On Windows, copy $IMPACT_HOME/install/agents/oracleclient-1.0.0.zip .

36 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 b) Extract the package contents by using the UNIX tar command or a Windows archive
utility like WinZip. The package contents includes three files: oracleclient.jar,
impactdblistener.props, and commons-codec-1.3.jar.
2. Edit the Name Server properties file on the database client side.
a. Copy the nameserver.props file from the Impact Server to the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory,
where the loadjava program is also located.
b. Update the impact.namserver.password with the unencrypted password of the user name that
is specified in the impact.nameserver.userid property.
3. Edit the listener properties file.
The client tar file contains the impactdblistener.props with additional settings for the database
client. Copy the impactdblistener.props file to the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory, where the
loadjava program is also located. For information about configuring this file, see “Editing the listener
properties file” on page 38.
4. Install the client files into the database server that is using the Oracle loadjava utility.
Oracle provides the $ORACLE_HOME/bin/loadjava utility that you can use to install the client files
into the database server. For information about installing the client files into the database server, see
“Installing the client files into Oracle” on page 38.
5. Grant database permissions.
You must grant a certain set of permissions in the Oracle database server in order for the database
event listener to function.. For more information about granting database permissions, see “Granting
database permissions” on page 39.

Editing the nameserver.props file for the database client

The nameserver.props file is copied from the Impact Server to the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory. The
database client uses the nameserver.props file to determine the Name Server connection details.
The database client uses the name server to find and connect to the primary instance of the Impact
Server.
Restriction: In clustering configurations of Netcool/Impact, the database event listener only runs in the
primary server.
The following example shows a sample of the nameserver.props file that the database client can use
to connect to a single-server configuration of the Name Server.

impact.nameserver.0.host=NCI1
impact.nameserver.0.port=9080
impact.nameserver.0.location=/nameserver/services

impact.nameserver.userid=impactadmin
impact.nameserver.password=impactpass

impact.nameserver.count=1

In this example, the Name Server is located on the NCI1 Impact Server, and is running on the default
port, 9080. The Name Server user and password have default values, impactadmin, and impactpass.
The following example shows a sample of the nameserver.props file that the database client can use
to connect to a cluster that consists of two NameServer instances.

impact.nameserver.0.host=NCI1
impact.nameserver.0.port=9080
impact.nameserver.0.location=/nameserver/services

impact.nameserver.1.host=NCI2
impact.nameserver.1.port=9080
impact.nameserver.1.location=/nameserver/services

impact.nameserver.userid=impactadmin
impact.nameserver.password=impactpass

Chapter 3. Working with services 37

 impact.nameserver.count=2

In this example, the NameServers are located on systems named NCI1, and NCI2 Impact Servers, and
are running on the default port, 9080.

Editing the listener properties file

The client tar file contains the impactdblistener.props with additional settings for the database
client.
Edit this file so that it contains the correct name for the Impact Server cluster. You can also change debug
and delimiter properties.
Table 1 on page 38 shows the properties in the listener properties file:

Table 1. Database client listener properties file

Property Description

impact.cluster.name Name of the Impact Server cluster where the

database event listener is running. The default
value for this property is NCICLUSTER.

impact.dblistener.debug Specifies whether to run the database client in

debug mode. The default value for this property is
true.

impact.dblistener.delim Specifies the delimiter character that separates

name/value pairs in the VARRAY sent by Java
stored procedures to the database client. The
default value for this property is the pipe character
(|). You cannot use the colon (:) as a delimiter.

Installing the client files into Oracle

Oracle provides the $ORACLE_HOME/bin/loadjava utility that you can use to install the client files into
the database server.

Before you begin

If you are migrating to a newer version of Netcool/Impact, remove any preexisting Java archive (JAR) and
properties files. To remove the preexisting files, use the following command:

dropjava -user username/password <file>

username, and password is a valid user name and password for a user whose schema contains the
database resources where the Java stored procedures are run.

Procedure
1. Log in as the oracle user and set the environment variables ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID.
2. Go to the ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.
3. Install the client jar, and property files. The property files must be in the same $ORACLE_HOME/bin
directory as the loadjava utility with no other directory attached to the property files.
a) Use the following command to install the commons-codec-1.3.jar file:

loadjava -user username/password -resolve dir/commons-codec-1.3.jar

38 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 b) Use the following command to install the oracleclient.jar file:

loadjava -user username/password -resolve dir/oracleclient.jar

c) Use the following command to install the nameserver.props file:

loadjava -user username/password nameserver.props

d) Use the following command to install the impactdblistener.props file:

loadjava -user username/password impactdblistener.props

Important: You must follow this order of installation, otherwise loadjava cannot resolve external
references between files, and report errors during installation.

Granting database permissions

You must grant a certain set of permissions in the Oracle database server in order for the database event
listener to function.

Procedure
1. Log in to sqlplus as the sysdba user: sqlplus "sys as sysdba"
2. Grant the permissions by entering the following commands at an Oracle command line:

exec dbms_java.grant_permission( 'SCHEMA','SYS:java.net.SocketPermission',

'hostname:port','connect,resolve' )
/
exec dbms_java.grant_permission( 'SCHEMA','SYS:java.net.SocketPermission',
'hostname:listener_port','connect,resolve' )
/
exec dbms_java.grant_permission( 'SCHEMA', 'SYS:java.lang.RuntimePermission',
'shutdownHooks' , '');
/
exec
dbms_java.grant_permission( 'SCHEMA','SYS:java.util.logging.LoggingPermission'
,'control', '' );
/
exec dbms_java.grant_permission('SCHEMA', 'SYS:java.util.PropertyPermission',
'*', 'read, write')
/
exec dbms_java.grant_permission( 'SCHEMA', 'SYS:java.lang.RuntimePermission',
'getClassLoader', '' )
/
exec dbms_java.grant_permission( 'SCHEMA','SYS:java.net.SocketPermission',
'hostname:40000','connect,resolve' );
/
exec dbms_java.grant_permission( 'SCHEMA','SYS:java.lang.RuntimePermission',
'getClassLoader', '' )

SCHEMA
Is the name of the user creating the triggers and procedures.
hostname
Is the name of the host where you are running the Impact Server.
port
Is the HTTP port on the server.
listener_port
Is the port that is used by the database event listener.
3. Grant socket permissions to specific ports, or all ports, for Oracle.
• Use the next two port numbers in the allocation sequence to connect to the database event
listener service. You can adjust the communication port on the Impact Server so that the

Chapter 3. Working with services 39

 Oracle client can grant permissions to connect to the Impact Server on that port by using the
impact.server.rmiport property. For example:

$IMPACT_HOME/etc/<servername>_server.props impact.server.rmiport=50000

Grant the permission to connect to this port in your Oracle database, port 50000 in the example,
otherwise the Impact Server starts at a random port. You must grant permissions for a different port
each time the Impact Server is restarted.
• Grant the permission to all ports for the Impact Server by using the command:
exec dbms_java.grant_permission( 'CMDBUSR','SYS:java.net.SocketPermission',
'hostname:*', 'connect,resolve' ), where hostname is the host name or IP address of the
Impact Server.

Configuring the database event listener service

You configure the database event listener service by setting events to trigger policies when they match a
filter.

Table 2. Event mapping settings for database event listener service configuration window
Window element Description

Test events with all filters Click this button, when an event matches more
than one filter, you want to trigger all policies that
match the filtering criteria.

Stop testing after first match Click this button if you want to trigger only the first
matching policy.
You can choose to test events with all filters and
run any matching policies or to stop testing after
the first matching policy.

New Mapping: New Click on the New button to create an event filter.

Analyze Event Mapping Table Click this icon to view any conflicts with filter
mappings that you set for this service.

Starts automatically when server starts Select to automatically start the service when the
server starts. You can also start and stop the
service from the GUI.

Service log (Write to file) Select to write log information to a file.

Sending database events

Perform these tasks to configure the database to send events.
• Create a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function from the database client library.
• Create triggers that call the resulting stored procedure.
Before you create these objects in the database, you must understand what database events you want
to send and what conditions cause them to be sent. For example, if you want to send an event to Netcool/
Impact every time a row is inserted into a table, you must know:
The identity of the table
The subset of row information to send as part of the event
The name of the condition (for example, after insert) that triggers the operation.

40 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

It is easier to create the triggers and call specs in SQL files and then call the SQL files within SQL-plus, by
using @dir/filename. For example: @/tmp/createTrigger.sql
For more information about Java stored procedures, call specs, and triggers, see the Oracle Java Stored
Procedure Developer's Guide.

Creating the call spec

The database client exposes a function named sendEvent() that allows Oracle schema objects (in this
case, triggers) to send events to Netcool/Impact.
The sendEvent() function is located in the class
com.micromuse.response.service.listener.database. DatabaseListenerClient, which
you compiled and loaded when you installed the client into the database server.
The function has the following syntax:

sendEvent(java.sql.Array x)

Where each element in array x is a string that contains a name/value pair in the event.
In this example, db_varray_type is a user-defined VARRAY that can be described using the following
statement:

CREATE TYPE db_varray_type AS VARRAY(30) OF VARCHAR2(100);

In order for Oracle objects to call this function, you must create a call spec that publishes it to the
database as a stored procedure. The following example shows a call spec that publishes sendEvent()
as a procedure named test_varray_proc:

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE test_varray_proc(v_array_inp db_varray_type)

AS LANGUAGE JAVA
NAME
'com.micromuse.response.service.listener.database.DatabaseListenerClient.
sendEvent(java.sql.Array)';
/

This call spec and VARRAY type are used in examples elsewhere in this chapter.
When you call the procedure published with this call spec, you pass it an Oracle VARRAY in which each
element is a string that contains a name/value pair in the event. The name and value in the string
are separated using the pipe character (|) or another character as specified when you configured the
database client.
The procedures and triggers created for the event listener should not be created by the sys user.

Creating triggers
You can create triggers for DML events, DDL events, system events, and user events.

DML events triggers

DML events are sent to Netcool/Impact when the database performs operations that change rows in a
table.
These include the standard SQL INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE commands.
You configure the database to send DML events by creating triggers that are associated with these
operations. Most often, these triggers take field data from the rows under current change and pass it
to the database client using the call spec you previously created. In this way, the database reports the
inserts, updates, and deletes to Netcool/Impact for processing as events.
When the database client receives the field data from the trigger, it performs a SELECT operation on the
table to determine the underlying data type of each field. Because the corresponding row is currently
under change, Oracle is likely to report a mutating table error (ORA-04091) when the database client
performs the SELECT.

Chapter 3. Working with services 41

 To avoid receiving this error, your DML triggers must create a copy of the row data first and then use this
copy when sending the event.
The following example contains table type declarations, variable declarations, and trigger definitions that
create a temporary copy of row data. You can modify this example for your own use. This example uses
the type db_varray_type described in the previous section. The triggers in the example run in response
to changes made to a table named dept.
This example contains:
• Type declaration for deptTable, which is a nested table of db_varray_type.
• Variable declaration for dept1, which is a table of type deptTable. This table stores the copy of the
row data.
• Variable declaration for emptyDept, which is a second table of type deptTable. This table is empty
and is used to reset dept1.
• Trigger definition for dept_reset, which is used to reset dept1.
• Trigger definition for dept_after_row, which populates dept1 with field data from the changed rows.
• Trigger definition for dept_after_stmt, which loops through the copied rows and sends the field data
to the database client using the call spec defined in the previous section.
The trigger definition for dept_after_row is intentionally left incomplete in this example, because it
varies depending on whether you are handling INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE operations.
This is an example definition for this trigger:

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE dept_pkg AS

/* deptTable is a nested table of VARRAYs that will be sent */

/* to the database client */
TYPE deptTable IS TABLE OF db_varray_type INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;

/* dept1 will store the actual VARRAYs

dept1 deptTable;

/* emptyDept is used for initializing dept1 */

emptyDept deptTable;

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_reset

BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
BEGIN

/* Initialize dept1 */
dept_pkg.dept1 := dept_pkg.emptyDept;
end;
/

/* CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_row

/* AFTER INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
/* FOR EACH ROW
/* BEGIN

/* This trigger intentionally left incomplete. */

/* See examples in following sections of this chapter. */

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_stmt

AFTER INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
BEGIN

/* Loop through rows in dept1 and send field data to database client */
/* using call proc defined in previous section of this chapter */

for i in 1 .. dept_pkg.dept1.count loop

test_varray_proc(dept_pkg.dept1(i));
end loop;

42 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 end;
/

Insert events triggers

To send an event to Netcool/Impact when Oracle performs an INSERT operation, you must first create a
trigger that copies the inserted row data to a temporary table.
You then use another trigger as shown in the example to loop through the temporary table and send the
row data to the database client for processing.
A typical insert trigger contains a statement that populates a VARRAY with the wanted field data and
then assigns the VARRAY as a row in the temporary table. Each element in the VARRAY must contain
a character-delimited set of name/value pairs that the database client converts to event format before
sending it to Netcool/Impact. The default delimiter character is the pipe symbol (|).
The VARRAY must contain an element for a field named EVENTSOURCE. This field is used by the database
client to determine the table where the database event originated.
The following example shows a typical VARRAY for insert events:

db_varray_type('EVENTSOURCE | SCOTT.DEPT',
'DEPTNO | '||:NEW.DEPTNO, 'LOC | '||:NEW.LOC,
'DNAME | '||:NEW.DNAME, 'IMPACTED | '||:NEW.IMPACTED);

In this example, the VARRAY contains an EVENTSOURCE field and fields that contain values derived
from the inserted row, as contained in the NEW pseudo-record passed to the trigger. The value of the
EVENTSOURCE field in this example is the dept table in the Oracle SCOTT schema.
The following example shows a complete trigger that copies new row data to the temporary table dept1
in package dept_pkg.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_row

AFTER INSERT ON dept
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1(dept_pkg.dept1.count + 1) :=
db_varray_type('EVENTSOURCE | SCOTT.DEPT', 'DEPTNO | '||:NEW.DEPTNO,
'LOC | '||:NEW.LOC, 'DNAME | '||:NEW.DNAME,
'IMPACTED | '||:NEW.IMPACTED);

end;
/

For a complete example that shows how to send an insert event, see “Insert event trigger example” on
page 46.

Update and delete events triggers

You can send update and delete events using the same technique you use to send insert events.
When you send update and delete events, however, you must obtain the row values using the OLD
pseudo-record instead of NEW.
The following example shows a trigger that copies updated row data to the temporary table dept1 in
package dept_pkg.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_row

AFTER UPDATE ON dept
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1(dept_pkg.dept1.count + 1) :=
db_varray_type('EVENTSOURCE | SCOTT.DEPT',
'DEPTNO | '||:OLD.DEPTNO, 'LOC | '||:OLD.LOC,
'DNAME | '||:OLD.DNAME, 'IMPACTED | '||:OLD.IMPACTED);

end;
/

Chapter 3. Working with services 43

 The following example shows a trigger that copies deleted row data to the temporary table dept1.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_row

AFTER DELETE ON dept
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1(dept_pkg.dept1.count + 1) :=
db_varray_type('EVENTSOURCE | SCOTT.DEPT',
'DEPTNO | '||:OLD.DEPTNO, 'LOC | '||:OLD.LOC,
'DNAME | '||:OLD.DNAME, 'IMPACTED | '||:OLD.IMPACTED);

end;
/

DDL events triggers

DDL events are sent to Netcool/Impact when the database performs an action that changes a schema
object.
These actions include the SQL CREATE, ALTER, and DROP commands.
To send DDL events, you create a trigger that populates a VARRAY with data that describes the DDL action
and the database object that is changed by the operation. Then, you pass the VARRAY element to the
database client for processing. As with DML events, the VARRAY contains a character-delimited set of
name/value pairs that the database client converts to event format before sending to Netcool/Impact.
DDL events require two VARRAY elements: EVENTSOURCE, as described in the previous section,
and TRIGGEREVENT. Typically, you populate the TRIGGEREVENT element with the current value of
Sys.sysevent.
The following example shows a typical VARRAY for DDL events.

db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name, 'USERNAME | '||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'OBJECTTYPE | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_type,
'OBJECTOWNER | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_owner);

The following example shows a complete trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact before Oracle
executes a CREATE command.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER ddl_before_create

BEFORE CREATE
ON SCOTT.schema

DECLARE
my_before_create_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_before_create_varray :=
db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name,
'USERNAME | '||Sys.login_user,'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num,
'OBJECTTYPE | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_type,
'OBJECTOWNER | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_owner);
test_varray_proc(my_before_create_varray);

end;
/

System events triggers

System events are sent to Netcool/Impact when the Oracle server starts up, shuts down, or reports a
system level error.
System events work only if the user who owns the corresponding triggers has SYSDBA privileges (for
example, the SYS user).
Some versions of Oracle do not support invoking custom Java code from a system event trigger. Verify
that your version of Oracle supports invoking custom Java code from a system event trigger before you
configure a system event trigger for the Netcool/Impact database event listener.

44 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

To send DDL events, you create a trigger that populates a VARRAY with data that describes the
system action. Then, you pass the VARRAY element to the database client for processing. As with DDL
events, system events require the TRIGGEREVENT element to be populated, typically with the value of
Sys.sysevent.
The following example shows a typical VARRAY for system events.

db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
' OBJECTNAME | '||Sys.database_name,
' USER_NAME | '||Sys.login_user,
' INSTANCE_NUM | '||Sys.instance_num);

The following example shows a complete trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact at Oracle startup.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER databasestartuptrigger

AFTER STARTUP
ON database

DECLARE
v_array_inp db_varray_type;

BEGIN
v_array_inp := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
' OBJECTNAME | '||Sys.database_name,
' USER_NAME | '||Sys.login_user, ' INSTANCE_NUM | '||Sys.instance_num);
test_varray_proc(v_array_inp);

end;
/

User events triggers

User events are sent to Netcool/Impact when a user logs in to or out of Oracle.
Some versions of Oracle do not support invoking custom Java code from a user event trigger. Verify that
your version of Oracle supports invoking custom Java code from a user event trigger before you configure
a user event trigger for the Netcool/Impact database event listener.
To send user events, you create a trigger that populates a VARRAY with data that describes the user
action. Then, you pass the VARRAY element to the database client for processing. As with system
events, user events require the TRIGGEREVENT element to be populated, typically with the value of
Sys.sysevent. If you do not specify a value for the EVENTSOURCE element, the database client uses the
name of the database,
The following example shows a typical VARRAY for user events.

db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE |'||Sys.database_name, 'LOGINUSER | ' ||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'TRIGGERNAME | USER_LOGIN');

The following example shows a complete trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact at when a user
logs in.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER user_login

AFTER logon
on schema

DECLARE
my_login_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_login_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE |'||Sys.database_name, 'LOGINUSER | ' ||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'TRIGGERNAME | USER_LOGIN');
test_varray_proc(my_login_varray);

end;
/

Chapter 3. Working with services 45

 Insert event trigger example
This example shows how to create a set of Oracle triggers that send an insert event to Netcool/Impact.

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE dept_pkg AS

TYPE deptTable IS TABLE OF db_varray_type INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;

dept1 deptTable;
emptyDept deptTable;

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_reset

BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1 := dept_pkg.emptyDept;

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_row

AFTER INSERT ON dept
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1(dept_pkg.dept1.count + 1) :=
db_varray_type('EVENTSOURCE | SCOTT.DEPT', 'DEPTNO | '||:NEW.DEPTNO,
'LOC | '||:NEW.LOC, 'DNAME | '||:NEW.DNAME, 'IMPACTED | '||:NEW.IMPACTED);

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_stmt

AFTER INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
BEGIN

for i in 1 .. dept_pkg.dept1.count loop

test_varray_proc(dept_pkg.dept1(i));
end loop;

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Update event trigger example

This example shows how to create a set of Oracle triggers that send an update event to Netcool/Impact.

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE dept_pkg AS

TYPE deptTable IS TABLE OF db_varray_type INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;

dept1 deptTable;
emptyDept deptTable;

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_reset

BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1 := dept_pkg.emptyDept;

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_row

AFTER UPDATE ON dept
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1(dept_pkg.dept1.count + 1) :=
db_varray_type('EVENTSOURCE | SCOTT.DEPT', 'DEPTNO | '||:OLD.DEPTNO,
'LOC | '||:OLD.LOC, 'DNAME | '||:OLD.DNAME, 'IMPACTED | '||:OLD.IMPACTED);

46 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_stmt

AFTER INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
BEGIN

for i in 1 .. dept_pkg.dept1.count loop

test_varray_proc(dept_pkg.dept1(i));
end loop;

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Delete event trigger example

This example shows how to create a set of Oracle triggers that send a delete event to Netcool/Impact.

CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE dept_pkg AS

TYPE deptTable IS TABLE OF db_varray_type INDEX BY BINARY_INTEGER;

dept1 deptTable;
emptyDept deptTable;

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_reset

BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1 := dept_pkg.emptyDept;

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_row

AFTER DELETE ON dept
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1(dept_pkg.dept1.count + 1) :=
db_varray_type('EVENTSOURCE | SCOTT.DEPT', 'DEPTNO | '||:OLD.DEPTNO,
'LOC | '||:OLD.LOC, 'DNAME | '||:OLD.DNAME, 'IMPACTED | '||:OLD.IMPACTED);

end;
/

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_stmt

AFTER INSERT OR UPDATE OR DELETE ON dept
BEGIN

for i in 1 .. dept_pkg.dept1.count loop

test_varray_proc(dept_pkg.dept1(i));
end loop;

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Before create event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event before Oracle executes a CREATE
command.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER ddl_before_create

BEFORE CREATE
ON SCOTT.schema

Chapter 3. Working with services 47

 DECLARE
my_before_create_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_before_create_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name, 'USERNAME | '||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'OBJECTTYPE | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_type,
'OBJECTOWNER | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_owner);
test_varray_proc(my_before_create_varray);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

After create event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event after Oracle executes a CREATE
command.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER ddl_after_create

AFTER CREATE
ON SCOTT.schema

DECLARE
my_after_create_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_after_create_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name, 'USERNAME | '||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'OBJECTTYPE | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_type,
'OBJECTOWNER | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_owner);
test_varray_proc(my_after_create_varray);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Before alter event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event before Oracle executes an ALTER
command.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER ddl_before_alter

BEFORE ALTER
ON SCOTT.schema

DECLARE
my_before_alter_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_before_alter_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name, 'USERNAME | '||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'OBJECTTYPE | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_type,
'OBJECTOWNER | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_owner);
test_varray_proc(my_before_alter_varray);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

48 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

After alter event trigger example
This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event after Oracle executes an ALTER
command.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER ddl_after_alter

AFTER ALTER
ON SCOTT.schema

DECLARE
my_after_alter_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_after_alter_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name, 'USERNAME | '||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'OBJECTTYPE | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_type,
'OBJECTOWNER | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_owner);
test_varray_proc(my_after_alter_varray);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Before drop event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event before Oracle executes an DROP
command.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER ddl_before_drop

BEFORE DROP
ON SCOTT.schema

DECLARE
my_before_drop_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_before_drop_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name, 'USERNAME | '||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'OBJECTTYPE | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_type,
'OBJECTOWNER | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_owner);
test_varray_proc(my_before_drop_varray);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

After drop event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event after Oracle executes an DROP command.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER ddl_after_drop

AFTER DROP
ON SCOTT.schema

DECLARE
my_after_drop_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_after_drop_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name, 'USERNAME | '||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'OBJECTTYPE | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_type,
'OBJECTOWNER | '||Sys.dictionary_obj_owner);
test_varray_proc(my_after_drop_varray);

end;
/

Chapter 3. Working with services 49

 In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Server startup event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact at Oracle startup.
The following example requires that the Oracle server is able to invoke custom Java code from a system
event trigger. Refer to Oracle documentation to determine whether your version of Oracle supports
invoking custom Java code from a system event trigger.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER databasestartuptrigger

AFTER STARTUP
ON database

DECLARE
v_array_inp db_varray_type;

BEGIN
v_array_inp := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
' OBJECTNAME | '||Sys.database_name, ' USER_NAME | '||Sys.login_user,
' INSTANCE_NUM | '||Sys.instance_num);
test_varray_proc(v_array_inp);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Server shutdown event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact at Oracle shutdown.
The following example requires that the Oracle server is able to invoke custom Java code from a system
event trigger. Refer to Oracle documentation to determine whether your version of Oracle supports
invoking custom Java code from a system event trigger.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER databaseshutdowntrigger

BEFORE SHUTDOWN
ON database

DECLARE
v_array_inp db_varray_type;

BEGIN
v_array_inp := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
' OBJECTNAME | '||Sys.database_name, ' USER_NAME | '||Sys.login_user,
' INSTANCE_NUM | '||Sys.instance_num);
test_varray_proc(v_array_inp);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Server error event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact when Oracle
encounters a server error.
The following example requires that the Oracle server is able to invoke custom Java code from a system
event trigger. Refer to Oracle documentation to determine whether your version of Oracle supports
invoking custom Java code from a system event trigger.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER server_error_trigger_database

AFTER SERVERERROR
ON database

50 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 DECLARE
my_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE | '||Sys.database_name, 'INSTANCENUM | ' ||Sys.instance_num,
'LOGINUSER | '||Sys.login_user, 'ERRORNUM | '||Sys.server_error(1));
test_varray_proc(my_varray);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Logon event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact when a user logs in to
the database.
The following example requires that the Oracle server is able to invoke custom Java code from a user
event logon trigger. Refer to Oracle documentation to determine whether your version of Oracle supports
invoking custom Java code from a user event logon trigger.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER user_login

AFTER logon
on schema

DECLARE
my_login_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_login_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE |'||Sys.database_name, 'LOGINUSER | ' ||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'TRIGGERNAME | USER_LOGIN');
test_varray_proc(my_login_varray);

end;
/

In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Logoff event trigger example

This example shows how to create a trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact when a user logs out
of the database.
The following example requires that the Oracle server is able to invoke custom Java code from a user
event logoff trigger. Refer to Oracle documentation to determine whether your version of Oracle supports
invoking custom Java code from a user event logoff trigger.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER user_logoff

BEFORE logoff
on schema

DECLARE
my_logoff_varray db_varray_type;

BEGIN
my_logoff_varray := db_varray_type('TRIGGEREVENT | '||Sys.sysevent,
'EVENTSOURCE |'||Sys.database_name, 'LOGINUSER | ' ||Sys.login_user,
'INSTANCENUM | '||Sys.instance_num, 'TRIGGERNAME | USER_LOGOFF');
test_varray_proc(my_logoff_varray);

end;
/

Chapter 3. Working with services 51

 In this example, test_varray_proc is a call spec that publishes the sendEvent() function exposed
by the database client. The type db_varray_type is a user-defined data type that represents an Oracle
VARRAY. The example uses the Oracle SCOTT sample schema.

Writing database event policies

Policies that work with database events can handle incoming events, and return events to the database.

Handling incoming database events

The database event listener passes incoming events to Netcool/Impact using the built-in
EventContainer variable.
When the database event listener receives an event from the database, it populates the
EventContainer member variables with the values sent by the database trigger using the Oracle
VARRAY. You can access the values of EventContainer using the @ or dot notations in the same way
you access the field values in any other type of event.
The following example shows how to handle an incoming database event. In this example, the event was
generated using the example trigger described in “Insert events triggers” on page 43.

// Log incoming event values

Log("Department number: " + @DEPTNO);

Log("Location: " + @LOC);
Log("Database name: " + @DNAME);
Log("Impacted: " + @IMPACTED);

The example prints the field values in the event to the policy log.

Returning events to the database

The database event listener supports the use of the ReturnEvent function in a policy to update or delete
events. To use ReturnEvent in a database event policy, you must perform the following tasks:

Procedure
• Make sure that the database trigger that sends the event populates a special set of connection event
fields.
• Call the ReturnEvent function in the policy that handles the events.

Populating the connection event fields

For the policy that handles events to return them to the event source, you must populate a special set of
event fields in the database trigger.
These fields specify connection information for the database server. The database event listener uses this
information to connect to the database when you return an updated or deleted event.
Table 3 on page 52 shows the event fields that you must populate in the trigger.

Table 3. Database trigger connection event fields

Field Description

RETURNEVENT You must set a value of TRUE in this event field.

USERNAME User name to use when connecting to the Oracle database server.

PASSWORD Password to use when connecting to the Oracle database server.

HOST Host name or IP address of the system where Oracle is running.

52 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Table 3. Database trigger connection event fields (continued)

Field Description

PORT Connection port for the Oracle database server.

SID Oracle server ID.

KEYFIELD Key field in the database table, or any other field that uniquely identifies a
table row.

When the database client sends the event to Netcool/Impact, it encrypts the connection information
(including the database user name and password) specified in the event fields. The connection
information is then unencrypted when it is received by Netcool/Impact.
The following example shows a trigger that sends an event to Netcool/Impact when a new row is inserted
into the dept table. In this example, you populate the connection event fields by specifying elements in
the Oracle VARRAY that you pass to the database.

CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER dept_after_row

AFTER INSERT ON dept
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN

dept_pkg.dept1(dept_pkg.dept1.count + 1) :=
db_varray_type('EVENTSOURCE | SCOTT.DEPT', 'DEPTNO | '||:NEW.DEPTNO,
'LOC | '||:NEW.LOC, 'DNAME | '||:NEW.DNAME, 'IMPACTED | '||:NEW.IMPACTED,
'RETURNEVENT | TRUE', 'USERNAME | ora_user', 'PASSWORD | ora_passwd',
'HOST | ora_host', 'PORT | 4100', 'SID | ora_01', 'KEYFIELD | DEPTNO');

end;
/

Returning events to the database

You can send updated or deleted events to the database server by using the ReturnEvent function.
The ReturnEvent function sends the event information to the database event listener, which assembles
an UPDATE or DELETE command by using the information. The database event listener then sends the
command to the database server for processing. The UPDATE or DELETE command updates or deletes
the row that corresponds to the original sent event. For more information about ReturnEvent, see the
Policy Reference Guide.
The following policy example shows how to return an updated event to the database.

// Log incoming event values

Log("Department number: " + @DEPTNO);

Log("Location: " + @LOC);
Log("Database name: " + @DNAME);
Log("Impacted: " + @IMPACTED);

// Update the value of the Location field

@LOC = "New York City";

// Return the event to the database

ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

The following example shows how to delete an event from the database.

// Set the value of the DeleteEvent variable to true

@DeleteEvent = true; // @DeleteEvent name is case-sensitive

// Set the event field variables required by the database event listener
// in order to connect to Netcool/Impact

Chapter 3. Working with services 53

 // Return the event to the database

ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

To commit the updates to the rows, enter the command set autocommit on in Oracle.
If you are updating or deleting the events from Netcool/Impact, you must modify two triggers,
dept_reset and dept_after_stmt, to trigger only on insert, not on update or delete.

OMNIbus event listener service

The OMNIbus event listener service is used to integrate with Netcool/OMNIbus and receive immediate
notifications of fast track events.
The OMNIbus event listener is used to get fast track notifications from Netcool/OMNIbus through the
Accelerated Event Notification feature of Netcool/OMNIbus. It receives notifications through the Insert,
Delete, Update, or Control (IDUC) channel. To set up the OMNIbus event listener, you must set its
configuration properties through the GUI. You can use the configuration properties to specify one or more
channels for which events get processed and also one or more policies that are to be run in response to
events received from Netcool/OMNIbus.
Important:
• The OMNIbus event listener service works with Netcool/OMNIbus 7.3 and later to monitor ObjectServer
events.
• If the Impact Server and OMNIbus server are in different network domains, for the OMNIbus event
listener service to work correctly, you must set the Iduc.ListeningHostname property in the
OMNIbus server. This property must contain the IP address or fully qualified host name of the OMNIbus
server.
For more information about Netcool/OMNIbus triggers and accelerated event notification, and the
Iduc.ListeningHostname property in the OMNIbus server, see the Netcool/OMNIbus Administration
Guide available from this website:
Tivoli Documentation Central

Setting up the OMNIbus event listener service

Use this procedure to create the OMNIbus event listener service.

Procedure
1. Click Services to open the Services tab.
2. If required, select a cluster from the Cluster list.
3. Click the Create New Service icon in the toolbar and select OMNIbusEventListener to open the
configuration window.
4. Enter the required information in the configuration window.
5. Click the Save icon in the toolbar to create the service.
6. Start the service to establish a connection to the ObjectServer and subscribe to one or more IDUC
channels to get notifications for inserts, updates, and deletes.

How to check the OMNIbus event listener service logs

Starting the OMNIbus event listener service establishes a connection between Netcool/Impact and the
ObjectServer.
To ensure that the OMNIbus event listener service started successfully, check the service logs. A message
like the following example is displayed if the service started:

Initializing Service
Connecting to the Data Source: defaultobjectserver

54 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Service Started
Attempting to connect for IDUC notifications
Established connection to the Data Source defaultobjectserver
IDUC Connection: Established:
Iduc Hostname : nc050094
Iduc Port : 58003
Iduc Spid : 2

Creating Triggers
You must create triggers before Netcool/Impact can receive accelerated events from Netcool/OMNIbus.
Triggers notify Netcool/Impact of accelerated events. For more information about creating triggers, see
the IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus Administration Guide available from the following website:
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/tivolidoccentral/OMNIbus.
This example shows how to create a trigger to immediately notify Netcool/Impact when there is an alert
with a severity of 5 from Node called ImpactNode:

create or replace trigger ft_insert1

group trigger_group1
priority 1
after insert on alerts.status
for each row
begin
if (new.Severity = 5 AND new.Node = 'ImpactNode')
then
iduc evtft 'default' , insert, new
end if;
end;

Another example shows how to create a trigger that sends an accelerated event to Netcool/Impact when
an event with Customer internet_banking is deleted:

create or replace trigger ft_delete1

group trigger_group1
priority 1
before delete on alerts.status
for each row
begin
if (old.Customer = 'internet_banking')
then
iduc evtft 'default' , delete, old
end if;
end;

The following example shows how to create a trigger that immediately notifies Netcool/Impact if a
reinsertion of the event with the Node as New York is received:

create or replace trigger ft_reinsert1

group trigger_group1
priority 1
after reinsert on alerts.status
for each row
begin
if (new.Node = 'New York')
then
iduc evtft 'default' , insert, new
end if;
end;

The following example shows how to create a signal trigger that notifies you when a gateway connection
is established with the ObjectServer:

create or replace trigger notify_isqlconn

group trigger_group1
priority 1
on signal connect
begin
if( %signal.process = 'GATEWAY' )
then
iduc sndmsg 'default', 'Gateway Connection from '

Chapter 3. Working with services 55

 + %signal.node + ' from user ' + %signal.username + ' at ' +
to_char(%signal.at)
end if;
end;

Yet another example shows how to create a signal trigger that notifies you when connection gets
disconnected:

create or replace trigger notify_isqldisconn

group trigger_group1
priority 1
on signal disconnect
begin
if( %signal.process = 'isql' )
then
iduc sndmsg 'default', 'ISQL Disconnect from ' + %signal.node +
' from user ' + %signal.username + ' at ' + to_char(%signal.at)
end if;
end;

Using the ReturnEvent function

You can use the ReturnEvent function to insert, update, or delete events that Netcool/Impact receives
from Netcool/OMNIbus. To read more about the ReturnEvent function, see the Policy Reference Guide.
This example shows how to use the ReturnEvent function to set the Node to Impacted and to increment
the Severity by 1:

@Node = 'Impacted';
@Severity = @Severity + 1;
ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

Another example shows how to delete the event from alerts.status by using the ReturnEvent
function:

@DeleteEvent = TRUE;
ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

Subscribing to individual channels

How to subscribe to one or more OMNIbus channels for which Netcool/Impact processes events received
from Netcool/OMNIbus.

Procedure
1. In the OMNIbusEventListener configuration window, in One or more Channels field, add the
channel from which Netcool/Impact processes events.
2. To subscribe to more than one channel, add a comma between each channel name.
3. To change the channel name or to add or remove one or more entries add the changes and restart the
OMNIbusEventListener service to implement the changes.

Results
When Netcool/Impact receives a Fast Track event from a channel that matches one of the configured
channels, the OMNIbusEventListener service log displays the following message:
Received Fast Track Message from channel: <channel_name>

When Netcool/Impact receives a Fast Track event that does not match any configured channels, the
OMNIbusEventListener service log displays the following message:
Fast Track Message from channel:
<channel name> did not match any configured channels.

Restriction: Filtering messages by channel is only supported for Fast Track messages that are sent
by using the iduc evtf command. For signal messages sent by using the iduc sndmsg command,

56 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Netcool/Impact does not filter the messages by which channel they originated from. For information
about these commands, see the IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus Administration Guide available from the
following website:
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/tivolidoccentral/OMNIbus.

Controlling which events get sent over from OMNIbus to Netcool/Impact

using Spid
You can use the Spid instead of a channel name to control which events get sent over to Netcool/Impact.
When the OMNIbusEventListener Service starts, it displays the details of the connection in the
$IMPACT_HOME/log/<servername>_omnibuseventlistener.log, including the connection Spid.
In the following example, the Spid is 2:

21 Feb 2012 11:16:07,363: Initializing Service

21 Feb 2012 11:16:07,363: Connecting to the Data Source: defaultobjectserver
21 Feb 2012 11:16:07,405: Service Started
21 Feb 2012 11:16:07,522: Attempting to connect for IDUC notifications
21 Feb 2012 11:16:07,919: Established connection to the Data Source
defaultobjectserver
21 Feb 2012 11:16:08,035: IDUC Connection: Established:
21 Feb 2012 11:16:08,036: Iduc Hostname : nc050094
21 Feb 2012 11:16:08,036: Iduc Port : 60957
21 Feb 2012 11:16:08,036: Iduc Spid : 2

Knowing that Netcool/Impact is connected with the Spid 2, you can use the Client ID, and configure the
trigger to send the Accelerated Event Notification only to the client with Spid=2 (Impact). An OMNIbus
trigger has the following syntax:

IDUC EVTFT destination, action_type, row

Where:
• destination = spid | iduc_channel
– spid = integer_expression (The literal client connection ID)
– iduc_channel = string_expression (Channel name)
• action_type = INSERT | UPDATE | DELETE
• row = variable (Variable name reference of a row in the automation)
For example, the following trigger would tell OMNIbus to send notifications only to Spid=2, which in this
case is Netcool/Impact:

create or replace trigger ft_insert1

group trigger_group1
priority 1
after insert on alerts.status
for each row
begin
if (new.Severity >= 5)
then
iduc evtft 2 , insert, new
end if;
end;

For more information about OMNIbus triggers and accelerated event notification, see the OMNIbus
Administration Guide available from this website:
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/tivolidoccentral/OMNIbus

Chapter 3. Working with services 57

58 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide
Chapter 4. Handling events
From within an IPL policy, you can access and update field values of incoming events; add journal entries
to events; send new events to the event source; and delete events in the event source.

Events overview
An event is a set of data that represents a status or an activity on a network. The structure and content
of an event varies depending on the device, system, or application that generated the event but in most
cases, events are Netcool/OMNIbus alerts.
These events are generated by Netcool probes and monitors, and are stored in the ObjectServer
database. Events are obtained using event readers, event listeners, and email readers services.
Incoming event data is stored using the built-in EventContainer variable. This variable is passed to the
policy engine as part of the context when a policy is executed. When you write a policy, you can access the
fields in the event using the member variables of EventContainer.

Event container and event variables

The event container is a native Netcool/Impact data type used to store event data. The event container
consists of a set of event field and event state variables.
Event Container variable
The EventContainer is a built-in variable that stores the field data for incoming events. Each time
an event is passed to the policy engine for processing, it creates an instance of EventContainer,
populates the event field variables, and stores it in the policy context. You can then access the values
of the event fields from within the policy.
Event field variables
Event field variables are member variables of an event container that store the field values in an event.
Event state variables
Event state variables are a set of predefined member variables that you can use to specify the state of
an event when you send it to the event source by using the ReturnEvent function. Two event state
variables are used: JournalEntry and DeleteEvent. For information about using JournalEntry,
see “Adding journal entries to events” on page 60. For information about using DeleteEvent, see
“Deleting events” on page 62.
User-defined event container variables
User-defined event container variables are variables that you create by using the NewEvent function.
You use these variables when you send new events to the event source, or when you want to
temporarily store event data within a policy.

Using the dot notation to access the event fields

You use the dot notation to access the value of event fields in the same way you access the values of
member variables in a struct in languages like C and C++.
The following policy shows how to use the dot notation to access the value of the Node, Severity, and
Summary fields in an incoming event and print them to the policy log:

Log(EventContainer.Node);
Log(EventContainer.Severity);
Log(EventContainer.Summary);

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 59

Using the @ notation to access the event fields
If you are using IPL, you can use the @ notation to access event fields.
The @ notation is shorthand that you can use to reference the event fields in the built-in
EventContainer variable without having to spell out the EventContainer name. If you are using
JavaScript you must use EventContainer.Identifier.
The following policy shows how to use the @ notation to access the value of the Node, Severity, and
Summary fields in an incoming event and print them to the policy log:

Log(@Node);
Log(@Severity);
Log(@Summary);

Updating event fields

To update fields in an incoming event, you assign new values to event field variables in the
EventContainer.
An event with a new value assigned to its field variable will not be updated until you call the
ReturnEvent function.
The following examples show how to update the Summary and Severity fields in an incoming event.

@Summary = "Node down";

@Summary = @Summary + ": Updated by Netcool/Impact";
@Severity = 3;
@Severity = @Severity + 1;

Adding journal entries to events

You can use IPL and JavaScript to add journal entries to existing Netcool/OMNIbus events.

About this task

You can only add journal entries to events that exist in the ObjectServer database. You cannot add journal
entries to new events that you have created using the NewEvent function in the currently running policy.
Follow these steps to add a journal entry to an event.

Procedure
1. Assign the journal text to the JournalEntry variable.
JournalEntry is an event state variable used to add new journal entries to an existing event. For
more information, see “Assigning the JournalEntry variable” on page 61.
2. Send the event to the event source using the ReturnEvent function.
Call ReturnEvent and pass the event container as an input parameter, in the following manner:

ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

Example
The following example shows how to add a new journal entry to an incoming event.

// Assign the journal entry text to the JournalEntry variable

@JournalEntry = 'Modified on ' + LocalTime(GetDate()) + "\r\n" +

'Modified by Netcool\Impact.';

// Send the event to the event source using ReturnEvent

60 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

Assigning the JournalEntry variable

JournalEntry is an event state variable used to add new journal entries to an existing event.
Netcool/Impact uses special rules for interpreting string literals assigned to JournalEntry. Text stored
in JournalEntry must be assigned using single quotation marks, except for special characters such as
\r, \n and \t, which must be assigned using double quotation marks. If you want to use both kinds
of text in a single entry, you must specify them separately and then concatenate the string using the +
operator.
To embed a line break in a journal entry, you use an \r\n string.
The following examples show how to assign journal text to the JournalEntry variable.

@JournalEntry = 'Modified by Netcool/Impact';

@JournalEntry = 'Modified on ' + LocalTime(GetDate());
@JournalEntry = 'Modified on ' + LocalTime(GetDate()) + "\r\n" +
'Modified by Netcool/Impact';

Sending new events

Use this procedure to send new events to an event source.

Procedure
1. Create an event container using the NewEvent function
To create an event container, you call the NewEvent function and pass the name of the event reader
associated with the event source, in the following manner:

MyEvent = NewEvent("OMNIbusEventReader");

The function returns an empty event container.

2. Set the EventReaderName member variable:

MyEvent.EventReaderName = "OMNIbusEventReader";

In the examples the event reader is OMNIbusEventReader

3. Populate the event fields by assigning values to its event field variables.
For example:

MyEvent.EventReaderName = "OMNIbusEventReader";
MyEvent.Node = "192.168.1.1";
MyEvent.Summary = "Node down";
MyEvent.Severity = 5;
MyEvent.AlertKey = MyEvent.Node + ":" + MyEvent.Summary;

4. Send the event to the data source using the ReturnEvent function.
Call the ReturnEvent function, and pass the new event container as an input parameter, in the
following manner:

ReturnEvent(MyEvent);

Example
The following example shows how to create, populate, and send a new event to an event source.

// Create a new event container

Chapter 4. Handling events 61

 MyEvent = NewEvent("OMNIbusEventReader");

// Populate the event container member variables

MyEvent.EventReaderName = "OMNIbusEventReader";
MyEvent.Node = "192.168.1.1";
MyEvent.Summary = "Node down";
MyEvent.Severity = 5;
MyEvent.AlertKey = MyEvent.Node + ":" + MyEvent.Summary;

// Add a journal entry (optional)

MyEvent.JournalEntry = 'Modified on ' + LocalTime(GetDate()) + "\r\n" +

'Modified by Netcool/Impact';
// Send the event to the event source

ReturnEvent(MyEvent);

Deleting events
Use this procedure to delete an incoming event from the event source.

Procedure
1. Set the DeleteEvent variable in the event container.
The DeleteEvent variable is an event state variable that you use to specify that an event is to be
deleted when it is sent back to the event source. You must set the value of DeleteEvent to True in
order for an event to be deleted. For example:

@DeleteEvent = True;

2. Send the event to the event source using the ReturnEvent function.
For example:

ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

Examples of deleting an incoming event from the event source

These examples show how to delete an incoming event from the event source using IPL, and JavaScript.
• Impact Policy Language:

// Set the DeleteEvent Variable

@DeleteEvent = True;

// Send the event to the event source

ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

• JavaScript:

// Set the DeleteEvent Variable

EventContainer.DeleteEvent = true;

// Send the event to the event source

ReturnEvent(EventContainer);

62 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 5. Handling data
You can handle data in a policy.
From within a policy you can retrieve data from a data source by filter, by key, or by link; delete, or add
data to a data source; update data in a data source; and call database functions, or stored procedures.
You can access data stored in a wide variety of data sources. These include many commercial databases,
such as Oracle, Sybase, and Microsoft SQL Server. You can also access data stored in LDAP data source
and data stored by various third-party applications, including network inventory managers and messaging
systems.

Working with data items

Data items are elements of the data model that represent actual units of data stored in a data source.
The structure of this unit of data depends on the category of the associated data source. For example, if
the data source is an SQL database data type, each data item corresponds to a row in a database table. If
the data source is an LDAP server, each data item corresponds to a node in the LDAP hierarchy.

Field variables
Field variables are member variables in a data item. There is one field variable for each data item field.
Field variable names are the same as the names in the underlying data item fields. For example, if you
have a data item with two fields named UserID and UserName, it will also have two field variables
named UserID and UserName.

DataItem and DataItems variables

The DataItems variable is a built-in variable of type array that is used by default to store data items
returned by GetByFilter, GetByKey, GetByLinks or other functions that retrieve data items. If you
do not specify a return variable when you call these functions, Netcool/Impact assigns the retrieved data
items to the DataItems variable.
The DataItem variable references the first item (index 0) in the DataItems array.

Retrieving data by filter

Retrieving data by filter means that you are getting data items from a data type where you already know
the value of one or more of the fields.
When you retrieve data by filter, you are saying: "Give me all the data items in this type, where certain
fields contain these values."

Working with filters

A filter is a text string that sets out the conditions under which Netcool/Impact retrieves the data items.
The use of filters with internal, SQL, LDAP, and some Mediator data types is supported. The format of the
filter string varies depending on the category of the data type.

SQL filters
SQL filters are text strings that you use to specify a subset of the data items in an internal or SQL database
data type.
For SQL database and internal data types, the filter is an SQL WHERE clause that provides a set of
comparisons that must be true in order for a data item to be returned. These comparisons are typically
between field names and their corresponding values.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 63

 Syntax
For SQL database data types, the syntax of the SQL filter is specified by the underlying data source. The
SQL filter is the contents of an SQL WHERE clause specified in the format provided by the underlying
database. When the data items are retrieved from the data source, this filter is passed directly to the
underlying database for processing.
For internal data types, the SQL filter is processed internally by the policy engine. For internal data types,
the syntax is as follows:

Field
Operator
Value [AND | OR | NOT (Field
Operator
Value) ...]

where Field is the name of a data type field, Operator is a comparative operator, and Value is the field
value.
Attention: Note that for both internal and SQL data types, any string literals in an SQL filter must
be enclosed in single quotation marks. The policy engine interprets double quotation marks before
it processes the SQL filter. Using double quotation marks inside an SQL filter causes parsing errors.

Operators
The type of comparison is specified by one of the standard comparison operators. The SQL filter syntax
supports the following comparative operators:
• >
• <
• =
• <=
• =>
• !=
• LIKE
Restriction: You can use the LIKE operator with regular expressions as supported by the underlying
data source.
The SQL filter syntax supports the AND, OR and NOT boolean operators.
Tip: Multiple comparisons can be used together with the AND, OR, and NOT operators.

Order of operation
You can specify the order in which expressions in the SQL are evaluated using parentheses.

Examples
Here is an example of an SQL filter:

Location = 'NYC'
Location LIKE 'NYC.*'
Facility = 'Wandsworth' AND Facility = 'Putney'
Facility = 'Wall St.' OR Facility = 'Midtown'
NodeID >= 123345
NodeID != 123234

You can use this filter to get all data items where the value of the Location field is New York:

Location = 'New York'

64 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Using this filter you get all data items where the value of the Location field is New York or New
Jersey:

Location = 'New York' OR Location = 'New Jersey'

To get all data items where the value of the Location field is Chicago or Los Angeles and the value of
the Level field is 3:

(Location = 'New York' OR Location = 'New Jersey') AND Level = 3

LDAP filters
LDAP filters are filter strings that you use to specify a subset of data items in an LDAP data type.
The underlying LDAP data source processes the LDAP filters. You use LDAP filters when you do the
following tasks:
• Retrieve data items from an LDAP data type using GetByFilter.
• Retrieve a subset of linked LDAP data items using GetByLinks.
• Delete individual data items from an LDAP data type.
• Specify which data items appear when you browse an LDAP data type in the GUI.

Syntax
An LDAP filter consists of one or more boolean expressions, with logical operators prefixed to the
expression list. The boolean expressions use the following format:

Attribute
Operator
Value

where Attribute is the LDAP attribute name and Value is the field value.
The filter syntax supports the =, ~=, <, <=, >, >=, and ! operators, and provides limited substring matching
using the * operator. In addition, the syntax also supports calls to matching extensions defined in the
LDAP data source. White space is not used as a separator between attribute, operator, and value, and
those string values are not specified using quotation marks.
For more information on LDAP filter syntax, see Internet RFC 2254.

Operators
As with SQL filters, LDAP filters provide a set of comparisons that must be true in order for a data item
to be returned. These comparisons are typically between field names and their corresponding values. The
comparison operators supported in LDAP filters are:
• =
• ~=,
• <
• <=
• >
• >=
• !
One difference between LDAP filters and SQL filters is that any Boolean operators used to specify multiple
comparisons must be prefixed to the expression. Another difference is that string literals are not specified
using quotation marks.

Chapter 5. Handling data 65

 Examples
Here is an example of an LDAP filter:

(cn=Mahatma Gandhi)
(!(location=NYC*))
(&(facility=Wandsworth)(facility=Putney))
(|(facility=Wall St.)(facility=Midtown)(facility=Jersey City))
(nodeid>=12345)

You can use this example to get all data items where the common name value is Mahatma Gandhi:

(cn=Mahatma Gandhi)

Using this example you get all data items where the value of the location attribute does not begin with
the string NYC:

(!(location=NYC*))

To get all data items where the value of the facility attribute is Wandsworth or Putney:

(|(facility=Wandsworth)(facility=Putney))

Mediator filters
You use Mediator filters with the GetByFilter function to retrieve data items from some Mediator data
types.
The syntax for Mediator filters varies depending on the underlying DSA. For more information about the
Mediator syntax for a particular DSA, see the DSA documentation.

Retrieving data by filter in a policy

To retrieve data by filter, you call the GetByFilter function and pass the name of the data type and the
filter string.
The function returns an array of data items that match the conditions in the filter. If you do not specify a
return variable, GetByFilter assigns the array to the built-in variable DataItems.

Example of retrieving data from an SQL database data type

These examples show how to retrieve data from an SQL database data type.
In the first example, you get all the data items from a data type named Node where the value of the
Location field is New York and the value of the TypeID field is 012345.
Then, you print the data item fields and values to the policy log using the Log and CurrentContext
functions.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "Node";Filter = "Location = 'New York' AND TypeID = 012345";

CountOnly = False;

MyNodes = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyNodes = GetByFilter("Node", "Location = 'New York' AND TypeID = 012345", False);

Log(CurrentContext());

66 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

In the second example, you get all the data items from a data type named Node where the value of the
IPAddress field equals the value of the Node field in an incoming event. As above, you print the fields
and values in the data items to the policy log.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "Node";
Filter = "IPAddress = '" + @Node + "'";
CountOnly = False;

MyNodes = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

Make sure that you understand the filter syntax used in the sample code. When using the value of a
variable inside an SQL filter string, the value must be encapsulated in single quotation marks. This is
because Netcool/Impact processes the filter string in two stages. During the first stage, it evaluates the
variable. During the second stage, it concatenates the filter string and sends it to the data source for
processing.
A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyNodes = GetByFilter("Node", "Location = '" + @Node + "'", False);

Log(CurrentContext());

Example of retrieving data from an LDAP data type

These examples show how to retrieve data from an LDAP data type.
In the first example, you get any data items from a data type named User where the value of the cn
(common name) field is Brian Huang. Then, you print the data item fields and values to the policy log
using the Log and CurrentContext functions.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "User";
Filter = "(cn=Brian Huang)";
CountOnly = False;

MyUsers = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyUsers = GetByFilter("User", "(cn=Brian Huang)", False);

Log(CurrentContext());

In the second example, you get all data items from a data type named Node where the value of the
Location field is New York or New Jersey. As above, you print the fields and values in the data items to
the policy log.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "Node";
Filter = "(|(Location=NewYork)(Location=New Jersey))";
CountOnly = False;

MyNodes = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Log the data item field values

Log(CurrentContext());

Chapter 5. Handling data 67

 A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyNodes = GetByFilter("Node", "(|(Location=New York)(Location=New Jersey))", False);

Log(CurrentContext());

Example of looking up data from a Smallworld DSA Mediator data type

The following example shows how to look up data from a Smallworld DSA Mediator data type.
Smallworld is a network inventory manager developed by GE Network Solutions. Netcool/Impact provides
a Mediator DSA and a set of predefined data types that allow you to read network data from the
Smallworld NIS.
In this example, you get all the data items from the SWNetworkElement data type where the value of
ne_name is DSX1 PNL-01 (ORP). Then, you print the data item fields and values to the policy log using
the Log and CurrentContext functions.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "SWNetworkElement";
Filter = "ne_name = 'DSX1 PNL-01 (ORP)'";
CountOnly = False;

MyElements = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyElements = GetByFilter("SWNetworkElement", \
"ne_name = 'NSX1 PNL-01 (ORP)'", False);
Log(CurrentContext());

Retrieving data by key

Retrieving data by key means that you are getting data items from a data type where you already know the
value one or more key fields.
When you retrieve data items by key, you are saying, "Give me a certain number of data items in this type,
where the key fields equal these values." Because key fields typically designate a unique data item, the
number of data items returned is typically one.

Keys
A key is a special field in a data type that uniquely identifies a data item.
You specify key fields when you create a data type. The most common way to use the key field is to use it
to identify a key field in the underlying data source. For more information about data type keys, see “Data
type keys ” on page 17.

Key expressions
The key expression is a value or array of values that key fields in the data item must equal in order to be
returned.
The following key expressions are supported:
Single key expressions
A single key expression is an integer, float, or string that specifies the value that the key field in a data
item must match in order to be retrieved.

68 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Multiple key expressions
A multiple key expression is an array of values that the key fields in a data item must match in order to
be retrieved. For more information, see “Multiple key expressions” on page 69.

Multiple key expressions

A multiple key expression is an array of values that the key fields in a data item must match in order to be
retrieved.
Netcool/Impact determines if the key field values match by comparing each value in the array with the
corresponding key field on a one-by-one basis. For example, if you have a data type with two key fields
named Key_01 and Key_02, and you use a key expression of {"KEY_12345", "KEY_93832"}, the
function compares KEY_12345 with the value of Key_01 and KEY_93832 with the value of Key_02. If
both fields match the specified values, the function returns the data item. If only one field or no fields
match, the data item is not returned.

Retrieving data by key in a policy

To retrieve data by key, you call the GetByKey function and pass the name of the data type and the filter
string.
The function returns an array of data items that match the conditions in the filter. If you do not specify a
return variable, GetByKey assigns the array to the built-in variable DataItems.

Example of returning data from a data type using a single key expression
In this example, you retrieve a data item from a data type called Node where the value of the key field is
ID-00001.
Then, you print the data item fields and values to the policy log using the Log and CurrentContext
functions.

// Call GetByKey and pass the name of the data type

// and the key expression.

DataType = "Node";
Key = "ID-00001";
MaxNum = 1;

MyNodes = GetByKey(DataType, Key, MaxNum);

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyNodes = GetByKey("Node", "ID-00001", 1);

Log(CurrentContext());

Example of returning data by key using a multiple key expression

In this example, you retrieve a data item from a data type called Customer where the values of its key
fields are R12345 and D98776.
You print the fields and values in the data items to the policy log.

// Call GetByKey and pass the name of the data type.

// the key expression.

Type = "Customer";
Key = {"R12345", "D98776"};
MaxNum = 1;

MyCustomers = GetByKey(Type, Key, MaxNum);

// Log the data item field values.

Chapter 5. Handling data 69

 Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyCustomers = GetByKey("Customer", {"R12345", "D98776"}, 1);

Log(CurrentContext());

Retrieving data by link

Retrieving data by link means that you are getting data items from data types that are linked to one or
more data items that you have previously retrieved.
When you retrieve data items by link, you are saying: "Give me data items in these data types that are
linked to these data items that I already have." The data items that you already have are called the source
data items. The data items that you want to retrieve are known as the targets.

Links overview
Links are an element of the data model that defines relationships between data items and between data
types.
They can save time during the development of policies because you can define a data relationship once
and then reuse it several times when you need to find data related to other data in a policy. Links are an
optional part of a data model. Dynamic links and static links are supported.
Netcool/Impact provides two categories of links.
Static links
Static links define a relationship between data items in internal data types.
Dynamic links
Dynamic links define a relationship between data types.

Retrieving data by link in a policy

To retrieve data items by link, you must first retrieve source data items using the GetByFilter or
GetByKey functions.
Then, you call GetByLinks and pass an array of target data types and the sources. The function returns
an array of data items in the target data types that are linked to the source data items. Optionally, you
can specify a filter that defines a subset of target data items to return. You can also specify the maximum
number of returned data items.

Example of retrieving data by link

These examples show how to retrieve data by link.
In the first example, you call GetByFilter and retrieve a data item from the Node data type whose
Hostname value matches the Node field in an incoming event. Then you call GetByLinks to retrieve all
the data items in the Customers data type that are linked to the Node. In this example, you print the
fields and values in the data items to the policy log before exiting.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "Node";
Filter = "Hostname = '" + @Node + "'";
CountOnly = False;

MyNodes = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Call GetByLinks and pass the target data type,

// the maximum number of data items to retrieve and
// the source data item.

70 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 DataTypes = {"Customer"};
Filter = "";
MaxNum = "10000";
DataItems = MyNodes;

MyCustomers = GetByLinks(DataTypes, Filter, MaxNum, DataItems);

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is:

MyNodes = GetByFilter("Node", "Hostname = '" + @Node + "'", False");

MyCustomers = GetByLinks({"Customer"}, "", 10000, MyNodes);
Log(CurrentContext());

In the second example, you use a link filter to specify a subset of data items in the target data type
to return. As above, you call GetByFilter and retrieve a data item from the Node data type whose
Hostname value matches the Node field in an incoming event. Then you call GetByLinks to retrieve all
the data items in the Customers data type whose Location is New York that are linked to the Node.
You then print the fields and values in the data items to the policy log before exiting.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "Node";
Filter = "Hostname = '" + @Node + "'";
CountOnly = False;

MyNodes = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Call GetByLinks and pass the target data type,

// the maximum number of data items to retrieve and
// the source data item.

DataTypes = {"Customer"};
Filter = "Location = 'New York'";
MaxNum = "10000";
DataItems = MyNodes;

MyCustomers = GetByLinks(DataTypes, Filter, MaxNum, DataItems);

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is:

MyNodes = GetByFilter("Node", "Hostname = '" + @Node + "'", False");

MyCustomers = GetByLinks({"Customer"}, "Location = 'New York'", 10000, MyNodes);
Log(CurrentContext());

Adding data
Use this procedure to add a data item to a data type.

Procedure
1. Create a context using the NewObject function.
The following example shows how to create a context named MyNode.

MyNode = NewObject();

2. Populate the member variables in the context with data that corresponds to the values you want to set
in the new data item.

Chapter 5. Handling data 71

 The name of each member variable must be exactly as it appears in the data type definition, as in the
following example:

MyNode.Name = "Achilles";
MyNode.IPAddress = "192.168.1.1";
MyNode.Location = "London";

3. Add the data item.

You can add the data item to the data type by calling the AddDataItem function and passing the name
of the data type and the context as input parameters. The following example shows how to add the
data item to a data type.

AddDataItem("Node", MyNode);

Example of adding a data item to a data type

In this example, the data type is named User.
The User data type contains the following fields: Name, Location, and ID.

// Create new context.

MyUser = NewObject();

// Populate the member variables in the context.

MyUser.ID = "00001";
MyUSer.Name = "Jennifer Mehta";
MyUser.Location = "New York";

// Call AddDataItem and pass the name of the data type

// and the context.

DataType = "User";

AddDataItem(DataType, MyUser);

A shorter version of this example would be as follows:

MyUser=NewObject();
MyUser.ID = "00001";
MyUser.Name = "Jennifer Mehta";
MyUser.Location = "New York";
AddDataItem("User", MyUser);

Updating data
You can update single data items, and multiple data items.
To update single a data item, you must first retrieve the data from the data type using GetByFilter,
GetByKey or GetByLinks. Then you can update the data item fields by changing the values of the
corresponding field variables.
When you change the value of the field variables, the values in the underlying data source are updated in
real time. This means that every time you set a new field value, Netcool/Impact requests an update at the
data source level.
To update multiple data items in a data type, you call the BatchUpdate function and pass the name
of the data type, a filter string that specifies which data items to update, and an update expression.
Netcool/Impact updates all the matching data items with the specified values.
The update expression uses the same syntax as the SET clause in the UPDATE statement supported by
the underlying data source. This clause consists of a comma-separated list of the fields and values to be
updated.
Updating multiple data items is only supported for SQL database data types.

72 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Example of updating single data items
In this example, you call GetByFilter and retrieve a data item from a data type called Node.
Then you change the value of the corresponding field variables.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "Node";
Filter = "Location = '" + @Node + "'";
CountOnly = False;

MyNodes = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

MyNode = MyNodes[0];

// Update the values of the field variables in MyNode

// Updates are made in real time in the data source

MyNode.Name = "Host_01";
MyNode.ID = "00001";

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyNodes = GetByFilter("Node", "Location = '" + @Node + "'", False);

MyNodes[0].Name = "Host_01";
MyNodes[0].ID = "00001";
Log(CurrentContext());

Example of updating multiple data items

In this example, you update all the data items in the Customer data type whose Location is New York.
The update changes the values of the Location and Node fields. Then, you retrieve the same data items
using GetByFilter to verify the update. Before exiting, you print the data item field values to the policy
log.

// Call BatchUpdate and pass the name of the data type,

// the filter string and an update expression

DataType = "Customer";
Filter = "Location = 'New York'";
UpdateExpression = "Location = 'London', Node = 'Host_02'";

BatchUpdate(DataType, Filter, UpdateExpression);

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and a filter string

DataType = "Customer";
Filter = "Location = 'London'";
CountOnly = False;

MyCustomers = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Log the data item field values.

Log(CurrentContext());

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

BatchUpdate("Customer", "Location = 'New York'", "Location = 'London',

Node = 'Host_02'");
MyCustomers = GetByFilter("Customer", "Location = 'London'", False);
Log(CurrentContext());

Chapter 5. Handling data 73

Deleting data
You can delete single data items, or multiple data items.
Before you can delete a single data item from a data type, you must first retrieve it from the data source.
You can retrieve the data item using the GetByFilter, GetByKey or GetByLinks functions. After you
have retrieved the data item, you can call the DeleteDataItem function and pass the data item as an
input parameter.
To delete multiple data items, you call the BatchDelete function and pass it the name of the data type,
and either a filter or the data items you want to delete. When you delete data items by filter, you are
saying: "Delete all data items in this type, where certain fields contain these values."
The filter is a text string that sets out the conditions that a data item must match in order for it to be
deleted. The syntax for the filter is that of an SQL WHERE clause that provides a set of comparisons that
must be true in order for a data item to be returned. This syntax specified by the underlying data source.
When Netcool/Impact goes to the data source to delete the data items, it passes this filter directly to the
data source for processing.
Deleting data items by filter is only supported for SQL database data types.
You can also delete data items by passing them directly to the BatchDelete function as an array.

Example of deleting single data items

In this example, you delete a data item from a data type named User where the value of the Name field is
John Rodriguez.
Because the data type (in this case) only contains one matching data item, you can reference it as
MyUsers[0].

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and the filter string.

DataType = "User";
Filter = "Name = 'John Rodriguez'";
CountOnly = False;

MyUsers = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

MyUser = MyUsers[0];

// Call DeleteDataItem and pass the data item.

DeleteDataItem(MyUser);

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyUsers = GetByFilter("User", "Name = 'John Rodriguez'", False);

DeleteDataItem(MyUsers[0]);

Example of deleting data items by filter

In this example, you delete all the data items in a data type named Node, where the value of Location is
New York.

// Call BatchDelete and pass the name of the data type

// and a filter string that specifies which data items to delete

DataType = "Node";
Filter = "Location = 'New York'";
DataItems = NULL;

BatchDelete(DataType, Filter, DataItems);

74 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 A shorter version of this example is as follows:

BatchDelete("Node", "Location = 'New York'", NULL);

Example of deleting data items by item

The following example shows how to delete multiple data items by passing them directly to
BatchDelete.
In this example, you delete all the data items in a data type named Customer, where the value of
Location is London.

// Call GetByFilter and pass the name of the data type

// and a filter string

DataType = "Customer";
Filter = "Location = 'New York'";
CountOnly = False

MyCustomers = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

// Call BatchDelete and pass the array

// returned by GetByFilter

BatchUpdate(DataType, NULL, MyCustomers);

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

MyCustomers = GetByFilter("Customer", "Location = 'London'", False);

BatchDelete("Customers", NULL, MyCustomers);

Calling database functions

You can call functions that are defined in the underlying data source of an SQL database data type.
These functions allow you to obtain such useful data as the number of rows in the database that match
a specified filter. To call a database function, you call CallDBFunction and pass the name of the
data type, a filter string, and the function expression. CallDBFunction then returns the results of the
function.
CallDBFunction uses the same SQL filter syntax as GetByFilter and BatchDelete. Complete
syntax and additional examples for SQL filters are provided in the Policy Reference Guide.
The following example shows how to call the database COUNT function within a policy. In this example,
you count the number of data items in the Node data type, where the value of the Location field is New
York. Then, you print the number of items counted to the policy log.

// Call CallDBFunction and pass the name of the data type,

// a filter string and the function expression.

DataType = "Node";
Filter = "Location = 'New York'";
MyFunction = "COUNT(Location)";

NumItems = CallDBFunction(DataType, Filter, MyFunction);

// Print the number of counted items to the policy log.

Log(NumItems);

A shorter version of this example is as follows:

NumItems = CallDBFunction("Node", "Location = 'New York'", "COUNT()");

Log(NumItems);

Chapter 5. Handling data 75

76 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide
 Chapter 6. Setting up the Slack Integration
project
You can configure the Netcool/Impact Slack Integration project to work with Slack.
Note: The Slack Integration project in only available in Fix Pack 28 or higher.

High-level description
In this Slack project, when an event occurs, the Slack event reader receives the event from ObjectServer
and triggers the Slack policies to run, The policies create the Slack channel, invite users to the channel,
post events to channel, and send the user response buttons to the channel.
Users can choose to respond to an event by clicking one of the response buttons, the event will be
reloaded. Users can also click on the event to view its details. This launches the Event Viewer for the
event.
The Slack project described in this section is an example. You can use the code in the policies to further
develop your own Slack customization.
Note: The ObjectServer and probe configurations described in this section are optional. For an example of
the sending a simple message to Slack, see the following Slack API page: Sending messages.

Configuring the integration project for Slack

Use the following steps to configure the integration project for Slack:
1. “Configure the Slack workspace” on page 77
2. “Configure the RESTful API Data Source to send event data to Slack” on page 77
3. “Configure the Netcool/OMNIbus Event Reader Service for Slack events” on page 78
4. “Update the Impact Slack policies” on page 78
5. “Set up the ObjectServer database” on page 79
6. “Set up the Netcool/OMNIbus Probe for Message Bus files” on page 79
7. “Customize the setup” on page 79

Configure the Slack workspace

Refer to your Slack documentation for details about how to create a Slack workspace, how to configure a
Slack workspace if one already exists, customization, configuration and API usage.

Configure the RESTful API Data Source to send event data to Slack
This step is required.
1. On the Impact GUI, select the project Slack.
2. Open the Data Model tab and the Slack datasource.
3. Change the Authorization header to your own Slack Bot User OAuth token.
You can obtain the Slack Bot User OAuth Token from https://api.slack.com/apps/ by navigating
to Slack App workspace -> OAuth & Permissions -> OAuth Tokens for Your Workspace -> Bot User
OAuth Token.
4. Create an ObjectServer datasource or use an existing one.
Note: The default Event Mapping table has the restriction filter "Slack=1". The Slack event reader
name is specified by slackeventreader in the NCI_slackeventreader.props file.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 77

 5. Install the Slack certificate for SSL communications between Impact and Slack.
a. Export the Slack certificate using the following sample command:

echo -n | openssl s_client -connect slack.com:443 | sed -ne '/-BEGIN CERTIFICATE-/,/-END

CERTIFICATE-/p' > /tmp/slack.cert

b. Import the certificate to the Impact truststore using the following command:

{$IMPACT_HOME)/sdk/bin/keytool -importcert -alias Slack -file /tmp/slack.cert -keystore

{$IMPACT_HOME)/wlp/usr/servers/NCI/resources/security/trust.jks -storepass {$password}

c. For information about Impact on OCP, see Enabling SSL communications from Netcool/Impact on
Red Hat OpenShift.

Configure the Netcool/OMNIbus Event Reader Service for Slack events

This step is only required if you are using the Event Reader, ObjectServer or probe to forward events from
Netcool/OMNIbus.
1. On the Impact GUI, select the project Slack.
2. Open the Service tab and the slackeventreader.
3. Change the Data Source Name to that of your ObjectServer datasource.
4. Select the Omnibus Event Reader fields to be returned from the ObjectServer.
Note: A default set of the fields are preselected. Do not remove the Slack field from the list of
columns.

Update the Impact Slack policies

This step is required.
1. On the Impact GUI, select the project Slack.
2. Open the Policies tab.
You will see the following policies:
• Slack_ProcessEvent.js
• Slack_Functions.js
• Slack_Utils.js
• Slack_Config.js
3. Open the policy Slack_Config for editing.
4. Change the SlackTokenChannel variable to your Slack OAuth Token.
Where the Slack OAuth Token is the Slack App workspace token, and
You can obtain the Slack OAuth Token from https://api.slack.com/apps/ by navigating to Slack
App workspace -> OAuth & Permissions -> OAuth Tokens for Your Workspace -> User OAuth Token
5. Change the UserIDs variable to the user IDs you want to invite to channels.
Where UserIDs is the user ID to invite to the channel. It can be obtained by accessing the View all
members of this channel icon on the top corner of a channel, and click on the member, and select
Copy member ID.
6. Change the dashboardURL variable to your dashboard hostname and port.
Where dashboardURL is the DASH hostname and port.
Note: The Channel Name on Slack can be customized, see “Customize the setup” on page 79.
Note: The noiView variable is the View parameter, having a value of default, which forms part of
the URL.

78 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Set up the ObjectServer database
This step is only required if you are using events in the ObjectServer.
1. Copy <impact_install_directory>/add-ons/slackintegration/db/
slack_objectserver_fields_update.sql to your ObjectServer and run it.
Running this SQL file adds the following fields to the alerts.status table in the ObjectServer:
• Slack
SlackChannel
SlackChannelID
Where:
Slack is the event restriction filter field, which is configured in the slackeventreader.
SlackChannel is the name of the Slack channel, see “Customize the setup” on page 79 for the
default channel name.
SlackChannelID is the ID of the Slack channel, which is generated by Slack.
Note: See Running SQL commands from files
2. Add the Send to Slack action in the right-click menus on the event list.
For for details about adding the right-click menus in event lists, see Creating event management tools.
Note: Clicking the Send to Slack action sets the Slack field in the alerts.status table to the value
of 1.

Set up the Netcool/OMNIbus Probe for Message Bus files

This step is only required if you are using the ObjectServer or the probe.
1. Install the Probe for Message Bus on the ObjectServer.
2. Copy the <impact_install_directory>/add-ons/slackintegration/probe/
message_bus_slack.props file to the <omnibus_install_directory>/omnibus/probes/
linux2x86 directory
3. Rename the message_bus_slack.props file to message_bus.props
4. Copy the <impact_install_directory>/add-ons/slackintegration/probe/
message_bus_slack.rules file to the <omnibus_install_directory>/omnibus/probes/
linux2x86 directory.
5. Copy the <impact_install_directory>/add-ons/slackintegration/probe/
httpTransport_slack.properties to the <omnibus_install_directory>/omnibus/java/
conf directory.
Where:
<impact_install_directory> is the directory where Impact is installed.
<omnibus_install_directory> is the directory where OMNIbus is installed.
6. Start the probe.
For details about how to run the probe after completing file setup, see Running probes

Customize the setup

After you have completed the setup steps, you can customize the default settings.
1. Customize the Channel Name.
The default channel name uses the following format:

Chapter 6. Setting up the Slack Integration project 79

 ChannelName = "Impact_" + EventContainer.Node + EventContainer.Serial

You can modify this in the getEventDetails function in NCI_Slack_Utils.js during the creation
of the channel.
2. Customize the events sent to Slack
The default event sent to Slack is the affected event Serial on the Dashboard Event Viewer.
You can modify this in the postEventToChannel function in NCI_Slack_Utils.js.
The color and the text of the event sent to Slack is handled in the translateSeverity function in
NCI_Slack_Utils.js, and can be customized. More event data can also be added by modifying this
function.
3. Customize the channel event user buttons.
The possible default user response buttons are:
• Acknowledge
• Resolve
• Escalate
• Reload event
You can modify this in the postEventToChannel function in NCI_Slack_Utils.js. Or you can add
more response buttons.
Note: You will also have to change the Netcool/OMNIbus message_bus_slack.rules file
accordingly.

80 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 7. Event enrichment tutorial
The goal of this tutorial is to develop an event enrichment solution to enhance the value of an existing
Netcool/Impact installation.
This solution automates common tasks performed manually by the network operators and helps to
integrate related business data with alerts in the ObjectServer.

Tutorial overview
This tutorial uses a sample environment that provides the background for understanding various event
enrichment concepts and tasks.
The environment is a network operations center for a large enterprise where the company has installed
and configured Netcool/OMNIbus and is currently using it to manage devices on its network. The sample
environment is a scaled down representation of what you might actually find in a real world operations
center. It contains only the network elements and business data needed for this tutorial.
This tutorial leads you through the following steps:
• Understanding the Netcool/Impact installation
• Understanding the business data
• Analyzing the workflow in the environment
• Creating a project
• Setting up a data model
• Setting up services
• Writing an event enrichment policy
• Configuring the OMNIbus event reader to run the policy
• Running the complete solution

Understanding the Netcool/Impact installation

The first step in this tutorial is to understand the current Netcool installation.
Generally, before you start developing any Netcool solution, you must find out which products in the
Netcool suite you installed and which devices, systems, or applications are being monitored in the
environment.
The Netcool installation in the sample environment consists of Netcool/OMNIbus and a collection of
probes that monitor devices on the network. This installation uses two instances of an ObjectServer
database named NCOMS that is set up in a backup/failover configuration. These ObjectServers are located
on host systems named NCO_HOST_01 and NCO_HOST_02, and run on the default port of 4100.
The probes in this installation monitor various network devices. The details of the devices are not
important in this tutorial, but each probe sends the basic set of alert fields to the ObjectServer database,
including the Node, Summary, Severity, AlertKey, and Identifier fields.

Understanding the business data

The next step in this tutorial is to understand the location and structure of the business data in your
environment.
In the sample environment, the company uses instances of the Oracle database to store network
inventory information, customer service information, and general organizational information about the
business.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 81

 The information that you want to use is stored in two databases named ORA_01 and ORA_02. ORA_01
is a network inventory database that stores information about the devices in the network, including
their technical specification, facility locations, and rack numbers. ORA_01 is located on a system named
ORA_HOST_01. ORA_02 is a database that contains information about the various departments in the
business. ORA_02 is located on a system named ORA_HOST_02. They both run on port 1521

Analyzing the workflow

After you find the location and structure of the business data, the next step is to analyze the current event
management workflow in your environment.
The tutorial work environment is a network operations center. In this center, a number of operators are
on duty at all times. They sit in an open work area and each one has access to a console that displays a
Netcool/OMNIbus event list. On large projector screens on one wall of the operation center are large map
visualizations that provide geographical views into the current network status.
As alerts flow to the ObjectServer from the various Netcool probes and monitors that are installed in
the environment, they are displayed in the event lists available to the operators. Depending on the
severity of the alerts, the operators manually perform a set of tasks using the event list tools, third-party
applications, and typical office tools like cell phones and email.
For the sake of this tutorial, we assume that, among other tasks, the operators perform the following
actions for each high severity alert. The operators:
• Manually acknowledge the alert using the event list.
• Use an in-house database tool to find information about the device causing the alert. This tool runs
a query against the network inventory database and returns technical specifications, the location, and
other information.
• Use another in-house tool to look up the business department being served by the device that caused
the alert.
• If the business department is part of a mission critical business function, they increase the severity of
the alert and update it in the ObjectServer database.
The operators might perform other actions, like looking up the administrators on call at the facility where
the device is located and contacting them by phone or pager. After the problem that caused the alert is
addressed, the operators might also record the resolution in a problem log and delete the alert from the
ObjectServer. For this tutorial, however, only use the workflow tasks listed.

Creating the project

After you finish analyzing the workflow, the next step is to create a project in the GUI.

About this task

You can use this project to store the data model, services, and policies that are used in this solution. The
name of this project is NCI_TUT_01.

Procedure
1. Open the GUI in a web browser and log in.
2. Click one of the links, for example Data Model, to view the project and cluster selection lists on the
Data Model tab.
3. Select a cluster from the Cluster list. From the Project list, select Global.
4. Click the New Project icon on the toolbar to open the New Project window.
5. Use the New Project window to configure your new project.
6. In the Project Name field, type NCI_TUT_01.
7. Click OK then click Close.

82 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Setting up the data model
After you create a project for this tutorial, the next step is to set up a Netcool/Impact data model.
This data model consists of the event sources, data sources, and data types that are required by the event
enrichment solution. It also consists of a dynamic link that is used to define the relationship between the
data types.
You use the GUI to perform all the tasks in this step.
To set up the data model, you perform the following tasks:
• Create the event source
• Create the data sources
• Create the data types
• Create the dynamic link

Creating the event source

The first task in setting up the data model is to create the event source. As you learned when you
investigated the details of the Netcool installation, the example environment has one event source, an
ObjectServer named NCOMS.

About this task

Because you want to tap into the alerts that are stored in this ObjectServer, you must create an event
source that represents it in Netcool/Impact.
An event source is a special type of data source that Netcool/Impact can use to represent a physical
source of event data in the environment. Since your source of event data is an ObjectServer database, you
must create an ObjectServer data source and configure it with the connection information you discovered
when you investigated the details of the Netcool installation.
To create the event source:

Procedure
1. Click Data Model to open the Data Model tab.
2. Select a cluster from the Cluster list. From the Project list, select NCI_TUT_01.
3. Click the New Data Source icon and select ObjectServer from the list.
The New Data Source opens.
4. Type NCOMS in the Data Source Name field.
5. Type the name and password of an ObjectServer user in the Username and Password fields.
6. Type NCO_HOST_01 in the Primary Host Name field.
7. Type 4100 in the Primary Port field.
8. Click Test Connection to test the ObjectServer connection.
9. Type NCO_HOST_02 in the Backup Host Name field.
10. Type 4100 in the Backup Port field.
11. Click Test Connection to test the ObjectServer connection.
12. Click OK.

Chapter 7. Event enrichment tutorial 83

Creating the data sources
The next task in setting up the data model is to create the data sources.

About this task

As you learned when you discovered the location and structure of the business data in your environment,
the data you want to use in this solution is in two Oracle databases named ORA_01 and ORA_02. Since
you want to access these databases, you must create a data source that corresponds to each one.
To create the data sources:

Procedure
1. Click Data Model to open the Data Model tab.
2. Click the New Data Source icon and select Oracle from the list.
The New Data Source window opens.
3. Type ORACLE_01 in the Data Source Name field.
4. Type an Oracle user name and password in the Username and Password fields.
5. Type ORA_HOST_01 in the Primary Host Name field.
6. Type 1521 in the Primary Port field.
7. Type ORA_01 in the SID field.
8. Click Test Connection to test the ObjectServer connection.
9. Click OK.

Results
Repeat these steps to create another data source that corresponds to the ORA_02 database. Name this
data source ORACLE_02.

Creating the data types

The next task in setting up the data model is to create the data types.

About this task

As you learned when you discovered the location and structure of the business data in your environment,
the data that you want to use is contained in two tables.
The first table is called Device and is in the ORA_01 database. This table contains information
about each device on the network. Columns in this table include Hostname, DeviceID, HardwareID,
Facility, and RackNumber.
The second table is called Department and is in the ORA_02 database. This table contains information
about each functional department in the business. Columns in this table include DeptName, DeptID, and
Location.
Since you want to access the data in both of these tables, you must create a data type for each. Name
these data types Device and Department.
To create the data types:

Procedure
1. Click Data Model to open the Data Model tab.
2. Select ORACLE_01 from the data sources list.
3. Click the New Data Type icon.

84 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 A new Data Type Editor tab opens.
4. Type Device in the Data Type Name field.
5. Select ORACLE_01 from the Data Source Name drop down menu.
6. Ensure that the Enabled check box is selected. It is selected by default.
7. Scroll down the Data Type Editor tab so that the Table Description area is visible.
8. Select Device from the Base Table list.
9. Click Refresh.
Netcool/Impact queries the Oracle database and populates the Table Description browser with the
names of each column in the Device table.
10. Specify that the DeviceID field is the key field for the data type by selecting the Key option in the
DeviceID row.
11. Select Hostname from the Display Name Field list.
12. Enter a name for this data type in the Data Type Name field.
13. Click Save in the Data Type Editor tab.
14. Click Close in the Data Type Editor tab.

Results
Repeat these steps to create another data type that corresponds to the Department table in the ORA_02
database. Name this data type Department.

Creating a dynamic link

The next step is to create a dynamic link between the Device and Department data types.

About this task

One property of the business data that you are using in this solution is that there is a relationship between
devices in the environment and departments in the business. All the devices that are located in a certain
facility serve the business departments in the same location. You can make this relationship part of the
data model by creating a dynamic link between the Device and Department data types. After you create
the dynamic link, you can use the the GetByLinks function to traverse it within a policy.
In this relationship, Device is the source data type and Department is the target data type. When you
create the link between the two data types, you can define it using the following syntax:

Location = '%Facility%'

This filter tells Netcool/Impact that Device data items are linked to Department data items if the value
of the Location field in the Department is equal to the value of the Facility field in the Device.
To create the dynamic link:

Procedure
1. Double click Data Model to open the Data Model tab.
2. Click the name of the Device data type.
A new Data Type Editor tab opens in the Main Work panel of the GUI. This editor displays configuration
information for the Device data type.
3. Select the Dynamic Links tab in the editor.
The Links From This Data Type area opens in the editor.

4. Click the New Link By Filter button to open the Link By Filter window.
5. Select Department from the Target Data Type list.

Chapter 7. Event enrichment tutorial 85

 6. In the Filter ... Field, type the filter string that defines the relationship between the Device and
Department list. As noted in the description of this task above, the filter string is Location =
'%Facility%'. This means that you want Device data items to be linked to Department data items
if the Location field in the Department is the same as the Facility field in the Device.
7. Click OK.
8. Click the Save button in the Data Type Editor tab.
9. Click the Close button in the Data Type Editor tab.

Reviewing the data model

After you create the dynamic links, you can review the data model using the GUI to verify that you have
performed all the tasks correctly.

About this task

You can review the data model by opening the Data Source and Data Type task panes in the Navigation
panel, and by making sure that the event source, data sources, and data types that you created are
visible.

Setting up services
The next step in this tutorial is to set up the OMNIbus event reader required by the solution.

Creating the event reader

The OMNIbus event reader for this solution must check the NCOMS ObjectServer every 3 seconds and
retrieve any new events.

Procedure
1. Click Services to open the Services tab.
2. Click the Create New Service icon and select OMNIbusEvent Reader from the list.
3. Type TUT_READER_01 in the Service Name field.
4. Select NCOMS from the Data Sourcelist.
5. Type 3000 in the Polling Interval field.
6. Select the Startup option. This option specifies whether the service starts automatically when you run
Netcool/Impact.
7. Click Save.

Reviewing the services

After you create the event reader, you can use the GUI to verify that you completed all the tasks correctly.

About this task

To review the service that you created, click the Services tab and make sure that the TUT_READER_01
OMNIbus event reader is visible.

Writing the policy

After you set up the OMNIbus event reader service, the next step is to write the policy for the solution.
This policy is named EnrichEvent and it automatically performs the tasks that you discovered when you
analyzed the workflow in the environment.
You can use the EnrichEvent policy to complete the following tasks:

86 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 • Look up information about the device that is causing the alert.
• Look up the business departments that are served by the device.
• If one of the business departments is part of a mission critical business function, the policy increases
the severity of the alert to critical.
This section assumes that you already know how to create, edit, and save a policy using the policy editor
tools in the GUI. For more information about these tools, see the online help.

Looking up device information

The first task that you want the policy to perform is to look up device information that is related to the
alert in the network inventory database.

About this task

Specifically, you want the policy to retrieve technical specifications for the device that is causing the alert,
and information about the facility and the rack number where the device is located.
To do this, the policy must perform a SELECT at the database level on the table that contains the
device data and return those rows that are related to the incoming alert. Viewed from the data model
perspective, the policy must get data items from the Device data type where the value of the Hostname
field is the same as the value of the Node field in the alert.
To retrieve the data items, you type the following code into the Netcool/Impact policy editor tab:

DataType = "Device";
Filter = "Hostname = '" + @Node + "'";
CountOnly = False;

MyDevices = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

MyDevice = MyDevices[0];

If (Length(MyDevices) < 1) { Log("No matching device found."); }

If (Length(MyDevices) > 1) { Log("More than one matching device found."); }

Here, GetByFilter is retrieving data items from the Device data type where the value of the Hostname
field is equal to the value of the Node field in the incoming alert. The data items are stored in an array
named MyDevices.
Although GetByFilter is able to return more than one data item in the array, you only expect the array
to contain one data item in this situation, as each device in the database has a unique Hostname. The first
element of the MyDevices array is assigned to the MyDevice variable so that MyDevice can be used as
shorthand later in the policy.
Because you want to retrieve only one data item from the data type, the policy also prints error messages
to the policy log if GetByFilter retrieves less than or more than one.

Looking up business departments

The next task that you want the policy to perform is to look up the business departments that are served
by the device that caused the alert.

About this task

When you set up the data model for this solution, you created a dynamic link. This link defined the
relationship between the devices in the environment and departments in the business. To look up the
business departments that are served by the device, the policy must take the data item that it previous
retrieved from the Device data type and traverse the links between it and the Department data type.
To retrieve the Department data items that are linked to the Device, type the following text into the
policy editor below the code you entered previously:

DataTypes = {"Department"};
Filter = NULL;

Chapter 7. Event enrichment tutorial 87

 MaxNum = 10000;

MyDepts = GetByLinks(DataTypes, Filter, MaxNum, MyDevices);

If (Length(MyDepts) < 1) { Log("No linked departments found."); }

Here, GetByLinks retrieves up to 10,000 Department data items that are linked to data items in the
MyDevices array. Since you are certain that the business has less than 10,000 departments, you can use
a large value such as this one to make sure that all Department data items are returned.
The returned data items are stored in the MyDepts array. Because you want at least one data item from
the data type, the policy also prints an error message to the policy log if GetByLinks does not return any.

Increasing the alert severity

The final task that you want the policy to perform is to increase the severity of the alert.

About this task

For example, if the department that it affects has a mission critical function in the business. For the
purposes of this tutorial, the departments in the business whose function is mission critical are the data
center and transaction processing units.
To perform this task, the policy must iterate through each of the Department data items that are
retrieved in the previous step. For each Department, it must test the value of the Name field against the
names of the two departments in the business that have mission critical functions. If the Department
name is that of one of the two departments, the policy must increase the severity of the alert to
Critical.

Count = Length(MyDepts);

While (Count > 0) {

Index = Count - 1;
MyDept = MyDepts[Index];

If (MyDept.Name == "Data Center" || MyDept.Name == "Transaction Processing") {

@Severity = 5;
}

Count = Count - 1;

Here, you use a While loop to iterate through the elements in the MyDepts array. MyDepts is the array of
Department data items that were returned previously in the policy by a call the GetByLinks.
Before the While loop begins, you set the value of the Count variable to the number of elements in the
MyDepts array. Each time the loop runs, it tests the value of Count. If Count is greater than zero, the
statements inside the loop are executed. If Count is less than or equal to zero, the statements are not
executed. Because Count is decremented by one each time the loop is performed, the While loop runs
once for each data item in MyDepts.
A variable named Index is used to refer the current element in the array. The value of Index is the value
of Count minus one, as Netcool/Impact arrays are zero-based structures whose first element is counted
as zero instead of one.
Inside the loop, the policy uses an If statement to test the name of the current Department in the
array against the name of the two mission-critical business departments. If the name of the current
Department matches the mission-critical departments, the policy sets the value of the Severity field in
the alert to 5, which signifies a critical severity.

88 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Reviewing the policy
After you finish writing the policy, you can review it for accuracy and completeness.

About this task

The following example shows the entire text of this policy.

// Look up device information

DataType = "Device";
Filter = "Hostname = '" + @Node + "'";
CountOnly = False;

MyDevices = GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, CountOnly);

MyDevice = MyDevices[0];

If (Length(MyDevices) < 1) { Log("No matching device found."); }

// Look up business departments

DataTypes = {"Department"};
Filter = NULL;
MaxNum = 10000;

MyDepts = GetByLinks(DataTypes, Filter, MaxNum, MyDevices);

If (Length(MyDepts) < 1) { Log("No linked departments found."); }

// If department is mission-critical, update severity of alert

Count = Length(MyDepts);

While (Count > 0) {

Index = Count - 1;
MyDept = MyDepts[Index];

If (MyDept.Name == "Data Center" || MyDept.Name == "Transaction Processing") {

@Severity = 5;
}

Count = Count - 1;

Running the solution

The final step in this tutorial is to run the event enrichment solution.

Before you begin

Before you run the solution, you must configure the TUT_READER_01 OMNIbus event reader service so
that it triggers the EnrichEvent policy. To configure TUT_READER_01:
1. Open Netcool/Impact and click Services to open the Services tab.
2. Select the the TUT_READER_01 service and click Edit.
3. Click the Event Mapping tab.
4. To create a mapping, click the New Mapping button.
5. If you want to trigger the EnrichEvent policy for all events, leave the Filter Expression field empty. If
you want to trigger the EnrichEvent policy for specific events, enter the values for these events.
6. Select EnrichEvent in the Policy to Run field.
7. Click the Active check box.
8. To save the configuration, click OK.
9. To save the changes to the TUT_READER_01 service, click the save icon.

Chapter 7. Event enrichment tutorial 89

 Procedure
To start the solution, you simply start the OMNIbus event reader service.
The event reader then begins to monitor the ObjectServer and retrieves any new events that appear.
When a new event appears, the event reader brings it back into Netcool/Impact, where it is processed by
running the EnrichEvent policy.

90 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 8. Configuring the Impact policy PasstoTBSM
In this scenario, you configure the Impact policy PasstoTBSM. You will create and configure an Impact
policy, and create a TBSM service model to receive the data. You will create a custom portlet to view the
data. When you have created the custom portlet, you will create a freeform page to display the data.

Expected Result
When you have completed this scenario, you will have a freeform custom page displaying data in TBSM,
gathered from an Impact policy.

Overview
Use the PasstoTBSM function to send event information from Netcool/Impact to TBSM.
Netcool/Impact uses the function PasstoTBSM to send event information to TBSM. In an Impact policy,
you can add the PassToTBSM function to the policy. When you activate the policy using a Netcool/Impact
service, the event information is sent to TBSM.
In TBSM, you can manually configure an Incoming status rule to look for events coming from Netcool/
Impact. The Data Feed list menu shows the Netcool/Impact service used to run the policy containing
the PasstoTBSM function. To show the fields available for the selected Netcool/Impact service, you must
manually customize the field names in Customize Fields window to match the fields in the policy.
You can also use the PasstoTBSM feature to transfer event information from a remote Netcool/Impact
cluster to TBSM. To do this some additional configuration is required.

Configuration
You can use the PassToTBSM function on both local and remote installations. The syntax for
PassToTBSM is the same as it is for a policy running on a TBSM server. For a remote installation the
following tasks must be completed:
• The TBSM server must share a clustered name server with the remote Impact Server to view the
Netcool/Impact services in the Data Feed list menu in the Edit Incoming status rule window.
• In TBSM an administration user configures impact.sla.remoteimpactcluster=<cluster name
of remote impact server> in etc/TBSM_sla.props on the TBSM server.
• In Netcool/Impact, an administrator user exports the project, For ImpactMigration from TBSM and
imports it into the remote version of Netcool/Impact. Netcool/Impact needs the For ImpactMigration
project to access the TBSM data sources, and data types.
To call the PassToTBSM function from a remote Impact Server, the remote Netcool/Impactcluster needs
the data type ImpactEvents. The ImpactEvents data type points to the ImpactEvents table in the DB2
database that TBSM uses. This data type uses a data source called TBSMDatabase. The TBSMDatabase
data source and the ImpactEvents data type belong to the project called ForImpactMigration in the
TBSM server.
You can export this project from the TBSM server and import it into the remote Impact Server to provide
the Impact Server with the data sources and data types required from TBSM.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 91

Exporting and Importing the ForImpactMigration project
To call the PassToTBSM function from a remote Impact server, the remote Impact server needs to import
the ForImpactMigration project and its contents from TBSM.

Before you begin

The ForImpactMigration project displays in the Projects list in the version of Impact that is contained
within TBSM. The ForImpactMigration project has the data sources and data types necessary for remote
Impact server to send events using PassToTBSM. To send events to TBSM from a remote Impact server,
an administrator user needs to export the ForImpactMigration project from the TBSM server and import
it into their Impact server.

About this task

Before you complete the export and import to the Impact server. Use the Unlock all
button on the Global projects toolbar to unlock any locked items and check the etc/
<instance_name>_versioncontrol.locks file for locked items before completing the export and
import steps.

Procedure
1. In the TBSM server instance, run the nci export command.
<INSTALL_DIR>/tbsm/bin/nci_export TBSM --project ForMigration <exported dir>
2. Copy the exported directory to the remote Impact server or to a location where the Impact server can
access the directory.
3. In the Impact server instance, run the nci import command.
<INSTALL_DIR>/impact/bin/nci_import NCI <exported dir> to import the
ForImpactMigration into the remote Impact server.

Creating a policy
A policy example to use for PassToTBSM using the Web Services wizard to create the policy

About this task

The role of this policy is to monitor a web service that provides weather data on temperature and humidity
about a particular city. In this example, create the policy using the Web service option in the policy
Wizard.

Procedure
1. In the Policies tab, select the arrow next to the New Policy icon. Select Use Wizard > Web Services
to open the Web Service Invoke-Introduction window.
2. In the Web Service Invoke-Introduction window, type in the policy name in the Policy Name field,
for example Weather and click Next to continue.
3. In the Web Service Invoke-WSDL file and client stub window, in the URL or Path to WSDL field,
enter the URL or a path for the target WSDL file.
For example http://wsf.cdyne.com/WeatherWS/Weather.asmx?wsdl.
In instances where the GUI server is installed separately from the Impact Server, the file path for the
WSDL file refers to the Impact Server file system, not the GUI server file system. If you enter a URL
for the WSDL file, that URL must be accessible to the Impact Server host and the GUI server host.
4. In the Client Stub area, select Provide a package name for the new client stub.
5. Enter a name for the package, for example getWeatherInfoPkg.
Click Next.

92 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 6. In the Web Service Invoke-Web Service Name, Port and Method window, the general web service
information is prepopulated for the following items; Web Service Weather, Web Service Port Type
WeatherSoap, and Web Service Method. Select the option you want from the list, for example,
GetCityWeatherByZIP. Click Next.
7. In the Web Service Invocation- Web Service Method parameters window, enter the parameters
required by the target Web service method. For example, enter the name the zip code of the city you
want to get weather information for. Click Next.
When the wizard is complete it creates a policy which gets weather information from the selected
web site for the specified city.
8. In the Web Service Invoke-Web Service EndPoint window, you can optionally edit the URL or Path
to WSDL by selecting the edit check box. To enable web service security, select the Enable web
service security service check box.
Select one of the following authentication types:
• HTTP user name authentication
• SOAP message user name authentication
Add the User name and Password. Click Next.
9. The Web Service Invoke-Summary and Finish window is displayed. It shows details relating to the
policy. Click Finish to create the policy.
When the wizard is completed, it generates the policy content. You can run the policy in the usual way
and verify the results in the policy logger.
10. To extract the data from the policy and send it to TBSM. You must manually edit the policy and add
the following lines to the policy. PassToTBSM(ec);
Important: This policy uses a NewEvent object to pass the data. If you create an object
to send the event data to PassToTBSM, use NewEvent, not NewObject. If your policy is
driven by an event reader or listener, the EventContainer object can be sent directly into
PassToTBSM. A PolicyActivator service does not pass any event object to its policy, so
you must create a NewEvent("EventSourceName") including the name of the service which
points to the event source from where events are read and sent. For example, MyEvent =
NewEvent("DefaultPolicyActivator");
An example of the web service policy generated by the web services wizard.

//This policy generated by Impact Wizard.

//This policy is based on wsdl file at

http://wsf.cdyne.com/WeatherWS/Weather.asmx?wsdl

log("Start policy 'getWeather'...");

//Specify package name as defined when compiling WSDL in Impact
WSSetDefaultPKGName('getWeatherInfoPkg');

//Specify parameters
GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument=WSNewObject
("com.cdyne.ws.weatherws.GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument");
_GetCityWeatherByZIP=WSNewSubObject
(GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument,"GetCityWeatherByZIP");

_ZIP = '27513';
_GetCityWeatherByZIP['ZIP'] = _ZIP;

WSParams = {GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument};

//Specify web service name, end point and method

WSService = 'Weather';
WSEndPoint = 'http://wsf.cdyne.com/WeatherWS/Weather.asmx';
WSMethod = 'getCityWeatherByZIP';

log("About to invoke Web Service call GetCityWeatherByZIP ......");

WSInvokeDLResult = WSInvokeDL(WSService, WSEndPoint, WSMethod, WSParams);

log("Web Service call GetCityWeatherByZIP return result:
" +WSInvokeDLResult);

//Added for PasstoTBSM

Chapter 8. Configuring the Impact policy PasstoTBSM 93

 city = WSInvokeDLResult.GetCityWeatherByZIPResponse.
GetCityWeatherByZIPResult.City;
temperature=WSInvokeDLResult.GetCityWeatherByZIPResponse.
GetCityWeatherByZIPResult.Temperature;
humidity=WSInvokeDLResult.GetCityWeatherByZIPResponse.
GetCityWeatherByZIPResult.RelativeHumidity;

ec = NewEvent("WeatherActivator");
// Using a Policy Activator called WeatherActivator

ec.city=city;
ec.temperature=temperature;
ec.humidity=humidity;

log(" City : " + ec.city + " Temp : " + ec.temperature + " Humid :
" + ec.humidity);

PassToTBSM(ec);

Creating a policy activator service

Create the policy activator service to call the policy to get updates and to pass the updates to TBSM.

Procedure
1. In the navigation tree, expand System Configuration > Event Automation click Services to open the
Services tab.
2. In the Services tab, click the Create New Service icon.
3. From the menu, select a template for the service that you want to create. In this instance, select Policy
Activator.
4. Add the Service Name for example WeatherActivator, the Activation Interval in seconds, for
example 300 and select the policy Weather you created earlier policy from the Policy list menu.
5. Startup: Automatically when server starts Select the checkbox to automatically start the service
when the server starts. You can also start and stop the service from the GUI.
6. Service log: Write to file Select the checkbox to write log information to a file.
7. Click the Save Service icon.
8. Start the service.

Create a new template and rule to collect weather data

In this topic, you create a service structure to organize the weather data by city. You create a regional
service template and an aggregation rule that depends on the City service template.

About this task

To create the service structure:

Procedure
1. From the Service Navigation pull-down menu, select Templates.
2. Click Create New Template button.
The Edit Template tab opens in the Service Editor.
3. Enter CityWeather in the Template Name field.
4. Enter Weather data by city in the Description field.
5. In the Rules tab after Children, click Create Incoming Status rule button.
6. Select the Based on a Numeric Value radio button and click the OK button.
The Edit Incoming status rule window opens.
7. Type CityTemperature in the Rule Name field.

94 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 8. Select WeatherActivator from the Data Feed drop-down list.
9. Click the Customize Fields button.
The Customized Fields window opens.
10. Make sure the values for the fields based on the match table below:

Table 4. Default Field Names and Types

Field Name Field Type
EventClass String
EventType String
ResourceName String
SecondaryResourceName String
Summary String
Value1 Float
Value2 Float
Value3 Float
11. Add the following fields:

Table 5. New Custom Fields and Types

Field Name Field Type
city String
temperature Float
humidity Float
12. Click OK.
13. Enter the remaining values for the incoming status rule using the table below as your guide.

Table 6. Settings for CityTemperature rule

Entry fields Value
Instance Name city
Expression temperature <
Select the Status checkbox.

Marginal 80
Bad 95

Select the Store data for this rule for TWA checkbox.
14. Click OK.
The CityTemperature rule is listed in the Rules tab.
15. You can repeat the same steps to create a CityHumidity incoming status rule to collect humidity data
from WeatherActivator data feed. Select humidity as the output value and choose values between 0
and 100 for status thresholds.
16. To save the rule, click the Save button in the Edit Template tool bar.

Chapter 8. Configuring the Impact policy PasstoTBSM 95

Create the CityHumidity rule for the CityWeather template
In this topic you will create a rule to collect data for the template.

Procedure
1. From the Service Navigation pull-down menu, select Templates.
2. If it is not already open, click the Edit Template 'CityWeather' tab.
3. Click the Incoming Status Rule button to open the Edit Incoming Status Rule Type window.

Figure 5. Incoming status rule button

4. Select the Based on a Good, Marginal, and Bad Threshold radio button and click the OK button.
The Create Incoming Status Rule window opens.
5. Type CityHumidity in the Rule Name field.
6. Select weatherActivator from the Data Feed drop-down list.
7. Click the Customize Fields button.
The Customized Fields window opens.
8. Make sure the values for the fields based on the match table below:

Table 7. Default Field Names and Types

Field Name Field Type
EventClass String
EventType String
ResourceName String
SecondaryResourceName String
Summary String
Value1 Float
Value2 Float
Value3 Float
9. Add the following fields:

Table 8. New Custom Fields and Types

Field Name Field Type
City String
Temperature Float
Humidity Float
10. Click OK.
11. Enter the remaining values for the incoming status rule using the table below as your guide.

Table 9. Settings for CityTemperature rule

Entry fields Value
Instance Name City
Expression Humidity <

96 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Table 9. Settings for CityTemperature rule (continued)
Entry fields Value
Select the Status checkbox.

Marginal 60
Bad 85

Select the Store data for this rule for TWA checkbox.
12. Click the OK button.
13. Click the Save button in Edit Template 'CityWeather' tab.
Note: The rule will not be saved to the TBSM database until you click the Save button.
The CityHumidity rule displays in the Rules tab.

What to do next
Next: Create the service by hand.
In this topic, you create a service for city weather.

Create a city service

In this topic, you will create a service.

About this task

To create a service called Cary, complete the following steps:

Procedure
1. From the Service Navigation pull down menu, select Services.
2. Click the Create New Service button.
The Edit Service tab opens in the Service Editor.
3. In the Service Name field type Cary.
4. In the Templates tab, click the template CityWeather in the Available Templates list and click the
>> button.
The CityWeather template moves to the Selected Templates list.
5. Click the Save button in the Edit Service tab toolbar.
6. The Service Navigation portlet displays the new service in the Services tree.
7. In order to have a custom service tree with just the cities containing weather information, create
another service (let's say, Weather) and make Cary a dependent of it.
8. Create a new tree template CityWeather, adding the Temperature and Humidity columns for the
CityWeather template. Associate the new columns to @CityTemperature and @CityHumidity,
respectively.
For information on creating custom trees, see the Service Configuration Guide > Custom service trees.

Results
Next: Customize a Service Tree portlet
When you have created the service, you can customize a Service Tree portlet to only show the City
weather information.

Chapter 8. Configuring the Impact policy PasstoTBSM 97

Customizing a Service Tree portlet
In this topic, you will be creating a customized Service Tree portlet.

Procedure
1. Click Settings –> Portlets in the navigation pane. A list of all navigation nodes in the console are
displayed, grouped the same way as they are in the console navigation. The page includes all the
portlets you can choose to customize.
2. Click New. The welcome page of the Create Widget wizard opens. Click Next. The next page is
launched with the title Select a Base Widget.
3. Select the Services portlet. Click Next.
4. On the General page, enter Weather by City in the Name field.
5. Scroll through the thumbnail icon choices for the portlet, and choose according to the figure below.

6. Choose the Description Image for the new portlet as shown in the figure below:

7. Select TBSM and click the Add > button to add the new portlet to the TBSM catalog.
8. Click Next.
The Security page is launched.
9. On the Security page, select User from the Selected Roles list.
10. Click Add to view a list of roles that can access this page.
11. Select these roles from the list of Available Roles:
• tbsmReadOnlyUser
• tbsmAdminUser
•
12. Select User from the Selected Roles drop down list for user access levels. Click Add.
13. From the list of Available Roles, select tbsmAdminUser, select Privileged User from the Selected
Roles drop down list for user access levels.
14. Click Add.
15. Click Next
The Customize section opens.
16. On the General page, enter Weather by City for the portlet title.
17. Click Next.
The Context page opens. Select Weather as starting instance.
18. Click Next.
The View page opens.
19. In the Tree Template drop-down list, select CityWeather. Keep the defaults for the other fields.
20. Click Next. The Summary page displays.
21. Click Finish.
22. Verify in Settings –> Portlets that the new portlet is listed.

98 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Results
Next: Adding a custom Services portlet to a freeform page
When you have customized a Service Tree portlet, you can add to a new page.

Adding a custom Services portlet to a freeform page

In this topic, you can add a custom Service Tree to a new freeform page.

Before you begin

To create a custom page, you need administrator privileges in TBSM.

About this task

To create a custom page, complete the following steps:

Procedure
1. Click Settings –> Pages in the navigation pane. A list of all navigation nodes in the console are
displayed, grouped the same way as they are in the console navigation.
2. Click New Page. A new page is launched with the title Page Settings.
3. Enter Weather Service in the Page name field.
4. In the Page location field, click Location to browse for the location you want your page. console/
Availability/. This value page specifies that the page will be listed under Availability in the
console task list. Keep the defaults for the other fields.
5. In the Page location field, click Location to browse for where the new page will be listed in the
console task list. Drag the new page into the Availability folder.
This page is for read-only users who will not need to edit services. As a result, you add the page to the
Availability group. The Location field is updated with console/Availability/. Keep the defaults
for the other fields.
6. Click OK.
7. Select Freeform option under Page Layout.
8. Expand Optional setting to add roles access to this page.
9. Select User from the Selected Roles list.
10. Click Add to view a list of roles that can access this page.
11. Select these roles from the list of Available Roles:
• tbsmReadOnlyUser
• tbsmAdminUser
•
12. Click Add .
13. For tbsmReadOnlyUser, select User from the Access Level drop-down list.
14. For tbsmAdminUser, select Privileged User from the Selected Roles list.
15. Click OK. The Portlet palette displays, which is used to select portlet content.
16. Select the All folder.
17. Use the arrows at the bottom of the Portlet palette to find and select the Weather by City portlet.
18. Drag the City Weather Tree portlet into the empty space below the Portlet palette. --> Weather by
City
19. Drag a Time Window Analyzer and place it under the Weather by City.
20. In the Time Window Analyzer, click Add Service.
21. Search for Cary, and click on it.

Chapter 8. Configuring the Impact policy PasstoTBSM 99

 You can edit Shared Preferences to make Cary the default service for the Time Window Analyzer
portlet.
22. Click Edit Options > Skin to customize the look of your portlet.
The Skin option controls how the border of the portlet looks.
23. Click Done. The new page will open.
Note: After you click Done, you will not be able to change or arrange your portlets.
24. Log out and log in as the OSManager1 user to verify that the new user can see the page.

100 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data
provider
You can use the UI data provider in Netcool/Impact to provide data to UI data provider compatible clients.

Integration with Netcool/Impact

The UI data provider accesses data from data sources, data types, and policies in Netcool/Impact.
The console is a component of Jazz for Service Management called IBM Dashboard Application Services
Hub. The IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub is referred to as the console in the rest of this
documentation.
You can use the UI data provider to visualize data from Netcool/Impact in the console. You can use the
console to create your own widgets or you can use one of the customizable self service dashboards.

Jazz for Service Management

The UI data provider requires Netcool/Impact and Jazz for Service Management. Jazz for Service
Management is available for download from the same page as Netcool/Impact . You use the installer
that is provided with Jazz for Service Management to install it separately.
We recommend that you install Netcool/Impact and Jazz for Service Management on separate servers.
If you do install Netcool/Impact and Jazz for Service Management on the same server, you must change
the default port numbers to avoid a conflict between the GUI Server and the IBM Dashboard Application
Services Hub, referred to as the console in this documentation. For example, a GUI Server installed uses
port 16310 as the default port. The console dashboards in Jazz for Service Management use the same
port. In this case, you must change the port that is used by the console dashboards in Jazz for Service
Management, for example to 18310.
For more information about Jazz for Service Management, see http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/
v3r1/topic/com.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0/psc_ic-homepage.html

Getting started with the UI data provider

Before you can use the Netcool/Impact UI data provider, you must complete the prerequisites.

Prerequisites
Check that the correct components are installed.
You must configure the user authorization.
Create the data source and data types or the policy that you want to use to provide data to the UI data
provider.

Visualizing data in the console

To visualize data in the console, you must complete the following tasks:
1. Create the remote connection between the UI data provider and the console.
2. Create the data model or policy that provides the data from Netcool/Impact.
3. Create a page in the console.
4. Create a widget on the page in the console.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 101

UI data provider components
Before you can use the UI data provider, you must ensure that you install all the required components.

Required Jazz for Service Management components

Before you can use the UI data provider, you must install the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub
(the console) component of Jazz for Service Management.
If you want to use the Netcool/Impact self service dashboard (SSD) widgets, you must install the SSD
widgets on the Dashboard Application Services Hub Server. For more information, see “Installing the
Netcool/Impact Self Service Dashboard widgets” on page 157.

Component overview
A typical distributed deployment can consist of two or more instances of the Impact Server installed on
separate systems and configured as part of a server cluster, and an instance of the GUI Server installed
on a system that is configured to allow users access the GUI though a web browser. Server clustering
provides failover and load-balancing functionality for the Impact Server instances.
The custom dashboard server uses the widgets that are created in Jazz for Service Management to
connect to the GUI Server. The custom dashboard uses the Registry Services component that is provided
by Jazz for Service Management to connect to a DB2 database. For more information about the Registry
Services component, see http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/topic/com.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0/
psc_ic-homepage.html.

Configuring user authentication

Before you can use the UI data provider, you must assign the appropriate role.

About this task

User authentication is controlled by impactUIDataProviderUser role. This role is administered in the GUI
Server.

Procedure
You must assign one of the following roles to users to enable access to the UI data provider:
• iscadmins
• impactFullAccessUser
• impactUIDataProviderUser
For more information about this role, see the information about the impactUIDataProviderUser role in
the working with roles section of the Administration Guide.

Data types and the UI data provider

To ensure that the data type can send data to the UI data provider, you must ensure that the following
settings exist. Internal and SNMP data types require additional settings.
When you create a data type, you must consider the following settings:
• For all data types, except the internal data type, you must also select the Key Field check box for
the key field. The key field identifies the uniqueness of the data that is displayed by the widget in the
console.
• You must enable the data type so that it can send data to the UI data provider. To ensure that the
data type can be accessed by the UI data provider, open the data type editor and select the Access
the data through UI data provider: Enabled check box. After the data model refreshes, the data
type is available as a data provider source. The default refresh rate is 5 minutes. However, this setting

102 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 can be changed. For more information about how to change the refresh rate, see “UI data provider
customization” on page 166.
• You must select a display name that does not contain any special characters or spaces. To select the
display name, click Data Model to open the Data Model tab. Expand the data source that the data type
belongs to and click the data type that you want to use. Select the field that you want to use as the
display name from the Display Name Field list.
• If the data type key field value contains quotation marks ("), the console cannot support the widget that
is based on the data type. This means that you cannot click the row that is based on the key field, use
it to send an event to another widget or to provide hover preview information. You must use a key field
that does not contain quotation marks.

SQL data types

If the SQL data type has a sort order applied to it by the Order By field, this sort order will be appended
to all queries from the UI data provider and connected widgets. If the connected widget (such as a table
or list) applies its own sort order, then both sort orders will be used when retrieving table rows from the
database.
If you want the widget's sorting order to always override the data type's sort order, you can use the
following procedure:
1. Open the .type file for the SQL data type:

<IMPACT_HOME>/etc/<SERVER_NAME>_<DATA_TYPE>.type

2. Add the following line:

<DATA_TYPE>.SQL.APPENDSORTORDER=false

Where <DATA_TYPE> is the name of the data type.

3. Save the file and restart the server.

Internal data types

If you use Internal data types, the UI data provider uses the first field in the Additional Fields
configuration as the item identifier. You must choose a unique value for the key field, otherwise the
UI data provider overwrites your chosen key with the most recent value.

SNMP data types

If you use SNMP data types, you must define a value in the Field Name field in the data type editor. The
UI data provider uses the value from the Field Name field as the item identifier. If more than one entry
for the same value in Field Name field exists, the UI data provider uses the entry that was created most
recently. If you want the UI data provider to use an item identifier that is unique, enter a unique value in
the Field Name field for the data type.

Integrating chart widgets and the UI data provider

If you use the pie or line chart widgets to visualize data in the console, you must change the number of
items per page from All to a number to ensure that the console can display the data.

Procedure
1. Open a page in the console or create a new one.
See “Creating a page in the console” on page 105.
2. Select a widget. To select a widget, click All and drag the widget into the content area.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 103

 3. Configure the widget data. To configure the widget data, click it in the content area and click the Down
arrow icon > Edit. The Select a dataset window is displayed.
4. Select the data set that you want to use to provide the data. To search for the data type, enter the data
type name and click the Search button. To display a list of all the available data types, click the Show
All icon.
5. Click Settings. In the Items per page list list, change the number of items per page from All to a
number.
For example, change it to 50.
6. Click OK to save the widget.

Names reserved for the UI data provider

The following names are reserved for use by the UI data provider. You cannot use these names in your
policies and databases.
The UI data provider uses the comma (,) and ampersand (&) characters on the UI and in the URL for
policies that use the DirectSQL policy function. You can use AS instead of ampersand (&) in policies.
The UI data provider uses the UIObjectId field to index key fields. You cannot use the UIObjectId
field in any of your policies.
Netcool/Impact uses the AS UIDPROWNUM field in the query that is used for DB2 and Oracle databases.
You cannot use UIDPROWNUM as a field name for any of the connected DB2 and Oracle databases.
The topology and tree widgets use the UITreeNodeId field. The UITreeNodeId field is reserved for use
by the UI data provider and it contains the following fields that are also reserved:
• UITreeNodeId
• UITreeNodeParent
• UITreeNodeStatus
• UITreeNodeLabel
• UITreeNodeType

General steps for integrating the UI data provider and the console
You can use a variation of the general steps that are listed here to visualize data from the Netcool/Impact
UI data provider in the console.
The exact steps differ depending on whether you use a data type or policy to provide the data. However, in
general, to integrate the UI data provider and the console, you must complete the following activities:
1. Create the remote connection.
If you want to connect to the local UI data provider by using the UI data provider data source with
an SSL enabled connection, the signed certificate must be exchanged between the GUI Server and
Impact Server. For more information see Configuring SSL with scripts in the Security section of the
documentation.
2. Create the information provider.
If you want to visualize data directly from a DB2 table or other data source, you must set up the data
model in Netcool/Impact.
If you want to visualize data directly from a policy in Netcool/Impact, you must create the policy. For
example, if you want to use a policy to mashup data from two different sources, you must create a
policy in Netcool/Impact that summarizes the data.
3. Create a page and widget in the console.

104 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Setting up the remote connection between the UI data provider and the
console
Before you can visualize data from the UI data provider in the console, you must configure the remote
connection between the UI data provider and the console.

Procedure
1. Open the console.
2. To open the Connections window, click Settings > Connections. The Connections window lists all the
available data providers.
3. To create a new remote provider to represent the Netcool/Impact UI data provider, click the Create
new remote provider icon and complete the following settings:
a. Select the protocol from the list. For example, HTTPS.
b. Enter the host name. For example, the IP address of the GUI Server.
c. Enter the port number. For example, for HTTP-SSL the value is 16311.
d. Enter the user name and password that you used when you installed the Impact Server.
e. Select the data provider that you created. To view all the available data providers, click Search.
After you select the data provider, the Name and Provider ID fields are automatically populated.
If you use multiple servers in a clustered environment, a connection is displayed for each server.
For example, if you use Netcool/Impact in a cluster with TBSM, a connection is displayed for both
members of the cluster.
4. To create the remote provider connection, click Ok.

Creating the data model

Before you can integrate the UI data provider and the console, you must create a data source and data
type to provide data.

Before you begin

Before you create a data type, there are a number of specific settings that are required to facilitate the
integration with the UI data provider. For more information about these settings, see “Data types and the
UI data provider” on page 102.

Procedure
1. Create a data source.
2. Create a data type.

Results
The changes are only visible after the refresh interval. The refresh rate is 5 minutes by default. For more
information about how to change this setting, see “UI data provider customization” on page 166.

Creating a page in the console

Before you can create a widget to visualize the data from the UI data provider, you must create a page in
the console.

Procedure
1. Open the console.
2. To create a page, click the Console Settings icon at the bottom left side of the screen. Choose Pages >
New Page.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 105

 3. Enter the name of the page.
4. Click OK to save the page.

Results
The page is created. You can now create a widget to visualize the data.

Creating a widget on a page in the console

To visualize data from Netcool/Impact on a page in the console, you must create a widget.

About this task

Before you create a widget, you must create a page in the console. For more information, see “Creating a
page in the console” on page 105.
Tip: When you create multiple output parameters, remember each policy output parameter that you
create generates its own data set. When you assign a data set to a widget, only those tasks that are
associated with the specific output parameter are run.

Procedure
1. Open the page that you want to use for this widget in the console.
2. Select a widget. To select a widget, click All and drag the widget into the content area.
For example, click All, select the table widget, and drag the widget into the content area.
3. Configure the widget data. To configure the widget data, click it in the content area and click the Down
arrow icon > Edit. The Select a dataset window is displayed.
4. Select the data set that you want to use to provide the data. To search for the data source, data type,
or policy that provides the data, enter the data type name and click the Search button. If you use
a data type from Netcool/Impact to provide data for the widget, you can search for either the data
source or data type name. If you use a policy from Netcool/Impact, you can search for the policy name
or the output parameter name.
If you configured any specific policy-related actions on a policy to be used with a UI data provider
when you create the widget and right-click an action in the widget the policy-related actions are
displayed.
The data type is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes. If you use a
data type that you just created, you must wait 5 minutes before the data type displays.
5. If you want to use the line or pie chart widget, you must change the number of items per page form All
to a number. To do so, click Settings. In the Items per page list list, change the number of items per
page from All to a number.
6. To save the new widget, click OK.

Results
You can now use the new widget to visualize the data from the specified data type in the console.

Accessing data from Netcool/Impact policies

You can use the UI data provider to access data from Netcool/Impact policies.
You must create user output parameters for each policy that you want to use with the UI data provider.
You can also configure polices related to the UI data provider to be enabled for specific actions. When the
policy actions are enabled, you can right-click an action in the widget in the console and the list of policy
actions displays. When a policy action is changed in the policy editor the list on the widget in the console
is updated automatically.

106 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 In addition, if you use an Impact object, an array of Impact objects, the DirectSQL, or the GetByFilter
policy function, you must be aware of certain special requirements. These special cases are described
and, where required, an example is provided.
If your policy retrieves data from a database where the key field contains quotation marks ("), the console
cannot support the widget that is based on the data that is provided by the policy. You cannot click the
row that is based on the key field, use it to send an event to another widget or to provide hover preview
information. You must use a key field that does not contain quotation marks.

Configuring policy settings

To use the UI data provider or OSLC with your Netcool/Impact policies, you must configure policy input or
output parameters to make the policy results compatible with the UI data provider or available as OSLC
resources. You can also enable policy actions for use with the UI data provider.

About this task

You can create either policy input parameters or policy output parameters. Policy input parameters
represent the input parameters that you define in policies. For example, you can use a policy input
parameter to pass values from one policy to another in a data mashup.
Policy output parameters represent the parameters that are output by policies. For example, the UI data
provider uses policy output parameters to visualize data from policies in the console.
You can also configure polices related to the UI data provider to be enabled for specific actions. When
the policy actions are enabled, you can right-click on an action in the widget in the console and the list of
policy actions displays. When a policy action is updated in the policy editor the list on the widget in the
console is updated automatically.

Procedure
1. Click the Polices tab. To open the Policy Settings Editor in the policy editor toolbar, click the
Configure Policy Settings icon. Create a JavaScript or an IPL policy.
2. To create a policy output parameter, click New Output Parameter:New. To create a policy input
parameter, click New Input Parameter:New.
Mandatory fields are denoted by an asterisk (*). You must enter a unique name in the Name field.
3. Define the custom schemas for the output parameters if required.
If you are using the DirectSQL policy function with OSLC, you must define the custom schema for it.
You need to create an output parameter for this policy to create a UI Data Provider policy-related
action.
If you are using DirectSQL, Impact Object, or Array of Impact Object with the UI data provider or the
chart widget, you must define the custom schema for these values.
For more information, see “Creating custom schema values for output parameters” on page 110
4. Click New to create a UI Data Provider policy-related action.
You can use this option to enable a policy action on a widget in the console (Dashboard the Dashboard
Application Services Hub) in Jazz for Service Management. For more information, see “Creating a
widget on a page in the console” on page 106.
a) In the Name field, add a name for the action.
The name that you add displays in the widget in the console when you right-click on an action in the
specified widget.
b) In the Policy Name menu, select the policy that you want the action to relate to.
c) In the Output Parameter menu, select the output parameter that will be associated with this
action, if you select the All output parameters option, the action becomes available for all output
parameters for the selected policy.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 107

 5. To enable a policy to run with an UI data provider, select the Enable policy for UI Data Provider
actions check box.
6. To enable a policy to run in with the Event Isolation and Correlation capabilities, select the Enable
Policy for Event Isolation and Correlation Actions check box.
7. To save the changes to the parameters and close the window, click OK.

Example
This example demonstrates how to create output parameters for a policy. First, you define a simple policy,
like:

first_name = “Mark”;
zip_code = 12345;
Log(“Hello “ + first_name + “ living at “ + zip_code);

Next, define the output parameters for this policy. In this case, there are two output parameters. You
enter the following information:

Table 10. PolicyDT1 output parameter

Field User entry
Name Enter a unique name. For example, PolicyDT1.
Policy variable name first_name
Format String

Table 11. PolicyDT2 output parameter

Field User entry
Name Enter a unique name. For example, PolicyDT2
Policy variable name zip_code
Format Integer

Accessing Netcool/Impact object variables in a policy

You can use the NewObject function to create Netcool/Impact objects in a policy. If you want to access
these objects from the UI data provider, you must create a policy output parameter.

Procedure
1. To open the policy user parameter editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon in the policy editor
toolbar. You can create policy input and output parameters. Click New to open the Create a New
Policy Output Parameter window.
2. Select Impact Object from the Format list. The Schema Definition form control appears on the form.
3. Beside the Schema Definition form control, click the Open Schema Definition Editor and add a field.
For example, enter the policy object name in the Policy Variable Name field.

Example
The following example demonstrates how to make an Impact object variable available to the UI data
provider. First, you create the following policy, called Test_Policy2:

MyObject = NewObject();
MyObject.fname = 'Sam';
MyObject.age = 25;
MyObject.bmi = 24.5;

Define the output parameters for the policy as follows:

108 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Table 12. PolicyObject1 output parameter
Field User entry
Name Enter a unique name. For example, PolicyObject1.
Policy variable name MyObject
Format Impact Object
Schema definition
Data source name
Data type name

Accessing data types output by the GetByFilter function

If you want to access the results from the GetByFilter function, you must create output parameters for
the UI data provider.

Procedure
1. To open the policy settings editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon in the policy editor toolbar.
You can create policy input and output parameters for the policy. To open the Create a New Policy
Output Parameter window, click New.
2. Select data type as the format.
3. Enter the name of the data item to which the output of the GetByFilter function is assigned in the
Policy Variable Name field.
4. Enter the name of the data source in the Data Source Name field.
5. Enter the name of the data type in the Data Type Name field.

Example
This example demonstrates how to make the output from the GetByFilter function available to the
Netcool/Impact UI data provider.
You created a data type that is called ALERTS that belongs to the defaultobjectserver data source. This
data type belongs to Netcool/OMNIbus and it points to alerts.status. The key field is Identifier.
The following four rows of data are associated with the key field:
• Event1
• Event2
• Event3
• Event4
Create the following policy, called Test_Policy3:

MyAlerts = GetByFilter("ALERTS", "Severity > 0", false);

Define the output parameters for the policy as follows:

Table 13. PolicyData1 output parameter

Field User entry
Name PolicyData1
Policy variable name MyAlerts
Format Data type

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 109

 Table 13. PolicyData1 output parameter (continued)
Field User entry
Data source name defaultobjectserver
Data type name ALERTS

Select the output parameter as the data set for the widget that you are using to visualize the data.
1. Open the console and open a page.
2. Drag a widget into the content area.
3. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
4. Select PolicyData1 as the data type that belongs to the defaultobjectserver data source.
5. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box. Click
Ok.

Accessing data types output by the DirectSQL function

If you want to access the results from the DirectSQL policy function, you must create output parameters
for the UI data provider.

About this task

The comma (,) and ampersand (&) characters are reserved as special characters for the user interface and
the URL. You cannot use these characters in policies that are accessed by the DirectSQL policy function.
You can use AS instead of ampersand (&) in policies as required.
For example, consider the following policy:

SELECT "My&Test" AS My_Test FROM test_table

This policy returns the field name My_Test instead of My&Test

Procedure
1. To open the policy user parameter editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon in the policy editor
toolbar. You can create policy input and output parameters. To open the Create a New Policy Output
Parameter window, click New.
2. Select DirectSQL / UI Provider Datatype as the format.
3. Enter a name for the output parameter.
4. Enter the name of the data item to which the output of the DirectSQL function is assigned in the
Policy Variable Name field.
5. To define the DirectSQL format values, click the Open the schema definition editor editor icon. For
detailed information about how to create custom schema values, see “Creating custom schema values
for output parameters” on page 208

Creating custom schema values for output parameters

When you define output parameters that use the DirectSQL, Array of Impact Object, or Impact Object
format in the user output parameters editor, you also must specify a name and a format for each field that
is contained in the DirectSQL, Array of Impact Object, or Impact Object objects.

About this task

Custom schema definitions are used by Netcool/Impact to visualize data in the console and to pass values
to the UI data provider and OSLC. You create the custom schemas and select the format that is based on

110 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 the values for each field that is contained in the object. For example, you create a policy that contains two
fields in an object:

O1.city="NY"
O1.ZIP=07002

You define the following custom schemas values for this policy:

Table 14. Custom schema values for City

Field Entry
Name City
Format String

Table 15. Custom schema values for ZIP

Field Entry
Name ZIP
Format Integer

If you use the DirectSQL policy function with the UI data provider or OSLC, you must define a custom
schema value for each DirectSQL value that you use.
If you want to use the chart widget to visualize data from an Impact object or an array of Impact objects
with the UI data provider and the console, you define custom schema values for the fields that are
contained in the objects. The custom schemas help to create descriptors for columns in the chart during
initialization. However, the custom schemas are not technically required. If you do not define values for
either of these formats, the system later rediscovers each Impact object when it creates additional fields
such as the key field. UIObjectId, or the field for the tree widget, UITreeNodeId. You do not need to
define these values for OSLC.

Procedure
1. In the Policy Settings Editor, select DirectSQL, Impact Object, or Array of Impact Object in the
Format field.

2. The system shows the Open the Schema Definition Editor icon beside the Schema Definition
field. To open the editor, click the icon.
3. You can edit an existing entry or you can create a new one. To define a new entry, click New. Enter a
name and select an appropriate format.
To edit an existing entry, click the Edit icon beside the entry that you want to edit
4. To mark an entry as a key field, select the check box in the Key Field column. You do not have to define
the key field for Impact objects or an array of Impact objects. The system uses the UIObjectId as the
key field instead.
5. To delete an entry, select the entry and click Delete.

Accessing an array of Impact objects with the UI data provider

Before you can use the UI data provider to access an array of Impact objects, you must create an output
parameter that represents the array of Impact objects.

About this task

Netcool/Impact uses the field UIObjectID to index the key fields. As a result, UIObjectID is a reserved
field name. You must not use UIObjectID as a custom field in any of your policies.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 111

 Procedure
1. To define an output parameter for the array of Impact objects, click the Configure Policy Settings icon
in the policy editor toolbar. To open the Create a New Policy Output Parameter window, click New.
Create the output parameter as outlined in the following table:

Table 16. Output parameter for a policy that contains the Array of Impact Objects array
Field Instructions
Name Enter a name for the output parameter.
Policy Variable Name Enter a name that is identical to the name of the
array of Netcool/Impact objects in the policy that
you want to reference.
Format Select Array of Impact Objects.
2. After you create the output parameter, you define the custom schema values for the array of Impact
objects. For more information, see “Creating custom schema values for output parameters” on page
208.
3. To display all the fields and values that are associated with the array, use the following URL:

https://<hostname>:<port>/ibm/tivoli/rest/providers/
Impact_NCICLUSTER /datasources/<datasourceid>/datasets/
<outputparametername>/items?properties=all

where <outputparametername> is the name of the parameter that is defined in the previous step.

Example
For example, consider the following Netcool/Impact objects:

MyObject1=NewObject();
MyObject1.firstname="first_name";
MyObject1.lastname="last_name";

MyObject2=NewObject();
MyObject2.city="mycity";
MyObject2.state="mystate";

An Impact Policy Language (IPL) policy references the array as follows:

MyArrayOfObjects={MyObject1,MyObject2};

A JavaScript policy references the array as follows:

MyArrayOfObjects=[MyObject1,MyObject2];

To map MyArrayOfObjects to the output parameters, create the output parameter for the array of
objects as follows:

Table 17. Output parameters for MyArrayObj1

Field User entry
Name MyArrayObj1
Policy Variable Name MyArrayOfObjects
Format Array of Impact Object

To map the values that are contained in the array, create the custom schema values as follows:

112 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Table 18. first_name custom schema values
Field User entry
Name first_name
Format String

Table 19. last_name custom schema values

Field User entry
Name last_name
Format String

Table 20. mycity custom schema values

Field User entry
Name mycity
Format String

Table 21. mystate custom schema values

Field User entry
Name mystate
Format String

Use the following URL to view the fields and values for MyArrayofObjects:

https://<hostname>:<port>/ibm/tivoli/rest/providers/
Impact_NCICLUSTER /datasources/<datasourceid>/datasets/
MyArrayObj1/items?properties=all

UI data provider and the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub

To create visualizations and mashups of Netcool/Impact data from sources such as Netcool/Impact
policies and database tables in the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub, referred to as the console
throughout this section, you can integrate the Netcool/Impact UI data provider with the console.

Filtering data in the console

You can use the console to filter data based on input parameters. This data can be derived from Netcool/
Impact policies or other data types. To filter data in the console, you configure the widget settings in the
console.

About this task

You make these settings in the table widget UI in the console. To make the settings that are described
here, open the table widget UI and click Edit.

Procedure
• To filter data provided by Netcool/Impact policies, you must select the executePolicy check box
to include the executePolicy Boolean parameter in the policy. The executePolicy parameter
ensures that the policy runs when the user opens the widget. The system then populates the widget
with the required data from the policy.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 113

 If you want to enter values for the policy input parameters in the console, you can enter these values
under Configure Optional Dataset Parameters. The system passes the values to the input parameters
in the policy while the policy is running.

Attention: The input parameters must be already defined in the policy. If the input parameters
are not defined in the policy, the system cannot pass the values for the input parameters to
the policy. For more information about how to create policy input parameters, see “Configuring
policy settings” on page 207.
• To filter data from other sources, such as data derived from a database table, users can enter values
for the filter parameters in the Configure Optional Dataset Parameters section in the console.
Netcool/Impact uses the values that are entered here to filter the results that are displayed in the
console.

Example: filtering data based on a database table

For example, you want to configure a console widget to display the rows from a database table that
contain a value of 192.168.1.119 for the Device field. In the console under Configure Optional Dataset
Parameters, enter 192.168.1.119 in the Device field. The widget returns only the data that contains
this value in the Device field.

Integrating the tree widget with an Impact object or an array of Impact

objects
To integrate a policy that contains an Impact object or an array of Impact objects with the tree widget
that is available in the console, you must first specify certain fields in the policy and create the required
custom schema definitions.

Procedure
1. If the object is a parent with an indexed ID, add the UITreeNodeId field for the object. If the object is
a child, add the UITreeNodeParent field for the object. If you do not add these values, the object is
not displayed as a tree hierarchy.
The following conditions also apply:
• The first object in the hierarchy cannot be a child, as is the case for all hierarchies.
• You must specify the parent object before the child.
• A child object cannot use the same ID for itself and its parent.
• The parent ID is an indexed ID and it must start with 0. If you want to skip the parent ID, you must do
so in this order.
• The schema of each object must be the same, as is the case for all objects that use the tree widget.
In other words, an object can use fewer schema elements than its parent object but these elements
must be defined in the parent object. A child object cannot use additional schema elements that are
not defined in the parent object.
The UITreeNodeId and UITreeNodeParent fields are not displayed in the console
2. Create a policy output parameter for the Impact object or the array of Impact objects. To create a
policy output parameter, click the Configure Policy Settings icon in the policy editor toolbar. To open
the Create a New Policy Output Parameter window, click New. Create the following entries:

Table 22. User output parameters for Impact object or array of Impact objects
Field Instructions
Name Enter a name for the output parameter.

114 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Table 22. User output parameters for Impact object or array of Impact objects (continued)
Field Instructions
Policy Variable Name Enter a name that is identical to the name of
the Impact object or the array of Impact objects
that is specified in the policy that you want to
reference.
Format Choose Impact Object or Array of Impact
Objects.
3. Create the custom schema values for the values that you want to display as columns in the console.
You must specify a custom schema value for the Impact object or the objects that are contained in
an array of Impact objects. The schema values that you define can be displayed as columns in the
console. You only need to specify custom schema values for the values that you want to display. Values
such as UITreeNodeId are displayed as properties unless you specify them as custom schema
values.
To create a custom schema value in the policy editor, select Impact object or Array of Impact objects
in the Format field. To open the editor, click the Open the Schema Definition Editor icon. Define the
custom schema values as outlined in the following table:

Table 23. Custom schema values for Impact object or array of Impact objects
Field Instructions
Name Enter the name of the custom schema value. For
example, this could be the name of the Impact
object or the name of one of the objects in the
array of Impact objects.
Format Choose the format of the custom schema value.
For example, if the parameter is a string, choose
String.

Example
The following example demonstrates how to integrate an array of Impact objects and the tree widget.
1. Create a policy that contains an array of Impact objects and the additional fields that are required for
the tree widget, UITreeNodeId and UITreeNodeParent.

Log("Array of objects with same fields....");

O1=NewObject();
O1.UITreeNodeId=0;
O1.fname="o1fname";
O1.lname="o1lname";
O1.dob="o1dob";

O2=NewObject();
O2.UITreeNodeId=1;
O2.UITreeNodeParent=0;
O2.fname="o2fname";
O2.lname="o2lname";
O2.dob="o2dob";

O3=NewObject();
O3.UITreeNodeId=2;
O3.UITreeNodeParent=1;
O3.fname="o3fname";
O3.lname="o3lname";
O3.dob="o3odb";

O4=NewObject();
O4.UITreeNodeId=3;
O4.UITreeNodeParent=20;
O4.fname="o4fname";
O4.lname="o4lname";

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 115

 O4.dob="o4odb";

O5=NewObject();
O5.UITreeNodeId=4;
O5.fname="o5fname";
O5.lname="o5lname";
O5.dob="o5odb";

O6=NewObject();
O6.UITreeNodeParent=4;
O6.fname="o6fname";
O6.lname="o6lname";
O6.dob="o6odb";

O7=NewObject();
O7.UITreeNodeParent=4;
O7.fname="o7fname";
O7.lname="o7lname";
O7.dob="o7odb";

O8=NewObject();
O8.UITreeNodeParent=4;
O8.fname="o8fname";
O8.lname="o8lname";
O8.dob="o8odb";

O9=NewObject();
O9.fname="o9fname";
O9.lname="o9lname";
O9.dob="o9odb";

O10=NewObject();
O10.fname="NJ";
O10.lname="Bayonne";
O10.dob="April 1st 2011";

O11=NewObject();
O11.UITreeNodeParent=11;
O11.fname="o11fname";
O11.lname="o11lname";
O11.dob="o11odb";

O12=NewObject();
O12.UITreeNodeId=11;
O12.UITreeNodeParent=0;
O12.fname="o12fname";
O12.lname="o12lname";
O12.dob="o12odb";

Oa=NewObject();
Oa.UITreeNodeId=12;
Oa.UITreeNodeParent=2;
Oa.fname="oafname";
Oa.lname="oalname";
Oa.dob="oaodb";

Ob=NewObject();
Ob.UITreeNodeId=13;
Ob.UITreeNodeParent=12;
Ob.fname="obfname";
Ob.lname="oblname";
Ob.dob="obodb";

Oc=NewObject();
Oc.UITreeNodeId=14;
Oc.UITreeNodeParent=14;
Oc.fname="ocfname";
Oc.lname="oclname";
Oc.dob="ocodb";

Oe=NewObject();
Oe.UITreeNodeParent=14;
Oe.fname="oefname";
Oe.lname="oelname";
Oe.dob="obedb";

Os={O1,O2,O3,O4,O5,O6,O7,O8,O9,O10,O12,O11,Oa,Ob,Oc,Oe};
log("os " + Os);

2. In the policy editor, create the following user output parameter:

116 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Table 24. ArrayofNewObject user output parameter
Field User input
Name ArrayofNewObject
Policy Variable Name Os
Format Array of Impact Objects
3. In the policy editor, create the following custom schema value definitions for the array of Impact
objects:

Table 25. fname custom schema definition

Field User input
Name fname
Format String

Table 26. lname custom schema definition

Field User input
Name lname
Format String

Integrating data from a policy with the topology widget

Before you can use the topology widget to visualize data from a Netcool/Impact policy in the console, you
need to specify certain fields in the policy.

About this task

The topology widget is intended for use with the tree widget. You use the fields described here with the
fields that you specify for the tree widget. For more information, see “Integrating the tree widget with an
Impact object or an array of Impact objects” on page 114
Generally, the nodes are connected in a hierarchy. However, this connection is not technically required. If
you define a node that is not part of a hierarchy, it is displayed as a stand-alone node that is not part of
any other hierarchy.

Procedure
• You must include the following statement in the first object in the policy:

ObjectName.UITreeNodeType= <Node Type>;

where <Node Type> is either GRAPH or TREE. If you do not specify a value, the default value is TREE.
• You must specify a label for each object. If you do not, the system displays No label was specified for
the label and tooltip. To specify a label, add the following statement for each object:

ObjectName.UITreeNodeLabel=<Tooltip text>

where <Tooltip text> is the text that is used for the label and tooltip.
• Define the status for each node. This status is not mandatory. If you do not add this statement, the
status is unknown. If you want to display the status for each object, add the following statements for
each node.

ObjectName.UITreeNodeStatus=<Status>;

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 117

 where <Status> is the status. The table lists the supported values and the numbers that represent
those values. You can use either the number or the word to represent the status.

Table 27. Tree node status

Status Number
Critical 5
Major 4
Minor 3
Warning 2
Normal 0
Unknown

Example
The following examples illustrate how to define a policy that you want to use with the tree and topology
widgets. This example policy includes a multi-level topology and a node status that represents severity.

Log("Test Topo");
O0=NewObject();
O0.UITreeNodeType="GRAPH";
O0.UITreeNodeId=0;
O0.UITreeNodeLabel="NJ-Bayonne";
O0.UITreeNodeStatus="Warning";
O0.state="NJ";
O0.city="Bayonne";

O1=NewObject();
O1.UITreeNodeId=1;
O1.UITreeNodeStatus="Normal";
O1.UITreeNodeParent=0;
O1.UITreeNodeLabel="NY-Queens";
O1.state="NY";
O1.city="Queens";

O2=NewObject();
O2.UITreeNodeId=2;
O2.UITreeNodeStatus="Critical";
O2.UITreeNodeParent=1;
O2.UITreeNodeLabel="NC-Raleigh";
O2.state="NC";
O2.city="Raleigh";

O3=NewObject();
O3.UITreeNodeId=3;
O3.UITreeNodeParent=0;
O3.UITreeNodeStatus="Warning";
O3.UITreeNodeLabel="CA-Los Angeles";
O3.state="CA";
O3.city="Los Angeles";

O4=NewObject();
O4.UITreeNodeId=4;
O4.UITreeNodeParent=3;
O4.UITreeNodeStatus="Normal";
O4.UITreeNodeLabel="CO-Denver";
O4.state="CO";
O4.city="Denver";

O5=NewObject();
O5.UITreeNodeId=5;
O5.UITreeNodeStatus="Critical";
O5.UITreeNodeParent=4;
O5.UITreeNodeLabel="MA-Main";
O5.state="MA";
O5.city="Main";

O6=NewObject();
O6.UITreeNodeId=6;
O6.UITreeNodeParent=0;

118 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 O6.UITreeNodeStatus="Warning";
O6.UITreeNodeLabel="NH-New Hampshire";
O6.state="NH";
O6.city="New Hampshire";

O7=NewObject();
O7.UITreeNodeId=7;
O7.UITreeNodeParent=6;
O7.UITreeNodeStatus="Normal";
O7.UITreeNodeLabel="TX-Hudson";
O7.state="TX";
O7.city="Houston";

O8=NewObject();
O8.UITreeNodeId=8;
O8.UITreeNodeParent=7;
O8.UITreeNodeStatus="Critical";
O8.UITreeNodeLabel="VA-Virgina Beach";
O8.state="VA";
O8.city="Virigina Beach";

Obs={O0,O1,O2,O3,O4,O5,O6,O7,O8};

After you implement the policy you need to create the output parameters and custom schema values. For
more information about how to do this, see “Configuring policy settings” on page 207.

Displaying status and percentage in a widget

You can show status and percentage in topology, tree, table, and list widgets by using policies or data
types. To show status and percentages in a widget, you must create a script in JavaScript format in the
data type if the policy uses the GetByFilter function.

About this task

For data types, SQL, SNMP, and internal data types are supported. For policies the GetByFilter, DirectSQL
and Impact Object, and Array Of Impact Objects are supported.
1. Create the data type.
2. In the data type configuration window, add the script to the Define Custom Types and Values
(JavaScript) area.
Restriction: Not all functions that are provided by JavaScript are supported. If you get a syntax error
for a known JavaScript function, check that the function is supported in an Impact policy.
3. Click the Check Syntax and Preview Sample Result button to preview the results and to check the
syntax of the script.
For DirectSQL and Impact Object, Array Of Impact Objects, the Status, and Percentage can be specified
when you create the schema definition. For policies, you can use IPL or JavaScript for the DirectSQL or
GetByFilter functions.
The script uses the following syntax for data types and for policies that use the GetByFilter function.

ImpactUICustomValues.put("FieldName,Type",VariableName);

Where Type is either Percentage or Status. VariableName, can be a variable or hardcoded value.
Always cast the variable name to String to avoid any error even if the value is numeric. See the following
examples:

ImpactUICustomValues.put("MyField,Percentage",""+VariableName);

ImpactUICustomValues.put("MyField,Percentage","120");

ImpactUICustomValues.put("FieldName,Percentage",""+(field1/40));

The status field expects the value to be similar to the Topology widget configuration:

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 119

 Table 28. Status field values
Status Number
Critical 5
Major 4
Minor 3
Warning 2
Intermediate or Indeterminate. 1
• Either status is available when the connection to Netcool/
Impact uses https.
• If the connection is https, go to $IMPACT_HOME/etc/
server.props and set the property
impact.uidataprovider.useiconfromprovider=t
rue
• For all examples, you can replace Intermediate with
Indeterminate when needed.

There is no limit to how many fields you can put in the variable ImpactUICustomValues. The variable must
be at the very end of the script. Anything before the variable must be in JavaScript and can be anything if
the variable ImpactUICustomValues is populated correctly.
Example 1:
Assigns the field name from the table to be the status or the percentage and assigns the field value. This
example assigns SHAREDOWN and PROFIT as the percentages, and STANDING as the status.

ImpactUICustomValues.put("SHAREUP,Percentage",SHAREUP);
ImpactUICustomValues.put("SHAREDOWN,Percentage",SHAREDOWN);
ImpactUICustomValues.put("PROFIT,Percentage",PROFIT);
ImpactUICustomValues.put("STANDING,Status",STANDING);

Example 2:
This example has an extra calculation to determine the value of percentage or status fields. The
percentage assumes the maximum value to use is 100. Then, a factor is used to scale the values that
are based on the maximum value that is expected by the user. The status and percentage is scaled based
on a factor.

var status = "Normal";

var down = 0;
var up = 0;
var factor = ( TOTAL / 100);
down = (DOWN / factor);
up = (UP / factor);
var statusFactor = (DOWN / TOTAL) * 100;
if ( statusFactor >= 50) {
status = "Critical";
} else if ( statusFactor >= 30 ) {
status = "Major";
} else if (statusFactor >= 20) {
status = "Minor";
} else if (statusFactor >= 10 ) {
status = "Warning";
} else {
status = "Normal";
}
ImpactUICustomValues.put("DownPercentage,Percentage",""+down);
ImpactUICustomValues.put("UpPercentage,Percentage",""+up);
ImpactUICustomValues.put("NetworkStatus,Status",""+status);

Example 3:

120 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 This example uses extra fields that do not exist in the table and used to be the Status and Percentage. The
values are the exact values that come from fields that exist in the table. Calculation can be used to assign
different values:

ImpactUICustomValues.put("CPUPercentUsage,Percentage",CPUUsage);
ImpactUICustomValues.put("RAMPercentUsage,Percentage",RAMUsage);
ImpactUICustomValues.put("DiskPercentUsage,Percentage",DiskUsage);
ImpactUICustomValues.put("NetworkAvailability,Status",NetworkStatus);

Tip: The Table or List widget shows duplicate entries or have missing data when you compare the data to
the data type data items. Check the data source to ensure that all keys are unique.
Tip: In an instance where you use a policy function to create a dynamic filter, and you get a message in
the policy log. The messages states that the filter variable is not defined in policy. No eventing occurs
between widgets. Check that you are not using any special characters in the custom value in the data
type for example, ImpactUICustomValues.put("CPU%,Percentage",""+value). The widgets do
not support special characters in field names.
Tip: If a data type field type is incorrectly defined, for example the field is defined as an integer, but
contains float values the widget fails to load. The widget shows a message similar to this example:
Failed to load
To resolve the issue, edit the data type field and select the correct data type float.

Controlling node images in the topology widget

You can change the image for topology widget nodes to enhance node representation in the console.

Before you begin

Integrate policy data with the topology widget so you can use the topology widget to visualize data from
a Netcool/Impact policy in the console, see “Integrating data from a policy with the topology widget” on
page 117

About this task

To customize the image associated with a topology widget node, you need to define the node's image
properties in your policy.
UITreeNodeScalarImage
The UITreeNodeScalarImage property should link to a .json type image.

Object.UITreeNodeScalarImage=<link to the json file>

Example:

Object.UITreeNodeScalarImage= "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_mainframe1.json";

UITreeNodeSmallImage
The UITreeNodeSmallImage property should link to a .png type image that is 16 x 16 pixels in size.

Object.UITreeNodeSmallImage=<link to the image>

Example:

Object.UITreeNodeSmallImage= "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons_16/
mainframe.png";

UITreeNodeLargeImage
You can also configure an optional large size image for the topology node. The UITreeNodeLargeImage
property should link to a .png type image with a recommended size of 64 x 64 pixels.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 121

 Object.UITreeNodeLargeImage=<link to the large image>.

Example:

Object.UITreeNodeLargeImage= "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_mainframe1_8.png";

Example policy
The following example is a policy that demonstrates the images by using the widget relative path:

Log("Customize Links");
worldObject = {};
Obj = NewObject();
Obj.Node = "World";
Obj.UITreeNodeId = 0;
Obj.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj.NetworkStatus = Obj.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj.UITreeNodeLabel = "World";
Obj.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()*90);
worldObject = worldObject + Obj;

Obj1 = NewObject();
Obj1.Node = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeId = 1;
Obj1.UITreeNodeLabel = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj1.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj1.NetworkStatus = Obj1.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj1.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Africa is Down";
Obj1.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*1);
worldObject = worldObject + Obj1;

Obj2 = NewObject();
Obj2.Node = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj2.UITreeNodeLabel = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus = "Major";
Obj2.NetworkStatus = Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj2.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Asia is having an issue"; //this text will show up when
user hover on the link
Obj2.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj2.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj2.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*3);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj2;

Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "North America";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 3;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = "North America";
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in North America is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject = worldObject + Obj3;

Obj4 = NewObject();
Obj4.Node = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj4.UITreeNodeLabel = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj4.UITreeNodeStatus = "Normal";
Obj4.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in South America is Normal";
worldObject =worldObject + Obj4;

Obj4 = NewObject();
Obj4.Node = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj4.UITreeNodeLabel = "South America";

122 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Obj4.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj4.UITreeNodeStatus = "Normal";
Obj4.NetworkStatus = Obj4.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj4.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in South America is Normal";
Obj4.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj4.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj4.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*9);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj4;

Obj5 = NewObject();
Obj5.Node = "Brazil";
Obj5.UITreeNodeId = 5;
Obj5.UITreeNodeLabel = "Brazil";
Obj5.UITreeNodeParent = 2;
Obj5.UITreeNodeStatus = "Normal";
Obj5.NetworkStatus = Obj5.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj5.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Brazil is Normal";
Obj5.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_j2ee1_8.png";
Obj5.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_j2ee1.json";
Obj5.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*100);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj5;

Obj6 = NewObject();
Obj6.Node = "Egypt";
Obj6.UITreeNodeId = 6;
Obj6.UITreeNodeLabel = "Egypt";
Obj6.UITreeNodeParent = 1;
Obj6.UITreeNodeStatus = "Warning";
Obj6.NetworkStatus = Obj6.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj6.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Egypt is down";
Obj6.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_j2ee1_8.png";
Obj6.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_j2ee1.json";
Obj6.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*80);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj6;

Log(worldObject);

Troubleshooting
If the topology widget displays a TCTUI1008W error message when trying to load the image, verify that
the .json image path for UITreeNodeScalarImage is correct in the policy. In the JazzSM server, you
should verify that the image file exists at the [widget] path:

<JazzSM_HOME>/profile/installedApps/JazzSMNode01Cell/isc.ear/isclite.war/secure/isclite/scripts/
tipdojo/ibm/tivoli/tip/navwidget/themes/

The .json image file must define valid JSON content that conforms to the Dojo GFX format and should be
free of errors.

Setting the topology node to have multiple parents in the topology widget
Topology widget nodes can be set to have multiple parents.

Before you begin

Integrate policy data with the topology widget so you can use the topology widget to visualize data from
a Netcool/Impact policy in the console. For more information about integrating with topology widgets, see
“Integrating data from a policy with the topology widget” on page 117

About this task

To set a topology node with multiple parents or to set the topology widget node with circular relationship,
or to do both, complete the following procedure. Within the procedure, the first example is for multiple
parents, the second example is for circular relationships and the third example is for multiple parents and
circular relationships in a tree table where first node is a parent node.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 123

 Procedure
• To set a topology node with multiple parents, configure UITreeNodeParent with parents IDs
separated by a comma. For example, object.UITreeNodeParent="1,5,10", where 1,5,10 are
the parents object's UITreeNodeId value for each parent. See the following example.

worldObject = {};

Obj = NewObject();
Obj.Node = "World";
Obj.UITreeNodeId = 0;
Obj.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj.NetworkStatus = Obj.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj.UITreeNodeLabel = "World";
Obj.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()*90);
worldObject = worldObject + Obj;

Obj1 = NewObject();
Obj1.Node = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeId = 1;
Obj1.UITreeNodeLabel = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj1.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj1.NetworkStatus = Obj1.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj1.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Africa is Down";
Obj1.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*1);
worldObject = worldObject + Obj1;

Obj2 = NewObject();
Obj2.Node = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj2.UITreeNodeLabel = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus = "Major";
Obj2.NetworkStatus = Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj2.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Asia is having an issue";
//this text will show up when user hover on the link
Obj2.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj2.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj2.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*3);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj2;

Obj2 = NewObject();
Obj2.Node = "India";
Obj2.UITreeNodeId = 12;
Obj2.UITreeNodeLabel = "India";
Obj2.UITreeNodeParent = "2,1;
Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus = "Major";
Obj2.NetworkStatus = Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj2.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in India is having an issue";
//this text will show up when user hover on the link
Obj2.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj2.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj2.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*3);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj2;

• To set the topology widget node with circular relationship, the circular relationship can be used only in
the topology widget and not in the tree widget. See the following example.

worldObject =[];

index = 0;
Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "Link1";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 13;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 16;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";

124 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;

index = index + 1;
Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "Link2";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 14;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 13;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_1
resource_icons/re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;

index = index + 1;
Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "Link3";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 15;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 14;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;

index = index + 1;
Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "Link4";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 16;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 15;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;
Log(""+worldObject);

• To set the topology widget node with circular relationship, the circular relationship can be used only in
the topology widget and not in the tree widget unless there is a parent node for the first node. See the
following example.

worldObject =[];

index = 0;
Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "Parent";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 12;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;

index = index + 1;
Obj3.Node = "Link1";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 13;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = "16,12";
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 125

 Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;

index = index + 1;
Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "Link2";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 14;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 13;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;
index = index + 1;
Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "Link3";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 15;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 14;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;

index = index + 1;
Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "Link4";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 16;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = Obj3.Node;
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 15;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in " + Obj3.Nod + " is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/
re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject[index] = Obj3;
Log(""+worldObject);

UI data provider custom-defined Status functionality for

Dashboard Application Services Hub
The Netcool/Impact UI data provider provides by default a range of Status values from 0-6 named:
Normal, Indeterminate, Warning, Minor, Major, Critical, Unknown. These are used to indicate
the health of nodes in the various widgets used in Dashboard Application Services Hub (DASH).
For more granularity and accuracy, Impact provides additional support beyond these default Status
values and names.

Configuring custom-defined Status values and names

The new Status objects are defined in server.props, making them available globally to all DASH data
sources. New image files can be configured to better distinguish the new Status value-name.
Note:

126 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 1. server.props is under IMPACT_HOME/etc/. You must restart Impact after making updates to
server.props for the changes to take effect.
2. Statuses 0 to 6 are reserved, and also note that the value of
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.#.number starts from 1 rather than 0. So you
must set the number to a value greater than or equal to 8. Otherwise, the status icon will not display as
defined.

Example of three custom-defined Status configuration properties in server.props:

# adding 3 new statuses

impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.numstatus=3

# naming status #1 newcritical

impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.0.name=newcritical
# the image in the widget footer tied with the node status. Two ways to address the icon file.
# impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.0.icon=ibm/custom/images/st64_critical.png
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.0.icon=[widget]/resources/common_assets/
status_icons/PNG/64x64/st64_critical.png
# new status value. Should start at 8 and increment for each new custom status
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.0.number=8
# Colors should be defined as either a hexidecimal value or sRGB integer
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.0.color=#0000FF
# The svgicon represents the status icon for each node.
# The topology lite widget requires image files encoded in the Dojo Toolkit GFX .json format.
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.0.svgicon=[widget]/resources/common_assets/
status_icons/SWF/st64_normal.json

impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.1.name=newmajor
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.1.icon=[widget]/resources/common_assets/
status_icons/PNG/64x64/st64_fatal.png
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.1.number=9
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.1.color=0xff0000
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.1.svgicon=[widget]/resources/common_assets/
status_icons/SWF/st64_fatal.json

impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.2.name=newminor
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.2.icon=[widget]/resources/common_assets/
status_icons/PNG/64x64/st64_warning.png
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.2.number=10
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.2.color=15790080
impact.uidataprovider.additional.status.2.svgicon=[widget]/resources/common_assets/
status_icons/SWF/st64_warning.json

Using the new Status objects

This topic provides an example of how to use the new Status objects.
In this example, a policy generates the dataset for a topology widget. It has an output parameter
worldObject, which is an array of Impact objects. When the policy is executed, the worldObject
parameter feeds data to a DASH widget, such as the topology or the tree table widget. If you want to
adapt this example for a non-topology widget such as a table, you must remove UITreeNode attributes
from the object data.
For details about how to create an output parameter, see Configuring policy settings in the policy editor
in the IBM Tivoli Impact Policy Reference Guide.
The output parameter should have the following attributes:

Name: worldObject
Policy Variable Name: worldObject
Format: Array of Impact Object

For the Schema Definition field, you must define the following three fields:

Name Format Key Field

Node String TRUE

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 127

 Name Format Key Field

NetworkStatus Status FALSE

LastUpdate Timestamp TRUE

Note: With this customization you will see the same widget functionality, but Node Status name-value
could be one of the defaults or a new customized Status objects.

Log("Customize Links");
worldObject = {};

Obj = NewObject();
Obj.Node = "World";
Obj.UITreeNodeId = 0;
Obj.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj.NetworkStatus = Obj.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj.UITreeNodeLabel = "World";
Obj.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()*90);
worldObject = worldObject + Obj;

Obj1 = NewObject();
Obj1.Node = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeId = 1;
Obj1.UITreeNodeLabel = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj1.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj1.NetworkStatus = Obj1.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj1.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Africa is Down";
Obj1.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*1);
worldObject = worldObject + Obj1;

Obj2 = NewObject();
Obj2.Node = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj2.UITreeNodeLabel = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus = "Major";
Obj2.NetworkStatus = Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj2.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Asia is having an issue"; //this text will show up when user hover on the link
Obj2.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj2.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj2.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*3);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj2;

Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "North America";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 3;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = "North America";
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.NetworkStatus = Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in North America is under maintenance";
Obj3.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj3.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj3.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()-300*60);
worldObject = worldObject + Obj3;

Obj4 = NewObject();
Obj4.Node = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeId = 4;
Obj4.UITreeNodeLabel = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj4.UITreeNodeStatus = "Normal";
Obj4.NetworkStatus = Obj4.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj4.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in South America is Normal";
Obj4.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_hypervisor1_8.png";
Obj4.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_hypervisor1.json";
Obj4.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*9);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj4;

Obj5 = NewObject();
Obj5.Node = "Brazil";
Obj5.UITreeNodeId = 5;
Obj5.UITreeNodeLabel = "Brazil";
Obj5.UITreeNodeParent = 4;
Obj5.UITreeNodeStatus = "Normal";
Obj5.NetworkStatus = Obj5.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj5.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Brazil is Normal";
Obj5.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_jobinstance1_8.png";
Obj5.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_jobinstance1.json";
Obj5.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*100);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj5;

Obj6 = NewObject();
Obj6.Node = "Egypt";

128 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Obj6.UITreeNodeId = 6;
Obj6.UITreeNodeLabel = "Egypt";
Obj6.UITreeNodeParent = 1;
Obj6.UITreeNodeStatus = "Intermediate";
Obj6.NetworkStatus = Obj6.UITreeNodeStatus;
Obj6.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Egypt is down";
Obj6.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_jobinstance1_8.png";
Obj6.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_jobinstance1.json";
Obj6.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*80);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj6;

// custom-defined Status object for Turkey - ’newcritical’

Obj7 = NewObject();
Obj7.Node = "Turkey";
Obj7.UITreeNodeId = 7;
Obj7.UITreeNodeLabel = "Turkey";
Obj7.UITreeNodeParent = 2;
Obj7.UITreeNodeStatus = "newcritical";
Obj7.NetworkStatus = "newcritical";
Obj7.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Turkey is down";
Obj7.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_jobinstance1_8.png";
Obj7.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_jobinstance1.json";
Obj7.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*80);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj7;

// custom-defined Status object for Argentina - ’newmajor’

Obj8 = NewObject();
Obj8.Node = "Argentina";
Obj8.UITreeNodeId = 8;
Obj8.UITreeNodeLabel = "Argentina";
Obj8.UITreeNodeParent = 4;
Obj8.UITreeNodeStatus = "newmajor";
Obj8.NetworkStatus = "newmajor";
Obj8.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Argentina is down";
// using different inner image ( the gear in the middle ) for the widget’s Node of Status ’newmajor’
Obj8.UITreeNodeSmallImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_phantomappserver1_8.png";
Obj8.UITreeNodeScalarImage = "[widget]/resources/common_assets/common_resource_icons/re64_phantomappserver1.json";
Obj8.LastUpdate= LocalTime(GetDate()+300*80);
worldObject =worldObject + Obj8;

Log(worldObject);

Visualizing data from the UI data provider in the console

You can use the Netcool/Impact UI data provider to visualize data in the IBM Dashboard Application
Services Hub, referred to as the console throughout this section.
You can visualize data from Netcool/Impact in the console. You can use data types or Netcool/Impact
policies to provide this data. You can also use Netcool/Impact policies to create mashups of data from
multiple sources.
The example scenarios that are provided are intended to provide examples that help you when you are
trying to visualize your own data in the console.
Before you can implement any of the examples below, you must set up the remote connection between
Netcool/Impact and the console. For more information, see “Setting up the remote connection between
the UI data provider and the console” on page 105.
Note: If you use the line or pie chart widget to visualize data from a DB2 data type, you must change the
number of items per page from All to a number. For example, change it to 50.

Example scenario overview

Read the following example scenarios to get an overview of the possible ways to integrate the UI data
provider and the console.
For more scenarios and examples visit the Netcool/Impact developerWorks wiki Scenarios and examples
page available from the following URL:
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/wikis/home?lang=en#/wiki/
Tivoli%20Netcool%20Impact/page/Scenarios%20and%20examples

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 129

 Visualizing data from a DB2 database table in a line chart
You can use the console to visualize data that is retrieved directly from a data type in Netcool/Impact.

About this task

This example uses a line chart to visualize data. You can use the same process to visualize the data in a
bar, column, or line chart.

Procedure
1. Create a DB2 data source.
a. Enter NewDataSource in the Data Source Name field.
b. Enter the user name and password for the database.
c. Complete the other fields as required.
d. Save the data source.
2. Create a data type for the DB2 data source.
a. Enter NewUIDPDT as the name and complete the required fields.
b. To ensure that the data type is compatible with the UI data provider, select the UI data provider:
enabled check box.
c. Select the key fields for the data type.
d. Save the data type.
3. Create a page in the console.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page for DB2 in the Page Name field.
d. Save the page.
4. Create a widget in the console.
a. Open the Page for DB2 page that you created.
b. Drag the Line Chart widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the NewUIDPDT data type that belongs to the NewDataSource data
source. The data type is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. Enter the values that you want to use for the y axis. You
can select multiple lines. You can also select a text to display as a tooltip. Click Ok.
f. To ensure that the console can display all the items, change the number of items that are allowed
per page from all to a number. Click Settings. In the Items per page list list, change the number of
items per page from All to a number.
g. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
When you display the widget, the data is retrieved directly from the data type in Netcool/Impact and
displayed in a line chart.

130 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Visualizing data from a Netcool/Impact policy in a pie chart
You can use the pie chart widget in the console to visualize data from the UI data provider.

Procedure
1. Create a policy to provide the data for the pie chart widget. The policy must group all the items from a
database table into a single Impact object.
For example, define the following policy, called Policyforpiechart, that gathers the rows in the
database table into a single Impact object:

Obj = NewObject ();

Obj.name = 'Internet Banking';
Obj.availabilityduringoperationalhours=99.9;
Obj.availabilityduringnonoperationalhours=95;

2. Create the user output parameters for the policy.

a. In the policy editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon to create the output parameter.

Table 29. Output parameters for MyNewObject

Field User entry
Name MyNewObject
Policy Variable Name Obj
Format Impact Object

You must enter the name of the Impact object exactly as it is defined in the policy in the Policy
Variable Name field.
b. You must create the custom schema values for the fields in the object. In this example, the Impact
object contains two fields that are integers.
After you select Impact Object in the Format field, the system displays the Open the Schema

Definition Editor icon beside the Schema Definition field. To open the editor, click the icon.
You define the following custom schema definitions for the policy.

Table 30. Custom schema for operational and non-operational hours

Name Format
availabilityduringoperationalhours Integer
availabilityduringnonoperationalhou Integer
rs
3. Create a page.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page for Pie Chart in the Page Name field.
d. Save the page.
4. Create a pie chart widget.
a. Open the Page for Pie Chart page that you created.
b. Drag the Pie chart widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 131

 d. Select the data set. Select the MyNewObject data type that belongs to the Policyforpiechart data
source. The data set represents the user output parameter that you defined previously. The data set
is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is
displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
f. Select the values that you want to use for the pie chart. In this example, select
obj.availabilityduringoperationalhours and obj.availabilityduringnonoperationalhours. To save
your selection, click Ok
g. To ensure that the console can display all the items, change the number of items that are allowed
per page from all to a number. Click Settings. In the Items per page list list, change the number of
items per page from All to a number.
h. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
The data from the UI data provider is displayed as a pie chart in the console.

Visualizing a policy action in a widget

You can configure polices related to the UI data provider to be enabled for specific actions. When the
policy actions are enabled, you can right-click on an item in the widget in the console and perform one
of the following actions: execute a policy, open a URL in a new tab, or open a new page tab in the DASH
widget. When a policy action is updated in the policy editor, the list on the widget in the console is
updated automatically.

Before you begin

You must integrate the UI data provider and the console. See “General steps for integrating the UI data
provider and the console” on page 104 and “Setting up the remote connection between the UI data
provider and the console” on page 105.

Procedure
1. Create a policy called WorldNetworkActionPolicy to provide the data for the policy action.
Policy example:

Log("Received an Action From Widget");

Log("Node : " + Node);
// the policy will log the node value of the right clicked item.

2. To enable a policy to run with an UI data provider, click the Configure Policy Settings and select the
Enable Policy for UI Data Provider Actions check box.
3. Create the following policy WorldNetwork:

Log("Customize Links");
worldObject = {};
Obj = NewObject();
Obj.Node = "World";
Obj.UITreeNodeId = 0;
Obj.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj.UITreeNodeLabel = "World";
worldObject = worldObject + Obj;

Obj1 = NewObject();
Obj1.Node = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeId = 1;
Obj1.UITreeNodeLabel = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj1.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj1.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Africa is Down";
worldObject = worldObject + Obj1;

Obj2 = NewObject();

132 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Obj2.Node = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj2.UITreeNodeLabel = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus = "Major";
Obj2.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Asia is having issue";
//this text will show up when a user hovers on the link

worldObject =worldObject + Obj2;

Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "North America";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 3;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = "North America";
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";
Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in North America is under maintaenance";

worldObject = worldObject + Obj3;

Obj4 = NewObject();
Obj4.Node = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj4.UITreeNodeLabel = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj4.UITreeNodeStatus = "Normal";
Obj4.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in South America is Normal";

worldObject =worldObject + Obj4;

Log(worldObject);

4. Create the policy output parameters for the policy in the WorldNetwork policy.
a) In the policy editor toolbar, click the Configure Policy Settings icon to create the output
parameters.
b) To create a policy output parameter, click New Output Parameter:New.

Table 31. Output parameters for WorldNetwork policy

Field User entry
Name WorldNetwork
Policy Variable Name worldObject
Format Array Of Impact Object

You must create the custom schema value for the fields in the object. In this example, the Impact
object contains one field which is a node.
After you select Array Of Impact Object in the Format field, the system displays the Open the

Schema Definition Editor icon beside the Schema Definition field. To open the editor, click
the icon.
You define the following custom schema definitions for the policy.

Table 32. Custom schema value for Array Of Impact Object

Name Format
Node String
5. Create the UI Data Provider policy related actions.
a) In the UI Data Provider Policy Related Actions section, click New.
b) In the Name field, add a name for the action.
The name that you add displays in the widget in the console when you right-click on an item in the
specified widget.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 133

 c) In the Policy Name menu, select the policy WorldNetworkActionPolicy that you want the
action to relate to.
d) In the Output Parameter menu, select the output parameter that is associated with this action
WorldNetwork. If you select the All Output Parameters option, the action becomes available for
all output parameters for the policy you are creating the action for, rather than the selected policy
to be executed by the action.
e) Click OK.
6. Create a page.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page World Network in the Page Name field.
d. To save the page, click Ok.
7. Create a topology widget.
a. Open the Page World Network page that you created.
b. Drag the Topology widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set. Select the data type that belongs to Page World Network policy data
source. The data set information is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5
minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings window is displayed.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click Save and exit on the toolbar.
8. Configure the right-click actions that are available for each row in the widget.
a. Create a properties file in the IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/properites directory using
the following naming convention:
Policy_<PolicyName>_<output parameter name>.properties
Where:
<PolicyName> is name of the policy for which you are creating a right-click action.
<output parameter name> is the name that you selected for the output parameter when
configuring the policy.
b. Add the following lines to the properties file:

actions.numactions=<number of actions>
actions.0.actiontype=<action type>
actions.0.actionname=<action name>
actions.0.action=<action>
actions.0.restricted=boolean
actions.0.restricted.fieldname=<field name>

Where:
<number of actions> specifies the number of actions defined in the properties file. The actions
are numbered sequentially starting from 0 and each has a type and a name.
<action type> is url, dashpage, or policy.
<action name> is a descriptive name for the action.
<action> specifies the action performed.
For url, <action> must be a full URL including protocol, for example http://www.ibm.com.

134 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 For dashpage, <action> must be the page ID (the unique name) of the DASH page to be opened.
The page ID is the value displayed in the unique name field after saving the DASH page.
For policy, <action> must be the name of the policy to be executed.
<field name> specifies the row for which the right-click actions are either enabled or disabled. If
actions.0.restricted is set to false, the right-click actions are enabled for the row specified
by the actions.0.restricted.fieldname property. If actions.0.restricted is set to
true, the right-click actions are disabled.
Note: actions.0.restricted.fieldname is case sensitive.
The following example creates three right-click menu actions:

actions.numactions=3
actions.0.actiontype=dashpage
actions.0.actionname=Open Test Page Rec
actions.0.action=com.ibm.isclite.admin.Freeform.navigationElement.pagelayoutA.
modified.SXxNbLNnpq3SoBksMd6nEYw1434578685588
actions.0.restricted=true
actions.0.restricted.fieldname=COLUMN3

actions.1.actiontype=url
actions.1.actionname=Go to IBM Site
actions.1.action=http://www.ibm.com

actions.2.actiontype=policy
actions.2.actionname=Execute Test Policy
actions.2.action=TestPolicy.

When you right-click on an item in the DASH widget, the menu displays the available actions. For the
above example, there are three actions that allow you to perform one of the following actions:
• dashpage: Open a new page tab within the DASH widget. All the data from the right-clicked menu
passed to the policy as Input parameters is passed to the DASH page as input parameters.
• url: Open a new tab in the browser. All the data from the right-clicked menu passed to the policy as
Input parameters is passed to the URL as a URL parameter, for example:
http://www.ibm.com?param1=value&param2=value,...
• policy: Execute the policy specified.

Results
The UI Data Provider policy related actions that you configure in the policy editor display automatically
in the widget in the console when you right-click on an item. Any changes that you make to the UI Data
Provider policy-related actions in the policy editor are updated automatically on the widget.
When you run the action, the policy runs in the backend and displays the log statement similar to the
follow information:

Log("Received an Action From Widget");

Log("Node : " + Node);
// the policy will log the node value of the right clicked item.

Visualizing data mashups from two web services in a table

You can use Netcool/Impact policies to create mashups of data from different sources such as web
services. You can also use the console and the UI data provider to visualize the data from these mashups.

About this task

The following example uses a policy that is created in Netcool/Impact to retrieve data from two different
web services. The policy uses an array to group the results. After you create the policy, you can use a
table widget to visualize the data mashup.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 135

 Procedure
1. In the policy editor, create a policy that is called TestArrayOfObjectsWebService.
For example, create the following policy:
a. Define the package that was defined when the WSDL file was compiled in Netcool/Impact.

WSSetDefaultPKGName('weather');

b. Specify the parameters.

GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument=WSNewObject("com.cdyne.ws.weatherws.
GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument");
_GetCityWeatherByZIP=WSNewSubObject(GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument,
"GetCityWeatherByZIP");

_ZIP = '07002';
_GetCityWeatherByZIP['ZIP'] = _ZIP;

WSParams = {GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument};

c. Specify the web service name, end point, and method.

WSService = 'Weather';
WSEndPoint = 'http://wsf.cdyne.com/WeatherWS/Weather.asmx';
WSMethod = 'GetCityWeatherByZIP';

d. Use the GetbyXpath policy function to get the value for the element that you want.

nsMapping= NewObject();
nsMapping.tns = "http://ws.cdyne.com/WeatherWS/";
nsMapping.xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" ;
nsMapping.soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope" ;
nsMapping.xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance";

log("About to invoke Web Service call GetCityWeatherByZIP ......");

WSInvokeDLResult = WSInvokeDL(WSService, WSEndPoint, WSMethod, WSParams);

log("Web Service call GetCityWeatherByZIP return result: " +WSInvokeDLResult);

Result1=GetByXPath(""+WSInvokeDLResult, nsMapping, xPathExpr);

Object1=NewObject();
Object1.City=Result1.Result.City[0];
Object1.State=Result1.Result.State[0];
Object1.Temperature=Result1.Result.Temperature[0];

e. Start the WebService call.

log("About to invoke Web Service call GetCityWeatherByZIP ......");

WSInvokeDLResult = WSInvokeDL(WSService, WSEndPoint, WSMethod, WSParams);

log("Web Service call GetCityWeatherByZIP return result: " +WSInvokeDLResult);

f. Define another call.

_ZIP = '23455';
_GetCityWeatherByZIP['ZIP'] = _ZIP;

WSParams = {GetCityWeatherByZIPDocument};
log("About to invoke Web Service call GetCityWeatherByZIP ......");

WSInvokeDLResult = WSInvokeDL(WSService, WSEndPoint, WSMethod, WSParams);

log("Web Service call GetCityWeatherByZIP return result: " +WSInvokeDLResult);

//Retrieve the element values and assign them to an object

xPathExpr = "//tns:State/text() |//tns:City/text() | //tns:Temperature/text()";

g. Define and assign values to the Impact Objects.

136 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 xPathExpr = "//tns:State/text() |//tns:City/text() | //tns:Temperature/text()";
Result2=GetByXPath(""+WSInvokeDLResult, nsMapping, xPathExpr);

Object2=NewObject();
Object2.City=Result2.Result.City[0];
Object2.State=Result2.Result.State[0];
Object2.Temperature=Result2.Result.Temperature[0];

CustomObjs= {Object1,Object2};

log(CustomObjs);

2. Define the user output parameters for the array of objects.

You must create the following user output parameters for the array that is contained in the policy
that you created. In the policy editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon to create the output
parameters for the array of objects.

Table 33. Output parameters for MyArrayObj1

Field User entry
Name MyArrayofCustomObjects
Policy Variable Name CustomObjs
Format Array of Impact Object

You must enter the exact name of the array as it is in the policy in the Policy Variable Name field.
3. Use the following schema definition values.
• City - String
• State - String
• Temperature - String
4. Create a page.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page for Array of Objects in the Page Name field.
d. To save the page, click Ok.
5. Create a table widget.
a. Open the Page for Array of Objects page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the MyArrayofCustomObjects data type that belongs to the
TestArrayOfObjectsWebService data source. The dataset information is only displayed after the
defined refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. The system displays all the available columns by
default. You can change the displayed columns in the Visualization Settings section of the UI. You
can also select the row selection and row selection type options.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
When you open the table widget, the data from two different sources is displayed in a table.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 137

 Visualizing data mashups with an array of Impact objects
You can use Netcool/Impact policies to create mashups of data from the DirectSQL policy function
and another sources. You can use the console and the UI data provider to visualize the data from these
mashups in a table.

Procedure
1. In the policy editor, create a policy that is called MultipleObjectsPolicy. The policy uses the
DirectSQL policy function to retrieve the data from the defaultobjectserver data source. The
policy also retrieves data from one other source.
Create the following policy called MultipleObjectsPolicy.

Log("Test Policy with Multiple different objects..");

NodesVarJS=DirectSQL('defaultobjectserver',"SELECT Node,Identifier,
Severity from alerts.status", null);
Log("ClassOf() " + ClassOf(NodesVarJS));
Obj1=NewObject();
Obj1.fname="MyFirstName";
Obj1.lname="MyLastName";
Obj1.city="MyCity";
MyObjsAll={Obj1};
i=0;
while(i < length(NodesVarJS) ) {
O = newObject();
O.Node=NodesVarJS[i].Node;
O.Identifier=NodesVarJS[i].Identifier;
O.Severity=NodesVarJS[i].Severity;
MyObjsAll = MyObjsAll + {O};
i = i +1;
}

Log("MyObjs is " + MyObjsAll);

2. Define the user output parameters for the array of objects in the policy.
In the policy editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon to create the output parameters for the
array of objects.

Table 34. Output parameters for MyObjsAll

Field User entry
Name MyArrayofObjects
Policy Variable Name MyObjsAll
Format Array of Impact Object

You must enter the exact name of the array as it is in the policy in the Policy Variable Name field.
3. Use the following schema definition values.
• fname = String
• lname = String
• city = String
• Node = String
• Identifier = String
• Severity = Integer
4. Create a page.
• Open the console.
• To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
• Enter Page for Table in the Page Name field.
• Save the page.

138 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

5. Create a table widget.
a. Open the Page for Table page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the MyArrayofObjects data type that belongs to the
MultipleObjectsPolicy data source. The dataset information is only displayed after the defined
refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. The system displays all the available columns by
default. You can change the displayed columns in the Visualization Settings section of the UI. You
can also select the row selection and row selection type options.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
When you display the table widget, the data from the DirectSQL policy function and the other source is
displayed in a table.

Visualizing data output by the GetByFilter policy function in a list

You can use the list widget to visualize data from a Netcool/Impact policy that contains the GetByFilter
policy function in the console.

Procedure
1. In the Netcool/Impact policy editor, create a Netcool/Impact policy.
Create a policy that is called IPLGetByFilterPolicy that includes the GetByFilter policy
function. You want to visualize the data that is output by the policy function. In this example, the
filter is defined statically within the policy. In a real world situation, you might want to pass the values
dynamically from the UI data provider to the policy function.

Log (“Executing IPL Impact Policy”);

filter = "SERVICEREQUESTIDENTIFIER = 1";
GetbyFilter (’dataTypeforDemoUIDP', filter, false);

Note: When you use the GetByFilter to access or view data for a UI data provider data type, the
filter condition must match the UI data provider standard, see the following two example filters.
AGG_NAME starts 'DayTrader'&param_SourceToken=fit-vm15-23:TO
(AGG_NAME starts 'DayTrader' OR AGG_NAME starts 'Client')
&param_SourceToken=fit-vm15-23:TO
The token before the & is used as a condition parameter that is used as a filter in the UI data provider,
and the tokens after the & are sent as request parameters. Using the second example filter, it is sent to
the UI data provider as:

condition=(AGG_NAME starts 'DayTrader' OR AGG_NAME starts 'Client')

param_SourceToken=fit-vm15-23:TO

For more information about format of Jazz for Service Management filters, see “Format of Jazz for
Service Management filters” on page 140.
2. Define the output parameter for the data items. This parameter is made available to the UI data
provider and are displayed as a data type in the console.
In the policy editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon and the Policy output parameter:New
button to create the output parameters for the data items.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 139

 Table 35. User output parameters for data items
Field Entry
Name DataFromPolicy
Policy Variable Name DataItems
Format Datatype
Data Source Name localDB2UIDPTest
Data Type Name dataTypeforUIDPdemo
3. Create a page in the console.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page for List in the Page Name field.
d. To save the page, click OK.
4. Create a list widget.
a. Open the Page for List page that you created.
b. Drag the List widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the DataFromPolicy data type that belongs to the IPLGetByFilterPolicy
data source. The dataset information is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default
is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. You must select values for the label, status, description,
and time stamp. You can also configure a number of optional settings such as the size of the page.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
When you display the widget, the policy is run. The information that is contained in the policy results is
added to the widget and is displayed as a list.

Format of Jazz for Service Management filters

Filter conditions must match the UI data provider standard. Below are details regarding three commonly
used filter conditions.

String Data type properties

- contains
- !contains
- starts
- !starts
- ends
- !ends
- isnull
- !isnull
- =
- !=

Numeric and Date properties

- =
- !=

140 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 - <
- <=
- >
- >=

Boolean and Enumerated properties

- =
- !=

Visualizing data output by the DirectSQL policy function in an analog gauge

You can use the analog gauge widget to visualize data from a Netcool/Impact policy that contains the
DirectSQL policy function in the console.

Procedure
1. In the policy editor in Netcool/Impact, create a policy that uses the DirectSQL policy function.
Create the following policy that includes the DirectSQL policy function called TestDirectSQL:

Log("TestDirectSQL");
query= "select SUM(VALUE) as sumvalue, HISTORYRESOURCENAME, METRICNAME ,
( HISTORYRESOURCENAME || METRICNAME ) as key from
TBSMHISTORY.HISTORY_VIEW_RESOURCE_METRIC_VALUE;
DirectSQL ('directSQLSample'.query.false);

This policy accesses data from a database table and sums a particular column in the table to create a
sum value. The policy also groups a number of columns.
2. Define the output parameters for the policy.
To define the output parameters for the policy, click the Configure user output parameters icon.

Table 36. Output parameters for IPLDirectSQL policy

Field Entry
Name IPLDirectSQL
Policy Variable Name DataItems
Format DirectSQL

You must also create new custom schema values to represent the values that are contained in the
fields of the DirectSQL policy function. After you select DirectSQL in the Format field, the system
displays the Open the Schema Definition Editor icon. To create a value, click the icon. You must enter
a name for each new value and select a format. For this example, create the following custom schema
values:

Table 37. Custom schema values for IPLDirectSQL output parameter

Name Value
HISTORYRESOURCENAME String
METRICNAME String
sumvalue Float
3. Create a page.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page for Analog Gauge in the Page Name field.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 141

 d. To save the page, click OK.
4. Create an analogue gauge widget
a. Open the Page for Analog Gauge page that you created.
b. Drag the Analog Gauge widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the IPLDirectSQL datatype that belongs to the TestDirectSQL data
source. The dataset information is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5
minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. Select the value that you want to display in the gauge in
the Value field. In this example, you enter SUMVALUE in the field. You can also select a number of
other optional values for the gauge such as minimum value, maximum value and unit of measure.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
When you display the widget, the policy is run and the information that is contained in the policy results is
displayed as a gauge.

Visualizing data with the tree and topology widgets

You can use the tree and topology widgets with the UI data provider to visualize hierarchical and
topological data from a Netcool/Impact policy in the console.

About this task

You use the tree and topology widget to visualize a hierarchy with topological data in the console. This
example demonstrates how to do so for a specific policy. For more information about the requirements for
using these widgets, see “Integrating the tree widget with an Impact object or an array of Impact objects”
on page 114 and “Integrating data from a policy with the topology widget” on page 117.

Procedure
1. In the policy editor in Netcool/Impact, create a policy that is called TestTreeTopoPolicy.
The policy uses the ArrayofImpactObjects policy function to retrieve information about addresses.
This information is hierarchical. Entries are ordered by number, city, and country. You also want to add
topological information about the status of an entry to the policy.

MyObject1=NewObject();
MyObject1.country="United States";
MyObject1.city="New York";

MyObject2=NewObject();
MyObject2.country="United States";
MyObject2.city="Philadelphia";

MyObject3=NewObject();
MyObject3.country="England";
MyObject3.city="London";

MyArrayOfObjects={MyObject1,MyObject2,MyObject3};

2. Next, you must make the policy compatible with the tree widget. To make the policy compatible with
the tree widget, you must add the UITreeNodeId and UITreeNodeParent parameters to the policy.

MyObject1=NewObject();
MyObject1.UITreeNodeId=0;
MyObject1.country="United States";
MyObject1.city="New York";

142 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 MyObject2=NewObject();
MyObject2.UITreeNodeId=1;
MyObject2.UITreeNodeParent=0;
MyObject2.country="United States";
MyObject2.city="Philadelphia";

MyObject3=NewObject();
MyObject3.UITreeNodeId=2;
MyObject3.UITreeNodeParent=1;
MyObject3.country="England";
MyObject3.city="London";

MyArrayOfObjects={MyObject1,MyObject2,MyObject3}

3. Next, you must make the policy compatible with the topology widget. To make the policy
compatible with the tree widget, you must add the UITreeNodeType, UITreeNodeLabel, and
UITreeNodeStatus fields to the policy.

MyObject1=NewObject();
MyObject1.UITreeNodeId=0;
MyObject1.country="United States";
MyObject1.city="New York";
MyObject1.UITreeNodeType="GRAPH";
MyObject1.UITreeNodeLabel="NY";
MyObject1.UITreeNodeStatus="Major";

MyObject2=NewObject();
MyObject2.UITreeNodeId=1;
MyObject2.UITreeNodeParent=0;
MyObject2.country="United States";
MyObject2.city="Philadelphia";
MyObject2.UITreeNodeLabel="PA";
MyObject2.UITreeNodeStatus="Minor";

MyObject3=NewObject();
MyObject3.UITreeNodeId=2;
MyObject3.UITreeNodeParent=1;
MyObject3.country="England";
MyObject3.city="London";
MyObject3.UITreeNodeLabel="LN";
MyObject3.UITreeNodeStatus="Warning";

MyArrayOfObjects={MyObject1,MyObject2,MyObject3};

4. Define the user output parameters for the array of objects in the policy.

Table 38. User output parameters for MyObjArray

Field Entry
Name MyObjArray
Policy Variable Name MyArrayOfObjects
Format Array of Impact Object
5. Use the following schema definition values.
• UITreeNodeId = Integer
• UITreeNodeParent = Integer
• UITreeNodeLabel = String
• UITreeNodeStatus = String
• UITreeNodeType = String
• country = String
• city = String

6. Create a page in the console.

a. Open the console.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 143

 b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page for Tree and Topology in the Page Name field.
d. To save the page, click Ok.
7. Create a tree and a topology widget in the console.
a. Open the Page for Tree and Topology page that you created.
b. Drag the Tree widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a
dataset window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the MyObjArray data type that belongs to the TestTreeTopoPolicy data
source. The dataset information is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is
5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings window is displayed. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is
displayed, select the executePolicy check box. Click Ok.
f. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar
g. Drag the Topology widget into the content area.
h. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a
dataset window is displayed.
i. Select the dataset. Select the MyObjArray data type that belongs to the TestTreeTopoPolicy data
source. The dataset information is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is
5 minutes.
j. The Visualization Settings window is displayed. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is
displayed, select the executePolicy check box. Click Ok.
k. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
The data from the UI data provider is displayed in a hierarchy in the console alongside the status.

Visualizing customized links in a topology widget

You can use Netcool/Impact policies and UI data provider to customize the display of links and status
information in a topology widget.

About this task

You can customize links, color, status, and relationships names in a topology widget by modifying the
$IMPACT_HOME/etc/server.props. In a split installation environment, the server.props file is
available in the GUI Server installation.
The default behavior is that the links are colored and have status icon that is based on the child node.
The relationship name between the child and the parent is specified in the policy by using the following
property in the child node:

Obj2.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Asia is having issue"

When you hover on the link, it shows the value. The property must be added to every child relationship in
the policy.

Procedure
1. To implement this feature, go to $IMPACT_HOME/etc/server.props file. Identify the following
section in the server.props file, which shows the default settings.

impact.uidataprovider.linkstyle.showstatusicon=true
impact.uidataprovider.linkstyle.usecoloredlinks=true
impact.uidataprovider.linkstyle.relationshipname=IMPACT_NODES_RELATIONSHIP

144 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 The properties are enabled by default, and remain so unless you customize them.
Tip: If you change the links to not use colors by using the following syntax:

impact.uidataprovider.linkstyle.usecoloredlinks=false

This property overrides the option to show the status icon on the links in the widget.
2. To show the colors and status icons in the topology widget:

impact.uidataprovider.linkstyle.showstatusicon=true

To change the colors and style of the links in the topology widget:

impact.uidataprovider.linkstyle.linestyle=<VALUE>
<VALUE> can be SOLID, DASHED, ALTERNATE

To customize the relationship name in a topology widget:

impact.uidataprovider.linkstyle.relationshipname=<some label>

If you do not provide a relationship name, the default value is IMPACT_NODES_RELATIONSHIP

Remember: Obj2.UITreeNodeRelation in the policy supersedes the property

impact.uidataprovider.linkstyle.relationshipname in the server.props file.
3. Restart the Impact Server to implement the changes.
4. In the policy editor in Netcool/Impact, create the following policy that is called WorldNetwork.
The policy example uses the ArrayofImpactObjects policy function to retrieve information about
the status of networks around the world. This information is hierarchical. Entries are ordered by
location, status, and node label.
For more information about the hierarchy of topology widgets, see “Visualizing data with the tree and
topology widgets” on page 142

Log("Customize Links");
worldObject = {};
Obj = NewObject();
Obj.Node = "World";
Obj.UITreeNodeId = 0;
Obj.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj.UITreeNodeLabel = "World";
worldObject = worldObject + Obj;

Obj1 = NewObject();
Obj1.Node = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeId = 1;
Obj1.UITreeNodeLabel = "Africa";
Obj1.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj1.UITreeNodeStatus = "Critical";
Obj1.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Africa is Down";
worldObject = worldObject + Obj1;

Obj2 = NewObject();
Obj2.Node = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj2.UITreeNodeLabel = "Asia";
Obj2.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus = "Major";
Obj2.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in Asia is having issue";
//this text will show up when a user hovers on the link

worldObject =worldObject + Obj2;

Obj3 = NewObject();
Obj3.Node = "North America";
Obj3.UITreeNodeId = 3;
Obj3.UITreeNodeLabel = "North America";
Obj3.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj3.UITreeNodeStatus = "Minor";

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 145

 Obj3.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in North America is under maintaenance";

worldObject = worldObject + Obj3;

Obj4 = NewObject();
Obj4.Node = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeId = 2;
Obj4.UITreeNodeLabel = "South America";
Obj4.UITreeNodeParent = 0;
Obj4.UITreeNodeStatus = "Normal";
Obj4.UITreeNodeRelation="Network in South America is Normal";

worldObject =worldObject + Obj4;

Log(worldObject);

Optionally, you can configure the node links to have their own status by adding the following properties
to the object:

Obj2.UITreeLinkStatus = "Critical";

Or if the node has more than one parent, add a comma-separated list of the parent nodes, for
example:

Obj2.UITreeNodeParent = "2,3";
Obj2.UITreeLinkStatus = "Normal,Critical";

Note: Without this property, the link's status is the same as the child node status:
Obj2.UITreeNodeStatus.
5. Define the user output parameters for the array of objects in the policy.

Table 39. Output parameters for WorldNetwork policy

Field User entry
Name WorldNetwork
Policy Variable Name worldObject
Format Array Of Impact Object

You must create the custom schema value for the fields in the object. In this example, the Impact
object contains one string.
After you select Array Of Impact Object in the Format field, the system shows the Open the Schema

Definition Editor icon beside the Schema Definition field. To open the editor, click the icon.
You define the following custom schema definitions for the policy.

Table 40. Custom schema value for Array Of Impact Object

Name Format
Node String
6. Create a page in the console.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page for Topology World Network in the Page Name field.
d. To save the page, click OK.
7. Create a topology widget.
a. Open the Page World Network page that you created.
b. Drag the Topology widget into the content area.

146 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set. Select the data type that belongs to WorldNetwork policy data source. The
data set information is displayed only after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings window is displayed.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click Save and exit on the toolbar.

Results
The data from the UI data provider is displayed in the topology widget with the customized links and
status. When a user hovers on the link, the status information is displayed in the console.

Filtering data output by a policy in the console

If you visualize data from a policy that contains input parameters, you can use the input parameters to
filter the values that are displayed in the console.

Procedure
1. Create a policy that contains input parameters.
In this example, create a policy that is called TestKey that contains the GetByKey policy function.
The input parameter is the Key parameter.

DataType = "<DATA_TYPE_NAME>";
MaxNum = 1;
MyCustomers = GetByKey(DataType, Key, MaxNum);

2. Create the Key user input parameter. In the policy editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon to
create the user input parameter.

Table 41. Node user input parameter

Field Entry
Name Node
Policy Variable Name Key
Format String
3. Create an output parameter called MyCustomers.
4. Create a page
• Open the console.
• To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
• Enter Page for Bar Chart in the Page Name field.
• Save the page.
5. Create a bar chart widget.
a. Open the Page for Bar Chart page that you created.
b. Drag the Bar Chart widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the DataFromPolicy data type that belongs to the TestKey data source.
The dataset information is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The data set is the
MyCustomers output parameter that you created earlier. The default is 5 minutes.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 147

 e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed.
f. The input parameters that are available for the policy are listed under Configure Optional Dataset.
You can enter the values that you want to filter for here. In this example, the system displays a field
that is called Key. If you enter a value here, for example, R12345, only the data from the rows that
contain the key field value R12345 is displayed. In this way, you can filter the values for the input
parameters in the console.
g. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
h. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Passing parameter values from a widget to a policy

You can use widgets to pass values as input parameters to policies in Netcool/Impact.

About this task

In this example, you want to be able to send an email that contains contextual information from a table
widget. The information is passed as an input parameter value from the widget in the console to the policy
in Netcool/Impact.
This example uses the wire widget. You may experience problems with dragging and dropping the widget.
This is a known issue with the GUI.

Procedure
1. Create a policy.
For example, create the following policy that is called DB2Emailpolicy that retrieves values for some
rows in a DB2 table and sends these values to an email address:

Address = "[email protected]";
Subject = "Netcool/Impact Notification";
Message = EventContainer.Node + " has reported the following error condition: "
+ EventContainer.Summary;
Sender = "impact";
ExecuteOnQueue = false;

SendEmail(null, Address, Subject, Message, Sender, ExecuteOnQueue);

2. Create a page in the console.

a. Open the console.
b. Click Settings > Page.
c. Enter Pageforbutton in the Page Name field.
d. To save the page, click Ok.
3. Create a table widget that visualizes data from the DB2 database.
a. Open the Pageforbutton page.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit.
d. Select the dataset. Use the search box or the Show All button to find the dataset that represents
the DB2 database table.
e. To save the widget, click the Save button.
4. Create a button widget. Enter the name of the button and specify the parameter that you would like to
display in the console UI.
a. Drag the button widget that you created into the content area.
b. Enter a name. In this example, enter Emailbutton.

148 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 c. Select the dataset. In this example, Use the search box or the Show All button to find the dataset
that represents the policy that you created and select it.
d. To ensure that the policy is run when the user clicks the button, select the executePolicy check
box.
e. To save the button widget, click Save.
5. Create a wire.
a. Click the Show Wire icon and click the New Wire button.
b. Select the table widget as the source event for the new wire. Select Table > NodeClickOn.
c. Select the target for the wire. Select the button widget that you created.
d. Select None for the transformation.
e. To save the wire, click Ok and click the Save button on the toolbar on the page.

Results
After you complete this task, the Send button is displayed on the console. When a user clicks the Send
button, the information that is contained in the row in the table is sent as an email to the address
specified by the policy.
Tip:
When passing string values to policies in Netcool/Impact, you may need to escape any double quote
characters found within the strings. You can enable automatic escaping of these characters by adding the
following statement to the <servername>_server.props file in the IMPACT_HOME/etc folder:
impact.policy.escapestrings=true
Then restart the Impact server.

Passing parameter values from a table to a gauge

This example demonstrates how you can use Netcool/Impact policies to pass variables as input
parameters from a widget to a policy and on to another widget.

About this task

In this example, users want to select rows in a table and display the status for the row in a gauge
widget. You create two Netcool/Impact policies to facilitate this. One policy is the publisher policy and
provides data in an output parameter to the second policy, the subscriber policy. The subscriber policy
receives data from the publisher policy in a policy input parameter and it outputs the results as an output
parameter. The data contained in the output parameter is then visualized as a gauge in the console.
The publisher policy retrieves the SiteStatus data from the ObjectServer. The subscriber policy
retrieves related data from the DB2 database.

Procedure
1. Create the publisher policy.
The following policy is called PolicyEventingPublisher and uses the DirectSQL policy function
to retrieve data from the defaultobjectserver data source. You need to create a new integer field
called SiteStatus in the ObjectServer if you have not done so already.

Log("Policies Eventing From OS...");

DataFromOS=DirectSQL('defaultobjectserver',
"SELECT SiteStatus,Node,Identifier from alerts.status",false);

Create the output parameter so that the widget can visualize the data.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 149

 Table 42. Output parameter for DatafromOS
Field Entry
Name DatafromOS
Policy Variable Name DatafromOS
Format DirectSQL / UI provider datatype

Create the custom schema values for the fields that you want to display in the console. You must
create three custom schema values. You also must select the Key Field check box for the SiteStatus
value.

Table 43. Custom schema value for SiteStatus

Field Entry
Name SiteStatus
Format Integer

Table 44. Custom schema value for Node

Field Entry
Name Node
Format String

Table 45. Custom schema value for Identifier

Field Entry
Name Identifier
Format String
2. Create the subscriber policy.
The following policy is called PolicyEventingSubscriber and uses the GetByFilter function to
retrieve the value for SiteStatus that is output by the publisher policy. The publisher policy retrieves
the SiteStatus data from the ObjectServer. The subscriber policy retrieves related data from the
DB2 database.

Log("Demo Policies Eventing From DB2...");

Filter="SiteStatus="+ SiteStatus;
DataFromDB2=GetByFilter('MachineInfo',Filter,false);
Log(DataFromDB2);

Create the policy input parameter.

Table 46. SiteStatus input parameter

Field Entry
Name SiteStatus
Policy Variable Name SiteStatus
Format DirectSQL / UI provider datatype

Create the policy output parameter.

150 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Table 47. DatafromDB2 output parameter
Field Entry
Name DatafromDB2
Policy Variable Name DatafromDB2
Format Datatype
Data Source Name DB2Source
Data Type Name MachineInfo
3. Create a page in the console.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter PageforMachineInfo in the Page Name field.
d. Save the page.
4. Create a table widget.
a. Open the PageforMachineInfo page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the DatafromOS datatype that belongs to the PolicyEventingPublisher
data source. The datatype is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5
minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. The system displays all the available columns by
default. You can change the displayed columns in the Visualization Settings section of the UI. You
can also select the row selection and row selection type options.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.
5. Create a gauge widget.
a. Open the PageforMachineInfo page that you created.
b. Drag the Analog Gauge widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the datatype DatafromDB2 that belongs to the
PolicyEventingSubscriber data source. The datatype is only displayed after the defined refresh
interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. Select the value that you want to display in the gauge in
the Value field. In this example, you select SiteStatus from the list. You can also select a number of
other optional values for the gauge such as minimum value, maximum value and unit of measure.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the executePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
When a user selects a row in the table widget, the SiteStatus is displayed in the gauge widget.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 151

 Visualizing a data mashup from two IBM Tivoli Monitoring sources
You can use Netcool/Impact to visualize data from two different sources in IBM Tivoli Monitoring.

Before you begin

Find the configuration details for each UI data provider that you want to use. For example, if you want
to connect to an IBM Tivoli Monitoring system, you must retrieve the following information for the Tivoli
Enterprise Monitoring Server UI data provider:
• User
• Password
• Port
• Base URL

About this task

Tip: You can also use this procedure to obtain data from Tivoli Monitoring 6.3 for event management
purposes, the only difference is that you omit the step that describes how to create the user output
parameters for the policies.

Procedure
1. Use the UI data provider DSA to create two data sources. Each data source connects to a different IBM
Tivoli Monitoring system.
For example, create the following data sources:
• Data source 1 retrieves data from ITM1
• Data source 2 retrieves data from ITM2
a. Create the data source that retrieves data from ITM1:
i) Enter ITM_DS1 in the Data Source Name field.
ii) Enter the user name and password for the database.
iii) Complete the other fields as required.
iv) Save the data source.
b. Create the data source that retrieves data from ITM2:
i) Enter ITM_DS2 in the Data Source Name field.
ii) Enter the user name and password for the database.
iii) Complete the other fields as required.
iv) Save the data source.
For more information about how to create a data source for the UI data provider DSA, see the section
about creating a UI data provider data source in the Netcool/Impact DSA Guide.
2. Create two data types for each data source that you created in the previous step.
Later, you combine the data from the two data types that belong to the same data source into a single
object. Then, you combine the data from the two objects so that the data from the different systems is
merged.
For example, create the following data types:
• Datatype1A - select Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent
• Datatype1B - select Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent
• Datatype2A - select Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent
• Datatype2B - select Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent
a. Create the data types as follows, changing the name for each data type:

152 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 i) Enter Datatype1A as the name and complete the required fields.
ii) To enable the data type, select the Enabled check box.
iii) Select the key fields for the data type.
iv) Save the data type.
For more information about how to create a data type for the UI data provider DSA, see the section
about creating a UI data provider data type in the Netcool/Impact DSA Guide.
3. To combine the data from the different sources, create a policy in Netcool/Impact that uses the
GetByFilter function.
For this example, you must create the following arrays to combine the data from the different sources:
• Array1A = GetByFilter()
• Array1B = GetByFilter()
• Array2A = GetByFilter()
• Array2B = GetByFilter()
For example, the following policy uses the GetByFilter function to combine the data from the
ITM_DS1 data source into a single object.
a. The output parameter of the policy is cpuLinuxITM={};.
b. Datatype1A retrieves data from a Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent and it also retrieves the IP
address data for each node:

ipaddress01="";
DataType="datatype1A";
Filter="&param_SourceToken=paramValue";

iparray=GetByFilter(DataType, Filter, false);

count=0;
while(count<Length(iparray)){
if( (iparray[count].IPVERSION != "IPv6")&&(iparray[count].
IPADDRESS!="127.0.0.1")){
ipaddress01= iparray[count].IPADDRESS;
}
count = count +1;
}

c. Datatype1B retrieves data from a Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent and it also provides processor
usage data for each node. The policy creates an array of metrics for each monitored node. It also
enhances this information with the IP address:

DataType="datatype1B";
Filter="&param_SourceToken=paramValue&sort=BUSYCPU";
MyFilteredItems = GetByFilter( DataType, Filter, false );

index = 0;
if(Num > index){
while(index<Num){
cpu=NewObject();
cpu.TIMESTAMP= MyFilteredItems[index].TIMESTAMP;
cpu.ORIGINNODE= MyFilteredItems[index].ORIGINNODE;
cpu.BUSYCPU= MyFilteredItems[index].BUSYCPU;
cpu.IPADDRESS=ipaddress01;
cpuLinuxITM = cpuLinuxITM+{cpu};
index=index+1;
}
}

Log(" Finished collecting cpu usage from Metrics Agant :" + DataType );

For more information about using the GetByFilter function with the UI data provider, see the topic
about accessing data types output by the GetByFilter Function in the Netcool/Impact Solutions Guide.
4. Create the user output parameters for the policies.
In this example, cpuLinuxITM is the output parameter that is defined in the policy. You must
create an output parameter for cpuLinuxITM as outlined in the table. To create a user output

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 153

 parameter, open the policy editor and click the Configure Policy Settings icon and the Policy output
parameter:New button.

Table 48. ITM1 output parameter

Field Entry
Name ITM1
Policy Variable Name cpuLinuxITM
Format Array of Impact Objects

This parameter ensures that the policy is exposed as part of the Netcool/Impact UI data provider.
For more information about how to configure policy settings, see configure policy settings in the
Netcool/Impact Solutions Guide.
5. Use the following schema definition values.
• TIMESTAMP = String
• ORIGINNODE = String
• BUSYCPU = Float
• IPADDRESS = String
6. Create a data source and data type that are based on the policy.
In this example, create the data source as follows:
a. Select ITM_mashup_policy from the list in the Data Source Name field.
b. Enter the user name and password for the database.
c. Select the Netcool/Impact UI data provider, Impact_NCICLUSTER, as the provider.
d. Complete the other fields as required.
e. Save the data source.
Create the data type as follows:
a. Enter ITM_mashup_dt as the name and complete the required fields.
b. To ensure that the data type is compatible with the UI data provider, select the UI data provider:
enabled check box.
c. Select the key fields for the data type.
d. Save the data type.
7. To confirm that the policy returns the correct data when it runs, right-click the data type and select
View Data Items. Enter &executePolicy=true in the filter and refresh.
8. Create a page in the console.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter Page for ITM mashup in the Page Name field.
d. Save the page.
9. Create a table widget that visualizes data from the policy's data type.
a. Open the Page for ITM mashup page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the dataset. Select the ITM_mashup_dt data type that belongs to the ITM_mashup_policy
data source. The data type is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5
minutes.

154 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. Enter the values that you want to use. You can select
multiple lines. You can also select a text to display as a tooltip. Click Ok.
f. To save the widget, click the Save and exit button on the toolbar.

Results
After you create the table widget, the same data that was displayed in step 6 in Netcool/Impact is
displayed in the console.

Visualizing Event Isolation and Correlation results in a topology widget

How to view Event Isolation and Correlation results in a topology widget.

Before you begin

By default the following data types and policy parameters available to the UI data provider to create
widgets. Use the following information to check the configuration for the data types and policy.
• Check that the data types EVENTRULES and EIC_TopologyVisualization in the
EventIsolationAndCorrelation project have the Access the data through UI data provider selected. In
the Data Model, select the data type. Then, select Edit to view the settings.
• Check that policy EIC_TopologyVisualization is configured with an output parameter
EIC_Relationship. The output parameter shows the topology in the topology widget. And the
EICAffectedEvents output parameter shows only the ObjectServer events that are related to the
resources in the topology.
• The policy EIC_PrimaryEvents includes an output parameter EICPrimaryEvents with a filter to get the
primary events for the specific rule.

About this task

In Jazz for Service Management, in the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub, create a page and use
two tables widgets and one Topology widget.

Procedure
1. Create a page in the console.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > Pages > New Page.
c. Enter Page for Event Isolation and Correlation in the Page Name field.
d. To save the page, click Ok.
2. Configure one table widget called Events Rules for the data type EVENTRULES to show all the rules
in the database. This table widget is the main widget that drives the second table widget.
a. Open the Page for Event Isolation and Correlation page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set. Select the EVENTRULES data type that belongs to the EventrulesDB data
source. The data set information is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5
minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. The system shows all the available columns by default.
You can change the displayed columns in the Visualization Settings section of the UI. You can also
select the row selection and row selection type options.
f. To save the widget, click Save and exit on the toolbar.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 155

 3. Configure another table widget called Primary Events for the policy output parameter
EICPrimaryEvents.
a. Open the Page for Event Isolation and Correlation page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set EICPrimaryEvents. The data set information is only displayed after the defined
refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. The system shows all the available columns by default.
You can change the displayed columns in the Visualization Settings section of the UI. You can also
select the row selection and row selection type options.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the ExecutePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click Save and exit on the toolbar.
4. Configure a Topology widget called Resource Topology for the output parameter
EIC_Relationship.
a. Open the Page for Event Isolation and Correlation page that you created.
b. Drag the Topology widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set. Select the EIC_Relationship data set. The data set information is only
displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings window is displayed. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is
displayed, select the executePolicy check box. Click Ok.
f. To save the widget, click Save and exit on the toolbar.
5. Configure a direct wire from the EVENTRULES table widget to the EICPrimaryEvents table widget.
a. Edit the page.
b. Click the Wires button.
c. Click New Wire.
d. Select the source as the Event Rule widget OnNodeClicked and click OK.
e. Select the target as Primary Events widget.
f. Repeat and select target as Resources Topology to clear the typology.
6. Configure a direct wire from the EICPrimaryEvents table widget to the EIC_Relationship topology
widget.
a. Edit the page.
b. Click the Wires button.
c. Click New Wire.
d. Select the source as the Primary Events widget OnNodeClicked and click OK.
e. Select the target as Resources Topology widget.
Tip: If you have not saved the page yet, you can find it by going to the Select Target for New Wire
dialog and locate the Resources Topology widget in Console Settings / This page.
f. Save the page.

Results
When you click an item in the EVENTRULES table widget, it populates the EICPrimaryEvents table with
the primary events from the objects. When you click an item in the EICPrimaryEvents table widget,
it populates the Topology widget when the Event Isolation and Correlation operation is completed.

156 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Optionally, you can create a table widget instead of the topology widget to view the related events only.
The table widget is configured for the EICAffectedEvents output parameter.

Visualizing data from the Netcool/Impact self service dashboards

Netcool/Impact self service dashboard widgets are designed to enable users or administrators to create
dashboards. The self service dashboards are able to accept user input through a customizable Input
Form widget and can drive user actions through a Button widget. Both of these widgets interact with
Netcool/Impact through the Netcool Rest API Interface.
Netcool/Impact 7.1.0.29 has a UI Data provider which makes Netcool/Impact data available for
consumption by dashboard widgets in the IBM Dashboard Applications Services Hub. The UI Data
provider works well for dashboards that are intended for read-only usage but cannot interact dynamically
with Netcool/Impact policies. For example, you can create a dashboard with a table widget which displays
all the trouble tickets that are managed by Netcool/Impact. However you cannot interact with the trouble
tickets to create a ticket.
When the Netcool/Impact Self Service dashboard widgets are installed on the console, you have the
option of adding to the existing visualizations. You can update the data through the execution of Netcool/
Impact policies and to take certain actions on a data set.

Installing the Netcool/Impact Self Service Dashboard widgets

To create custom dashboards for Netcool/Impact to view in Jazz for Service Management, you can add
Netcool/Impact specific widgets to enhance the capabilities of the dashboards you create.

Before you begin

Before you install the Netcool/Impact Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war file on the Dashboard Application
Services Hub Server. You must have the following environment.
• A server with Netcool/Impact 7.1.0.29 installed.
• A server with IBM Dashboard Applications Services Hub installed and configured with a data connection
to the Netcool/Impact 7.1.0.29 server. For information about setting up a connection between the
Impact server and Jazz for Service Management, see “Setting up the remote connection between the UI
data provider and the console” on page 105.
For more information about Jazz for Service Management, see the Jazz for Service Management pages
in IBM Documentation available from the following URL: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/
index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0%2Fpsc_ic-homepage.html.

Procedure
1. Log on to the Impact server.
2. Go to the add-ons directory, $IMPACT_HOME/add-ons/ssd.
3. Copy the Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war file over to the Dashboard Application Services Hub Server.
Note the location where you download the file to. For example,
C:\build\Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war.
4. On the Dashboard Application Services Hub Server, run the wsadmin tool by using one of the following
commands:
• UNIX: INSTALL/JazzSM/profile/bin/wsadmin.sh -lang jacl
Where INSTALL is the installed location of Jazz for Service Management.
5. Run the following command all on one line to install the Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war file.

$AdminApp update isc modulefile

{-operation addupdate -contents "<ImpactSSDWar>"
-custom paavalidation=true
-contenturi Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war
-usedefaultbindings

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 157

 -contextroot /Impact_SSD_Dashlet
-MapWebModToVH {{.* .* default_host}}}

Where <ImpactSSDWar> is the location of the copied war file. For example,
C:\build\Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war.
6. If the wsadmin command succeeds without any errors, use the following command to save the
changes:

$AdminConfig save

7. Use one of the following commands to restart the Dashboard Application Services Hub Server:
• UNIX:

INSTALL/JazzSM/profile/bin/stopServer.sh server1
INSTALL/JazzSM/profile/bin/startServer.sh server1

Uninstalling the Netcool/Impact Self Service Dashboard widgets

How to uninstall the self service dashboard widgets feature from Jazz for Service Management.

Before you begin

You must remove any dependencies on the Netcool/Impact self service dashboard widgets from any
existing pages or portlets in Jazz for Service Management. Then, delete any instances of the Netcool/
Impact dashboard widgets from the page or portlets in Jazz for Service Management. For information
about how to delete pages or portlets see the IBM® Dashboard Application Services Hub online help.

Procedure
1. On the Dashboard Application Services Hub Server, use one of the following commands to run the
wsadmin tool:
• UNIX: %INSTALL%/JazzSM/profile/bin/wsadmin.sh -lang jacl
2. Run the following command to uninstall the Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war file.

$AdminApp update isc modulefile

{-operation delete -contenturi Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war }

3. If the wsadmin command succeeds without errors, run the following command to save the changes:

$AdminConfig save

4. Use one of the following commands to restart the Dashboard Application Services Hub Server.
• UNIX:

%INSTALL%/JazzSM/profile/bin/stopServer.sh server1
%INSTALL%/JazzSM/profile/bin/startServer.sh server1

Editing an Input Form widget

The Input Form widget is a form control which can run Netcool/Impact policies with user-defined input
parameters. The Input Form widget dynamically generates a form with a set of input fields which
correspond to the input parameters of the policy.
When you submit the form, the associated policy is run with input parameters from the form input fields.

1. In the title bar, click the Edit options icon and select Edit.
2. Choose the Netcool/Impact policy that you want to run. You can search for the policy by completing
the search field with either a full or partial name and clicking Search. You can also view the complete
list of available data sets by clicking the Show All button in the center of the results panel.

158 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 3. Select that data set, and click the right arrow to show the Visualization Settings page. In the
Visualization Settings page, you can configure the button title and Netcool/Impact policy parameters.
4. In the Required Settings section, select the executePolicy option.
5. Optional. Select Optional Settings, add the name of the form to the Title field. The title is also used for
the label of the form submission button.
6. Optional. Configure Optional Dataset Parameters: You can also set default values for any input
parameters that are attached to the Netcool/Impact policy. The Input Form widget populates the input
parameter form with any default values you set here.
7. Click OK to implement the changes, or Cancel to discard the changes.
8. On the dashboard, click the button on the widget to run the policy. The input parameters are passed to
the policy as policy input parameters. The results are displayed in the widget.
Tip: In the Input Form, you can manually change the values in the form fields, click the button, and run
the policy again and show the results in the dashboard.

Editing a Button widget

The Button widget can be used in an Operator View to run a policy. You can edit the Button widget to use
the input parameters that are set by the policy that is attached to the button.

1. In the title bar, click the Edit options icon and select Edit.
2. Choose the Netcool/Impact policy that you want to run. You can search for the policy by completing
the search field with either a full or partial name and clicking Search. You can also view the complete
list of available data sets by clicking the Show All button in the center of the results panel.
3. Select that data set, and click the right arrow to show the Visualization Settings page. In the
Visualization Settings page, you can configure the button title and Netcool/Impact policy parameters.
4. In the Required Settings section, select the executePolicy option.
5. Optional. Select Optional Settings, add the name of the button to the Title field. The title is also used
for the label of the form submission button.
6. Optional. Configure Optional Dataset Parameters: You can also set default values for any input
parameters that are attached to the Netcool/Impact policy.
7. Click OK to implement the changes, or Cancel to discard the changes.
8. On the dashboard, click the button on the widget to run the policy. The input parameters are passed to
the policy as policy input parameters. The results are displayed in the widget.
Tip: To change the values of the input parameters, you must edit the Button widget and change the
parameters in the Visualization Settings page before you run the policy again from the dashboard.

Configuring the Button widget to receive data from other widgets

The Button widget can receive data from other widgets. For example, in the console you can create a
wire between the Button widget and a table widget. Wires are connections between widgets to share
information and for opening pages in context. When you click a row in the Table widget, the Button widget
processes the data. When you click the button on the Button widget, that data from the table row is
processed. The data is then sent on to the policy as input parameters.

About this task

This example uses a Button widget and a table widget. You can use the same process with a Button
widget and any other widget.

Procedure
1. In Netcool/Impact, create a DB2 data source.
a. Enter NewDataSource in the Data Source Name field.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 159

 b. Enter the user name and password for the database.
c. Complete the other fields as required.
d. Save the data source.
2. Create a data type for the DB2 data source.
a. Enter NewDataType as the name and complete the required fields.
b. To ensure that the data type is compatible with the UI data provider, select the UI data provider:
enabled check box.
c. Select the key fields for the data type.
d. Save the data type.
3. Create the target policy.
a. In the Netcool/Impact policy editor, create a Netcool/Impact policy.
b. Define the following policy:

Log (“Executing IPL Impact Policy”);

filter = “SERVICEREQUESTIDENTIFIER = ” + inputParamID;
GetbyFilter ('NewDataType', filter, false);

c. Save the policy, name it PolicyForButtonWidget.

4. Create the input parameter for the policy.
a. In the policy editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon to create the input parameter.
b. Name the input parameter inputParamID.
c. Specify Long for the Format field.
d. Click OK.
e. Save the policy.
5. Create a page in the console.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > New Page.
c. Enter a name for the page in the Page Name field.
d. Save the page.
6. Create a Button widget in the console.
a. Open the new page that you created.
b. Open the Impact widget folder, drag the Button widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a data set
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set. Select the PolicyForButtonWidget policy that you created earlier.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. Click OK.
f. To save the button widget, click the Save button on the page toolbar.
7. Create a Table widget in the console.
a. Open the new page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set. Select the NewDataType data type that belongs to the NewDataSource data
source. The data type is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. Click OK.
f. To save the Table widget, click Save on the page toolbar.

160 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 8. Create a Wire between the Button and Table widgets.
a. To open the Wires wizard, click the Show Wires button on the page toolbar.
b. Click the New Wire button.
c. On the Select Source Event for New Wire page, identify the Table widget in the list of Available
source events and select the NodeClickedOn event.
d. Click OK.
e. On the Select Target for New Wire page, select the Button widget from the list of Available
targets.
f. Click OK on the next two pages to create a wire between the Button and Table widgets.

Results
When you click a row in the Table widget, a NodeClickedOn event is generated. The Button widget
processes the event by extracting the data for the clicked table row. When you click the button on the
Button widget, it runs the policy that is configured in the widget. The data passes from the table row to
the policy as policy input parameters. The GetByFilter function runs and uses the input parameter that is
provided by the table row.

Reference topics
You can use custom URLs and the UI data provider to access data directly. You can also customize the UI
data provider and enable large data model support.

Large data model support for the UI data provider

You can use the UI data provider with large data models based on the supported databases.
Large data model support is used to facilitate the integration of the UI data provider with database tables
that use filtering and paging to limit the number of rows.
The following databases and associated data types are supported and large data model integration is
enabled by default:
• DB2
• Derby
• HSQLDB
• Informix
• MySQL
• MS-SQLServer
• Oracle
• PostgreSQL
For information about how to enable and disable large data models see “Disabling and enabling large data
models” on page 162.

Restrictions
• Sybase databases and associated data types are not supported. You can limit the data by using the
input filters in the data type or in the widget.
Important: If you access a Netcool/OMNIbus or Sybase data type that has a huge number of rows,
for example more than 10,000 rows you can potentially run out of memory. Out of memory issues can
occur when the number of rows stored in memory exceed the available heap memory allocated to the
Java virtual machine. If you plan to access large amounts of data for a Netcool/OMNIbus or Sybase
data type, consider increasing the heap memory settings for the GUI Server and Impact Server from

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 161

 their default values. For information about changing heap memory settings, see the Memory status
monitoring section of the Administration Guide.
• If you want to integrate the UI data provider with large data models, you must not use UIDPROWNUM as
a field name in the Oracle or DB2 database. The AS UIDPROWNUM field is added to the query for Oracle
and DB2 databases. As a result, this field is reserved for use by the query that is associated with these
types of databases.
• The MS-SQLServer database uses the first field of the data type in the query. There are no reserved
fields for this type of database.
• If pagination is enabled in the GUI or in the URL, Netcool/Impact does not store this information in the
memory. Instead, Netcool/Impact retrieves the rows directly from the database to avoid any adverse
effects on performance and memory.
• Large data model support is not available for the Tree table widget.

Disabling and enabling large data models

You can enable and disable the UI data provider so that it is not compatible with large data models.

About this task

Large data model integration is enabled by default for the following databases:
• DB2
• Derby
• HSQLDB
• Informix®
• MySQL
• MS-SQLServer
• Oracle
• PostgreSQL

Procedure
1. To disable the integration of the UI data provider and large
data models, change impact.uidataprovider.largetablemodel=true to
impact.uidataprovider.largetablemodel=false in the server.props file.
Tip: If this parameter does not exist, you can add it to the server.props file.
2. Restart the GUI Server.

Enabling and disabling the large data model for the ObjectServer
Large data model integration is disabled by default for the ObjectServer and is not supported unless you
use Netcool/OMNIbus version 7.4.0. fix pack 1. This fix pack has functions that can be used to perform
paging in the ObjectServer.

Before you begin

You must stop the GUI Server.
On UNIX operating systems, enter the following command in the command line.

$IMPACT_HOME/bin/stopGUIServer.sh
[-username adminuser -password adminpassword]

On Windows operating systems, use the following command.You can also you use the Services Extension
in the Microsoft Management Console.
1. In the Start menu, select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.

162 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

2. Right-click Tivoli Netcool/Impact GUI Server.
3. Select Properties. In the Properties dialog box, click Stop and then click OK.

About this task

For information about Netcool/OMNIbus version 7.4.0. fix pack 1, see http://www-01.ibm.com/support/
knowledgecenter/SSSHTQ/landingpage/NetcoolOMNIbus.html.

Procedure
1. To enable the integration of the UI data provider and large data models for the ObjectServer,
change the property impact.uidataprovider.largetablemodel.objectserver=false to
impact.uidataprovider.largetablemodel.objectserver=true in the server.props file.
If the property does not exist, you can create it.
2. Restart the GUI Server.
• On UNIX systems, enter the following command at the command line.

$IMPACT_HOME/bin/startGUIServer.sh
[-username adminuser -password adminpassword]

• On Windows systems, use the following command.

%IMPACT_HOME%\bin\startGUIServer.bat.

You can also you use the Services Extension in the Microsoft Management Console to start the GUI
Server from the Services panel.
a. In the Start menu, select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
b. Right-click Tivoli Netcool/Impact GUI Server.
c. Select Properties. In the Properties dialog box, click Start and then click OK.

Enabling large data model support for UI data provider policies

Enabling large data model support for UI data provider policies ensures faster responses with policies
that return large data. By default large data model support for UI data provider policies is disabled.

About this task

If a policy is retrieving large amounts of data, an out of memory error can occur. Enabling large data model
support for policies allows paging through the data by using start and count variables, which is a good
process to manage memory. To enable large data model support for UI data provider policies, complete
the following steps.

Procedure
1. Create the large model policy.
This policy will handle two types of requests from a remote widget, returning either the total row count
or a specific range of rows from the database.
The type of request is determined by the GET_NUMBEROFROWS parameter.
The GET_NUMBEROFROWS variable is a string value and instructs the policy to return the number of
rows to be displayed. The number of rows should be assigned into the policy variable NUMBEROFROWS.
The NUMBEROFROWS variable should always be of type integer. You can cast it to an integer with the Int
function.
2. Netcool/Impact runs the policy twice, first to get the NUMBEROFROWS as the total count. Then, the
policy runs again to get the actual node. Netcool/Impact sends the input parameters start and
count and these number variables are used to run only the query with this filter.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 163

 In a Dashboard Applications Services Hub page, you see the following results.
• When you scroll down the page, Netcool/Impact continues to send different start and count
parameters to the policy to get only this set of data.
• When you do a column sort, Netcool/Impact sends the sorting query in the parameter
SORTING_CLAUSE. The value of the SORTING_CLAUSE parameter must be used in combination
with ORDER BY to run the query.
• When you filter, the filter is passed to the policy in the CUSTOM_FILTER parameter, by using the
format that the database requires.
Remember:
If the policy uses the directSQL output parameter, the data source name field in the output
parameter configuration page must be updated with the data source name that is used in the
DirectSQL function. This naming ensures that the filter is constructed based on the database type.
For an array of objects, the filter is returned in generic format. Unique columns in the schema are
marked as keys inside the user output parameter.
Example 1
Here is an example policy to page the ObjectServer that contains more than 50,000 rows

Log("Test Direct SQL with large model");

Log("CurrentContext : " + CurrentContext());
sorting="";
if (SORTING_CLAUSE != NULL) {
sorting = SORTING_CLAUSE;
}
SQL="SELECT * FROM status";
if (GET_NUMBEROFROWS != NULL) {
Log("Getting count only");
SQL="SELECT COUNT(*) AS NumOfEvents FROM status ";
} else {
if (start == NULL) {
start = 0;
}
if (count == NULL) {
count = 25;
}
SQL="SELECT SKIP " + start + " TOP " + count + " * FROM status ";
if(CUSTOM_FILTER != NULL) {
SQL = SQL + " WHERE " + CUSTOM_FILTER;
}
if (sorting != "") {
SQL = SQL + " ORDER BY " + sorting;
}

Log("SQL is : " + SQL);

Nodes=DirectSQL("ObjectServerSource",SQL,null);
NUMBEROFROWS=0;
if( Nodes != NULL && Length(Nodes) > 0) {
result = Nodes[0].NumOfEvents;
if(result != NULL) {
NUMBEROFROWS=result;
}
}

Log("NUMBEROFROWS: " + NUMBEROFROWS);

Log("Num is : " + Num);

Remember:
The ObjectServer using Netcool/OMNIbus version 7.4.0. fix pack 1 supports paging by using the SKIP
and TOP key words in the SQL.

164 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 SQL statement results:

SELECT SKIP 0 TOP 25 * FROM status WHERE (( to_char(Serial) LIKE '.*test.*')

or ( to_char(Severity) LIKE '.*test.*') or (Summary LIKE '.*test.*')
or (Identifier LIKE '.*test.*') or (Node LIKE '.*test.*')
or (BSM_Identity LIKE '.*test.*')) ORDER BY Identifier ASC

Important: The STATUS and PERCENTAGE data types are treated as integers.
Example 2
Here is an example policy that implements large data model support for a DB2 table.

Log("Test Direct SQL with DB2 large model");

Log("CurrentContext : " + CurrentContext());

filter="";
sorting="";

if (SORTING_CLAUSE != NULL) {
sorting = " ORDER BY " + SORTING_CLAUSE;
}

if(CUSTOM_FILTER != NULL) {
filter = " WHERE " + CUSTOM_FILTER;
}

SQL="SELECT * FROM status";

if (GET_NUMBEROFROWS != NULL) {
Log("Getting count only");
SQL="SELECT COUNT(*) AS NUMOFRECS FROM SA.STATUSTABLE " + filter;
} else {

if (start == NULL) {
start = 0;
}

// return 25 rows per request

if (count == NULL) {
count = 25;
}

// Calculate the index for the last row by adding the start index
// to the row count
lastRowIndex = Int(start) + Int(count);

// The inner clause of the SQL query implements filtering and sorting
// The outer clause will return the subset as
SQL="SELECT * FROM (SELECT IDENTIFIER, SERIAL, NODE, SEVERITY, row_number()
over ( " + sorting +
" ) RNUM FROM SA.STATUSTABLE " + filter +
" ) WHERE RNUM BETWEEN " + start + " AND " + lastRowIndex + " ";
}

Log("SQL is : " + SQL);

Nodes=DirectSQL("DB2ServerSource",SQL,null);
NUMBEROFROWS=0;
if( Nodes != NULL && Length(Nodes) > 0) {
result = Nodes[0].NUMOFRECS;
if(result != NULL) {
NUMBEROFROWS=Int(result); // Convert the BigDecimal to Integer
}
}

Log("NUMBEROFROWS: " + NUMBEROFROWS);

Log("Num is : " + Num);

SQL statement results:

SELECT * FROM (SELECT IDENTIFIER, SERIAL, NODE, SEVERITY, row_number()
over ( ORDER BY SERIAL ASC ) RNUM FROM SA.STATUSTABLE
WHERE ((NODE = 'ABC123')) ) WHERE RNUM BETWEEN 0 AND 25

3. Create a new properties file for the large model policy under the IMPACT_HOME/
uiproviderconfig/properties/ directory.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 165

 The name of the properties file must include the policy name and the policy variable in the following
format:
IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/properties/Policy_<POLICYNAME>_<PARAMETERNAME>
For example:
/opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/uiproviderconfig/properties/
Policy_Example01_Nodes.properties
4. In the properties file, add the following line

largemodel.enabled=true

5. Save the file and restart the GUI server.

Tip: In a production environment, debug logging should be turned down or turned off as excessive
logging can impede the performance of the UI data provider.

UI data provider customization

You can customize the UI data provider, by changing the refresh rate, initializing all SQL data items, and
enabling multiple Netcool/Impact clusters that access the same GUI provider.

Refresh rate
You can configure how often the UI data provider is refreshed. This interval is set to 20 seconds.
To change this setting, add the following statement to the <server name>_server.props file (for
example NCI_server.props) that is in the $IMPACT_HOME/etc/ folder:

impact.uidataprovider.refreshrate=<refresh_rate_in_miliseconds>

For example, add the following statement to change the refresh interval to 3 minutes:

impact.uidataprovider.refreshrate=180000

Initialization of SQL data items

You can configure Netcool/Impact so that the SQL data items are initialized during startup by default. To
do so, add the following to the server.props file:

impact.uidataprovider.sql.initializenodes=true

Restriction: This setting can have an adverse affect on performance and memory usage. This restriction
depends on the amount of data that is held by the data type. This setting is disabled by default for this
reason.

Enable multiple servers

Your deployment can include multiple UI data provider servers in a server cluster that access the same
GUI provider. To integrate the UI data provider with this type of deployment, you must configure the
navigational model load so that it regularly refreshes the data from each UI data provider server. To do so,
add the following statement to the server.props file:

impact.uidataprovider.refreshclusters=true

Character encoding
By default, Netcool/Impact uses UTF-8 character encoding to parse parameter values and to send these
values to the UI data provider. You change this setting if, for example, you want to use Chinese characters

166 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

alongside the UI data provider. To change this setting, shut down your GUI server and add the following
statement to the server.props file that is in the IMPACT_HOME/etc folder:

impact.uidataprovider.encoding=<charset>

Start your GUI server. Netcool/Impact uses the encoding that is defined in the charset variable to parse
parameter values.

Disabling the UI data provider

By default, the UI data provider is enabled in the GUI Server . To disable the UI data provider, add the
following statement to the server.props file in the $IMPACT_HOME/etc folder. You must shut down
the GUI Server before you add the statement.

impact.uidataprovider.enable=false

Note: In a split installation, add the statement to the server.props file in the GUI Server.
To complete the change, restart the GUI Server.

Controlling the maximum number of client connections

The GUI Server makes rest connections to the backend Impact server to retrieve UI Data Provider data.
You can control the maximum number of HTTP client connections from rest calls that can be made from
one Impact UI server.
By default, the maximum number of HTTP client connections is 20. To change this setting, shut down your
GUI server and add the following property to the server.props file that is in the IMPACT_HOME/etc
folder:

impact.httpclient.maxconnectionsperhost=<max_number>

To complete the change, restart the GUI Server.

Translating date filters for connected databases

Netcool/Impact must translate filter values from the console into a format that is compatible
with the queries used for the various databases. The translation is required because the
console uses milliseconds as the generic format to send dates. This translation is controlled
by the impact.uidataprovider.dateformat property in the server.props file in the
$IMPACT_HOME/etc folder. The default pattern is yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS. For example, if you
filter for January 1st 2012, Netcool/Impact translates the filter value into 2012-01-01 00:00:00.000.
To change the default pattern, change the impact.uidataprovider.dateformat property in the
server.props file in the $IMPACT_HOME/etc folder.

Changing the case sensitivity of filtered data

Text searches for policy and large model datasets are treated as case sensitive by default and ignore a
widget's Match Case filter option.

Note: Starting in Fix Pack 7.1.0.27, searches of a large model dataset will now use the Match
Case option from a widget unless overridden by the filter.casesensitive property.
Configure case sensitivity
You can configure the search behavior for each dataset with the filter.casesensitive property.
Procedure
1. Open the $IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/properties/ directory.
2. Create a properties file for the policy or data type.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 167

 For data types, the format should be DataType_<Data Type Name>_<encoding>.properties.
Example: DataType_alerts.properties
For policies, the format should be Policy_<Policy Name>_<Output Parameter
Name>.properties.
Example: Policy_TestPolicy_sqlResult.properties
3. Add the following line to the properties file:

filter.casesensitive=false

4. Save the file.

A restart of the Impact GUI server is required.
Configure the SQL query for large models
When performing a case insensitive search of a large model dataset, the SQL query uses the lower
function.
If the SQL database does not support the lower function,
If this function doesn't work for your database type, you might need to change this function to be either
lower, or false.
Procedure
1. Open the $IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/properties/ directory.
2. Create a properties file for the data type.
For data types, the format should be DataType_<Data Type Name>_<encoding>.properties.
Example: DataType_alerts.properties
3. Add filter.casesensitive.function=<newclause> to the properties file. For example, to use
the upper clause:

filter.casesensitive.function=upper

4. Save the file.

A restart of the Impact GUI server is required.

Automatic parsing of request parameters from the console

For SQL based data types, Netcool/Impact will automatically parse all the parameters in requests from
the console and try to match them against column names in the database table while generating the
database query. This can cause issues with the query if there is an unintentional match between a
parameter name and a table column name. To disable the automatic parsing of request parameters from
the console, add the line filter.ignorelegacyparams=true into the UI data provider configuration
properties file within the IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/properties directory.
If the properties file does not exist, you can create one, but the file name must be in the following format:
DataType_<Data Type Name>.properties.

For example, a Data Type with the name TestCSV would have the following properties file:
DataType_TestCSV.properties.

Customize the properties directory

The default location for the data provider properties directory is $IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/
properties on the GUI server.

168 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 To change the base directory location, set the uidataprovider.config.directory property in
$IMPACT_HOME/etc/server.props:

impact.uidataprovider.config.directory=<new location>

For example:

impact.uidataprovider.config.directory=/opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/uiproviderconfig

The base directory path for the data provider configuration. The default path is $IMPACT_HOME/
uiproviderconfig.
To change the location of the properties directory, set the
uidataprovider.customprops.directory property in $IMPACT_HOME/etc/server.props:

impact.uidataprovider.customprops.directory=<directory name>

For example:

impact.uidataprovider.customprops.directory=properties

The sub-directory where property files are found. The default directory name is properties.
To enable the use of multiple clusters from the same data provider, set the
uidataprovider.customprops.usecluster property in $IMPACT_HOME/etc/server.prop:

impact.uidataprovider.customprops.usecluster=true

The properties for each cluster should be specified under it's own sub-directory:
<UI Data Provider Config Base Directory>/<UI configuration directory>/<CLUSTER
NAME>/properties/
For example:
/opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/uiproviderconfig/NCICLUSTER/properties

Column labels in the browser locale inside the console

The column labels that are displayed in the IBM Dashboard Applications Services Hub are provided by
the Netcool/Impact UI data provider. These column labels are available in the data type configuration or
policy output parameter configuration. You configure the UI data provider so that the column labels can
be displayed in the locale of the browser.

Customization file location

Customizing a new column label requires a customization file to be created for every new column label
that is used in an output parameter. The customization file must be in the <UI Data Provider Config
Base>/<customization> directory.
<UI Data Provider Config Base>
By default, is the same as the $IMPACT_HOME/Installation directory. To use a different
directory name, edit the etc/server.props property file and add or update the property
impact.uidataprovider.config.directory=<full path to an existing directory>
<customization>
By default is customization. To use a different directory name, edit
the etc/server.props property file and add or update the property
impact.uidataprovider.customization.directory=<directory name>. The directory
name must be single name without any special characters.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 169

 Enablement or disablement of customization
By default, customization of new column labels is enabled. To disable the
customization, edit the etc/server.props property file and add or update the property
impact.uidataprovider.customization.enabled=false.

Customization file name

The customization file name must be in the following format:
• DataType_<Data Type Name>_<encoding>.properties For Netcool/Impact data types.
• Policy_<Policy Name>_<Output Parameter Name>_<encoding>.properties For Netcool/
Impact policies.
<Data Type Name>
Is the name of the Netcool/Impact data type that is enabled for UI data provider.
<Policy Name>
Is the name of the Netcool/Impact policy.
<Output Parameter Name>
Is the name of an output parameter in the policy.
<encoding>
Is one of the supported encoding's in the browser locales. For example, zh_CN or fr. If the
customization file is provided without <encoding>, the customization is done for the column labels
during the initialization and are used as the display name instead of actual customization. The
<encoding> must be <small2characters>_<CAPITAL2CHARACTERS>, but if it is like fr then
just fr is required.

Customization file format

• To customize a column label, the customization file must have the format of <column
name>=<customized label>.
<column name>
Is the actual column name.
<customized label>
Is the customization of the <column name> into a different locale.
• To customize a display value, the customization file must have the format of
<Fieldname>.displayValue.<actual value>=<display value>. For example:

Location.displayvalue.NY=New York
Location.displayvalue.New\ Jersey =NJ

By default display values are supported for the data types String, Numeric (Float,
Double, integer), Status, and Percentage. If you want to use a display value
for data types like Date, Timestamp, or other data types that are supported by
Netcool/Impact, then add the numeric type number to $IMPACT_HOME/etc/server.props
file: impact.uidataprovider.displayvalue.types=<numeric value for each type
separated by,> and restart the UI server. For example:

Date numeric value is 13

impact.uidataprovider.displayvalue.types=13
Multiple values are comma separated:
impact.uidataprovider.displayvalue.types=13,14,...

Customization example
To customize the column label that is called REVIEWED to Chinese as Mark as Reviewed, you must
complete the following steps:
1. Create or edit the customization file:

170 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 <UI Data Provider Config Base Dir>/<customization dir>/DataType_MyDataType_zh_CN.properties

2. Add the property REVIEWED=\u6807\u8bb0\u4e3a\u5df2\u8bfb. This property is displayed in

Chinese and reads as "Mark as Reviewed".
3. Set the Chinese locale for the etc/server.props property file to be first in the locale list in the
browser.
4. Logout and log back in to your browser.
5. See the column label that is displayed as " 标记为已读" instead of REVIEWED.

Customizing tooltips to display field value descriptions

The UI data provider supplies a tooltip property to enable viewing of field values when a mouse hovers
over a column.

About this task

Complete the following procedure to customize the tooltip property and enable viewing of field value
descriptions when a mouse hovers over a field.

Procedure
1. Enable the tooltip property.
a) Enable the policy and data type for both non-locale and locale descriptions.
• For non-locale:

DataType_Status.properties
Policy_<policyname>_<output_parameter_name>.properties

For a French locale:

DataType_Status_fr.properties
Policy_<policyname>_<output_parameter_name>_fr.properties

b) Create or edit the field name properties file IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/properties/

<DataType_Status>.properties.
c) Add the property <Field_Name>.tooltip.enabled=true. For example, for Field Name:
Severity you add Severity.tooltip.enabled=true.
2. Create or edit the customization properties file. For more information about customization properties
file, see “Column labels in the browser locale inside the console” on page 169.
• For a data type, edit the customization properties file IMPACT_HOME/uidataprovider/
customization/DataType_<DataType_Name>_[optional locale].properties
• For a policy, edit the customization properties file IMPACT_HOME/uidataprovider/
customization/Policy_<Policy_Name>_<output parameter name>_[optional
locale].properties
3. Within the customization properties file, for any field for which you want to add a tooltip, add this
property <FieldName>.tooltip.<value>=<tooltip text>.
This example applies a tooltip to the Severity field, for two locales:

Data Type: Status

Field Name: Severity
Create a file:
No Locale: IMPACT_HOME/uidataprovider/customization/DataType_Status.properties
SEVERITY.tooltip.Critical=This is a critical event.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Major=This is a major event.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Normal=This is a normal event.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Minor=This is a minor event.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Warning=This is a warning.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Intermediate=This an intermediate event
SEVERITY.tooltip.Unknown=The event value is unknown or incorrect.

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 171

 With French Locale: IMPACT_HOME/uidataprovider/customization/
DataType_Status_fr.properties
SEVERITY.tooltip.Critique=Ceci est un événement critique.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Major=Ceci est un événement majeur.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Normale=Ceci est un événement normale.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Minor=Ceci est un événement mineur.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Warning=Ceci est un événement avertissement.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Intermediate=Ceci est un événement intermédiaire.
SEVERITY.tooltip.Unknown=Ce est un événement inconnu ou incorrect.

When a user hovers on the Severity field that has a value of 5 and depending on the locale in use, the
tooltip displays either Critical or Critique.
For policies

Policies: Status
Field Name: Severity
Create a file:
No Locale: IMPACT_HOME/uidataprovider/customization/DataType_Status.properties
SEVERITY.tooltip.5=This is a critical event.
SEVERITY.tooltip.2=This is a normal event.

With French Locale: IMPACT_HOME/uidataprovider/customization/

DataType_Status_fr.properties
SEVERITY.tooltip.5=Ceci est un évént critique.
SEVERITY.tooltip.2=Ceci est un évént normale.

Results
Customization takes precedence over <fieldname>.tooltip.enabled=true.
However, if you add Severity.tooltip.enabled=true but do not add
<FieldName>.tooltip.<value>=<tooltip text>, then the tooltip displays the <value>.

Known issue when viewing field values when a mouse hovers over a column
The UI data provider supplies a tooltip property to enable viewing of field values when a mouse hovers
over a column. When the same DASH page is opened in multiple tabs on the same browser, then the
mouse-over data from tab 1 can be displayed on tab 2.
Resolution
Set a key field in the Schema Definition for the Output Parameter of the policy of in the Policy Settings.
See the "To mark an entry as a key field" step in the following topic of the User Interface Guide: Creating
custom schema values for output parameters .

Accessing the Netcool/Impact UI data provider

You can use URL to access the UI data provider data provided by Netcool/Impact.

Procedure
Use the following URL to access the Netcool/ImpactUI data provider

https:/<hostname>:<port>/ibm/tivoli/rest/providers/
providername

hostname is the machine where the GUI is running.

port is the https port of the GUI, the default value is 16311
Note:
The Netcool/ImpactUI data provider registers the name Impact_NCICLUSTER by default. If you
registered another cluster name during installation, the UI data provider registers this name as
Impact_<clustername>.

172 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Example
For example, you can use the following URL to access the UI data provider:

https://example.com:16311/ibm/tivoli/rest/providers/Impact_NCICLUSTER

Known issue with JavaScript and the UI data provider

How to resolve known issues with user output parameters in a JavaScript policy and the UI data provider.
When you expose a user output parameter inside a JavaScript policy, the user output parameter data
when queried from the UI data provider might be blank. To resolve this issue, certain objects inside the
JavaScript policy must be deleted, including JavaScript functions and Java objects, typically at the end of
the function or policy.
For example, the following JavaScript function must be deleted before the user output parameters are
successfully returned from the UI data provider.

function myFunction() {
//…..
}
delete myFunction;

Additionally, any Java objects that are created inside the JavaScript policy must be deleted as well. For
example,

var myString = NewJavaObject("java.lang.String", ["myString"]);

//…..
delete myString;

If the Java object contains the information that is to be used in a user output parameter. The value of the
Java object must be stored by using a Netcool/Impact policy function to convert the Java object to the
correct variable type.

var myString = NewJavaObject("java.lang.String", ["myString"]);

//…..
var outputString = String(myString);
delete myString;

If the variable is returned from an invocation of a function or call, you must delete that object as well.

Running policies and accessing output parameters

You can use a URL to run a policy and to make the output parameters of that policy such as variables,
objects, or variables output by the GetByFilter function available to the UI data provider.

Procedure
If your policy only has one output parameter, to run a policy and make the output parameter available to
the UI data provider, add executePolicy=true to the following URL:

https://<hostname>:<port>/ibm/tivoli/rest/providers/Impact_NCICLUSTER/
datasources/IMPACT_POLICY_<policyname>/datasets/
<policyname>_policy_variables/items?executePolicy=true

If your policy has more than one output parameter, to run a policy and make all the output parameters
available to the UI data provider, add executePolicy=true to the following URL and a comma
separated list of the output parameters:

https://<hostname>:<port>/ibm/tivoli/rest/providers/Impact_NCICLUSTER/
datasources/IMPACT_POLICY_<policyname>/datasets/<policyname>_policy_variables/
items?executePolicy=true&properties=<param1>,<param2>,...<paramn>

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 173

 Example
You can use a URL to run a policy and to make the output parameters available to the UI data provider.
You create a policy called Test_Policy.
You add executePolicy=true to the following URL to run the Test_Policy policy and make the
output parameters available to the UI data provider:

https://example.com:16311/ibm/tivoli/rest/providers/Impact_NCICLUSTER/datasources/
IMPACT_POLICY_Test_Policy/datasets/Test_Policy_policy_variables/
items?executePolicy=true

If you have a policy with more then one output parameter, for example you have a policy called z3 with
output parameters myString and myInteger, use the following URL to make both parameters available:

https://example.com:16311/ibm/tivoli/rest/providers/
Impact_NCICLUSTER/datasources/IMPACT_POLICY_Test_Policy/datasets/
z3_policy_variables/items?param_executePolicy=true&properties=myInteger,myString

Mapping field types to the correct output parameters in UI Data Provider

You must always map the field types to the correct output parameters to avoid any implication for future
releases or misconfiguration in the policy. Numeric must always be numeric such as Integer, Float, or
Double. String must always be String, and so on.
If, for any reason, you want to use numeric fields as string in UI Data Provider output parameter, the value
must be cast to String in the policy.
Example

MyObject=NewObject();
MyObject.IntField=String(""+value);

The value is the actual integer value in the policy.

Customizing a topology widget layout

A topology widget can be configured to display a layout view other than the default tree layout.

About this task

Complete the following procedure to set an alternative layout for a policy.

Procedure
1. Create a properties file for the topology widget using the following file naming convention (unless a
properties file already exists for the policy):
$IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/properties/Policy_<PolicyName>_<Output
Parameter name>.properties
For example, for a policy named TestTopology and an output parameter named Result, the
properties file would be:
$IMPACT_HOME/uiproviderconfig/properties/
Policy_TestTopology_Result.properties
2. Edit the file and add the following properties:

topology.layout=hierarchical
topology.layout.params={flowDirection: "bottom", globalLinkStyle: "orthogonal"}

In this example, the layout has been set to hierarchical. You can set topology.layout to one of
the following values:
• tree

174 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

• hierarchical
• grid
• forceDirected
• shortLink
• longLink
Each layout is configured by a set of parameters. The parameters are specified by setting
topology.layout.params to a comma-separated list of key:value pairs. The following tables
show the parameters that are available of each of the topology.layout values.

Table 49. Parameters available with tree.

Key Available Values

layoutMode • free
• level
• tip over
• tip leaves over
• tip roots over
• tip roots and leaves over
• radial
• alternating radial

flowDirection • right
• left
• top
• bottom

globalLinkStyle • straight
• no reshape
• orthogonal
• mixed

connectorStyle • automatic
• centered
• evenly spaced

globalAlignment • center
• border center
• east
• west
• tip over
• tip over west
• tip over east west
• tip over both sides
• mixed

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 175

 Table 49. Parameters available with tree. (continued)

Key Available Values

levelAlignment • center
• north
• south

aspectRatio • 1
• 10

Table 50. Parameters available with hierarchical.

Key Available Values

flowDirection • right
• left
• top
• bottom

levelJustification • center
• left
• right
• top
• bottom

levelingStrategy • optimal
• semi optimal
• higher levels
• lower levels
• spread out

globalLinkStyle • polyline
• orthogonal
• straight
• mixed
• no reshape

connectorStyle • automatic
• centered
• evenly spaced

horizontalNodeOffset • 0
• 100

horizontalLinkOffset • 0
• 100

176 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Table 50. Parameters available with hierarchical. (continued)

Key Available Values

horizontalNodeLinkOffset • 0
• 100

verticalNodeOffset • 0
• 100

verticalLinkOffset • 0
• 100

verticalNodeLinkOffset • 0
• 100

Table 51. Parameters available with grid.

Key Available Values

layoutMode • tile to grid fixed height

• tile to grid fixed width
• tile to columns
• tile to rows

globalHorizontalAlignment • center
• left
• right

globalVerticalAlignment • center
• top
• bottom

maxNumberOfNodesPerRowOrColumn • 1
• 10

compareMode • order by index

• order alphabetically

Table 52. Parameters available with forceDirected.

Key Available Values

layoutMode • fast multilevel

• incremental
• non incremental

preferredLinksLength • 25
• 45

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 177

 Table 52. Parameters available with forceDirected. (continued)

Key Available Values

linkStyle • straight
• no reshape

maxAllowedMaxPerIteration • 5
• 25

allowedNumberOfIterations • 250
• 1250

convergenceThreshold • 0.1
• 3.5

Table 53. Parameters available with shortLink.

Key Available Values

globalLinkStyle • direct
• orthogonal
• mixed
• no reshape

globalSelfLinkStyle • two bends orthogonal

• three bends orthogonal

globalConnectorStyle • automatic
• fixed offset
• evenly spaced
• mixed

linkOffset • 0
• 20

minFinalSegmentLength • 10
• 100

flowDirection • right
• left
• top
• bottom

levelJustification • center
• left
• right
• top
• bottom

178 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Table 53. Parameters available with shortLink. (continued)

Key Available Values

levelingStrategy • optimal
• semi optimal
• higher levels
• lower levels
• spread out

connectorStyle • automatic
• centered
• evenly spaced

Table 54. Parameters available with longLink.

Key Available Values

globalLinkStyle • direct
• orthogonal
• mixed
• no reshape

verticalMinOffset • 1
• 20

horizontalMinOffset • 1
• 20

flowDirection • right
• left
• top
• bottom

levelJustification • center
• left
• right
• top
• bottom

levelingStrategy • optimal
• semi optimal
• higher levels
• lower levels
• spread out

Chapter 9. Working with the Netcool/Impact UI data provider 179

 Table 54. Parameters available with longLink. (continued)

Key Available Values

connectorStyle • automatic
• centered
• evenly spaced

Note:
Changes to the properties file do not appear in the widget immediately, you have to wait for the
automatic refresh that is done by Impact in the backend or restart Impact UI server.

180 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact
You can use Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) for Netcool/Impact to integrate Netcool/
Impact with other OSLC providers and clients. Netcool/Impact also functions as a client of OSLC data. You
can use these capabilities to integrate Netcool/Impact with compatible products and data.
Netcool/Impact 7.1.0.29 contains an implementation of the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration
(OSLC) Core Specification version 2.0. For more information about OSLC, see the OSLC Core Specification
(http://open-services.net/bin/view/Main/OslcCoreSpecification).
Netcool/Impact does not support delegated UI dialogs or creation factories. Netcool/Impact supports
only the RDF/XML representation of OSLC and the following aspects of the OSLC Core Specification v2:
• OSLC Service Provider
• OSLC Query Capability
• OSLC Resource Shape
• OSLC Resource

Usage Scenarios
Netcool/Impact is able to act as an OSLC provider and an OSLC client. You can use Netcool/Impact as a
generic OSLC adapter for other OSLC and non-OSLC service providers.

Response Formats
Netcool/Impact uses the RDF/XML format for all OSLC responses, as required by the OSLC Core
Specification v2.
Important: When viewed in some web browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, the raw RDF/XML is
automatically translated into the abbreviated RDF/XML format, which omits blank nodes. For more
information, see the RDF/XML Syntax Specification (http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax/#section-
Syntax-blank-nodes)
The raw RDF/XML and the abbreviated version are semantically identical. You can use Internet Explorer,
Mozilla Firefox, the Netcool/Impact GetHTTP function, or the Linux curl utility to retrieve the raw XML/
RDF.
Warning: If you are working with the Netcool/Impact GUI in the Mozilla Firefox browser and you
simultaneously open a second instance to view an OSLC URL, the system logs you out of the first
instance. To prevent this problem, you must create a second profile in Mozilla Firefox for viewing
OSLC URLs. For more information about how to do so, see the help section about profiles on the
Mozilla website (http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-
profiles).

Jazz for Service Management

OSLC requires Netcool/Impact and Jazz for Service Management. You use the installer that is provided
with Jazz for Service Management to install it separately.
Before you can use OSLC, you must install the Registry Service component of Jazz for
Service Management. For more information, see http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/topic/
com.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0/psc_ic-homepage.html

Introducing OSLC
Before you use OSLC for Netcool/Impact, read this information about the specifics of this implementation.
The following graphic outlines an example of a typical system architecture for OSLC:

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 181

 The installation that is illustrated in the graphic shows how Netcool/Impact uses the registry services
from Jazz for Service Management to provide hover preview support to Dashboard Application Services
Hub (DASH). DASH retrieves the list of service providers for a resource from the server where the Registry
Services component of Jazz for Service Management is installed. DASH connects to specified service
provider in the backend of Netcool/Impact where the service provider was created. The backend is
connected to the data sources and policies that provide data and generate the hover preview window
information, including the URL used to retrieve the hover preview content. The URL can be the frontend
of Netcool/Impact which uses the operator views to render the actual content inside the hover preview
window.

182 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

OSLC resources and identifiers
OSLC for Netcool/Impact follows the OSLC specifications with regards to OSLC resources and identifiers.
However, there are some important things to consider before you start working on OSLC for Netcool/
Impact.
Following the OSLC specification, the URIs generated by Netcool/Impact in OSLC documents are opaque.
The only valid URIs are those URIs that are discovered through an OSLC service provider registry or from a
previous OSLC document.
For example, if the URI for a resource that is called Person is http://<server>/person it cannot
be assumed that http://<server>/dog is the correct URI for a resource called Dog. This document
provides URIs as examples but these do not imply functioning URIs on any particular system.
All Netcool/Impact URIs use the http:// or https:// scheme.
As URIs are opaque, it follows that the http://<server>/ resource and the https://<server>/
resource are two different resources.
Although all URIs can use the http or https scheme, not all URIs can be resolved as an HTTP resource.
Where possible, the term URI is used to indicate identifiers, which may or may not resolve to a particular
document, and URLs to refer to resources which resolve to a document.
You can use HTTP or HTTPS authentication for security. If you use HTTP basic authentication, the security
credentials are available on the network as clear text. HTTPS is the preferred method as the security
credentials are not available as clear text.

OSLC roles
You use the impactAdminUser and impactOSLCDataProviderUser roles to regulate access to the
OSLC service provider.
The impactAdminUser role is assigned to your Netcool/Impact administrator, who is, in most cases, the
GUI administrator.
• To add users to roles, use the script $IMPACT_HOME/install/security/mapRoles.sh
• To add users to the impactOSLCDataProviderUser role, use the command ./mapRoles -add
-user username -roles "impactOSLCDataProviderUser"
• To add groups to the impactOSLCDataProviderUser role, use the command ./mapRoles -add
-group groupname -roles "impactOSLCDataProviderUser"

Example
You use the following command to add the oslcuser user to the impactOSLCDataProviderUser role
for a Linux operating system:

$IMPACT_HOME/install/security/mapRoles.sh -add -user oslcuser -roles

"impactOSLCDataProviderUser"

Working with data types and OSLC

You can use the following information to integrate the Netcool/Impact OSLC provider and data types.
You cannot use a display name that contains special characters with OSLC. You must enter a display name
that does not contain special characters. To edit the display name:
1. Open Netcool/Impact and Click Data Model to open the Data Model tab.
2. Click the data source that the data type belongs to.
3. Select the row that contains the display name that uses special characters and click the Edit Current
Row icon.
4. Replace the special characters in the display name and save your changes.

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 183

Accessing Netcool/Impact data types as OSLC resources
To allow Netcool/Impact to access a data type as an OSLC resource, you must add the data type to the
NCI_oslc.props file in <IMPACT_HOME>/etc/.

About this task

In this scenario, the OSLC resources that are returned by a query are Netcool/Impact data items, which
are rows from the underlying database.

Procedure
1. Add a property for each Netcool/Impact data type that you want to make available as OSLC resources
to the NCI_oslc.props file in <IMPACT_HOME>/etc/. NCI is the default name of the Impact Server.
You add the property in the following format:

oslc.data.<pathcomponent>=<datatypename>

where <pathcomponent> is the path component of the URI that you want to use, and
<datatypename> is the name of the data type you want to use.
For example, if you add the oslc.data.staff=Employees to the properties file, you can use the
following URL to access the Employees data type:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/staff

where NCI is the default Impact Server name and NCICLUSTER is the Netcool/Impact cluster name.

2. Restart the Impact Server.

Example
The following example shows how to create a data type for a DB2 table and how to add the information to
the NCI_oslc.props file.
In this example, the DB2 table has information for a table called People:

db2 => describe table People

Data type Column

Column name schema Data type name Length Scale Nulls
------------------------------- --------- ------------------- ---------- ----- ------
ID SYSIBM INTEGER 4 0 Yes
FIRST_NAME SYSIBM VARCHAR 255 0 Yes
LAST_NAME SYSIBM VARCHAR 255 0 Yes
COMPANY SYSIBM VARCHAR 255 0 Yes
BIRTHDAY SYSIBM DATE 4 0 Yes

1. Create a Netcool/Impact data type which represents the information in the DB2 table and add the
information as fields to the data type:
a. Click Data Model, to open the Data Model tab.
b. Select the data source for which you want to create a data type, right-click the data source and click
New Data Type.
c. In the Data Type Name field, give the data type a name, for example Employees.
d. Select the Data Source Name from the list menu, in this example DB2.
e. Select the Enabled check box to activate the data type so that it is available for use in policies.
f. Select the Base Table name from the list menu.
g. Click Refresh to add the fields from the DB2 example table to the data type.
h. Select at least one Key Field. Key fields are fields whose value or combination of values can be
used to identify unique data items in a data type.

184 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 i. Click Save.
2. Specify the data type in the NCI_oslc.props file, for example oscl.data.staff=Employees.
3. Restart the Impact Server.

Retrieving OSLC resources that represent Netcool/Impact data items

You use OSLC resource collections to represent Netcool/Impact data items. You use a URL to retrieve
these resource collections.

Before you begin

Use only data types that conform with standard database best practices. The key fields must be unique,
non-NULL, and they must not change over time. If the key values change, the OSLC URI also changes.
OSLC service providers are on the backend server. In a single server environment or split environment use
port 9080, or secure port 9081.

Procedure
Use a URL like the following one to retrieve the OSLC resource collections that represent the data items:

http://<server>:<port>/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/<datatype>

where <datatype> is defined in the NCI_oslc.props file.

If your entry in the NCI_oslc.props file is in this format oslc.data.<path>=<datatype_name>.
Then the URL to retrieve the OSLC resources will be in the following format:https://<server>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/<path>

Results
Netcool/Impact maps the rows in the database to OSLC resources and it maps columns to OSLC resource
properties. The URL for each data item uses the key values in the form of HTTP matrix parameters to
uniquely identify the data item. The key values are defined in the Netcool/Impact data type configuration.
For example, a data item with multiple keys would result in a URI like this one:

http://<server>:<port>/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/people/item;
<key1=value1>;<key2=value2>

Each non-NULL value in the database is represented as an RDF triple that consists of the data item, the
value, and the property that is derived from the column name. NULL values are represented in OSLC by
the absence of the property that is derived from the column name.

Example
For example, you can use the following URL to access the employee data type that is configured to use the
people path component:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/people/

The URL returns a collection of OSLC resources that are based on the rows from the database table. The
following example shows the results for two data items that belong to the employee data type:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:people="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#data/people/"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#">
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/people">
<rdfs:member>

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 185

 <people:people rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc
/data/people/item;ID=2">
<people:ID>2</people:ID>
<people:FIRST_NAME>George</people:FIRST_NAME>
<people:LAST_NAME>Friend</people:LAST_NAME>
</people:people>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<people:people rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc
/data/people/item;ID=1">
<people:FIRST_NAME>Michael</people:FIRST_NAME>
<people:LAST_NAME>Ryan</people:LAST_NAME>
<people:ID>1</people:ID>
</people:people>
</rdfs:member>
<oslc:totalCount>2</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
</rdf:RDF>

Displaying results for unique key identifier

Each resource that is returned is assigned a unique key that identifies the resource in the results and has
certain information associated with it. You can use a URL to display the information associated with a
specific identifier.

Example
You use the following URL to display the information associated with a particular resource key, in this case
1010:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/
myGetFilter/item;ID=1010

This URL returns the following results:

<rdf:RDF>
<examplePolicy:myGetFilter rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/example/myGetFilter/item;ID=1010">
<myGetFilter:NAME>Brian Doe</myGetFilter:NAME>
<myGetFilter:STARTED>1980-08-11</myGetFilter:STARTED>
<myGetFilter:MANAGER>1001</myGetFilter:MANAGER>
<myGetFilter:ID>1010</myGetFilter:ID>
<myGetFilter:DEPT>Documentation</myGetFilter:DEPT>
</examplePolicy:myGetFilter>
</rdf:RDF>

OSLC resource shapes for data types

The OSLC resource shape represents the structure of the SQL schema that the Netcool/Impact data type
is using. Netcool/Impact automatically produces an OSLC resource shape for the specified data types,
extracting the data from the underlying database table.

Table 55. Mapping to OSLC Resource Shape properties

OSLC Resource Shape parameters Maps to Netcool/Impact
dcterms:title Data type name
oslc:describes http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/
data/<pathcomponent>

Table 56. OSLC properties generated by the Netcool/Impact data type parameters
OSLC property Netcool/Impact data type
oslc:readOnly Always 'true'

186 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Table 56. OSLC properties generated by the Netcool/Impact data type parameters (continued)
OSLC property Netcool/Impact data type
oslc:valueType For more information, see the Table 57 on page
187.
dcterms:title Column display name
oslc:propertyDefinition http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/
data/<pathcomponent>#<columnname>
oslc:occurs oslc:ZeroOrOne
oslc:name Column name
dcterms:description Column description

Table 57. OSLC value type mapping:

Netcool/Impact column types OSLC value types
String http://www.w3.org/2001/
XMLSchema#string
Integer, Long http://www.w3.org/2001/
XMLSchema#integer
Date, Timestamp http://www.w3.org/2001/
XMLSchema#dateTime
Float http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#float
Double http://www.w3.org/2001/
XMLSchema#double
Boolean http://www.w3.org/2001/
XMLSchema#boolean
Anything else http://www.w3.org/2001/
XMLSchema#string

Viewing the OSLC resource shape for the data type

The OSLC resource shape for a data type is displayed in the oslc:resourceShapes property.

Example
The following example contains the OSLC resource shape for the Employees data type that was created
for a DB2 table that is called People in the abbreviated RDF format.
The resource URI is as follows:

http://<host>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resouceShapes/staff

The URI returns the following RDF:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#">
<oslc:ResourceShape rdf:about=
"http://<host>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/staff">
<dcterms:title>Employees/dcterms:title>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property>

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 187

 <oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string"/>
<dcterms:title>LAST_NAME</dcterms:title>

<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource=
"http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/data/staff/LAST_NAME"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource=
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#Exactly-one"/>
<oslc:name>LAST_NAME</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>LAST_NAME</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property>

<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#integer"/>
<dcterms:title>ID</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource=
"http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/data/staff/ID"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource=
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#Exactly-one"/>
<oslc:name>ID</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>ID</dcterms:description>

</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property>
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string"/>
<dcterms:title>FIRST_NAME</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource=
"http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/data/staff/FIRST_NAME"/>

<oslc:occurs rdf:resource=
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#Exactly-one"/>
<oslc:name>FIRST_NAME</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>FIRST_NAME</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property>
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>

<oslc:valueType rdf:resource=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string"/>
<dcterms:title>COMPANY</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource=
"http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/data/staff/COMPANY"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource=
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#Exactly-one"/>
<oslc:name>COMPANY</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>COMPANY</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>

</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property>
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime"/>
<dcterms:title>BIRTHDAY</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource=
"http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/data/staff/BIRTHDAY"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource=
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#Exactly-one"/>

<oslc:name>BIRTHDAY</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>BIRTHDAY</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:describes rdf:resource=
"http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/data/staff"/>
</oslc:ResourceShape>
</rdf:RDF>

188 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Configuring custom URIs for data types and user output parameters
Netcool/Impact can act as a proxy to non-OSLC systems. To facilitate this function, you can use Netcool/
Impact to represent data from a database as OSLC resources.

About this task

You use customized URIs to represent the data type columns. You need to add these customized URIs to
the OSLC configuration file to facilitate the mapping.
Restriction:
All the namespace URIs that you specify must include http. You cannot use https.

Procedure
Add the following statement to the NCI_oslc.props file to specify a particular Type URI for a data type:

oslc.data.<path>.uri=<uri>

Optionally, you can add the following statement to specify a column name:

oslc.data.<path>.<columnname>.uri=<uri>

You can also add the following statement to specify a particular prefix for a namespace:

oslc.data.<path>.namespaces.<prefix>=<uri>

If you do not specify a prefix, the RDF that is returned automatically shows the generated prefix for the
namespace.

Example
The following code example demonstrates how an employee table can be represented in a friend of a
friend (FOAF) specification by adding the following statements to the NCI_oslc.props file:

oslc.data.staff=Employees
oslc.data.staff.uri=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person
oslc.data.staff.NAME.uri=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name
oslc.data.staff.BIRTHDAY.uri=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/birthday
oslc.data.staff.PHOTO.uri=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/img
oslc.data.staff.STAFFPAGE.uri=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/homepage
oslc.data.staff.EMAIL.uri=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/mbox

When the user queries the OSLC resource http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/

data/staff/jdoe, the following RDF is returned.
Note: The example RDF is an approximation. Also, as the user did not specify the prefix and the
namespace, the RDF automatically shows the generated prefix for the namespace. In this example, the
namespace is j.0 and the prefix is http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:j.0="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/impact#/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"">
<j.0:Person rdf:about=
"http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/staff/jdoe"
xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/">
<j.0:name>John Doe</foaf:name>
<j.0:homepage rdf:resource="http://example.com" />
<j.0:mbox rdf:resource="[email protected]" />
<j.0:img rdf:resource="http://example.com/images/jdoe.jpg"/>
<j.0:birthday>19770801</foaf:birthday>

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 189

 </foaf:Person>
</rdf:RDF>

The following code example demonstrates how to specify a particular prefix for a namespace. First, you
specify the prefix and the namespace:

oslc.data.staff.namespaces.foaf=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/

When the user queries the OSLC resource http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/

data/staff/jdoe, the following RDF is returned.
Note: The example RDF is an approximation.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/impact#/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"">
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/staff/jdoe"
xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/">
<foaf:name>John Doe</foaf:name>
<foaf:homepage rdf:resource="http://example.com" />
<foaf:mbox rdf:resource="[email protected]" />
<foaf:img rdf:resource="/images/jdoe.jpg" />
<foaf:birthday>19770801</foaf:birthday>
</foaf:Person>
</rdf:RDF>

Working with the OSLC service provider

To allow other applications that are OSLC consumers to use OSLC data from Netcool/Impact, you must
create the OSLC service provider, register the service provider with the Registry Service provided by Jazz
for Service Management, and register the OSLC resources with the OSLC service provider.
To allow other applications that are OSLC consumers to use OSLC data from Netcool/Impact, you must
complete the following tasks:
1. Create the OSLC service provider. See “Creating OSLC service providers in Netcool/Impact” on page
191
2. Register the OSLC service provider with the Registry Service provided by Jazz for Service Management.
See “Registering OSLC service providers with Netcool/Impact” on page 192
3. Register the OSLC resources with the OSLC service provider. See “Registering OSLC resources” on page
194
The Registry Service is an integration service that is part of the Jazz for Service Management product. The
Registry Service contains two directories, the Provider registry and the Resource registry. As part of the
implementation of OSLC for Netcool/Impact, you must register the OSLC service provider and resources
with the Resource registry.
For more information about the Registry Service and Jazz for Service Management, see http://
pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/topic/com.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0/psc_ic-homepage.html.
If you are registering the OSLC resources with the Registry Service provided by Jazz
for Service Management, you need to use resources and RDF models that match the
specifications that are defined in the common resource type vocabulary (CRTV). For more
information, see the section about the common resource type vocabulary in the Registry
Services guide (https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/wikis/home?lang=en#/wiki/
W8b1151be2b42_4819_998e_f7de7db7bfa2/page/Milestone%20documentation).
The examples in this documentation use the namespace crtv. To integrate the Netcool/Impact OSLC
service provider with the Registry Service provided by Jazz for Service Management, you must use the
crtv namespace. If you do not want to integrate the OSLC service provider with the Registry Service
provided by Jazz for Service Management, you must change the namespace. For more information about

190 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 how to define a custom namespace, see “Configuring custom URIs for data types and user output
parameters” on page 189.

Creating OSLC service providers in Netcool/Impact

Before you can use Netcool/Impact to register OSLC resources with the registry service provided by Jazz
for Service Management, you must create an OSLC service provider in Netcool/Impact. To create an OSLC
service provider, update the NCI_oslc.props configuration file.

About this task

The service provider definition is based on the OSLC resource collection that it is associated with. An OSLC
resource collection can share a single provider or it can use multiple providers.
While you can use RDF policy functions to manually create the service provider, generally you use
Netcool/Impact to generate a service provider automatically.

Procedure
1. To define a service provider, add the following statement to the NCI_oslc.props configuration file:

oslc.<type>.<path>.provider=<provider_name>
oslc.provider.<provider_name>.title=<title>
oslc.provider.<provider_name>.description=<description>

For example:

oslc.data.computer=RESERVATION
oslc.data.computer.provider=provider01
...
oslc.provider.provider01.title=Customer-x Product-y OSLC Service Provider
oslc.provider.provider01.description=Customer-x Product-y OSLC Service Provider

2. OSLC resources can share an OSLC service or they can use different OSLC services. This is controlled
by the specified domain name. To specify a domain and a title for a resource, add the following
statement to the NCI_oslc.props configuration file:

oslc.<type>.<path>.provider.domain=<domain_URI>
oslc.<type>.<path>.provider.title=<title>

For example:

oslc.data.computer=RESERVATION
...
oslc.data.computer.provider=provider01
oslc.data.computer.provider.domain=http://domainx/
oslc.data.computer.provider.title=Computer Title

If you specify the same service provider and domain name for two OSLC resources, both resources
share a single OSLC service. If two resources use the same service provider but have different
domains, the resources use different OSLC services. If no domain is specified, then the system uses
the default Netcool/Impact namespace URI for this path.
3. Restart the Impact Server to implement the changes.
4. Use this URL to view the service providers:

https://<server>:9081/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/provider

The results are returned as an RDF. For example:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="https://<server>:9081/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
provider">

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 191

 <rdfs:member>
<oslc:ServiceProvider rdf:about="https://<server ip>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/provider/provider02">
<oslc:service>
<oslc:Service>
<oslc:queryCapability>
<oslc:QueryCapability>
<dcterms:title>Query Capability - http://policy.js/xmlns/
directSQL</dcterms:title>
<oslc:resourceType rdf:resource="http://policy.js/xmlns/
directSQL"/>
<oslc:resourceShape rdf:resource="https://<server ip>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/resourceShapes/testBry/myDirectSQL1"/>
<oslc:queryBase rdf:resource="https://<server ip>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/testBry/myDirectSQL1"/>
</oslc:QueryCapability>
</oslc:queryCapability>
<oslc:domain rdf:resource="http://domainy/"/>
</oslc:Service>
</oslc:service>
</oslc:ServiceProvider>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<oslc:ServiceProvider rdf:about="https://<server ip>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/provider/provider01">
<dcterms:title>Customer-x Product-y OSLC Service Provider
</dcterms:title>
<dcterms:description>Customer-x Product-y OSLC Service Provider
</dcterms:description>
<oslc:service>
<oslc:Service>
<oslc:queryCapability>
<oslc:QueryCapability>
<dcterms:title>Query Capability - http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/data/managers</dcterms:title>
<oslc:resourceType rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/
event/impact/data/managers"/>
<oslc:resourceShape rdf:resource="https://<server ip>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/managers"/>
<oslc:queryBase rdf:resource="https://<server ip>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/managers"/>
</oslc:QueryCapability>
</oslc:queryCapability>
<oslc:queryCapability>
<oslc:QueryCapability>
<dcterms:title>Managers Title</dcterms:title>
<oslc:resourceType rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/
crtv#ComputerSystem"/>
<oslc:resourceShape rdf:resource="https://<server ip>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/computer"/>
<oslc:queryBase rdf:resource="https://<server ip>:9081/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer"/>
</oslc:QueryCapability>
</oslc:queryCapability>
<oslc:domain rdf:resource="http://domainx/"/>
</oslc:Service>
</oslc:service>
</oslc:ServiceProvider>
</rdfs:member>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

Registering OSLC service providers with Netcool/Impact

To specify the registry server information in the NCI_oslc.props file, add the OSLC registry server
property to the NCI_oslc.props file.

Before you begin

Before you can specify the registry server information in the NCI_oslc.props file, you must create a
service provider. See “Creating OSLC service providers in Netcool/Impact” on page 191.

Procedure
1. Specify the registry server, user name, and password. If the registry server does not require a user
name and password, you do not need to specify them.

192 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 To specify the registry server, add the following statement to the NCI_oslc.props file:

impact.oslc.registry.server=<RegistryserverproviderregistryURL>

where <RegistryserverproviderregistryURL> is registry server provider's registry URL, for example

http://<registryserver>:<port>/oslc/pr

.
To specify a registry server user, add the following statement to the NCI_oslc.props file:

impact.oslc.registry.username=<OSLCproviderregistryserver
username>

To specify the registry server password, add the following statement to the NCI_oslc.props file:

impact.oslc.registry.password=<OSLCproviderregistryserver
password>

where <OSLCproviderregistryserverpassword> is the password for the OSLC provider registry server in
encrypted form.
To locate the encrypted form of the password, run the nci_crypt program in the impact/bin
directory. For example:

nci_crypt password
{aes}DE865CEE122E844A2823266AB339E91D

In this example, the password parameter uses the entire string,

{aes}DE865CEE122E844A2823266AB339E91D, as the password.
2. Restart Netcool/Impact to register the service providers.
After the restart, Netcool/Impact registers the service providers in the service registry. If the service
provider has been registered successfully, the resources that belong to the service provider contain a
new property, oslc:serviceProvider. The oslc:serviceProvider property is displayed when
you navigate to the URI that contains the resources associated with the provider.

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:RESERVATION="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/data/computer/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:crtv="http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#">
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<impact-server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
data/computer/item;ID=4">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00003SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://<registry-server>:16310/oslc/
providers/6015"/>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>2012-07-16</RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>Michael Morton</RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>
<RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>2013-03-06</RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>
<RESERVATION:ID>4</RESERVATION:ID>
</crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdf:RDF>

3. Register the resource with the registry server. Netcool/Impact does not automatically register
resources. See “Registering OSLC resources” on page 194.

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 193

Registering OSLC resources
Netcool/Impact does not automatically register OSLC resources with the services registry.

About this task

If you are registering the OSLC resources with the Registry Service provided by Jazz for Service
Management, you need to use resources and RDF models that match the specifications of the common
resource type vocabulary (CRTV). For more information, see the section about the common resource
type vocabulary in the Registry Services guide (http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/topic/
com.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0/psc_ic-homepage.html).
If you want to view the resource record for OSLC resources that you register with the Registry Service
provided by Jazz for Service Management, you must include the crtv namespace in the URL.

Procedure
• To register OSLC resources, you can use one of the following two methods:
– Use the RDFRegister policy function in a policy to register the resource. For more information, see
“RDFRegister” on page 198.
– Use the GetHTTP policy function to perform a HTTP POST function on the resource or list of
resource members. You must define the Method parameter as POST. You can also use the OSLC
query syntax to limit the properties that are registered as part of the resource. For more information
on the GetHTTP policy function, see the GetHTTP function in the Policy Reference Guide.

Results
After you run the policy that contains the policy function, Netcool/Impact tries to register the resource or
list of resource members included in the policy function.
Netcool/Impact also returns the response status, location header, and body text from the registry server
to the client. The location header displays the location of the resources registration record for each
resource that was registered. The body content that is contained in the response specifies the location of
each registration record for each resource that was registered.
If a single resource is registered successfully, the system displays a 201 status code (Created)
message. If multiple resources are registered successfully, the system displays a 200 status code
(OK) message.
When you register multiple resources, Netcool/Impact also returns the following headers and the
response body text from the registry server to the client:
• NextPage: If a next page of resources exists, the header contains the location URI of the next set of
resources. If no next page exists, the response does not contain this header.
• TotalCount: The total number of resources across all pages. This header is returned when you register
multiple resource.
The successful registration of an OSLC resource results in two records. A registration record is created in
the resource registry. A resource record is also created and this record is available through the resource
URI.
To view the registration records for the resource registry that is used by the Registry Service, add /rr/
registration/collection to the URI. For example:

http://example.com:16310/oslc/rr/registration/collection

To view the registered resources for a service provider, such as the Registry Service, add /rr/
collection to the Registry Service URL. For example:

http://example.com:16310/oslc/rr/collection?oslc.select=*

194 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

If the same resource is registered in two different instances because they belong to two different service
providers, two registration records are created but only a single resource record is created and it is
available through a single resource URI.
If you are integrating OSLC with the Registry Service and the OSLC resources are not displayed in this
collection, check that the resources used match the modeling guidelines and use the common resource
type vocabulary (CRTV). Also check that the resource URL contains the crtv namespace.

Single resource example

For example, consider the resource that is located at the following URL:

http://<Impactserver>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
computer/item;ID=4

This returns the following RDF:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:RESERVATION="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/
data/computer/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:crtv="http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#">
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<Impactserver>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=4">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00003SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://
<registryserver>:9080/oslc/providers/6015"/>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>2012-07-16</RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>Michael Morton</RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>
<RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>2013-03-06</RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>
<RESERVATION:ID>4</RESERVATION:ID>
</crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdf:RDF>

Use the query syntax in the URL to limit the properties to crtv:serialNumber, crtv:model,
crtv:manufacturer, and oslc:serviceProvider:

http://<Impactserver>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/
item;ID=4?oslc.properties=crtv:serialNumber,oslc:serviceProvider,
crtv:manufacturer,crtv:model

This URL returns the following RDF:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:RESERVATION="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/data/
computer/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:crtv="http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#">
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<impact-server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=4">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00003SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://<registryserver>:9080/
oslc/providers/6015"/>
</crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdf:RDF>

Use the following policy to perform a POST function on the URI of the resource. The POST function
registers the resource with the resource registry associated with the serviceProvider property that is
defined in the resource.

Log("SCR_RegisterSystems: Entering policy");

HTTPHost="impactserver";

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 195

 HTTPPort=9080;
Protocol="http";
Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=4?oslc.properties
=crtv:serialNumber,
oslc:serviceProvider,crtv:manufacturer,crtv:model";
ChannelKey="tom";
Method="GET"; //Retrieves the Systems
Method="POST"; //Registers the systems
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FilesToSend=newobject();
HeadersToSend=newobject();
HttpProperties=newobject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="password";

x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,

AuthHandlerActionTreeName,
null, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend, HttpProperties);
Log(CurrentContext());
Log("SCR_RegisterSystems: HTTP Response: " + x);

After the policy runs and the resource is registered, the location of the registration record on the Registry
Services server is detailed in the Location header.

Registering multiple resources

You can also use Netcool/Impact to register multiple resources in the resource registry.

Example
The following URL contains a set of resource members that are to be registered:

http://<Impactserver>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/

This URL returns the following RDF:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:RESERVATION="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/data/computer/"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xmlns:crtv="http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://<impact-server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/">
<rdfs:member>
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<Impactserver>:
9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=4">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00003SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://<registry-server>:9080/
oslc/providers/6015"/>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>2012-07-16</RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>Michael Morton</RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>
<RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>2013-03-06</RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>
<RESERVATION:ID>4</RESERVATION:ID>
</crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<Impactserver>
:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=3">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00002SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://
<registryserver>:9080/oslc/providers/6015"/>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>2011-02-20</RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>Sandra Burton</RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>
<RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>2013-01-30</RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>
<RESERVATION:ID>3</RESERVATION:ID>

196 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 </crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<impact-server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=0">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00001SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://
<registryserver>:9080/oslc/providers/6015"/>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>2012-08-11</RESERVATION:RESERVED_DATE>
<RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>John Lewis</RESERVATION:RESERVED_BY>
<RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>2013-04-12</RESERVATION:RELEASE_DATE>
<RESERVATION:ID>0</RESERVATION:ID>
</crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdfs:member>
</rdf:Description>
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://<impact-server>9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/?oslc.paging=true&amp;oslc.pageSize=100">
<oslc:totalCount>3</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
</rdf:RDF>

As this list contains a list of resource members, you can use the oslc.select query parameter to limit
the properties of each resource member:

http://<Impactserver>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
computer?oslc.select=crtv:serialNumber,crtv:manufacturer,crtv:model,
oslc:serviceProvider

The URL returns the following RDF:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:RESERVATION="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/data/computer/"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xmlns:crtv="http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#">
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://<Impactserver>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer?oslc.select=crtv:serialNumber,
crtv:manufacturer,crtv:model,oslc:serviceProvider&amp;
oslc.paging=true&amp;oslc.pageSize=100">
<oslc:totalCount>3</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://<Impactserver>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer?oslc.select=crtv:serialNumber,
crtv:manufacturer,crtv:model,oslc:serviceProvider">
<rdfs:member>
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<Impactserver>:
9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=4">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00003SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://<registry-server>:
9080/oslc/providers/6015"/>
</crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<Impactserver>:
9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=3">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00002SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://<registryserver>:
9080/oslc/providers/6015"/>
</crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<crtv:ComputerSystem rdf:about="http://<Impactserver>:

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 197

 9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer/item;ID=0">
<crtv:serialNumber>IBM00001SN</crtv:serialNumber>
<crtv:model>IBM Model01</crtv:model>
<crtv:manufacturer>IBM Manufacturer01</crtv:manufacturer>
<oslc:serviceProvider rdf:resource="http://<registry-server>:
9080/oslc/providers/6015"/>
</crtv:ComputerSystem>
</rdfs:member>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

Use the following policy to perform a POST function on the URI of the resources. The POST function
registers the resources with the resource registry associated with the serviceProvider property that is
defined in the resource.

Log("SCR_RegisterSystems: Entering policy");

HTTPHost="impactserver";
HTTPPort=9080;
Protocol="http";
Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer?oslc.paging
=true&oslc.pageSize=100";
ChannelKey="tom";
//Method="GET";
//Retreives the Systems Method="POST";
//Registers the Systems AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FilesToSend=newobject();
HeadersToSend=newobject();
HttpProperties=newobject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="password";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,
AuthHandlerActionTreeName, null,
FilesToSend, HeadersToSend, HttpProperties); Log(CurrentContext());
Log("SCR_RegisterSystems: HTTP Response: " + x);

If the resources are registered successfully, the system displays a message to confirm. Netcool/Impact
also returns the header, body text, and other information that is contained in the response from the
registry server to the client. The header and body text specify the location of each registration record for
each resource that was registered.

RDFRegister
You can use the RDFRegister function to help you to register service providers or OSLC resources with
the registry server.
Before you can register a service provider or resource, you must use the other RDF policy functions to
build an RDF model that meets the OSLC and Registry Services requirements.
After you build the RDF model, use the RDFRegister function to register the RDF with the resource
registry contained in the Registry Services integration service.
If the service provider or OSLC resource is registered successfully, the RDFRegister function returns
the resource location of the registration record. The following variables and their return values are also
returned to provide more information:
• ResultCode contains the result code for the response.
• HeadersReceived contains the headers received in the response.
• HeadersSent contains the headers sent in the response.
• ResponseBody contains the response body text.
If the query parameters are set in the URL and you use the RDFRegister policy function to register a
service provider, you must manually add the location of the service provider to the policy. For example:

RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject,
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#serviceProvider", serviceProviderURL, true);

198 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

If you use the query string inside the path, you must also ensure that the FormParameters parameter is
set to null. For example:

FormParameters=null;

Finally, you must ensure that the policy contains pagination information. For example:

Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/mysql1?oslc.paging=true&oslc.pageSize=100";

If unsuccessful, the return value of the resource location registration record is null. Error code information
is retuned in the ErrorReason and ResultCode variables.

Syntax
The RDFRegister function has the following syntax:

[ String =] RDFRegister(URI, Username , Password, Model)

where Username can be a null or void string to specify that no authentication is required.

Parameters
The RDFRegister function has the following parameters:

Table 58. RDFRegister function parameters

Parameter Type Description
URI String Registry Services server creation
factory URI
Username String User name for the Registry
Services server
Password String Password for the Registry
Services server
Model Model Model that contains the RDF

Example
The following example manually registers a service provider and a set of resources that have been
exposed by the OSLC server provider in Netcool/Impact.
The Registry Services server information is as follows:

RegistryServerProviderCFUri="http://<registry_services_server>:
16310/oslc/pr/collection";
RegistryServerResourceCFUri="http://<registry_services_server>:
16310/oslc/rr/registration/collection";
RegistryServerUsername="system";
RegistryServerPassword="manager";

The Netcool/Impact server information is as follows:

HTTPHost="<impact_server>";
HTTPPort=9080;
Protocol="http";
Path1="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/provider/provider01";
Path2="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer";
ChannelKey="";
Method="GET";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 199

 HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
HttpProperties.AuthenticationScheme="basic";

Get the service provider RDF from Netcool/Impact:

serviceProviderResponse=GetHTTP(HTTPHost,HTTPPort, Protocol, Path1,

ChannelKey,Method, AuthHandlerActionTreeName, null, FilesToSend,
HeadersToSend,HttpProperties);

Create an RDF model that is based on the service provider response:

serviceProviderModel=RDFParse(serviceProviderResponse)

Register the service provider in the provider registry:

serviceProviderURL = RDFRegister(RegistryServerProviderCFUri,
RegistryServerUsername, RegistryServerPassword,serviceProviderModel);
log("Provider Registry-Service Provider URL: " + serviceProviderURL);

Get all the computer system resources from Netcool/Impact:

allResources=GetHTTP(HTTPHost,HTTPPort, Protocol, Path2, ChannelKey,

Method,AuthHandlerActionTreeName, null, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);

Create an RDF model that is based on the resource response:

allResourceModel=RDFParse(allResources);

Register each computer system and a set of properties with the resource registry:

statements=RDFSelect(allResourceModel, null,
"http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#data/computer/ID", null);
size=Length(statements);
count=0;
while(count<size) {
Path3=statements[count].subject;
//Get the individual computer system resource
resourceResponse=GetHTTP(HTTPHost,HTTPPort, Protocol, Path3, ChannelKey,
Method,AuthHandlerActionTreeName, null, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);
resourceModel=RDFParse(resourceResponse);

Create a model that contains the properties and data that you want to register:

newModel=RDFModel();
manu=RDFSelect(resourceModel, null,
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#manufacturer",null);
model=RDFSelect(resourceModel, null,
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#model", null);
serial=RDFSelect(resourceModel, null,
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#serialNumber", null);
RDFModelUpdateNS(newModel, "crtv", "http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#");
RDFModelUpdateNS(newModel, "oslc","http://open-services.net/ns/core#");
RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject,
"http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type",
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#ComputerSystem", true);
RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject, manu[0].predicate, manu[0].object,
RDFNodeIsResource(manu[0].object));
RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject, model[0].predicate, model[0].object,
RDFNodeIsResource(manu[0].object));
RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject, serial[0].predicate,
serial[0].object, RDFNodeIsResource(manu[0].object));

Update the model with the service provider location:

RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject,
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#serviceProvider", serviceProviderURL, true);

Register the resource in the resource registry:

200 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 resourceURL = RDFRegister(RegistryServerResourceCFUri,
RegistryServerUsername, RegistryServerPassword, newModel);
log("Resource Registry-Resource URL: " +resourceURL);

count=count+1;
}

RDFUnRegister
To remove the registration record of a service provider or resource from the registry server, use the
RDFUnRegister function to supply the location of the registration record, the Registry Services server
username and password, and the registration record that you want to remove.
Before you can remove the registration record of a service provider, you must remove all the registration
records for the associated OSLC resources.
If successful, the RDFUnRegister function returns the message code 204 and the value true. The
following variables and their return values are also returned to provide additional information:
• ResultCode contains the result code for the response.
• HeadersReceived contains the headers received in the response.
• HeadersSent contains the headers sent in the response.
• ResponseBody contains the response body text.
If unsuccessful, the return value of the resource location registration record is false. Error code
information is returned in the ErrorReason and ResultCode variables.

Syntax
The RDFUnRegister function has the following parameters:

[ String =] RDFUnRegister(URI, Username , Password)

where Username can be a null or void string to specify that no authentication is required.

Parameters
Table 59. RDFUnRegister function parameters
Parameter Type Description
URI String Location that contains the
registration record for the
resource or service provider
Username String User name for the Registry
Services server
Password String Password for the Registry
Services server

Example of how to remove the registration of a service provider

The following example demonstrates how to remove the registration of the service provider.
The service provider location is:

http://<registryserver>:16310/oslc/providers/6577

Use the RDFUnRegister function to remove the registration. For example:

//Registry server information

ServiceProviderUri="http://<registryserver>:16310/oslc/providers/6577";

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 201

 RegistryServerUsername="system";
RegistryServerPassword="manager";
result = RDFUnRegister(ServiceProviderUri, RegistryServerUsername,
RegistryServerPassword);

Example of how to remove the registration of an OSLC resource

The following example demonstrates how to use the policy function to remove the registration of an OSLC
resource.

registrationURL = "http://oslcregistryserver.com:16310/oslc/registration/1351071987349";
providerURL = "http://oslcregistryserver.com:16310/oslc/providers/
1351071987343";
RegistryServerUsername="smadmin";
RegistryServerPassword="password";

returnString = RDFUnRegister (registrationURL, RegistryServerUsername, RegistryServerPassword);

Working with Netcool/Impact policies and OSLC

You can integrate the Netcool/Impact OSLC provider and Netcool/Impact policies.

Accessing policy output parameters as OSLC resources

To use the Netcool/Impact OSLC provider to run Netcool/Impact policies and access the results, you must
edit the NCI_oslc.props file that is in the IMPACT_HOME/etc directory.

About this task

Netcool/Impact returns two types of RDF objects, literals and resources. RDF literals contain an actual
value. RDF resources are returned as URLs that you can access to find more information about an object.

Procedure
1. To access Netcool/Impact policy results, edit the NCI_oslc.props file that is in the
IMPACT_HOME/etc directory, where NCI is the name of your Impact Server. Add the following
statement for each policy that you want to access:

oslc.policy.<pathcomponent>=<policyname>

2. Restart the Impact Server.

Example
For example, you add the following statement to the NCI_oslc.props file to access the
SNMPTableTest policy:

oslc.policy.tabletest=SNMPTableTest

Use the following URL to run the policy and return the results:

http://example.com:9080/ NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/tabletest

where NCI is the Impact Server name and NCICLUSTER is the Netcool/Impact cluster name.
When you access this URL, the policy runs and the policy output parameters are available as RDF
resources.

202 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

OSLC and variables output by policy results
Simple variables, such as string, integer, double, float, Boolean, and date/timestamp are made available
as RDF literals. More complex variables such as impact objects, arrays, and function results are displayed
as RDF resources with an RDF link that contains internal details of the variable.
This example shows the user output parameters from the Example policy. The results of this policy
contain both RDF literals and resources. The following URL triggers the policy execution and makes the
results available as OSLC resources:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/

The information is returned as:

<rdf:RDF
<examplePolicy:example rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example">
<example:myArrayStr rdf:resource="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myArrayStr"/>
<example:myObject rdf:resource="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObject"/>
<example:myObjArray rdf:resource="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObjArray"/>
<example:myGetFilter rdf:resource="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myGetFilter"/>
<example:MyAlerts rdf:resource="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/MyAlerts"/>
<example:myString>Brian</example:myString>
<example:myDouble>22.5</example:myDouble>
<example:myFloat>100.55</example:myFloat>
<example:myInteger>32</example:myInteger>
<example:myBoolean>true</example:myBoolean>
</examplePolicy:example>
</rdf:RDF>

The more complex variables in this example, such as myObject, myArrayStr, myObjArray, and
myGetFilter, are displayed as resource links. The other variables are simple variables, such as
myString, myDouble, myFloat, myInteger, and myBoolean, that are displayed as literals alongside
their values.
You use the following URL to access the resource URL used for Netcool/Impact objects, represented by
the myObject variable:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObject

The resource URL returns the results as:

<rdf:RDF>
<examplePolicy:myObject rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/example/myObject">
<myObject:bmi>24.5</myObject:bmi>
<myObject:lname>Doe</myObject:lname>
<myObject:fname>John</myObject:fname>
<myObject:age>25</myObject:age>
<oslc:totalCount>1</oslc:totalCount>
<rdf:type rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#ResponseInfo"/>
</examplePolicy:myObject>
</rdf:RDF>

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 203

 Accessing arrays of variables from policy results
To access an array of variables that are contained in a policy result in an OSLC context, you use a URL that
contains the variable name.

Before you begin

The default array prefix is oslc_pos. To change this setting, add the following definition to the
NCI_oslc.props file:

oslc.policy.<pathcomponent>.arrayprefix=<prefix>.

For example, add the following definition to the NCI_oslc.props file to change the prefix to pos for the
example path component:

oslc.policy.example.arrayprefix=pos

Procedure
To access the resource URL used for an array of objects, represented in this example by the myArrayStr
variable, use the following URL:

http://<server>:<port>/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
example/myArrayStr

Results
This URL returns the following results:

<rdf:RDF>
<examplePolicy:myArrayStr rdf:about="http://<server>:<port>/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myArrayStr">
<myArrayStr:oslc_pos_2>Hi</myArrayStr:oslc_pos_2>
<myArrayStr:oslc_pos_1>Hey</myArrayStr:oslc_pos_1>
<myArrayStr:oslc_pos_0>Hello</myArrayStr:oslc_pos_0>
<oslc:totalCount>1</oslc:totalCount>
<rdf:type rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#ResponseInfo"/>
</examplePolicy:myArrayStr>
</rdf:RDF>

If an array variable contains multiple Netcool/Impact objects, then a resource that contains a link to
multiple resources is created. Each of these resources contains a link to the actual Netcool/Impact object
in the array.

Example
Use the following URL to access the array of variables that is represented by the myObjArray variable:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObjArray/

As this array contains multiple objects, the URL returns the following results:

<rdf:RDF>
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObjArray/">
<rdfs:member>
<examplePolicy:myObjArray rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObjArray">
<myObjArray:oslc_pos_2 rdf:resource="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObjArray/oslc_pos_2"/>
<myObjArray:oslc_pos_1 rdf:resource="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObjArray/oslc_pos_1"/>
<myObjArray:oslc_pos_0 rdf:resource="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObjArray/oslc_pos_0"/>
</examplePolicy:myObjArray>
</rdfs:member>
<oslc:totalCount>1</oslc:totalCount>

204 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 </oslc:ResponseInfo>
</rdf:RDF>

If you access the URL associated with one of the Netcool/Impact objects, the following results are
returned:

<rdf:RDF>
<myObjArray:oslc_pos_1 rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myObjArray/oslc_pos_1">
<oslc_pos_1:fname>Garrett</oslc_pos_1:fname>
<oslc_pos_1:bmi>33.1</oslc_pos_1:bmi>
<oslc_pos_1:age>30</oslc_pos_1:age>
</myObjArray:oslc_pos_1>
</rdf:RDF>

Displaying the resource shapes for policy results

Resource shapes are available for any OSLC resource produced by the Netcool/Impact OSLC provider. The
resource shape defines the set of OSLC properties for a specific operation.

Procedure
To display the resource shape for any OSLC object, add resourceShapes to the URL.

Example
For example, you use the following URL to display the resource shape definition for the specified
resource:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/resourceShapes/
example/myGetFilter/item;ID=1010

This URL returns the following results which include the resource shape definition:

<rdf:RDF
<oslc:ResourceShape rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/resourceShapes/example/myGetFilter">
<dcterms:title>examplePolicy</dcterms:title>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/givenName">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string"/>
<dcterms:title>NAME</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myGetFilter/NAME"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>NAME</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>NAME</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/policy/
example/myGetFilter/STARTED">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime"/>
<dcterms:title>STARTED</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myGetFilter/STARTED"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>STARTED</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>STARTED</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/policy/
example/myGetFilter/MANAGER">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#integer"/>
<dcterms:title>MANAGER</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myGetFilter/MANAGER"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>MANAGER</oslc:name>

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 205

 <dcterms:description>MANAGER</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/policy/
example/myGetFilter/ID">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#integer"/>
<dcterms:title>ID</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myGetFilter/ID"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>ID</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>ID</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/policy/
example/myGetFilter/DEPT">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string"/>
<dcterms:title>DEPT</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myGetFilter/DEPT"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>DEPT</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>DEPT</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/policy/
example/myGetFilter/CEASED">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime"/>
<dcterms:title>CEASED</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myGetFilter/CEASED"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>CEASED</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>CEASED</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:describes rdf:resource="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Group"/>
</oslc:ResourceShape>
</rdf:RDF>

OSLC and UI data provider compatible variables for policy results

The Netcool/Impact OSLC provider and the UI data provider can remotely run a policy and make the
results available as an OSLC or UI data provider compatible resource with property values that contain the
user output parameters.

The following variable types are supported:

• String
• Integer
• Double
• Float
• Boolean
• Date/Timestamp
• Impact Object
• Long (represented as an Integer in OSLC)
Variable arrays for each of these variables are also supported. These arrays must of the same variable
type.
The variables returned by the GetByFilter and DirectSQL functions are also supported.

206 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Configuring policy settings
To use the UI data provider or OSLC with your Netcool/Impact policies, you must configure policy input or
output parameters to make the policy results compatible with the UI data provider or available as OSLC
resources. You can also enable policy actions for use with the UI data provider.

About this task

You can create either policy input parameters or policy output parameters. Policy input parameters
represent the input parameters that you define in policies. For example, you can use a policy input
parameter to pass values from one policy to another in a data mashup.
Policy output parameters represent the parameters that are output by policies. For example, the UI data
provider uses policy output parameters to visualize data from policies in the console.
You can also configure polices related to the UI data provider to be enabled for specific actions. When
the policy actions are enabled, you can right-click on an action in the widget in the console and the list of
policy actions displays. When a policy action is updated in the policy editor the list on the widget in the
console is updated automatically.

Procedure
1. Click the Polices tab. To open the Policy Settings Editor in the policy editor toolbar, click the
Configure Policy Settings icon. Create a JavaScript or an IPL policy.
2. To create a policy output parameter, click New Output Parameter:New. To create a policy input
parameter, click New Input Parameter:New.
Mandatory fields are denoted by an asterisk (*). You must enter a unique name in the Name field.
3. Define the custom schemas for the output parameters if required.
If you are using the DirectSQL policy function with OSLC, you must define the custom schema for it.
You need to create an output parameter for this policy to create a UI Data Provider policy-related
action.
If you are using DirectSQL, Impact Object, or Array of Impact Object with the UI data provider or the
chart widget, you must define the custom schema for these values.
For more information, see “Creating custom schema values for output parameters” on page 208
4. Click New to create a UI Data Provider policy-related action.
You can use this option to enable a policy action on a widget in the console (Dashboard the Dashboard
Application Services Hub) in Jazz for Service Management. For more information, see “Creating a
widget on a page in the console” on page 106.
a) In the Name field, add a name for the action.
The name that you add displays in the widget in the console when you right-click on an action in the
specified widget.
b) In the Policy Name menu, select the policy that you want the action to relate to.
c) In the Output Parameter menu, select the output parameter that will be associated with this
action, if you select the All output parameters option, the action becomes available for all output
parameters for the selected policy.
5. To enable a policy to run with an UI data provider, select the Enable policy for UI Data Provider
actions check box.
6. To enable a policy to run in with the Event Isolation and Correlation capabilities, select the Enable
Policy for Event Isolation and Correlation Actions check box.
7. To save the changes to the parameters and close the window, click OK.

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 207

 Example
This example demonstrates how to create output parameters for a policy. First, you define a simple policy,
like:

first_name = “Mark”;
zip_code = 12345;
Log(“Hello “ + first_name + “ living at “ + zip_code);

Next, define the output parameters for this policy. In this case, there are two output parameters. You
enter the following information:

Table 60. PolicyDT1 output parameter

Field User entry
Name Enter a unique name. For example, PolicyDT1.
Policy variable name first_name
Format String

Table 61. PolicyDT2 output parameter

Field User entry
Name Enter a unique name. For example, PolicyDT2
Policy variable name zip_code
Format Integer

Creating custom schema values for output parameters

When you define output parameters that use the DirectSQL, Array of Impact Object, or Impact Object
format in the user output parameters editor, you also must specify a name and a format for each field that
is contained in the DirectSQL, Array of Impact Object, or Impact Object objects.

About this task

Custom schema definitions are used by Netcool/Impact to visualize data in the console and to pass values
to the UI data provider and OSLC. You create the custom schemas and select the format that is based on
the values for each field that is contained in the object. For example, you create a policy that contains two
fields in an object:

O1.city="NY"
O1.ZIP=07002

You define the following custom schemas values for this policy:

Table 62. Custom schema values for City

Field Entry
Name City
Format String

Table 63. Custom schema values for ZIP

Field Entry
Name ZIP
Format Integer

208 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

If you use the DirectSQL policy function with the UI data provider or OSLC, you must define a custom
schema value for each DirectSQL value that you use.
If you want to use the chart widget to visualize data from an Impact object or an array of Impact objects
with the UI data provider and the console, you define custom schema values for the fields that are
contained in the objects. The custom schemas help to create descriptors for columns in the chart during
initialization. However, the custom schemas are not technically required. If you do not define values for
either of these formats, the system later rediscovers each Impact object when it creates additional fields
such as the key field. UIObjectId, or the field for the tree widget, UITreeNodeId. You do not need to
define these values for OSLC.

Procedure
1. In the Policy Settings Editor, select DirectSQL, Impact Object, or Array of Impact Object in the
Format field.

2. The system shows the Open the Schema Definition Editor icon beside the Schema Definition
field. To open the editor, click the icon.
3. You can edit an existing entry or you can create a new one. To define a new entry, click New. Enter a
name and select an appropriate format.
To edit an existing entry, click the Edit icon beside the entry that you want to edit
4. To mark an entry as a key field, select the check box in the Key Field column. You do not have to define
the key field for Impact objects or an array of Impact objects. The system uses the UIObjectId as the
key field instead.
5. To delete an entry, select the entry and click Delete.

Accessing data types output by the GetByFilter function

If you want to access the results from the GetByFilter function, you need to create output parameters
for the OSLC provider.

Procedure
1. To open the policy user parameter editor, click the Configure Policy Settings icon in the policy editor
toolbar. You can create policy input and output parameters. To open the Create a New Policy Output
Parameter window, click New.
2. Select data type as the format.
3. Enter the name of the data item to which the output of the GetByFilter function is assigned in the
Policy Variable Name field.
4. Enter the name of the data source in the Data Source Name field.
5. Enter the name of the data type in the Data Type Name field.

Example
This example demonstrates how to make the output from the GetByFilter function available to the
Netcool/Impact OSLC provider.
You create a data type called ALERTS that belongs to the defaultobjectserver data source. This data type
belongs to Netcool/OMNIbus and it points to alerts.status. The key field is Identifier. The following
four rows of data are associated with the key field:
• Event1
• Event2
• Event3
• Event4

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 209

 You create the following policy, called Test_Policy3:

MyAlerts = GetByFilter("ALERTS", "Severity > 0", false);

Next, you define the output parameters for the policy as follows:

Table 64. PolicyData1 output parameter

Field User entry
Name PolicyData1
Policy Variable Name MyAlerts
Format Datatype
Data Source Name defaultobjectserver
Data Type Name ALERTS

Accessing variables output by the DirectSQL function

To access variables output by the DirectSQL policy function, you must create DirectSQL output
parameters and format values.

About this task

If a variable is output by the DirectSQL policy function, Netcool/Impact creates an RDF resource. This
resource contains multiple properties for each defined output parameter.
Only the following simple variables are supported:
• String
• Double
• Integer
• Long
• Date/Timestamp
• Boolean
If the column names contain special characters, you must add a statement that lists these special
characters to the NCI_server.props file. For more information, see the topic about using special
characters in column names in the Troubleshooting section.
If the policies that you use to provide data to OSLC contain special characters, you must escape these
special characters. For more information, see the topic about using special characters in OSLC and UI
data provider policies in the Troubleshooting section.

Procedure
To access variables output by the DirectSQL policy function, create a DirectSQL output parameter and
define the DirectSQL values for this parameter. For a detailed description of these steps, see “Creating
custom schema values for output parameters” on page 208.

Example
This example demonstrates how to access variables output by the DirectSQL policy function. You define
the following policy which uses the DirectSQL function:

MyAlerts=DirectSQL('defaultobjectserver','select min(Serial) as min_serial,

max(Serial) as max_serial,count(Node) as num_events from alerts.status', false);

210 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Next, define the DirectSQL output parameter as outlined in the table. You do not need to enter a data
source or data type name.

Table 65. DirectSQL output parameter

Field User Entry
Name DirectSQL_OP1
Policy Variable Name DirectSQL_1
Format DirectSQL

To create the DirectSQL format values, click the DirectSQL editor icon. Define the format values as
follows:

Table 66. DirectSQL format values

Name Format Key
min_serial Double True
max_serial Float True
num_events Integer True

Use the following URI to run the policy and return the results:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/examplePolicy/MyAlerts

The results are:

<rdf:RDF
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/examplePolicy/MyAlerts">
<rdfs:member>
<examplePolicy:MyAlerts rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/examplePolicy/MyAlerts/
item;min_serial=133;num_events=12;max_serial=521">
<MyAlerts:num_events>12</MyAlerts:num_events>
<MyAlerts:min_serial>133</MyAlerts:min_serial>
<MyAlerts:max_serial>521</MyAlerts:max_serial>
</examplePolicy:MyAlerts>
</rdfs:member>
<oslc:totalCount>1</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
</rdf:RDF>

The results also contain the resource shape:

<rdf:RDF
<oslc:ResourceShape rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/resourceShapes/example/MyAlerts">
<dcterms:title>examplePolicy</dcterms:title>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/policy/
example/myDirectSQL/num_events">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#integer"/>
<dcterms:title>num_events</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myDirectSQL/num_events"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>num_events</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>num_events</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/policy/
example/myDirectSQL/min_serial">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#double"/>

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 211

 <dcterms:title>min_serial</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myDirectSQL/min_serial"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>min_serial</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>min_serial</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:property>
<oslc:Property rdf:about="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/policy/
example/myDirectSQL/max_serial">
<oslc:readOnly>true</oslc:readOnly>
<oslc:valueType rdf:resource="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#float"/>
<dcterms:title>max_serial</dcterms:title>
<oslc:propertyDefinition rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/events/
impact/policy/example/myDirectSQL/max_serial"/>
<oslc:occurs rdf:resource="http://open-services.net/ns/core#Zero-or-one"/>
<oslc:name>max_serial</oslc:name>
<dcterms:description>max_serial</dcterms:description>
</oslc:Property>
</oslc:property>
<oslc:describes rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#/
policy/example/"/>
</oslc:ResourceShape>
</rdf:RDF>

Configuring custom URIs for policy results and variables

You can assign custom URIs to policy and user output parameters or variables to create a custom
mapping. You can use this mapping to represent a resource in any domain.

About this task

Netcool/Impact supports only the one-to-one mapping of user output parameters to OSLC properties.

Procedure
1. To add a custom URI to a policy resource, add the following definition to the NCI_oslc.prop file:

oslc.policy.<pathcomponent>.uri=<uri>

2. To add a custom URI to a variable, specify the variable and the path component. As there are multiple
layers of variables, you must specify each variable until you reach the one that you want:

oslc.policy.<pathcomponent>.<variablename>.uri=<uri>
oslc.policy.<pathcomponent>.<variablename>.<variablename>
....<variablename>.uri=uri

Example
The following example demonstrates how the example policy can be represented in a Friend of a Friend
(FOAF) specification. You start by adding statements to the NCI_oslc.props file:

oslc.policy.example=examplePolicy
oslc.policy.example.namespaces.foaf=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/
oslc.policy.example.uri=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/Person
oslc.policy.example.myGetFilter.NAME.uri=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/givenName

You use this URL to query the OSLC resource:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myGetFilter

This URL returns the RDF:

Note: This example is an approximation for exemplary purposes.

<rdf:RDF
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
example/myGetFilter">
<rdfs:member>

212 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 <j.0:Person rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
example/myGetFilter/item;ID=1012">
<j.0:givenName>Kevin Doe</j.0:givenName>
<myGetFilter:STARTED>1976-07-06</myGetFilter:STARTED>
<myGetFilter:MANAGER>1001</myGetFilter:MANAGER>
<myGetFilter:ID>1012</myGetFilter:ID>
<myGetFilter:DEPT>Documentation</myGetFilter:DEPT>
</j.0:Person>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<j.0:Person rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
example/myGetFilter/item;ID=1010">
<j.0:givenName>Brian Doe</j.0:givenName>
<myGetFilter:STARTED>1980-08-11</myGetFilter:STARTED>
<myGetFilter:MANAGER>1001</myGetFilter:MANAGER>
<myGetFilter:ID>1010</myGetFilter:ID>
<myGetFilter:DEPT>Documentation</myGetFilter:DEPT>
</j.0:Person>
</rdfs:member>
<oslc:totalCount>2</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
</rdf:RDF>

The user has not defined the prefix and namespace in this example. In this case, the RDF shows the
automatically generated prefix for the namespace j.0 for http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/.
You specify a prefix for a namespace in this format:

oslc.policy.<path>.namespaces.<prefix>=<uri>

For this example, you add this statement:

oslc.policy.example.namespaces.foaf=http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/

When you use the following URL to query the OSLC resource, the RDF is produced with the prefix specified
by you:

http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/example/myGetFilter

This URL returns as:

<rdf:RDF
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
example/myGetFilter">
<rdfs:member>
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
example/myGetFilter/item;ID=1012">
<foaf:givenName>Kevin Doe</foaf:givenName>
<myGetFilter:STARTED>1976-07-06</myGetFilter:STARTED>
<myGetFilter:MANAGER>1001</myGetFilter:MANAGER>
<myGetFilter:ID>1012</myGetFilter:ID>
<myGetFilter:DEPT>Documentation</myGetFilter:DEPT>
</foaf:Person>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
example/myGetFilter/item;ID=1010">
<foaf:givenName>Brian Doe</foaf:givenName>
<myGetFilter:STARTED>1980-08-11</myGetFilter:STARTED>
<myGetFilter:MANAGER>1001</myGetFilter:MANAGER>
<myGetFilter:ID>1010</myGetFilter:ID>
<myGetFilter:DEPT>Documentation</myGetFilter:DEPT>
</foaf:Person>
</rdfs:member>
<oslc:totalCount>2</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
</rdf:RDF>

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 213

Passing argument values to a policy
You can use URL query strings to pass argument values in the form of a string to a policy. You can access
these values by creating a policy output parameter for each of the arguments.

Procedure
Use the following URL to pass argument values to a policy:
<path name> is the value defined in the NCI_oslc.props file for example

oslc.data.<path name>=<datatype_name>

http://<host>:<port>/NCI_NCICLUSTER_oslc/policy/
<path name>?arg1=<value>&arg2=<value>

Restriction: Unusually long URLs can cause issues. This depends on the browser and the Liberty Core
settings. To avoid these issues, limit the size of the values of the variables that are passed through the
query string.

Results
After you access this URL, the policy runs. If you do not define any policy output parameters, the policy
parameters are available as properties within an OSLC resource.

Example
For example, you use the following URL to pass the variable arg1 with the string value table1 to the
policy defined in the tableset path:

http://example.com:9080/NCI_NCICLUSTER_oslc/policy/tableset?arg1=table1

Configuring hover previews for OSLC resources

You can enable hover previews for OSLC resources. You can configure a title and other aspects of the
hover preview like the size of the window.

About this task

For more information about using hover previews for OSLC, see Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration
Core Specification Version 2.0 UI Preview (http://open-services.net/bin/view/Main/OslcCoreUiPreview)
For hover preview to work in the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub Dash, you might need to
disable the Blocked loading mixed active content security feature in the browser.
If you are using Netcool/Impact operator views as your display document, then Single Sign On must be
configured or authentication security for operator views needs to be disabled. See Security, Single Sign on
in the Administration section for more information.
To enable UI (hover) preview in a widget, the data set must include a column, OslcResourceURI,
which contains the Netcool/Impact source record URI. The source record URI is used to query the
Resource Registry in the Dashboard Application Services Hub that contains the previews for the listed
resource. For more information see, http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSEKCU_1.1.0.2/
com.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0.2/tip_original/dash_t_twl_uipreview_resource_reg.html

Procedure
To configure hover previews, add a set of properties for each OSLC resource to the NCI_oslc.props file.
You can use any combination of these properties. Some of these properties only display if the document
or icon parameter exists in the OSLC resource. For a detailed description of these properties, see “Hover
preview properties for OSLC resources” on page 216. To use hover preview (UI Preview) with Dash, you
should specify both smallPreview and largePreview properties.

214 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Results
Each set of properties that you define for an OSLC resource generates a compact XML representation
of the hover preview. This compact XML is used to help generate the content for the hover preview
window in other applications. Each set of properties can contain variables. When the XML is generated,
the variables are replaced with property values from the OSLC resource in the following format:

$<prefixnamespace>:<propertyname>

For example:

$RESERVATION:HOSTNAME
$RESERVATION:ID

To view all the possible variables for an OSLC resource, use the OSLC resource URI to view the full XML
representation.
If a resource does not exist or an error occurs, the system displays an error code 400 and a message that
explains the issue.
If the resource does not support hover previews, for example if the resource contains rdfs:member lists,
the system displays a 406 Not Acceptable error code.
If no hover preview parameters are defined for the resource, the system displays a compact XML that
contains no parameters other than those parameters about the URI.
If you design a third party hover preview consumer like TBSM, you can add application/x-oslc-
compact+xml to the URL as an HTTP Accept header to display the hover preview compact XML
document in the response.

Example
The following example demonstrates how to configure the hover preview for an OSLC resource that is
based on a database table called RESERVATION. The following hover preview settings are defined in the
NCI_oslc.props file:

oslc.data.computer=RESERVATION
oslc.data.computer.uri=http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#ComputerSystem
oslc.data.computer.MODEL.uri=http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#model
oslc.data.computer.MANUFACTURER.uri=http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#manufacturer
oslc.data.computer.SERIALNUMBER.uri=http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#serialNumber
oslc.data.computer.namespaces.crtv=http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#
oslc.data.computer.provider=provider01
oslc.data.computer.provider.domain=http://domainx/
oslc.data.computer.preview.title=
Computer Reservation System - $RESERVATION:HOSTNAME
oslc.data.computer.preview.shortTitle=Reservation
oslc.data.computer.preview.largePreview.document=
https://<impactserver>:16311/opview/displays/NCICLUSTER-Reservations.html?
id=$RESERVATION:ID
oslc.data.computer.preview.largePreview.hintWidth=31.250em
oslc.data.computer.preview.largePreview.hintHeight=21.875em
oslc.data.computer.preview.smallPreview.document=https:
//<impactserver>:16311/opview/displays/NCICLUSTER-Reservations.html?id=
$RESERVATION:ID
oslc.data.computer.preview.smallPreview.hintWidth=31.250em
oslc.data.computer.preview.smallPreview.hintHeight=21.875em

Next, derive the hover preview content. In this example, use a Netcool/Impact operator. In this case, two
variables are generated in the compact XML:

$RESERVATION:HOSTNAME
$RESERVATION:ID

These variables are converted into the property values based on data from the OSLC resource:

$RESERVATION:HOSTNAME = mycomputer.ibm.com
$RESERVATION:ID = 4

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 215

 When you use an HTTP GET method on the resource URL with the application/x-oslc-
compact+xml HTTP Accept header, the following RDF is returned:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#">
<oslc:Compact rdf:about="http://example.com:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
computer/item;ID=4">
<dcterms:title>Computer Reservation System - mycomputer.ibm.com</dcterms:title>
<oslc:shortTitle>Reservation</oslc:shortTitle>
<oslc:largePreview>
<oslc:Preview>
<oslc:hintWidth>31.250em</oslc:hintWidth>
<oslc:hintHeight>21.875em</oslc:hintHeight>
<oslc:document rdf:resource=
"https://<impact-server>:16311/opview/displays/NCICLUSTER-Reservations.html?id=4"/>
</oslc:Preview>
</oslc:largePreview>
<oslc:smallPreview>
<oslc:Preview>
<oslc:hintWidth>31.250em</oslc:hintWidth>
<oslc:hintHeight>21.875em</oslc:hintHeight>
<oslc:document rdf:resource=
"https://<impact-server>:16311/opview/displays/NCICLUSTER-Reservations.html?id=4"/>
</oslc:Preview>
</oslc:smallPreview>
</oslc:Compact>
</rdf:RDF>

Hover preview properties for OSLC resources

To configure hover previews, add the parameters that are listed in the tables to the NCI_oslc.props file.
Some of these parameters only display if the document or icon parameter exists in the OSLC resource

Table 67. Hover preview parameters

Statement Description
where <longtitle> specifies the long title string that
oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.title =
<longtitle> is used for the hover preview.

where <shorttitle> specifies the short title string

oslc.<type>.
<path>.preview.shortTitle that is used for the hover preview.
= <shorttitle>
In an example implementation with the Dashboard
Application Service Hub (DASH), this statement
supplies the tab name for the hover preview.

where <URIof16x16image> specifies the URI for a

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.icon =
<URIof16x16image> 16x16 image.

where <PreviewdocumentURI> specifies the URI

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.largePreview.
document = <PreviewdocumentURI> used for the HTML preview document.

where <PreviewdocumentURI> specifies the URI

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.smallPreview.
document = <PreviewdocumentURI> for the HTML preview document.
In an example implementation with the Dashboard
Application Service Hub (DASH), this statement
specifies the content rendered inside the hover
preview.

216 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Table 68. Hover preview parameters for icon parameter
Statement Description
where <Icontitle> specifies the title that is used for
oslc.<type>.
<path>.preview. the icon.
iconTitle = <Icontitle>

where <Alternativeicontitle> specifies an

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.iconAltLabel
= <Alternativelabel> alternative label for the icon.

Table 69. Hover preview parameters for document parameter

Statement Description
where <Previewwindowwidth> specifies the width
oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.largePreview.
hintWidth = of the preview window. For example, 31.250 em.
<Previewwindowwidth>

where <Previewwindowheight> specifies the height

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.largePreview.
hintHeight = of the preview window. For example, 21.785 em.
<Previewwindowheight>

where <Previewwindowinitialheight> specifies the

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.largePreview.
initialHeight = height of the preview window when it first displays.
<Previewwindowinitialheight> For example, 21.785 em.

where <Previewwindowwidth> specifies the width

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.smallPreview.
hintWidth = of the small preview window. For example, 31.250
<Previewwindowwidth> em.
In an example implementation with the Dashboard
Application Service Hub (DASH), this statement
specifies the width of the hover preview window.

where <Previewwindowheight> specifies the height

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.smallPreview.
hintHeight = of the small preview window. For example, 21.785
<Previewwindowheight> em.
In an example implementation with the Dashboard
Application Service Hub (DASH), this statement
specifies the height of the hover preview window.

where <Previewwindowinitialheight> specifies the

oslc.<type>.<path>.preview.smallPreview.
initialHeight = height of the small preview window when it first
<Previewwindowinitialheight> displays. For example, 21.785 em.

where <type> is the OSLC resource type. It can be either a data or policy.
<path> is the OSLC resource path.

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 217

Example scenario: Using OSLC with Netcool/Impact policies
Read this example scenario to get an overview of how you can use Netcool/Impact policies to create
OSLC service providers and resources, and register the provider and resources with the Registry Services
component of Jazz for Service Management.

Before you begin

Before you can use OSLC, you must install the Registry Services component of Jazz for
Service Management. For more information, seehttp://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/topic/
com.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0/psc_ic-homepage.html.

About this task

The Registry Services component of Jazz for Service Management includes two registries, the resource
registry and the provider registry. This example first demonstrates how to create a service provider and
register it with the provider registry. The second step creates an OSLC resource and registers it with the
resource registry.

Procedure
1. Create a Netcool/Impact policy that creates a service provider and registers it in the provider registry
that is part of the Registry Services component of Jazz for Service Management:
a. Define the server information for the server where the Registry Services component of Jazz for
Service Management is installed:

RegistryServerProviderCFUri="http://<registry_server>:16310/oslc/pr/collection";
RegistryServerUsername="<user>";
RegistryServerPassword="<password>";

b. Define the service provider information for example:

Log(CurrentContext());
dsTitle = "Customer-x Product-y OSLC Service Provider";
dsDescription = "Customer-x Product-y OSLC Service Provider";
provider = "http://<URL>/<myProvider>";
domain = "http://<Domain>/";

For example

provider = "http://<impact-server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/provider/provider01";
domain = "http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#";

c. Use the RDFModel policy function to create the service provider RDF model:

serviceProviderModel = RDFModel();

d. Update the namespace definitions:

RDFModelUpdateNS(serviceProviderModel, "oslc","http://open-services.net/ns/core#");
RDFModelUpdateNS(serviceProviderModel, "dcterms","http://purl.org/dc/terms/");

e. Create the RDF statements and add them to the model:

RDFStatement(serviceProviderModel, provider, "http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-

ns#type",
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#ServiceProvider", true);
RDFStatement(serviceProviderModel, provider, "http://purl.org/dc/terms/title", dsTitle,
false);
RDFStatement(serviceProviderModel, provider, "http://purl.org/dc/terms/description",
dsDescription, false);
serviceStmt=RDFStatement(serviceProviderModel, null, "http://www.w3.org/1999/
02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type", "http://open-services.net/ns/core#Service", true);
RDFStatement(serviceProviderModel, serviceStmt.getSubject, "http://open-services.net/ns/
core#domain", domain, true);
RDFStatement(serviceProviderModel, provider, "http://open-services.net/ns/core#service",
serviceStmt.getSubject, true);

218 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 log("---------Service Provider RDF---------");
log(RDFModelToString(serviceProviderModel, "RDF/XML-ABBREV"));

f. Use the RDFRegister policy function to register the service provider in the provider registry.

serviceProviderURL = RDFRegister(RegistryServerProviderCFUri, RegistryServerUsername,

RegistryServerPassword, serviceProviderModel);
log("Registered service provider: " + serviceProviderURL);

2. Create and register an OSLC resource in the resource registry:

a. Define the server information for the resource registry:

RegistryServerResourceCFUri="http://<registry_server>:16310/oslc/rr/
registration/collection";
RegistryServerUsername="<user>";
RegistryServerPassword="<password>";

b. Define the OSLC resource, in this example it represents a computer system:

computerSystem = "http://<OSLC_resource_URL>/mySystemX";
name = "mySystemX";
manufacturer = "VMware";
serialNumber = "422ABA0619B0DE94B02E40870D6462AF";
model = "VMWAREVIRTUALPLATFORM";

The service provider is located at the following URL. You can retrieve this URL after you register the
service provider:
"http://<registry_server>:16310/oslc/providers/1358241368487"

c. Create the RDF model that represents the computer system:

computerSystemModel = RDFModel();
RDFModelUpdateNS(computerSystemModel, "crtv", "http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#");
RDFModelUpdateNS(computerSystemModel, "oslc","http://open-services.net/ns/core#");

RDFStatement(computerSystemModel, computerSystem, "http://www.w3.org/1999/02/

22-rdf-syntax-ns#type",
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#ComputerSystem", true);
RDFStatement(computerSystemModel, computerSystem, "http://open-services.net/
ns/crtv#name", name, false);
RDFStatement(computerSystemModel, computerSystem, "http://open-services.net/
ns/crtv#model", model, false);
RDFStatement(computerSystemModel, computerSystem, "http://open-services.net/
ns/crtv#manufacturer", manufacturer, false);
RDFStatement(computerSystemModel, computerSystem, "http://open-services.net/
ns/crtv#serialNumber", serialNumber, false);
RDFStatement(computerSystemModel, computerSystem, "http://open-services.net/
ns/core#serviceProvider", serviceProviderURL , true);

log("---------Computer System RDF---------");

log(RDFModelToString(computerSystemModel, "RDF/XML-ABBREV"));

d. Register the computer system in the resource registry.

registrationRecordURL = RDFRegister(RegistryServerResourceCFUri, RegistryServerUsername,

RegistryServerPassword, computerSystemModel);
log("Registered service provider: " + registrationRecordURL);

OSLC reference topics

Read the following reference information for OSLC.

OSLC urls
You use the following URLs to access OSLC data.
Access data items
http://<server>:<port>/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/<datatype>/

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 219

 Retrieve the OSLC resource shape for the data type
http://<server>:<port>/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/<datatype>
Run policy and return the results
http://<server>:<port>/NCI_NCICLUSTER_oslc/policy/<policyname>
Access array of variables from policy results
http://<server>:<port>/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/<policyname>/
<variablearray>
Display results for a unique key identifier:
http://<server>:<port>/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/<policyname>/
<function>item;ID=<uniquekeyidentifier>

OSLC pagination
The Netcool/Impact OSLC provider supports pagination to make the retrieval of large amounts of data
easier and more efficient.
Pagination is enabled by default for data items and policies whose variables contain data items. To
manually configure pagination, add the following query parameters to the URL:

?oslc.paging=true&oslc.page=<pagenumber>&oslc.pageSize=<pagesize>

• oslc.paging=true enables pagination. This setting is enabled by default. To disable pagination, use
oslc_paging=false.
• oslc.page=<pagenumber> is the page number. This property is set to page 1 by default.
• oslc.pageSize=<pagesize> is the page size. This property is set to 100 by default.
Administrators can add the following statement to the NCI_server.props configuration file to set the
default limit for the page size:

impact.oslc.pagesize=<pagesize>

If this property is not defined, it is set to 100 by default.

If the page size in the URL is greater than the limit that is defined in the NCI_server.props
configuration file, the size is limited to that set in the NCI_server.props configuration file.
You can also add the oslc_paging=false property to the URL to disable pagination. If this property is
set, the entire result set is returned. If any additional pagination properties are defined, these properties
are ignored. If you disable pagination and you also enable large data model support, this can have an
adverse affect on performance.

Response information
Two properties are added to the response information: oslc:nextPage and oslc:totalCount.
The oslc:nextPage property is not returned when there is no next page. If the page size of the result is
smaller than the specified page size property, no next page property is returned.
The oslc:totalCount property gives the total count information across all the pages.

Example
For example, the following URL represents the alert variables that belong to the GetByFilter function
events:

http://example.com:16310/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/events/alerts?
oslc.paging=true&oslc.page=2&oslc.pageSize=25

In the URL, pagination is enabled. The variable results are contained in page two. The page size is limited
to 25.

220 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Support for OSLC query syntax
Netcool/Impact supports a version of the query syntax for OSLC. The implementation in Netcool/Impact
supports the oslc.properties and oslc.select query parameters.
Both query parameters have very similar functionality. The only difference is the meaning of the
identifiers. If the identifiers belong to the starting subject resource, use oslc.properties. If the
identifiers belong to a member list for a resource, use oslc.select.
For more information about the query syntax for OSLC, see the Open Services for Lifecycle
Collaboration Core Specification Version 2.0 specification (http://open-services.net/bin/view/Main/
OslcCoreSpecification)

oslc.properties query parameter

Use the oslc.properties query parameter to display the properties for an individual resource URI that
does not contain any rdfs:member lists
If the identifiers that you want to limit the properties of belong to the starting subject, use the
oslc.properties query parameter to limit the properties that are returned by the identifiers.

Example
To display properties for an individual resource URI that contains no rdfs:member list, use the
oslc.properties query parameter:

http://<server>:16310/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/staff/item;
FNAME=%27Todd%27;LNAME=%27Bishop%27?oslc.properties=foaf:lastName,
foaf:firstName

The URI returns the following information:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:EMPLOYEES="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/data/staff/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#"
xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/">
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://<server>:16310/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff/item;FNAME=&apos;Todd&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Bishop&apos;">
<foaf:lastName>Bishop</foaf:lastName>
<foaf:firstName>Todd</foaf:firstName>
</foaf:Person>
</rdf:RDF>

oslc.select query parameter

If the identifiers that you want to limit the properties of belong to a member list for a resource, use the
oslc.select query parameter.
Use oslc.select to complete the following tasks:
• Limit the properties of a member list that belongs to an OSLC resource. For example, to limit the
properties of a member list that belongs to an OSLC resource that is generated from a data item.
• Display an OSLC resource that contains rdfs:member lists. For example, to display the results of a
policy function variable.

Data items example

If you query a URL that contains a list of resources that belong to a database table, the system
returns a rdfs:member list for each row. For example, to query the staff data type and to limit the

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 221

 properties that are contained in the list to the foaf:lastName and foaf:firstName properties, use
the oslc.select query parameter:

http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff?oslc.select=foaf:lastName,foaf:firstName

This URL returns only the rdfs:member lists that contain the foaf:lastName and foaf:firstName
properties:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xmlns:EMPLOYEES="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/data/staff/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#"
xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/">
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff?oslc.select=foaf:lastName,foaf:firstName&amp;
oslc.paging=true&amp;oslc.pageSize=100">
<oslc:totalCount>5</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff?oslc.select=foaf:lastName,foaf:firstName">
<rdfs:member>
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff/item;FNAME=&apos;Mika&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Masion&apos;">
<foaf:lastName>Masion</foaf:lastName>
<foaf:firstName>Mika</foaf:firstName>
</foaf:Person>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff/item;FNAME=&apos;Kevin&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Doe&apos;">
<foaf:lastName>Doe</foaf:lastName>
<foaf:firstName>Kevin</foaf:firstName>
</foaf:Person>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff/item;FNAME=&apos;Todd&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Bishop&apos;">
<foaf:lastName>Bishop</foaf:lastName>
<foaf:firstName>Todd</foaf:firstName>
</foaf:Person>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff/item;FNAME=&apos;Miriam&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Masters&apos;">
<foaf:lastName>Masters</foaf:lastName>
<foaf:firstName>Miriam</foaf:firstName>
</foaf:Person>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<foaf:Person rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/
staff/item;FNAME=&apos;Brian&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Doe&apos;">
<foaf:lastName>Doe</foaf:lastName>
<foaf:firstName>Brian</foaf:firstName>
</foaf:Person>
</rdfs:member>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

Policy variable example

If the starting resource contains the member lists, use the oslc.select query parameter. For example,
if the resource contains a policy variable such as MyDirectSQL, use oslc.select:

http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myDirectSQL2?
oslc.select=myDirectSQL2:num_events

This URL returns the following information:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"

222 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xmlns:direct="http://policy.js/xmlns/directSQL/"
xmlns:test_ipl="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/ipl/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:myDirectSQL2="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#policy/
ipl/myDirectSQL2/"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#"
xmlns:javascript="http://policy.js/xmlns/">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/ipl/myDirectSQL2?
<oslc.select=myDirectSQL2:num_events">
<rdfs:member>
<test_ipl:myDirectSQL2 rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/ipl/
myDirectSQL2/item;min_serial=165248;num_events=928;max_serial=387781">
<myDirectSQL2:num_events>928</myDirectSQL2:num_events>
</test_ipl:myDirectSQL2>
</rdfs:member>
</rdf:Description>
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
ipl/myDirectSQL2?
<oslc.select=myDirectSQL2:num_events&oslc.paging=true&oslc.pageSize=100">
<oslc:totalCount>1</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
</rdf:RDF>

Nested variables and wildcard queries

Use wildcard queries to display nested variables.
To display all variables and their nested values, use the following statement:

oslc.properties=*

To display all the variables, their nested values, and the policy functions, use the following statement:

oslc.properties=*&oslc.select=*

Example
For example, you define a policy and you want to use the following URL to access it:

http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl

The URL returns the following information:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:direct="http://policy.js/xmlns/directSQL/"
xmlns:test_ipl="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/ipl/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#"
xmlns:javascript="http://policy.js/xmlns/">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl">
<test_ipl:myTimestamp>20120818</test_ipl:myTimestamp>
<test_ipl:myString>test_ipl</test_ipl:myString>
<test_ipl:myInteger>55</test_ipl:myInteger>
<test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray rdf:resource="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObjectArray"/>
<test_ipl:myImpactObject1 rdf:resource="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObject1"/>
<test_ipl:myDouble>109.5</test_ipl:myDouble>
<rdf:type rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/ipl/"/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

This example contains several RDF literals such as myTimestamp, myString, and myInteger. It also
contains the myImpactObjectArray RDF resource.

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 223

 Use the following URL to show all the variables and their nested values:

http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
ipl?oslc.properties=*

This returns the following information:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:myImpactObjectArray="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObjectArray/"
xmlns:myImpactObject1="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObject1/"
xmlns:direct="http://policy.js/xmlns/directSQL/"
xmlns:test_ipl="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/ipl/"
xmlns:oslc_pos_2="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_2/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:oslc_pos_1="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_1/"
xmlns:oslc_pos_0="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_0/"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#"
xmlns:javascript="http://policy.js/xmlns/">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl">
<test_ipl:myTimestamp>20120818</test_ipl:myTimestamp>
<test_ipl:myString>test_ipl</test_ipl:myString>
<test_ipl:myInteger>55</test_ipl:myInteger>
<test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray>
<test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObjectArray">
<myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_2>
<myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_2 rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_2">
<oslc_pos_2:lname>Doe</oslc_pos_2:lname>
<oslc_pos_2:fname>Kevin</oslc_pos_2:fname>
<oslc_pos_2:email>[email protected]</oslc_pos_2:email>
<oslc_pos_2:birthday>1973-01-22</oslc_pos_2:birthday>
</myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_2>
</myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_2>
<myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_1>
<myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_1 rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_1">
<oslc_pos_1:lname>Doe</oslc_pos_1:lname>
<oslc_pos_1:fname>Danny</oslc_pos_1:fname>
<oslc_pos_1:email>[email protected]</oslc_pos_1:email>
<oslc_pos_1:birthday>1976-05-12</oslc_pos_1:birthday>
</myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_1>
</myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_1>
<myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_0>
<myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_0 rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_0">
<oslc_pos_0:lname>Doe</oslc_pos_0:lname>
<oslc_pos_0:fname>John</oslc_pos_0:fname>
<oslc_pos_0:email>[email protected]</oslc_pos_0:email>
<oslc_pos_0:birthday>1980-08-11</oslc_pos_0:birthday>
</myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_0>
</myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_0>
</test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray>
</test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray>
<test_ipl:myImpactObject1>
<test_ipl:myImpactObject1 rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObject1">
<myImpactObject1:lname>Doe</myImpactObject1:lname>
<myImpactObject1:fname>John</myImpactObject1:fname>
<myImpactObject1:email>[email protected]</myImpactObject1:email>
<myImpactObject1:birthday>1980-08-11</myImpactObject1:birthday>
</test_ipl:myImpactObject1>
</test_ipl:myImpactObject1>
<test_ipl:myDouble>109.5</test_ipl:myDouble>
<rdf:type rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/ipl/"/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

Notice that the myImpactObjectArray array is expanded to show each ImpactObject that it contains
and the property values for each of the ImpactObjects.

224 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

To obtain a specific property value for one of the resources, use a URL that specifies the nested
properties. For example:

http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl?oslc.
properties=test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray{myImpactObjectArray:
oslc_pos_0{oslc_pos_0:lname,oslc_pos_0:fname}}

This URL returns the following information:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:myImpactObjectArray="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObjectArray/"
xmlns:myImpactObject1="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObject1/"
xmlns:direct="http://policy.js/xmlns/directSQL/"
xmlns:test_ipl="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/ipl/"
xmlns:oslc_pos_2="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_2/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:oslc_pos_1="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_1/"
xmlns:oslc_pos_0="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_0/"
xmlns:tivoli-impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#"
xmlns:javascript="http://policy.js/xmlns/">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/ipl">
<test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray>
<test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObjectArray">
<myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_0>
<myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_0 rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/
NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myImpactObjectArray/oslc_pos_0">
<oslc_pos_0:lname>Doe</oslc_pos_0:lname>
<oslc_pos_0:fname>John</oslc_pos_0:fname>
</myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_0>
</myImpactObjectArray:oslc_pos_0>
</test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray>
</test_ipl:myImpactObjectArray>
<rdf:type rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/"/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

To obtain resources that contain member lists, like the member lists contained in the results of the
DirectSQL and GetByFilter policy functions, use a combination of the oslc.properties and the
oslc.select query parameters. For example:

http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/
ipl?oslc.properties=*&oslc.select=test_ipl:myGetByFilter
{myGetByFilter:LNAME,myGetByFilter:FNAME}

This URL returns the following RDF:

<rdf:RDF
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
xmlns:myGetByFilter="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/
ipl/myGetByFilter/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:rdfs="http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#"
xmlns:direct="http://policy.js/xmlns/directSQL/"
xmlns:test_ipl="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact/policy/ipl/"
xmlns:oslc="http://open-services.net/ns/core#"
xmlns:impact="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#"
xmlns:javascript="http://policy.js/xmlns/">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/ipl">
<test_ipl:myTimestamp>20120818</test_ipl:myTimestamp>
<test_ipl:myString>test_ipl</test_ipl:myString>
<test_ipl:myInteger>55</test_ipl:myInteger>
<test_ipl:myGetByFilter>
<test_ipl:myGetByFilter
rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myGetByFilter">
<rdfs:member>

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 225

 <test_ipl:myGetByFilter
rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myGetByFilter/
item;FNAME=&apos;Mika&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Masion&apos;">
<myGetByFilter:LNAME>Masion</myGetByFilter:LNAME>
<myGetByFilter:FNAME>Mika</myGetByFilter:FNAME>
</test_ipl:myGetByFilter>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<test_ipl:myGetByFilter
rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myGetByFilter/
item;FNAME=&apos;Kevin&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Doe&apos;">
<myGetByFilter:LNAME>Doe</myGetByFilter:LNAME>
<myGetByFilter:FNAME>Kevin</myGetByFilter:FNAME>
</test_ipl:myGetByFilter>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<test_ipl:myGetByFilter
rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myGetByFilter/
item;FNAME=&apos;Todd&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Bishop&apos;">
<myGetByFilter:LNAME>Bishop</myGetByFilter:LNAME>
<myGetByFilter:FNAME>Todd</myGetByFilter:FNAME>
</test_ipl:myGetByFilter>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<test_ipl:myGetByFilter
rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myGetByFilter/
item;FNAME=&apos;Miriam&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Masters&apos;">
<myGetByFilter:LNAME>Masters</myGetByFilter:LNAME>
<myGetByFilter:FNAME>Miriam</myGetByFilter:FNAME>
</test_ipl:myGetByFilter>
</rdfs:member>
<rdfs:member>
<test_ipl:myGetByFilter
rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/policy/ipl/myGetByFilter/
item;FNAME=&apos;Brian&apos;;LNAME=&apos;Doe&apos;">
<myGetByFilter:LNAME>Doe</myGetByFilter:LNAME>
<myGetByFilter:FNAME>Brian</myGetByFilter:FNAME>
</test_ipl:myGetByFilter>
</rdfs:member>
<oslc:ResponseInfo>
<oslc:ResponseInfo rdf:about="http://<server>:9080/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/
policy/ipl/myGetByFilter<oslc.paging=true&oslc.pageSize=100">
<oslc:totalCount>5</oslc:totalCount>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
</oslc:ResponseInfo>
</test_ipl:myGetByFilter>
</test_ipl:myGetByFilter>
<test_ipl:myDouble>109.5</test_ipl:myDouble>
<rdf:type rdf:resource="http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#
policy/ipl/"/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

RDF functions
You can use RDF functions to make Netcool/Impact compatible with open services for lifecycle
collaboration (OSLC).

RDFModel
You can use the RDFModel function to create an RDF model without any input parameters.
To create an empty RDF model, you call the RDFModel function without entering any input parameters.
The function returns an empty RDF model.

Syntax
The RDFModel function has the following syntax:

[Model =] RDFModel()

226 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Parameters
The RDFModel function has no input parameters.

RDFModelToString
You can use the RDFModelToString function to export an RDF model to a string in a particular language.
When you create or write an RDF model, you can use the RDFModelToString function to export a model
to a string in a particular language. You can define a model object and a string that contains the language
that is used as input parameters. If the language string is null or an empty string, the default language
RDF/XML is used. The following language strings are supported:
• RDF/XML
• RDF/XML-ABBREV
• TURTLE
• TTL
• N3
RDFModelToString returns a string

Syntax
The RDFModelToString function has the following syntax:

[String =] RDFModelToString (Model, Language)

Parameters
The RDFModelToString function has the following parameters:

Table 70. RDFModelToString function parameters.

Parameter Type Description
Model Model Model object to output
Language String Language type

The following example updates the namespaces in a model:

//Retrieve the RDF from OSLC provider through the GetHTTP method
HTTPHost="example.com";
HTTPPort=9081;
Protocol="https";
Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/alerts";
ChannelKey="tom";
Method="";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,
AuthHandlerActionTreeName,FormParameters, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);
//Create Model from RDF payload
rdf=RDFParse(x);

//Retrieve all statements from model

allStatements=RDFSelect(rdf,null,null,null);

//Output RDF to log using N3

log(RDFModelToString(rdf, “N3”));

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 227

 //Output RDF to log using the default language (RDF/XML)
log(RDFModelToString(rdf, null));

RDFModelUpdateNS
You can use the RDFModelUpdateNS function to insert, update, or remove a namespace from an RDF
model.
When you create an RDF model, you can use the RDFModelUpdateNS function to insert, update, or
remove a namespace from the model. You can define a model object, prefix string, and a URI string as
input parameters. If the URI is null or an empty string, the function removes the prefix string from the
model. If the URI contains a string with a non-empty value and the prefix exists, the URI is updated. If
the prefix does not exist, a new prefix and URI is added to the model. RDFModelUpdateNS returns this
model.

Syntax
The RDFModelUpdateNS function has the following syntax:

[Model =] RDFModelUpdateNS (Model, Prefix, URI)

Parameters
The RDFModelUpdateNS function has the following parameters:

Table 71. RDFModelUpdateNS function parameters

Parameter Type Description
Model Model Model object to update
Prefix String Contains the prefix to be updated
in the model
URI String Contains the URI to associate
with prefix

The following example updates the namespaces in a model:

//Create model
model = RDFModel();

//Update or insert namespace to model

RDFModelUpdateNS(model,"oslc","http://open-services.net/ns/core#");
RDFModelUpdateNS(model,"rdfs","http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schma#");
RDFModelUpdateNS(model,"dcterms","http://purl.org/dc/terms/");

The following piece of code deletes an existing model’s namespace:

//Retrieve the RDF from OSLC provider through the GetHTTP method
HTTPHost="example.com";
HTTPPort=9081;
Protocol="https";
Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/alerts";
ChannelKey="tom";
Method="";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey,
Method, AuthHandlerActionTreeName, FormParameters,
FilesToSend, HeadersToSend, HttpProperties);

//Create Model from RDF payload

model=RDFParse(x);

228 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 //Delete namespace from model that has prefix ’oslc’
RDFModelUpdateNS(model, “oslc”, null);

RDFNodeIsResource
You can use the RDFNodeIsResource function to help other functions read and parse objects that are
also an RDF resource. You can define an RDF node as a input parameter in this function. If the object is an
RDF resource, the function returns a true value. If the object is an RDF literal, the function returns a false
value. Other functions can use the model returned by the RDFNodeIsResource function to continue
reading and parsing the RDF object.

Syntax
The RDFNodeIsResource function has the following syntax:

[Boolean =] RDFNodeIsResource (Object)

Parameters
The RDFNodeIsResource function has the following parameters:

Table 72. RDFNodeIsResource function parameters

Parameter Type Description
Object RDF node RDF object type check

The following example shows statements based on an RDF that is retrieved by the GetHTTP function:

//Retrieve the RDF from OSLC provider through the GetHTTP method
HTTPHost="example.com";
HTTPPort=9081;
Protocol="https";
Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/alerts";
ChannelKey="tom";
Method="";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,
AuthHandlerActionTreeName, FormParameters, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);

//Create Model from RDF payload

rdf=RDFParse(x);

//Retrieve all statements from model

allStatements=RDFSelect(rdf,null,null,null);

//Output subject, predicate, and objects from all statements returned, whose
//object is a literal, to the log

Size=Length(allStatements);
log(Size);
Count=0;
While (Count < Size) {
if (!RDFNodeIsResource (allStatements [Count].object)) {
log (allStatements [Count].subject + " " + allStatements [Count].predicate + " "
+ allStatements [Count].object + ".");
}
Count = Count + 1;
}

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 229

 RDFNodeIsAnon
You can use the RDFNodeIsAnon function to assist in reading and parsing an RDF. The RDFNodeIsAnon
takes in a subject/object containing an RDFNode as an input parameter and returns true if the resource is
anonymous. If the return value is false, the RDF resource is not anonymous. The model generated by the
function can then be used by other functions to continue reading and parsing the RDF.
RDFNodeIsAnon returns true or false, depending if the RDFNode is anonymous

Syntax
The RDFNodeIsAnon function has the following syntax:

[Boolean =] RDFNodeIsAnon (Node)

Parameters
The RDFNodeIsAnon function has the following parameter:

Table 73. RDFNodeIsAnon parameter

Parameter Type Description
Node RDFNode Subject or object to check for

//Retrieve the RDF from OSLC provider through the GetHTTP method
HTTPHost="example.com";
HTTPPort=9081;
Protocol="http";
Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/alerts";
ChannelKey="tom";
Method="";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=newobject();
FilesToSend=newobject();
HeadersToSend=newobject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,
AuthHandlerActionTreeName,FormParameters, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);

//Create Model from RDF payload

rdf=RDFParse(x);

//Retrieve all statements from model

allStatements=RDFSelect(rdf,null,null,null);

//Output subject, predicate, and objects from all statements returned,

//whose object is a literal, to the log

Size=Length(allStatements);
Log(Size);
Count=0;
While (Count < Size) {
if (!RDFNodeIsAnon(allStatements[Count].subject)) {
log (allStatements [Count].subject + " " + allStatements [Count].predicate + " "
+ allStatements
[Count].object + ".");
}
Count = Count + 1;
}

230 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

RDFParse
You can use the RDFParse function to help other functions read and parse an RDF object. It retrieves
the data from a string that contains an RDF payload and returns a model that contains the RDF payload
passed to it. Other functions can use this model to further read and parse an RDF object.

Syntax
The RDFParse function has the following syntax:

[Model =] RDFParse(Payload)

Parameters
The RDFParse function has the following parameters:
Parameter
Payload
Type
String
Description
Payload containing the RDF
The following example provides statements based on an RDF that is retrieved by the GetHTTP function:

//Retrieve the RDF from OSLC provider through the GetHTTP method
HTTPHost="example.com";
HTTPPort=9081;
Protocol="https";
Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/alerts";
ChannelKey="tom";
Method="";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,
AuthHandlerActionTreeName, FormParameters, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);

//Create Model from RDF payload

rdf=RDFParse(x);

RDFRegister
You can use the RDFRegister function to help you to register service providers or OSLC resources with
the registry server.
Before you can register a service provider or resource, you must use the other RDF policy functions to
build an RDF model that meets the OSLC and Registry Services requirements.
After you build the RDF model, use the RDFRegister function to register the RDF with the resource
registry contained in the Registry Services integration service.
If the service provider or OSLC resource is registered successfully, the RDFRegister function returns
the resource location of the registration record. The following variables and their return values are also
returned to provide more information:
• ResultCode contains the result code for the response.
• HeadersReceived contains the headers received in the response.
• HeadersSent contains the headers sent in the response.

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 231

 • ResponseBody contains the response body text.
If the query parameters are set in the URL and you use the RDFRegister policy function to register a
service provider, you must manually add the location of the service provider to the policy. For example:

RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject,
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#serviceProvider", serviceProviderURL, true);

If you use the query string inside the path, you must also ensure that the FormParameters parameter is
set to null. For example:

FormParameters=null;

Finally, you must ensure that the policy contains pagination information. For example:

Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/mysql1?oslc.paging=true&oslc.pageSize=100";

If unsuccessful, the return value of the resource location registration record is null. Error code information
is retuned in the ErrorReason and ResultCode variables.

Syntax
The RDFRegister function has the following syntax:

[ String =] RDFRegister(URI, Username , Password, Model)

where Username can be a null or void string to specify that no authentication is required.

Parameters
The RDFRegister function has the following parameters:

Table 74. RDFRegister function parameters

Parameter Type Description
URI String Registry Services server creation
factory URI
Username String User name for the Registry
Services server
Password String Password for the Registry
Services server
Model Model Model that contains the RDF

Example
The following example manually registers a service provider and a set of resources that have been
exposed by the OSLC server provider in Netcool/Impact.
The Registry Services server information is as follows:

RegistryServerProviderCFUri="http://<registry_services_server>:
16310/oslc/pr/collection";
RegistryServerResourceCFUri="http://<registry_services_server>:
16310/oslc/rr/registration/collection";
RegistryServerUsername="system";
RegistryServerPassword="manager";

The Netcool/Impact server information is as follows:

HTTPHost="<impact_server>";
HTTPPort=9080;
Protocol="http";
Path1="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/provider/provider01";
Path2="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/computer";

232 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 ChannelKey="";
Method="GET";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
HttpProperties.AuthenticationScheme="basic";

Get the service provider RDF from Netcool/Impact:

serviceProviderResponse=GetHTTP(HTTPHost,HTTPPort, Protocol, Path1,

ChannelKey,Method, AuthHandlerActionTreeName, null, FilesToSend,
HeadersToSend,HttpProperties);

Create an RDF model that is based on the service provider response:

serviceProviderModel=RDFParse(serviceProviderResponse)

Register the service provider in the provider registry:

serviceProviderURL = RDFRegister(RegistryServerProviderCFUri,
RegistryServerUsername, RegistryServerPassword,serviceProviderModel);
log("Provider Registry-Service Provider URL: " + serviceProviderURL);

Get all the computer system resources from Netcool/Impact:

allResources=GetHTTP(HTTPHost,HTTPPort, Protocol, Path2, ChannelKey,

Method,AuthHandlerActionTreeName, null, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);

Create an RDF model that is based on the resource response:

allResourceModel=RDFParse(allResources);

Register each computer system and a set of properties with the resource registry:

statements=RDFSelect(allResourceModel, null,
"http://jazz.net/ns/ism/event/impact#data/computer/ID", null);
size=Length(statements);
count=0;
while(count<size) {
Path3=statements[count].subject;
//Get the individual computer system resource
resourceResponse=GetHTTP(HTTPHost,HTTPPort, Protocol, Path3, ChannelKey,
Method,AuthHandlerActionTreeName, null, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);
resourceModel=RDFParse(resourceResponse);

Create a model that contains the properties and data that you want to register:

newModel=RDFModel();
manu=RDFSelect(resourceModel, null,
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#manufacturer",null);
model=RDFSelect(resourceModel, null,
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#model", null);
serial=RDFSelect(resourceModel, null,
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#serialNumber", null);
RDFModelUpdateNS(newModel, "crtv", "http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#");
RDFModelUpdateNS(newModel, "oslc","http://open-services.net/ns/core#");
RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject,
"http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type",
"http://open-services.net/ns/crtv#ComputerSystem", true);
RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject, manu[0].predicate, manu[0].object,
RDFNodeIsResource(manu[0].object));
RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject, model[0].predicate, model[0].object,
RDFNodeIsResource(manu[0].object));
RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject, serial[0].predicate,
serial[0].object, RDFNodeIsResource(manu[0].object));

Update the model with the service provider location:

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 233

 RDFStatement(newModel, manu[0].subject,
"http://open-services.net/ns/core#serviceProvider", serviceProviderURL, true);

Register the resource in the resource registry:

resourceURL = RDFRegister(RegistryServerResourceCFUri,
RegistryServerUsername, RegistryServerPassword, newModel);
log("Resource Registry-Resource URL: " +resourceURL);

count=count+1;
}

RDFUnRegister
To remove the registration record of a service provider or resource from the registry server, use the
RDFUnRegister function to supply the location of the registration record, the Registry Services server
username and password, and the registration record that you want to remove.
Before you can remove the registration record of a service provider, you must remove all the registration
records for the associated OSLC resources.
If successful, the RDFUnRegister function returns the message code 204 and the value true. The
following variables and their return values are also returned to provide additional information:
• ResultCode contains the result code for the response.
• HeadersReceived contains the headers received in the response.
• HeadersSent contains the headers sent in the response.
• ResponseBody contains the response body text.
If unsuccessful, the return value of the resource location registration record is false. Error code
information is returned in the ErrorReason and ResultCode variables.

Syntax
The RDFUnRegister function has the following parameters:

[ String =] RDFUnRegister(URI, Username , Password)

where Username can be a null or void string to specify that no authentication is required.

Parameters
Table 75. RDFUnRegister function parameters
Parameter Type Description
URI String Location that contains the
registration record for the
resource or service provider
Username String User name for the Registry
Services server
Password String Password for the Registry
Services server

Example of how to remove the registration of a service provider

The following example demonstrates how to remove the registration of the service provider.
The service provider location is:

http://<registryserver>:16310/oslc/providers/6577

234 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Use the RDFUnRegister function to remove the registration. For example:

//Registry server information

ServiceProviderUri="http://<registryserver>:16310/oslc/providers/6577";
RegistryServerUsername="system";
RegistryServerPassword="manager";
result = RDFUnRegister(ServiceProviderUri, RegistryServerUsername,
RegistryServerPassword);

Example of how to remove the registration of an OSLC resource

The following example demonstrates how to use the policy function to remove the registration of an OSLC
resource.

registrationURL = "http://oslcregistryserver.com:16310/oslc/registration/1351071987349";
providerURL = "http://oslcregistryserver.com:16310/oslc/providers/
1351071987343";
RegistryServerUsername="smadmin";
RegistryServerPassword="password";

returnString = RDFUnRegister (registrationURL, RegistryServerUsername, RegistryServerPassword);

RDFSelect
You can use the RDFSelect function to assist in reading and parsing an RDF. To retrieve statements
based on an RDF model, you call the RDFSelect function and pass the RDF model that is created by the
RDFParse function. You can filter based on subject, predicate, and object.
The RDFSelect function returns an array of statements that are based on the filter, retrieving values for
the subject, predicate, and object variables. You can use it to create RDF statements or triples. You can
also use it to filter statements. If you do not want to filter your results, you specify null or empty values for
the input parameters.

Syntax
The RDFSelect function has the following syntax:

[Array =] RDFSelect(Model, Subject, Predicate, Object)

Parameters
The RDFSelect function has the following parameters:

Table 76. RDFSelect function parameters

Parameter Type Description
Model Model The model that contains the RDF
payload
Subject String Filters for the subject value in
RDF statements
Predicate String Filters for the predicate value in
RDF statements
Object String Filters for the object value in RDF
statements

The following example provides statements based on an RDF that is retrieved by the GetHTTP function:

//Retrieve the RDF from OSLC provider through the GetHTTP method
HTTPHost="example.com";
HTTPPort=9081;
Protocol="https";Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/alerts";

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 235

 ChannelKey="tom";
Method="";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,
AuthHandlerActionTreeName, FormParameters, FilesToSend, HeadersToSend,
HttpProperties);

//Create Model from RDF payload

rdf=RDFParse(x);

//Retrieve all statements from model

allStatements=RDFSelect(rdf,null,null,null);

//Output subject, predicate, and objects from all statements returned to the log
Size=Length(allStatements);
log(Size);
Count=0;
While (Count < Size) {
log (allStatements [Count].subject + " " + allStatements [Count].predicate + "
" + allStatements [Count].object + ".");
Count = Count + 1;
}

The following piece of code provides all statements that contain a particular subject name:

//Retrieve the RDF from OSLC provider through the GetHTTP method
HTTPHost="example.com";
HTTPPort=9081;
Protocol="https";Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/alerts";ChannelKey="tom";
Method="";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,
AuthHandlerActionTreeName, FormParameters, FilesToSend,
HeadersToSend, HttpProperties);

//Create Model from RDF payload

rdf=RDFParse(x);

//Retrieve statements containing subject from model

statements=RDFSelect(rdf,"
http://ibm.com/ns/netcool-impact/data/SCR_Components#MYCLASS",null,null);

//Output subject, predicate, and objects from all statements returned to the log
Size=Length(stmt);
log(Size);
Count=0;
While (Count < Size) {
log (stmt[Count].subject + " " + stmt[Count].predicate + " " +
stmt[Count].object + ".");
Count = Count + 1;
}

RDFStatement
You can use the RDFStatement function to create and add statements to an RDF model.
You specify the following parameters in the function:
• Model object
• Subject string or resource
• Predicate string or property
• Object string or RDF node

236 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

If the Object input parameter is a string, you must specify a flag to determine whether the object input
parameter is RDF literal or an RDF resource type.
To create an anonymous resource in the statement, define the value for the Subject as null. When this
parameter value is set to null, the policy function creates an anonymous resource in the statement.

Syntax
The RDFStatement function has the following syntax:

[Statement =] RDFStatement (Model, Subject, Predicate, Object, isResource)

Parameters
If the Object input parameter is a string, you must specify the isResource parameter. The
RDFStatement function has the following parameters:

Table 77. RDFStatement function parameters

Parameter Type Description
Model Model Model object that the statement
is added to.
Subject String, resource, or null Subject value of statement. If
this parameter is set to null, the
function creates an anonymous
resource in the statement.
The policy function returns a
statement instead of a model.
Predicate String or property Predicate value of statement.
Object String or RDF node Object value of statement.
isResource Boolean Determines whether an object is
a resource or a literal.

The following example shows how to create a basic RDF with a single statement.
1. Use the RDFModel policy function to create a model:

Model = RDFModel();
RDFModelUpdateNS(model,"oslc","http://open-services.net/ns/core#");

subject = "http://ibm.com/ns/netcool-impact/data/SCR_Components#MYCLASS";
property = "http://open-services.net/ns/core#name";
value = "Brian";
isResource = false;

2. Use the RDFStatement policy function to create a statement:

RDFStatement(model,subject,property,value,isResource);

3. Finally, specify how the RDF model is output:

body = RDFModelToString(model, null);

4. Finally, specify how the RDF model is output:

body = RDFModelToString(model, null);

The following example shows how to create a model that is based on an existing model and that uses only
the subjects that the user is interested in:

Chapter 10. Working with OSLC for Netcool/Impact 237

 1. Use the GetHTTP method to retrieve the RDF from the OSLC provider:

HTTPHost="example.com";
HTTPPort=9081;
Protocol="https";
Path="/NCICLUSTER_NCI_oslc/data/resourceShapes/alerts";
ChannelKey="tom";
Method="";
AuthHandlerActionTreeName="";
FormParameters=NewObject();
FilesToSend=NewObject();
HeadersToSend=NewObject();
HttpProperties = NewObject();
HttpProperties.UserId="impactadmin";
HttpProperties.Password="passw0rd";
x=GetHTTP(HTTPHost, HTTPPort, Protocol, Path, ChannelKey, Method,
AuthHandlerActionTreeName, FormParameters, FilesToSend,
HeadersToSend, HttpProperties);

2. Create the RDF model from the RDF payload:

rdf=RDFParse(x);

3. Define a subject to filter:

mySubject=" http://ibm.com/ns/netcool-impact/data/SCR_Components#ID";

4. Retrieve all the statements that contain mySubject from the model:

allStatements=RDFSelect(rdf,mySubject,null,null);

5. Use the RDFModel function to create a new model:

newModel = RDFModel()

6. Use the RDFModelUpdateNS function to add the required namespaces to the model:

RDFModelUpdateNS(newModel,"oslc","http://open-services.net/ns/core#");
RDFModelUpdateNS(newModel,"rdfs","http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schma#");
RDFModelUpdateNS(newModel,"dcterms","http://purl.org/dc/terms/");

7. Use the RDFStatement function to add the statements from the old model to the new model

Size=Length(stmt);
Count=0;
While (Count < Size) {
RDFStatement(newModel, stmt[Count].subject, stmt[Count].predicate,
stmt[Count].object,IsRDFNodeResource(stmt[Count].object));
Count = Count + 1;
}

8. Output the new model to the log:

log(RDFModelToString(model, null));

238 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting
Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting is an optional feature that you can set up in the existing Netcool/
Impact 7.1.0 product. The SLO Reporting package provides policies and schema files, which you can use
to store Service Level Metrics in a DB2 database. These metrics are used to generate a report.
SLO Reporting uses Tivoli Common Reporting to develop, create, and generate reports. Tivoli Common
Reporting consists of data stores, reporting engines, their corresponding web user interfaces displayed
in Dashboard Application Services Hub, and a command-line interface. For more information about Tivoli
Common Reporting, see the Jazz for Service Management documentation.

Configuring SLO reporting

The SLO reporting function can be configured in 2 ways:
SLO reporting for TBSM
This feature is primarily intended for use with Tivoli Business Service Manager (TBSM). Use the
feature to create SLO reports that display the outage times for business services in TBSM.
SLO reporting for third-party data
You can also configure SLO reporting to report on data from a third-party database.
To configure SLO reporting, you need to complete the following steps:
1. Create a database that is called SLORPRT in your DB2 database.
2. Install the SLO reporting features.
3. Define the service definitions in the service definition properties file.
4. Define the business calendar in the business calendar properties file. This is optional.
5. Run the createServiceDefinition policy to create the service definition.
6. Create policies to retrieve the outage data from the specified data source and record it in the SLORPRT
database. If you want to configure SLO reporting with TBSM, you can use the sample policies that are
provided.
7. Deploy the SLO Availability report in Tivoli Common Reporting.

Architecture
SLO consists of 3 components:
• The SLORPRT database that you use to store the SLO definitions and outage data that is gathered for
those definitions.
• Projects in Netcool/Impact that contain functions for interacting with the SLORPRT database.
• The SLO Availability report definition for Tivoli Common Reporting.
You need to decide which of your business services that you want to report on and the metrics that need
to be associated with the services. These metrics are used in the availability report in Tivoli Common
Reporting.
First, you define the business services that are displayed in the report in the SLORPRT database.
Next you can either use the sample policies, or define your own policies, to collect, analyze, and record
outage data in the SLORPRT database.
The SLO Availability Report uses the outage data to display the availability for a specified period.
The following graphic illustrates this architecture:

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 239

SLO terminology overview
Before you start to configure SLO reporting, read the following terms to help you to understand the
solution.
Business service
A business service is an aspect of your enterprise, like Internet Banking and Payroll, that is defined in
Tivoli Business Service Manager. You choose one or more of these business services to report on.
Service definitions
Service definitions are used to specify metadata for the service and metric combinations. Service
definitions are defined in Impact. The SLO Availability report in Tivoli Common Reporting uses the
service definition for reporting.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
A service level agreement defines a metric and a set of operational hours where the service is
required to be available. The SLAs are defined as part of a service definition.
Metric
A measurable property for a service. For example, you can create metrics to monitor downtime or
transaction volume. The SLO Availability report in Tivoli Common Reporting uses the metric to display
the availability of the business service based on the metrics that you specify. A metric is specified in
an SLA definition.
Operational hours
The operational hours defines the hours during which the business service is expected to be available.
The availability report summarizes the percentage of time the service was available during the
operational hours. Operational hours are defined as part of the service or SLA definition.
Calendar
A calendar indicates the days in a year that are holidays and weekends. If a calendar is defined as part
of a service definition, outages that occur in these periods are recorded separately in the SLORPRT
database. Calendars are specified in a properties file that is passed to an Impact policy that stores the
definition.

240 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

SLO reporting prerequisites
Before you install the SLO Reporting package, complete the prerequisites.
• Netcool/Impact 7.1.0.4 must be installed and configured before the SLO Reports package can be
applied. The Reports package extensions are a set of policies, data source, and data type configurations.
• The version of DB2 must be 9.7 Fix pack 4 or later, which is available as a bundle with Netcool/Impact.
• Tivoli Common Reporting version 3.1 or higher is required to install the SLO Reports package.
• You must create a database named SLORPRT in the DB2 system and catalog the TCPIP remote node
and the remote database. If a local version of DB2 does not exist on the Tivoli Common Reporting (TCR)
server, install the IBM DB2 Connect Server that is available as part of the fix pack installers for DB2
Server, Enterprise and Workstation.

SLO reporting migration considerations

This section describes additional steps you may need to take if you want to use the SLO capability on an
Impact server that has been migrated from Impact 6.1.1. If you deployed SLO on the 6.1.1 Impact server,
then you should have a project called SLA after the migration script has been completed.
If you are migrating from an Impact 6.1.1 server that did not have SLO deployed, so no SLA project exists,
then there is no action required. If you want to start using SLO on this server, just follow the instructions
found in the section Chapter 11, “Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting ,” on page 239.
You should not install the SLO solution on the Impact 7.1.0.4 server prior to completing the migration.
Before upgrading the SLA project, stop all Impact services that are running policies that call the SLO
functions to record data in the SLORPRT database.

Updating the SLORPRT database schema

You should continue using the same SLORPRT database that you used with the SLO solution in Impact
6.1.1, but it must be updated for schema changes required by Impact 7.1.0.4. It is recommended to make
a backup of the SLORPRT database before continuing.
Perform the following steps to update the SLORPRT database schema.
1. Copy the sql files needed to update the SLORPRT database schema to a location accessible by
the DB2 client you will use to update the database. These files are all found in the directory
[InstallDirectory]/impact/add-ons/slo/db on the Impact server:
• add_timezone.sql
• update_views_timezone.sql
• slo_utility.sql
2. Open a DB2 command window on your DB2 client system that has access to the SLORPRT database.
Run the following commands:
db2 connect to SLORPRT user <dbuser> using <dbpassword>
db2 -tvf <slo_sql_dir>/add_timezone.sql **
db2 -tvf <slo_sql_dir>/update_views_timezone.sql
db2 -tvf <slo_sql_dir>/slo_utility.sql
db2 connect reset
Where <slo_sql_dir> is [InstallDirectory]/impact/add-ons/slo/db if the database client
is the same machine as the Impact server, or the directory where you copied the files in Step 1 if the
database client is on a different machine.
** If you had already installed Fixpack 3 for Impact 6.1.1 and updated the SLORPRT database schema,
then the command contained in the file add_timezone.sql will fail. You can ignore this failure.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 241

Importing the projects for SLO
Starting with Impact 7.1.0.4, the SLO solution consists of two Impact projects, SLA and SLA_Utility. You
will need to import each of these projects using the content delivered with Impact 7.1.0.4.

Preparing to import
For the SLA project, the content of the existing project will be replaced. Before continuing, make note of
the following, as you may need this information after importing the updated project:
• Any customization to the following policies, which are part of the original deployment of the SLA
project. Any customization will have to be reapplied after importing the updated SLA project.

BusinessCalendar
createBusinessCalendarDefn
createServiceDefinition
db2GetData
getDataFromTBSMAvailability
recordSLAMetric
serviceDefinition
serviceDowntimeBasedOnTBSMStatusChange
slaDefGlobalSettings

• Any customization to the following data types, which are part of the original deployment of the SLA
project. Any customization will have to be reapplied after importing the updated SLA project.

checkPointDT
correlationDT
operationalHourCalForReport
operationalHourDefinition
operationalHourToServiceMapping
slaCalendar
sla_ResourceMetric_Map
sloResourceIdentity
sloResourceMetricValueView
slo_metric_meta
slo_metric_value
slo_OperationalHoursTotalCount
slo_operational_hour_query_for_Service
slo_resource_definition

• Any customization to the following sample activator service. This may have included changing the
startup/logging options, the policy activated, or the interval for running the policy. Any customization
will have to be reapplied after importing the updated SLA project.

GetData

• The configuration for datasource SLOReportDatasource, including the hostname, port, userid, and
password for the SLORPRT database, as well as any other changes to the properties of the datasource.
• Any datasources, data types, policies, or services you have added to the SLA project. For example, you
may have added a datasource and data type in order to use the sample policy that accesses the TBSM
Metric History database. These Impact data elements will not be changed or deleted when the updated
SLA project is imported, but they will no longer be part of the SLA project after the import. Use the
Global project when you are done to locate these data elements and restore them to the SLA project if
that is desired.

Importing the projects

Complete the following steps to import the projects used for the SLO function.
1. From the Impact data server, import the project SLA from the importData directory, by using the
nci_import command.
UNIX:

242 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 nci_import <servername> <install_directory>/importData

Windows:

nci_import.bat <servername> <install_directory>/importData

Where <install_directory> is the directory where the SLO artifacts are stored on the Impact
Server. For example: /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/add-ons/slo/importData.
2. From the Impact data server, import the project SLA_Utility from the sloutility directory, by using
the nci_import command.
UNIX:

nci_import <servername> <install_directory>/sloutility

Windows:

nci_import.bat <servername> <install_directory>/sloutility

Where <install_directory> is the directory where the SLO artifacts are stored on the Impact
Server. For example: /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/add-ons/slo/sloutility.
Restart the Impact servers after importing the projects to flush any definitions for the SLA project that
have been cached.
Refer to the previous section to decide what changes you need to recover for your SLA project. At a
minimum you will need to update the SLOReportDatasource to provide the access information for your
SLORPRT database.
In addition, the project SLA_Utility contains datasource SLOUtilityDatasource. This datasource must be
configured to access the SLORPRT database before attempting to use any of the utility functions added for
Impact 7.1.0.4

Sample policy to read TBSM Metric History

Starting with Fixpack 4, the default behavior for the sample policy that collects data from the TBSM Metric
History database has changed to only record outages for the period when the TBSM status is “Bad”,
ending an outage when any status other than “Bad” is found. This is a slightly different algorithm than
what previously existed in the SLO function.
By completing the migration steps in this section you will continue to use the prior algorithm to preserve
consistency in the reporting data. The prior algorithm calculates an outage as the time from when TBSM
first indicates “Bad” status until the time when the status becomes “Good”. The other TBSM statuses, like
“Marginal”, will not end an outage.
To learn more about this change and how to configure the algorithm you want to use, refer to “Using the
getDataFromTBSMAvailability sample policy” on page 258.

SLO sample report

The sample SLO availability report that is provided with Impact is unchanged in Impact 7.1.0.4. You can
continue to use this report with your existing SLORPRT database.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 243

Installing and enabling SLO report package
How to install and enable the Netcool/Impact SLO extensions in Tivoli Common Reporting.

About this task

The SLO Reports package is in the install_home/impact/add-ons/slo directory.
The importData, sloutility, db, and Report directories are included in the SLO Reports package.

Procedure
1. Create the SLORPRT database in DB2.
For example:

db2 create database SLORPRT using CODESET UTF-8 territory en-US

If a local version of DB2 does not exist on the Tivoli Common Reporting server, install the IBM DB2
Connect Server that is available as part of the fix pack installers for DB2 Server, Enterprise and
Workstation.
2. The db directory contains an sql file. Connect to the database and add this file to the same system
where the SLORPRT database is created.
For example:

db2 connect to SLORPRT

db2 -tvf slo_dbschema.sql
db2 connect reset

3. From the primary server in the Impact profile, import the two Impact projects that provide the SLO
function.
a. Import the SLA project from the importData directory, by using the nci_import command.
b. Import the SLA_Utility project from the sloutility directory using the nci_import command.
This Impact project provides additional utility functions to help you administer your SLO
configuration.
UNIX:

nci_import <servername> <install_directory>/importData

nci_import <servername> <install_directory>/sloutility

Windows:

nci_import.bat <servername> <install_directory>/importData

nci_import.bat <servername> <install_directory>/sloutility

Where <install_directory> is the directory where the SLO artifacts are stored on the Impact
Server. For example, /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/add-ons/slo/importData.
4. The Report directory contains the model to be used in the Framework Manager in Tivoli Common
Reporting. The model is provided for your reference. Use the model if you want to extend the schema
or create more views for the report.
5. The Report package contains the package that must be imported in to the Tivoli Common Reporting
Server. The package contains the sample report and the queries that can be used to generate the
reports.
Complete the following steps to import the Netcool/Impact SLO reports package into Tivoli Common
Reporting version 3.1.
a) Navigate to the Tivoli Common Reporting bin directory. For example, /opt/IBM/JazzSM/
reporting/bin.

244 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 b) Use the trcmd command to create a data source for the SLORPRT database:

trcmd.sh -user <TCR user> -password <TCR password>

-datasource -add SLORPRT -connectionString <db2 connection string>
-dbType DB2 -dbName <database name>
-dbLogin <database username> -dbPassword <database password>

For example:

./trcmd.sh -user tipadmin -password password1 -datasource -add SLORPRT

-connectionString jdbc:db2://server.ibm.com:50000/SLORPRT
-dbType DB2 -dbName SLORPRT -dbLogin db2inst1 -dbPassword password1

c) Use the trcmd command to import the Netcool/Impact SLO report package:

./trcmd.sh -import -bulk <file> -user <TCR User>

-password <TCR password>

For example:

./trcmd.sh -import -bulk /tmp/ImpactSLOReportPackage.zip -user smadmin

-password password2

6. In Netcool/Impact, configure the SLOReportDatasource and SLOUtilityDatasource data sources to

access the SLORPRT database that you created in step 1.
The SLOReportDatasource is available in the SLA project in Netcool/Impact, and the
SLOUtilityDatasource is available in the SLA_Utility project.

What to do next
The SLO reporting package is installed and enabled. Next, you need to create the service definitions files.

Defining service definition properties

Before you can view reports for a service, you need to define the service definition parameters.

About this task

You specify the service definition parameters, like the SLA metric names and the operational hours, in a
service definition properties file that you create. After you create the properties file, you need to run the
createServiceDefinition policy and pass the service definition to it as an input parameter. When
you run the policy, the service definition is implemented.
In some cases, you might want to reuse service definitions and metric names. You need to note the
following logic:
• You can reuse the same service definition in multiple service definition properties files to define
multiple SLAs. The properties that describe the service like the label and description, are specified
by the last properties file used for the service.
• If you use the same SLA metric name in multiple service definitions, only the last settings are used,
including any operational hours or time zone properties. Each service must include the complete
definition for the SLA and it needs to match any previous definition.
For example service definition properties files, see “Properties files examples” on page 261.

Procedure
1. Log in to the server where the Impact Server server was installed.
2. Create a service definition properties file. Note the file name. You need to specify the file name as a
parameter value in the policy that you use to implement the service definition properties.
3. Specify the parameters in the services definition file. For more information, see “Service definition
properties file” on page 246. Service definition names and service level agreement (SLA) names must
be unique in the SLORPRT database.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 245

 4. Save the file.

What to do next
After you define the service definition properties in the properties file, run the
createServiceDefinition policy to implement the service definition. You need to specify the
directory where you saved the file in step 2 in the Service Definition File Name parameter.
If you want to update properties of the service definitions, just update the properties file and rerun the
createServiceDefinition policy to create the service definition. The new definition will replace the
existing definition.
If you want to delete a service definition or an SLA defined in the service, refer to “SLO Utility Functions”
on page 265.

Service definition properties file

Use the service definition properties file to define a service definition.

Naming conventions
Properties use the following naming conventions:

<propertyName>.num

This indicates that multiple sets of related properties are specified. For example, sla.num=2
indicates that there are two sets of related properties. The related properties are named
sla.1.<propertyName>, sla.2.<propertyName>, and so on.
To nest multiple properties, use <propertyName>.n.<relatedPropertyName>.num. For example,
sla.1.operationalHour.num=2 specifies two sets of operational hour values for the first SLA
definition.

General properties
Table 78. General properties in the service definition properties file
Property Description
serviceName The name of the service for which the service level
agreement (SLA) definitions are provided. The name
must be unique. This is a required property.
label Display name for the service. This is optional. If you
do not specify a value, the value defaults to an empty
string.
description Description for the service. This is optional. If you do
not specify a value, the serviceName value is used.
businessCalendar Defines the name of the business calendar that is used
by the SLAs defined for the service. If no calendar is
specified, the outage time for the service is defined
only as operational or non-operational. There is no
holiday outage.
For more information, see “Configuring business
calendars” on page 250.

246 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Operational hours properties
Table 79. Operational hours properties in the service definition properties file
Property Description
operationalHour.num Defines the number of operational hour periods that
can be defined for the service. If this is not specified,
at least 1 period is defined for the service. If the value
is set, you need to specify a start and end time for the
number of periods that are specified in this parameter.
operationalHourStartTime The start time of a single operational hours period. You
must specify values in the 24-hour clock format, for
example, 13:00:00. If no value is specified, the default
value 00:00:00 is assigned. This value is used for any
SLAs that do not include operational hours.
operationalHourEndTime The end time of a single operational hours period. You
must specify values in the 24-hour clock format, for
example, 17:00:00. If no value is specified, the default
value 23:59:59 is assigned.
operationalHourStartTime.n The start time of the operational period n. You
must specify values in the 24-hour clock format, for
example, 13:00:00. If this parameter is not specified,
the operational hour period is not defined.
operationalHourEndTime.n The end time of the operational period n. You
must specify values in the 24-hour clock format, for
example, 17:00:00. If this parameter is not specified,
the operational hour period is not defined.

Identity Properties
Table 80. Identity properties in the service definition properties file
Property Description
identity.num Defines the number of identities that are defined for
a service. If you specify a value for this property, you
must specify the required values for the same number
of identity types.
identity An identity represents an alternative method for
identifying a service when it gathers the outage
data for the service. An identity is defined as
identityType:::identityString. If you only
specify a service name, the default identity is
tbsmIdentity:::servicename. If no identity is
specified, the service definition cannot be created. For
TBSM services, use the instance name as the identity.
The type defaults to tbsmIdentity.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 247

 Table 80. Identity properties in the service definition properties file (continued)
Property Description
identity.n The identity type and string for identity n. This is
required if you specify a value for the identity.num
parameter. If any required identity is not included, the
service definition cannot be created.
For example, you can use multiple identities if the
outage data is gathered from multiple data sources.
In this example, you are receiving data from another
monitoring system. You define the identities as:

identity.num=2
identity.1=internetBanking
identity.2=MSN:::IB001

where the identity type is MSN for Managed System

Name (MSN). IB001 is the value that is specified for
the MSN.

SLA Properties
Table 81. SLA properties in the service definition properties file
Property Description
sla.num Defines the number of SLA definitions. If this property
is set, you must specify a matching number of SLA
definitions.
sla.name The name of the SLA. This is also used as the metric
name that is listed as an option in the SLO Availability
report. The name is required and must be unique.
Note: If an SLA exists that uses the same name,
the existing SLA is updated with the new properties
based on the current service definition. No properties
are inherited from the definition that is saved in the
SLORPRT database.

sla.n.name The name of the nth SLA in the service definition file.
This is also used as the metric name that is listed as an
option in the SLO Availability report. This parameter
is required if the sla.num parameter is specified.
The SLA definition is not used if the sla.n.name
parameter is not defined.
The name must be unique.
Note: If an SLA exists that uses the same name,
the existing SLA is updated with the new properties
based on the current service definition. No properties
are inherited from the definition that is saved in the
SLORPRT database.

sla.displayName, sla.n.displayName The label for the metric that is associated with the SLA.
If you do not specify a value for the display name, the
default empty string is used.

248 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 Table 81. SLA properties in the service definition properties file (continued)
Property Description
sla.description, sla.n.description The description for the metric that is associated with
this SLA. If no value is specified, the default empty
string is used.
sla.timezone, sla.n.timezone Time zone that is used by the SLA. If you do not specify
a value, GMT is used by default.
The time zone ID must be a valid value. For more
information, see “Configuring the time zone” on page
249.

sla.operationalHourThreshold, An availability threshold for operational hours in the

sla.n.operationalHourThreshold SLA. You specify a numeric percentage, for example
98.5. The threshold value is displayed in the SLO
Availability report. The default is zero.
sla.nonOperationalHourThreshold, An availability threshold for non-operational hours
sla.n.nonOperationalHourThreshold in the SLA. You specify a numeric percentage, for
example 98.5. The threshold value is displayed in SLO
Availability report. The default is zero.
sla.operationalHour.num Defines the number of operational hour periods that
are defined for the SLA. If a value is not specified, then
at most 1 operational hour period is defined for the
SLA.
sla.operationalHourStartTime, The start time of a single operational hour period. You
sla.operationalHourStartTime.n must specify the value in 24-hour clock format. For
example, 08:00:00 for 8 AM.
sla.operationalHourEndTime, The end time of a single operational hour period. You
sla.operationalHourEndTime.n must specify the value in 24-hour clock format. For
example, 17:00:00 for 5 PM.
sla.n.operationalHourStartTime, The start time of a single operational hour period for
sla.n.operationalHourStartTime.n the nth SLA. You must specify the value in 24-hour
clock format. For example, 08:00:00 for 8 AM.
sla.n.operationalHourEndTime, The end time of a single operational hour period for the
sla.n.operationalHourEndTime.n nth SLA. You must specify the value in 24-hour clock
format. For example, 17:00:00 for 5 PM.

Configuring the time zone

If a single business service operates in multiple time zones, you can specify a timezone in the SLA
definition that is included in the service definition for the business service.

About this task

The time zone value is used to modify how the business calendar and the operational hours are
interpreted by the service definition. Netcool/Impact includes utility functions that you can call to log
information that helps you to choose the time zone you need.
This setting is optional. It is not required for the service definition to work.

Procedure
1. Specify the time zone value in the service definition properties file.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 249

 For more information, see the documentation about the sla.timezone property in “Service definition
properties file” on page 246.
2. To get information about the available time zone identifiers, create a policy that calls the utility
functions.
3. Use the sample code to help you to create the policy that calls the utility function.
To log information about all the time zone IDs, call the following function:

/*
* Log information for all time zones.
*/
function logAllTimeZoneInfo()

To log information about a specific time zone ID, call the following function:

/*
* Log information for a specific time zone id.
*/
function logTimeZoneInfo(<timezone_id>)

where <timezone_id> is the ID of the time zone.

To log information for all the time zone IDs that use a specific offset, call the following function:

/*
* Log information for time zones with a specific offset from GMT
*/
function logTimeZoneInfoForOffset( <hours> )

For example, you can use the following policy to load the utility functions and log the timezone IDs:

/* This statement is required for the utility functions

/* to be loaded. */
Load("serviceDefinition");

Log( 0,"Starting policy timeZoneInfoLogger" );

/* Uncomment the function you need to help you pick

a time zone id */

/* Call a function to log information about all valid

/* time zones */
/* logAllTimeZoneInfo(); */

/* Call a function to log information about a specific

/* time zone.*/
/* Replace "TimeZoneID" with the ID for which you
/* need information. */
/* logTimeZoneInfo( "TimeZoneID" ); */

/* Call a function to log information about time zones

/* offset by n hours from GMT. Replace "offset" */
/* with a number of hours offset from GMT. For example,
/* 5, +6, -3, -2.5 are valid offsets.*/
/* logTimeZoneInfoForOffset( offset ); */

4. Save your changes.

5. Run the policy. The time zone information that you requested in the policy is listed in the
policylogger.log file.

Configuring business calendars

You can use the business calendar feature to identify the holidays and weekends during a specific time
period. This is optional.

About this task

Note: If you specified a time zone value in the SLA, Netcool/Impact uses this value to compare the outage
times with the holiday and weekend values that are defined in the business calendar. For example, if you

250 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 specify GMT as the time zone in the SLA, Netcool/Impact compares the time in GMT to the holiday and
weekend times that are defined in the business calendar.
For more information about the properties that you can specify in a business calendar definition, see
“Business calendar properties file” on page 252.
If you want to use common holiday and weekend values for use with multiple business calendars, you can
create common business calendars. For more information, see “Creating common properties in business
calendars” on page 251.
For examples of different types of business calendars, see “Properties files examples” on page 261.

Procedure
1. Create a file called <business_calendar>.props. Open the file.
2. Define a business calendar.
The following example defines a business calendar called US. This business calendar defines 2
holidays and 2 weekend days:

calendar.name = US
calendar.holidays.dateformat = MMM dd,yyyy
calendar.holidays.num = 2
calendar.holidays.1 = Jan 1,2015
calendar.holidays.2 = Jul 4,2015
calendar.weekends.num = 2
calendar.weekends.1 = 1
calendar.weekends.2 = 7

3. Save the file.

4. Run the createBusinessCalendarDefn policy. You need to use the Business Calendar
Definition Filename parameter to pass the name of the file in the policy.
If you want to change the holiday or weekend days for a calendar, just update the properties file
and rerun the createBusinessCalendarDefn policy to create the calendar. The new definition will
replace the existing definition. If you want to delete a calendar, refer to “SLO Utility Functions” on page
265.

Creating common properties in business calendars

If you need several business calendars that share weekend days or holidays, you can define the common
properties in a common calendar.

About this task

After you define the common calendar, you specify the name of the common calendar in the
calendar.duplicateCalendarName property in the business calendar definition. After you specify
the common calendar, you need to define the unique holiday and weekend days for the business calendar
in a second business calendar.

Procedure
1. Define a calendar that is called COMMON.US.
For example:

calendar.name=COMMON.US
calendar.holidays.dateformat= MMM dd,yyyy
calendar.holidays.num = 6
calendar.holidays.1 = Jan 1,2015
calendar.holidays.2 = Feb 14,2015
calendar.holidays.3 = Dec 25,2015
calendar.holidays.4 = Jan 1,2016
calendar.holidays.5 = Feb 14,2016
calendar.holidays.6 = Dec 25,2016
calendar.weekends.num = 2

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 251

 calendar.weekends.1 = 1
calendar.weekends.2 = 7

2. Define a second business calendar to specify the unique holiday and weekend values. In the example,
this business calendar specifies the holidays that are unique to the United States.
For example, create a calendar that is called US that contains the following properties:

calendar.name=US
calendar.holidays.dateformat= MMM dd,yyyy
calendar.holidays.num = 2
calendar.holidays.1 = Jul 4,2015
calendar.holidays.2 = Jul 4,2016

3. To add another region, you need to create a common file.

For example, create a calendar that is called COMMON.Canada. This calendar duplicates the properties
that are specified in the COMMON.US file:

calendar.name=COMMON.Canada
calendar.duplicateCalendarName=COMMON.US

4. To specify the values for the holidays and weekend days, create another business calendar.
For example, create a calendar that is called Canada that specifies the unique holidays for Canada:

calendar.name=Canada
calendar.holidays.dateformat= MMM dd,yyyy
calendar.holidays.num = 2
calendar.holidays.1 = Jul 1,2015
calendar.holidays.2 = Jul 1,2016

5. To add any other region, repeat steps 3 and 4.

Results
When the business calendar is used by an SLO service definition, the function checks the specified
business calendar and the common version of the calendar.
For example, if the service definition includes the businessCalendar=US property, the policy function
checks both the common calendar, COMMON.US and the calendar that specifies the unique values for the
country, the US business calendar in the example. The function uses the values in both to calculate the
holidays and weekend days.

Business calendar properties file

Use the business calendar properties file to specify the business calendars that are used in SLO reporting.

Table 82. Business calendar properties

Property Description
calendar.name Specify the name of the business calendar
that you want to define. If you do not
specify a value for this property, the
createBusinessCalendarDefn policy creates
an exception.
Some calendars are prefixed with COMMON..
For more information, see “Creating common
properties in business calendars” on page 251.

252 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Table 82. Business calendar properties (continued)
Property Description
calendar.duplicateCalendarName If you want to create a duplicate of an existing
calendar, specify the name of an existing
calendar.
If the specified duplicate does not exist, the
createBusinessCalendarDefn policy creates
an exception.

calendar.holidays.dateformat Specify the date format that is used to specify

the holiday dates for the calendar.
For example, you can specify the date format as
MMM dd,YYYY and specify New Year's day as
Jan 01,2015. This parameter is required if you
want to specify holidays in the calendar.
You must use a valid format. These formats are
specified by the SimpleDateFormat class in Java.
If this property is omitted, no holidays are
defined in the calendar.

calendar.holidays.num Specify the number of holiday dates that are

specified for the business calendar.
This parameter is required if you want to specify
holidays.
If this property is omitted, no holidays are
defined in the business calendar.

calendar.holidays.n Specify the date of the nth holiday that is

specified for the business calendar. You need
to use the date format that is specified in the
calendar.holidays.dateformat parameter.
For example, specify Jan 01,2015 for New
Year's day.
This parameter is required for each value of n up
to the number of properties that are specified in
the calendar.holidays.num parameter.
If you do not specify a value for any of these
parameters, the policy does not create holidays
for the parameter.

calendar.weekends.num Specify the number of weekend days for the

business calendar. This parameter is required if
you want to specify weekends in your business
calendar.
If you omit this parameter, no weekend days are
defined in the business calendar.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 253

 Table 82. Business calendar properties (continued)
Property Description
calendar.weekends.n Specify the date of the nth weekend day that is
specified for the business calendar.
This parameter is required for each value of n up
to the number of properties that are specified in
the calendar.weekends.num parameter.
If you do not specify a value for any of these
parameters, the policy does not create weekend
days for the parameter.

Retrieving SLA metric data

After you create the service definition file, you need to create policies to retrieve the SLA metric data. The
package includes sample policies and functions that you can use to retrieve data from TBSM.

About this task

The SLO Reporting package includes sample policies that you can use to store outage data from TBSM.
For more information, see “SLO reporting policies” on page 254.
You can also use a number of functions to help you to retrieve metric data. For more information, see
“SLO reporting policy functions” on page 255.

Procedure
1. Define and implement the service definition and SLA definitions for the service:
• Create the service definition properties file, including the SLA definitions.
• To implement the business service definition, run the createServiceDefinition policy, configuring the
policy to pass the service definition properties files as a parameter.
• If you require business calendars, run the createBusinessCalendarDefn policy, configuring the
business calendar properties files as a parameter.
2. Use a Netcool/Impact policy to record the metric information. Create a policy that uses the
recordSLAMetric policy function. The db2GetData sample policy provides instructions and sample
code that can help you create your policy.
The Netcool/Impact policies are written in JavaScript language. Use the Load function to load the
recordSLAMetric policy in to the data retrieval policy.
To use the SLO functions, add the following two commands to the start of your policy

Load("slaDefGlobalSettings");
Load("recordSLAMetric");

3. Save the policy.

SLO reporting policies

The SLO reports package contains the following policies:
• BusinessCalendar: Provides functional support for business calendars.
• createBusinessCalendarDefn: Creates a business calendar that is based on a properties file.
• createServiceDefinition: Creates a service definition that is based upon a properties file.
• recordSLAMetric: Provides supporting functions that are used to record SLA metrics
• serviceDefinition: Provides functional support for service definitions

254 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 • slaDefGlobalSettings: Provides support for global settings
• db2GetData: Sample Policy
• getDataFromTBSMAvailability: Sample Policy
• serviceDowntimeBasedOnTBSMStatusChange: Sample Policy

SLO reporting policy functions

Use the following policy functions to help you to record outage data in the SLORPRT database.
The following policy functions are included as part of the SLO Reporting package:
• addCorrelationValue
• recordMetric
• addCheckpointValue
• getCheckpointValue
• addSLAMetricWithOperationalHoursAndBusinessCalendar

addCorrelationValue
The addCorrelationValue function records a correlation value for the SLA metric that is being
recorded. The correlated value is stored as a string. The format of the string is defined by the user.
The user is responsible for data maintenance.

Table 83. addCorrelationValue parameters

Parameter Description
serviceName: Service Name for the correlation value that is being
stored.
CorrelationValue: The user's value, which is stored in the database.
MetricName: Metric Name the correlation value that is being
stored.
TimeRecorded: Time record for this correlation value.

The following examples show where the addCorrelationValue function can be used.
• Example 1:
If the downtime of a service must be calculated based on the correlated value of the status of an event.
When the event is generated (open state), record the Serial Number in the correlated value with the
time recorded. When the event is updated with the close state, retrieve the correlated “open time” from
the correlated table. Use the time recorded field as the “Creation time” and the current time as the
resolved time.
• Example 2:
If you want to store data to be used in the report later, the addCorrelationValue function can be
used. For example, the ticket number for which the service downtime is being recorded can be stored in
this table. Using the timeRecorded field, service name, and the metric name, the user can generate a
report of all the tickets that are associated with a SLA metric.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 255

 recordMetric
The recordMetric function records a single SLA metric. The SLA metric name must be defined during
the services definition section.

Table 84. recordMetric function parameters

Parameter Description
serviceName: The service name for the SLA metric that is being
recorded.
metricName: The SLA Metric Name.
operValue: The value that needs to be stored during
operational hours.
nonOperValue: The value that needs to be stored during non-
operational hours.
holidayValue: The value that needs to be recorded during holiday
hours.
CreationTimeInSeconds: The time when this metric was created or is
recorded. The value must be in seconds from Jan 1
1970.
operHourResourceId: Pass -1 for operHourResourceID parameters.

If you need to record the time for the SLA, always use the
recordSLAMetricWithOperationalHoursAndBusinessCalendar function.

addCheckpointValue
The addCheckpointValue function adds a check point value for the solution. This value can be used to
store check points while the retrieval of the source data is being processed.

Table 85. addCheckpointValue Parameters

Parameters Description
serviceName: Service Name for the check point that is to be
stored.
MetricName: Metric name for the check point value that is to be
stored
Value: The check point value that is to be recorded.

Example:
If the service downtime is based on the amount of time a ticket is opened, you can use the
addCheckpointValue function to track the last record that is read from the source database. Store
the last resolved time that was read from the database. The next query can use the value that is stored in
the checkpoint database for the filter.

256 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

getCheckpointValue
The getCheckpointValue function is used to retrieve the checkpoint value for a service name and
metric name. This function is used to get the value that was added by the addCheckpointValue
function.

Table 86. getCheckpointValue Parameters

Parameter Description
serviceName: The service name for the checkpoint value to be
retrieved from the table.
MetricName: The metric name for the checkpoint value to be
retrieved from the table.

addSLAMetricWithOperationalHoursAndBusinessCalendar
The addSLAMetricWithOperationalHoursAndBusinessCalendar function inserts downtime
based on operational hours and the business calendar, if a business calendar is defined for the SLA
associated with the service. If the business calendar is specified, then business calendar is applied.
Similarly, if the operational hours time is specified the time is broken down by the operational and
non-operational hours.
Note: The start and end time values must be passed as a GMT value. This ensures that it is calculated
correctly based on the time zone property that is defined in the service's SLA definition.

Table 87. addSLAMetricWithOperationalHoursAndBusinessCalendar Parameters

Parameters Description
ctime: The start time for the outage to be recorded.
Rtime: The end time for the outage to be recorded.
serviceName: The service name, as defined in the service
definition properties file, for the metric name to
be recorded. If there is an identity that is defined
for that service, then the identity can be passed
to the function. For more information about this
property, see the entry for the identity property
in “Service definition properties file” on page 246.
MetricName: The metric name, as defined in the service
definition properties file, for the SLA to be
recorded.

Note: The values that you specify in the ctime and Rtime parameters are converted into the time zone
that is defined in the SLA. If no time zone is specified, the default value, GMT, is used. Therefore, you may
need to adjust the values that you use here, depending on the source of the data. For example, if you are
using metric history data from Tivoli Business Service Manager and you use the default time zone in the
SLA definition, you do not need to change anything because the source data is also calculated in GMT in
Tivoli Business Service Manager.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 257

Using the getDataFromTBSMAvailability sample policy
The sample policy getDataFromTBSMAvailability obtains the status change from the TBSM
history database in TBSM to record the downtime for the service.

Procedure
1. In Netcool/Impact, create a data source, for example TBSM_History that connects to the TBSM
metric history database where the status changes are stored.
For more information about the TBSM metric history, see the TBSM documentation
available from the following URL: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSSPFK_6.1.1.3/
com.ibm.tivoli.itbsm.doc/timewa_server/twa_metrics_c_intro.html
2. In Netcool/Impact, create a data type called HISTORY_VIEW_METRIC_VALUE, and associate this
data type with the HISTORY_VIEW_RESOURCE_METRIC_VALUE view in the TBSM metric history
database.
3. In Netcool/Impact, create a policy activator service to activate the
getDataFromTBSMAvailability policy.
The SLA project that is imported when you deploy the SLO add-on function includes a sample policy
activator service called GetData. When this service is started, it activates the db2GetData sample
policy on a 300-second interval. Use this example to help you to create your own policy activator
service.
4. The getDataFromTBSMAvailability policy reads records that show changes in the TBSM status
for the services identified by your SLO service definitions. An outage is calculated in one of two ways:
a. From the time a service is marked "Bad" in TBSM until the time the status changes to anything
other than “Bad”. This is the default behavior when you deploy the SLO feature for the first time.
b. From the time a service is marked "Bad" in TBSM until the time the status changes to “Good”. This
is the behavior if you deployed the SLO feature prior to installing Fixpack 4.
Starting with Impact 7.1.0 Fixpack 3, the getDataFromTBSMAvailability policy can retrieve the
outage times for active outages. Active outages are defined as those where the status is currently
"Bad" and not yet resolved. The end time is recorded as the current time when the active outage is first
recorded. Each subsequent run of the policy updates the outage with the current time as the updated
end time, until the final outage time is recorded when the status either becomes “Good” or not “Bad”,
depending on how the policy is configured to run.

Configuring getDataFromTBSMAvailability
There are two different algorithms that can be used to decide when an outage starts and ends using the
TBSM metric history data. The default if the SLO function is deployed after installing Fixpack 4 is that an
outage is defined as only the time when the TBSM status is “Bad”.
Prior to Fixpack 4, the algorithm calculated the outage from the time that the status first changes to “Bad”
until the status becomes “Good”, regardless of other statuses that might be reported by TBSM in the
interim. This algorithm can still be used in case you already have SLO deployed and prefer this method.
Consider the following example:

The default algorithm with Fixpack 4 will record an outage time of T4 – T3, which is only the time period
when the status was “Bad”. The legacy algorithm will record the outage as T5 – T3, ignoring time when
the status changed back to “Marginal”.

258 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 You can use the sloSetConfigurationValue policy to ensure that you are using the alogithm you
prefer. For more information on setting the SLO configuration properties, refer to “SLO Utility Functions”
on page 265.

Reports
The application availability report package contains a sample application availability report.
Record the service downtime for the application. The availability report is generated at the entity level for
all the applications. The report requests the service and the SLA that you want the report to run, and a
date. The report template has the following options:
• A line chart which reports the availability for up to a month for the date you selected.
• A line report which reports the availability for up to a year up to the date you selected.
• The table contains the data for each application.

Example SLO reporting configuration

To help you to understand how SLO reporting can be integrated with Tivoli Business Service Manager
(TBSM), you can use this example configuration.

Before you begin

For a complete set of prerequisites, see “SLO reporting prerequisites” on page 241.
This sample configuration assumes the following:
• You have installed Tivoli Business Service Manager 6.1.1 Fix Pack 3 or later.
• You have configured the Metric History database on DB2 10.1 or higher in TBSM.
• You have installed Jazz for Service Management 1.1.2 with Tivoli Common Reporting 3.1 or higher on
DB2 10.1.

About this task

After you complete this procedure, you can understand how to implement SLO reporting for metric history
data that is stored in TBSM

Procedure
1. Create the SLORPRT reporting database.
For example:

db2 create database SLORPRT using CODESET UTF-8 territory en-US

You must define the database. If the database is on the same server as Tivoli Common Reporting, then
you do not need to install a DB2 client. If the database is remote, you need to install a DB2 client and
catalog the node and database on the local machine.
2. Copy the slo_db2schema.sql file from <IMPACT_HOME>/add-ons/slo/db to the server where
you want to create the SLORPRT database. Login with the DB2 user and run the following commands:

db2 connect to SLORPRT

db2 -tvf slo_dbschema.sql
db2 connect reset

3. Import the SLA and SLA_Utility projects.

Navigate to the <IMPACT_HOME>/bin and run the following commands:

nci_import.[bat/sh] <servername> IMPACT_HOME/add-ons/slo/importData

nci_import.[bat/sh] <servername> IMPACT_HOME/add-ons/slo/sloutility

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 259

 For example:

./nci_import NCI /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/add-ons/slo/importData

./nci_import NCI /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/add-ons/slo/sloutility

4. Import the report package to the Tivoli Common Reporting server.

a. Copy the ImpactSLOReportPackage.zip file from the <IMPACT_HOME>/add-ons/slo/
Reporting directory in Netcool/Impact to the server where Tivoli Common Reporting is installed.
b. Log in to the Tivoli Common Reporting server with the user who installed Tivoli Common Reporting.
c. Navigate to the /bin directory. For example /opt/IBM/JazzSM/reporting/bin.
d. To create a data source for the SLORPRT database, enter the trcmd command:

trcmd.sh -user <TCR user> -password <TCR password>

-datasource -add SLORPRT -connectionString <db2 connection string>
-dbType DB2 -dbName <database name>
-dbLogin <database username> -dbPassword <database password>

For example:

./trcmd.sh -user smadmin -password password -datasource -add SLORPRT

-connectionString jdbc:db2://TCRserver.example.com:50000/SLORPRT
-dbType DB2 -dbName SLORPRT -dbLogin db2inst1 -dbPassword password

e. To import the SLO reporting package, enter the trcmd command:

./trcmd.sh -import -bulk <file> -user <TCR User>

-password <TCR password>

For example:

./trcmd.sh -import -bulk /tmp/ImpactSLOReportPackage.zip -user smadmin

-password password

5. Update the SLO Reporting data sources.

a. To log in to the Netcool/Impact GUI, use the appropriate url.
b. To open the Data Model page, click on the Data Model icon and select Start Now from the
drop-down menu, or just click on the Data Model tab at the top of the page.
c. Click on the project selection drop-down menu in the top right corner of the screen and select SLA.
d. Edit the SLOReportDatasource. Change the user name, password, host name, port, and database
values to match the SLORPRT database.
e. To confirm that the values are correct, click Test Connection.
f. Save your changes.
g. Repeat the previous steps for datasource SLOUtilityDatasource in project SLA_Utility.
6. Create the service definitions.
Services are specified by users in a properties file on the Data Server in Netcool/Impact. You use the
createServiceDefintion policy in Netcool/Impact to import these into Netcool/Impact.
a. Log in to the TBSM server with the user who installed TBSM.
b. Select the service that you want to create a definition for.
c. Create a copy of the service definition properties file in a temporary folder called
ServiceDefinition.props.
d. Add the properties. For more information, see “Service definition properties file” on page 246.
e. Save your changes.
f. Log in to the Netcool/Impact GUI.
g. To open the Policies page, click on the Policies icon and select Start Now from the drop-down
menu, or just click on the Policies tab at the top of the page.

260 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 h. Click the createServiceDefinition policy and click the Run with parameters button.
i. Enter the path to the directory where the ServiceDefinition.props is stored.
j. To run the policy, click Execute.
k. To verify that the policy has run correctly, click View Policy Log.
7. Retrieve outage data from TBSM to store in the SLORPRT database
a. Log in to the Netcool/Impact GUI.
b. To open the Data Model page, click on the Data Model icon and select Start Now from the
drop-down menu, or just click on the Data Model tab at the top of the page.
c. Create a DB2 data source called TBSM_HISTORY. Specify the values for the TBSM Metric History
Database.
d. Test the connection and save the data source.
e. Create a data type called HISTORY_VIEW_METRIC_VALUE for the TBSM metric history data
source.
f. Select TBSMHISTORY and HISTORY_VIEW_RESOURCE_METRIC_VALUE.
g. Click Refresh.
h. Select HISTORYRESOURCEID as the key field.
i. Save the data type.
j. To open the Policies page, click on the Policies icon and select Start Now from the drop-down
menu, or just click on the Policies tab at the top of the page.
k. Select the getDataFromTBSMAvailability policy and click Run. To update the data
at regular intervals, you can use the GetData service. Edit the service so that the
getDataFromTBSMAvailability policy runs at regular intervals, which you can specify in seconds.
By default, the policy will record outages only when the TBSM status is “Bad”.
8. Running the Application Availability report in Tivoli Common Reporting
a. Log in to the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub GUI.
b. To open the Common Reporting page, click Reporting > Common Reporting.
c. Click Impact SLO Report > SLO application availability report.
d. Select the appropriate resource in the Parameter Selection field.
e. Select the metric name.
f. Specify an end date that occurs after the latest import of historic data for the service and click
Finish.

Properties files examples

Use these examples to help you to define the service definition properties and business calendar
properties files.

Operational hours service level example

Use this example to help you to understand how to specify the same operational hours for all the SLAs in
a service definition.
This example defines the operational hours at the service level. These hours apply to all the SLAs in the
example because there are no operational hours defined for the SLAs.

# This sample service definition file defines the operational

# hours as properties of the service. Multiple slas are defined
# without operational hours. Each sla in this file will use the
# operational hours defined for the service.
# These hours apply ONLY to slas defined in this same file.
serviceName=SLOService
description=Service for testing SLO
identity=SLOService

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 261

 # The next set of properties define the operational hours for the
# service. These are applied to all the slas defined later in the
# file, assuming the slas do not include specific operational hour
# definitions.
operationalHour.num=2
operationalHourStartTime.1 = 8:00:00
operationalHourEndTime.1 = 12:00:00
operationalHourStartTime.2 = 13:00:00
operationalHourEndTime.2 = 17:00:00

# Now define the slas, but do not define any operational hour periods.
sla.num=2
sla.1.name=serviceDowntimeEST
sla.1.displayName=Service Down Time
sla.1.description=Service Down Time
sla.1.timezone=EST
sla.1.operationalHourThreshold = 99.5
sla.1.nonOperationalHourThreshold = 98.5
sla.2.name=serviceDowntimePST
sla.2.displayName=Service Down Time
sla.2.description=Service Down Time
sla.2.timezone=PST
sla.2.operationalHourThreshold = 99.0
sla.2.nonOperationalHourThreshold = 98.0

Single SLA example

Use this example service definition to help you to understand how to define operational hours for a single
SLA in a service definition properties file.
This example service definition specifies a single set of operational hours for the SLA:

# This sample service definition file contains a single sla

# definition with a single operational hour period. A business
# calendar is also defined.
serviceName=SLOService
description=Service for testing SLO
label=SLO Test Service
identity=SLOService
businessCalendar=US

sla.name=serviceDowntime
sla.displayName=Service Down Time
sla.description=Service Down Time

# Define a single operational hour period, 8AM to 5PM.

# Time zone defaults to GMT.
sla.operationalHourStartTime = 8:00:00
sla.operationalHourEndTime = 17:00:00

sla.operationalHourThreshold = 99.5
sla.nonOperationalHourThreshold = 98.5

Time zone example

Use the following example to help you to understand how to define operational hours in different time
zones.
This example defines two sets of operational hours and time zones, one is for each coast of the United
States:

# This sample service definition file contains multiple sla definitions

# to support operational hours across multiple time zones.
# Multiple operational hour periods are defined. A business calendar is
# also defined that will apply to both slas.
serviceName=SLOService
description=Service for testing SLO
label=SLO Test Service
identity=SLOService

# The following business calendar specification will apply to all

# slas defined in this properties file. If there is another sla or slas
# for the same service that require a different calendar, then you can
# copy this file, change the businessCalendar value, and replace the sla

262 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 # definitions below. Note that the description, label, and identity
# will be replaced for the service if any of those property values are
# changed in the copied file.
businessCalendar=US

# Creating two slas to measure availability across multiple time zones.

sla.num=2

# The first sla reflects the operational hours on the East Coast of the US.
# Normal hours are 8AM to 5PM, with an hour down for lunch at noon.
sla.1.name=serviceDowntimeEST
sla.1.displayName=Service Down Time
sla.1.description=Service Down Time
sla.1.timezone=EST
sla.1.operationalHour.num=2
sla.1.operationalHourStartTime.1 = 8:00:00
sla.1.operationalHourEndTime.1 = 12:00:00
sla.1.operationalHourStartTime.2 = 13:00:00
sla.1.operationalHourEndTime.2 = 17:00:00
sla.1.operationalHourThreshold = 99.5
sla.1.nonOperationalHourThreshold = 98.5

# The second sla reflects the operational hours on the West Coast of the US.
# Starting time is an hour later, but no down time for lunch.
# The thresholds displayed on the availability report are slightly lower.
sla.2.name=serviceDowntimePST
sla.2.displayName=Service Down Time
sla.2.description=Service Down Time
sla.2.timezone=PST
sla.2.operationalHourStartTime = 9:00:00
sla.2.operationalHourEndTime = 17:00:00
sla.2.operationalHourThreshold = 99.0
sla.2.nonOperationalHourThreshold = 98.0

Simple service definition example

Use the following example to help you to understand how you can configure a simple service definition
properties file.
This example consists of the minimal required parameters:

# This sample service definition file consists of only the required properties
serviceName=SLOService

# label defaults to the empty string and description defaults to the

# serviceName value businessCalendar is optional, with no default value

# identity is a required property, but can be the same as the serviceName

# value when using a TBSM service
identity=SLOService

# Though technically not required, a service definition with no

# SLA metric name defined will not result in any outage data being
# created in SLORPRT database
sla.name=serviceDowntime

# sla.displayName and sla.description both default to the empty string

# sla.timezone defaults to GMT
# sla.operationalHourThreshold and sla.nonOperationalHourThreshold
# values default to 0. Since no operational hours are defined for
# the SLA or the service, the single default operational hour
# period "00:00:00" to "23:59:59" is used.

Multiple identities in a service definition example

Use this example to help you to understand how to define multiple identities in a single service definition
file.
This example shows how you can use multiple identities in a single service definition properties file:

# This sample service definition file illustrates how to specify

# multiple identities for a service. This can be used when there are
# multiple sources of outage data for a service, but these sources use a
# different identity for the service.
serviceName=SLOService
description=Service for testing SLO

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 263

 # There will be outage data gathered from 3 different sources,
# including the TBSM Metric History database. An identity is of the form
# "identityType:::identityString". The default identity is
# "tbsmIdentity:::serviceName".
# The SLO metric functions can be passed any of these identities as the
# "resource name" and the outage data will be calculated for service "SLOService".
identity.num=3
identity.1=SLOService # This is the same as tbsmIdentity:::SLOService
identity.2=MSN:::ManagedSystemName/ABCCompany/SLOService
identity.3=GUID:::SLOService:guid:1ab2cd3ef4gh

# The rest of this file contains the single sla being defined by this
# file for SLOService.
sla.name=serviceDowntime
sla.displayName=Service Down Time
sla.description=Service Down Time
sla.operationalHourStartTime = 8:00:00
sla.operationalHourEndTime = 17:00:00
sla.operationalHourThreshold = 99.5
sla.nonOperationalHourThreshold = 98.5

Common US calendar properties

Use this example to help you to understand how to create a common business calendar properties file.
This business calendar specifies the common holidays and weekend days for the United States:

# This sample calendar definition file defines the "common"

# holidays and weekend days. Other calendars should specify this
# calendar for the property calendar.duplicateCalendarName to
# share these definitions.

# The name must start with the prefix "COMMON.". The SLO function
# uses the calendar definitions in calendars "US" and "COMMON.US"
# if the service definition specifies businessCalendar=US as a property.
calendar.name=COMMON.US

# The date format must meet the requirements defined by the

# Java SimpleDateFormat class.
calendar.holidays.dateformat= MMM dd,yyyy

# Defining 6 holidays. Any numbered property that is missing is skipped.

# Any numbered property above 6 (in this example) will be ignored.
calendar.holidays.num = 6
calendar.holidays.1 = Jan 1,2015
calendar.holidays.2 = Feb 14,2015
calendar.holidays.3 = Dec 25,2015
calendar.holidays.4 = Jan 1,2016
calendar.holidays.5 = Feb 14,2016
calendar.holidays.6 = Dec 25,2016

# Defining 2 weekend days. Any numbered property that is missing will be skipped.
# Any numbered property above 2 (in this example) will be ignored.
calendar.weekends.num = 2

# The "day number" is defined by the Java Calendar class. In the calendar for the
# US locale the constant SUNDAY is defined as 1 and the constant 7 is SATURDAY.
# MONDAY is 2, TUESDAY is 3, etc.
calendar.weekends.1 = 1
calendar.weekends.2 = 7

US Calendar example
Use this example to help you to understand how to create a business calendar properties file that uses
common holidays and weekends that are defined in a common file.
This example defines holidays and weekend days that are unique to the calendar. However, the holidays
and weekends are supplemented by the properties in the COMMON.US calendar.

# This sample calendar definition file defines the holidays and weekend days unique
# to this specific calendar. This calendar will be supplemented by entries in the
# "COMMON" calendar of the same name.

# The name of this calendar. The entries in this calendar and the entries in
# calendar COMMON.US will all be used when evaluating outage time.

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 calendar.name=US

# The date format, as defined by Java class SimpleDateFormat, is required

# in order to specify holiday dates.
calendar.holidays.dateformat= MMM dd,yyyy

# The US calendar will have 2 holidays that are unique to the calendar.
# All other holidays and the weekend days are defined in the
# calendar COMMON.US.
calendar.holidays.num = 2
calendar.holidays.1 = Jul 4,2015
calendar.holidays.2 = Jul 4,2016

Common calendar properties file example

Use this example to help you to create your own business calendar properties files.
This example duplicates the common holidays and weekend days from the COMMON.US calendar:

# This sample calendar definition file duplicates another calendar which

# defines "common" holidays and weekend days.

# The name must start with the prefix "COMMON.". The SLO function will use
# the calendar definitions in calendars "Canada" and "COMMON.Canada" if the
# service definition specifies businessCalendar=Canada as a property.
calendar.name=COMMON.Canada

# The following property instructs the calendar definition policy to just

# copy all the entries in calendar COMMON.US to this calendar.
calendar.duplicateCalendarName=COMMON.US

# Any other properties are ignored when calendar.duplicateCalendarName is specified.

Canada calendar example

Use this example to help you to understand how to define the holidays that are unique to Canada.
This business calendar specifies the unique holidays in Canada. The holidays and weekend days that are
specified in the COMMON.Canada business calendar are also included.

# This sample calendar definition file defines the holidays and weekend days unique
# to this specific calendar. This calendar is supplemented by entries in the
# "COMMON" calendar of the same name.

# The name of this calendar. The entries in this calendar and the entries in
# calendar COMMON.Canada are used when evaluating outage time.
calendar.name=Canada

# The date format, as defined by Java class SimpleDateFormat, is

# required to specify holiday dates.
calendar.holidays.dateformat= MMM dd,yyyy

# The Canada calendar will have 2 holidays that are unique to the calendar.
# All other holidays and the weekend days are defined in the
# calendar COMMON.Canada.
calendar.holidays.num = 2
calendar.holidays.1 = Jul 1,2015
calendar.holidays.2 = Jul 1,2016

SLO Utility Functions

There are utility policies available in project SLA_Utility that provide additional functionality for
configuring the SLO feature, as well as functions for maintaining the outage data that is accumulated
for reporting purposes.
These utilities complement the initial implementation found in the SLA project. If you deployed the SLO
feature prior to Fixpack 4, you were instructed to import the SLA_Utility project when installing Fixpack 4.
If you have not imported the SLA_Utility project, you must complete the import in order to use these
utility functions. You must update the SLOUtilityDatasource datasource after importing to connect to the
SLORPRT database being used by existing datasource SLOReportDatasource.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 265

 The utility functions will generally throw exceptions for errors like missing parameters or names that
do not exist. You should check the Impact policylogger.log file to make sure you got the expected
results from the utility.
Note: When using utility functions that alter the SLO configuration or the outage data collected by the
SLO feature, consider making a backup of the database before proceeding. As with any database, the
SLORPRT database should be backed up on a regular interval as well as having regular DB2 maintenance
applied for optimal performance.

Maintaining the reporting data in the SLORPRT database

Project SLA_Utility includes the policy sloManageOutageTables that can be activated to prune outage
records from the SLO_METRIC_VALUE table in the SLORPRT database. This can help control the amount
of data retained for reporting purposes by removing the older records. Using the default configuration,
outage records more than 365 days old will be removed and archived.
In addition to the policy, an Impact activator service called ManageSLOTables is included that will
activate the policy. It is set to activate once a day by default. This service is not started by default.
When the outage records are pruned, they are written to an archive table. By default the records will
remain in the archive for 30 days, allowing for the possibility to restore outages if too much data has been
removed. The policy sloManageOutageTables will also handle pruning records from the archive each
time it runs.
See “Setting SLO configuration values” on page 269 for information on changing the default retention
periods for both the outage table and the archived outage table.
See “Restoring outage data” on page 268 for information on restoring outage data from the archived
outage table.

Removing service, SLA, and calendar definitions

Policies are included in the SLA_Utility project that will allow you to remove service, SLA, and calendar
definitions that are no longer needed. The policies that remove the service and SLA definitions will archive
any outage data that has already been recorded for the service and/or SLA.
Use the following policies to remove service definitions, SLA definitions, or the mapping of a service to an
SLA definition:
sloDeleteServiceDefinition
This policy will delete a service definition and archive all outage records associated with the service.
Removing the service also removes all mappings to any SLA that was used with the service. The SLA
definitions may still be used by other services and are not affected.
You can add the service back later and restore the outages if they have not been pruned from the
archive. The “Service Name” parameter is required.
sloDeleteSLADefinition
This policy will delete an SLA definition and archive all outage records associated with the SLA.
Removing the SLA also removes all mappings to any service that was using the SLA. The service
definitions may still be used by other SLAs and are not affected.
You can add the SLA back later and restore the outages if they have not been pruned from the archive.
The “SLA Metric Name” parameter is required.
sloDeleteSLAForService
This policy will delete the mapping between an SLA and a service. All outage records for this SLA and
service combination are archived. Only the mapping is removed – the service and/or SLA may be used
in other mappings, so the definitions are not affected.
You can add the SLA to resource mapping back later and restore the outages if they have not been
pruned from the archive. The “SLA Metric Name” and “Service Name” parameters are required.
Use the following policy to remove calendar definitions.

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 sloDeleteCalendarDefinition
This policy will delete a calendar definition from the SLO configuration. If you have created a
“COMMON” calendar for this calendar, then it will not be deleted. You must explicilty delete the”
COMMON” calendar if it is also no longer required.
For example, when you have a calendar called US, the SLO feature will use information from this
calendar and from the calendar called COMMON.US, if that calendar also exists. You would need to
run the delete policy once for each calendar if you no longer need either.

Exporting service and calendar definitions

Policies are included in the SLA_Utility project that will allow you to export service and calendar
definitions. This may be useful if you no longer have the properties files you used to create the services
and calendars, or if you need to set up the same SLO configuration on another system.
Before you can export any SLO elements, you must define the configuration property
SLO_EXPORT_DIRECTORY , which defines the target directory to be used for export operations. See
“Setting SLO configuration values” on page 269 for more information.
Use the following policies to export service definitions. When a service is exported, a properties
file is created for each SLA Metric name that is mapped to the service. The exported files will
be placed in the directory defined by SLO configuration value SLO_EXPORT_DIRECTORY and named
SLO_Export_<service name>_<SLA metric name>.props.
sloExportServiceDefinition
This policy will export one or more properties files that represent the definition of the service and
each SLA mapped to the service.
The “Service Name” parameter is required
The “SLA Metric Name” parameter is required and must be either:
• The name of a specific SLA metric mapped to the service. This name must exist and be mapped to
the service specified by “Service Name”.
• Or the single character *, which indicates that all SLAs mapped to the service should be exported.
sloExportAllServiceDefinitions
This policy will look up all service definitions defined in the SLO configuration and export each one.
This will produce a properties file for every combination of a service and SLA defined in the SLO
configuration.
There are no parameters for this policy.
Use the following policies to export calendar definitions.
When a calendar is exported, a properties file is created in the directory defined by SLO configuration
value SLO_EXPORT_DIRECTORY. The file is named SLO_Export_<calendar name>.props.
sloExportCalendarDefinition
This policy will export a calendar definition properties file. If you have created a “COMMON” calendar
for this calendar, then that calendar will also be exported.
For example, when you have a calendar called US, the SLO feature will use information from this
calendar and from the calendar called COMMON.US, if that calendar also exists. When you run the
export, two properties files are created, one for US and one for COMMON.US.
The “Calendar Name” parameter is required.
sloExportAllCalendarDefinitions
This policy will look up all calendar definitions defined in the SLO configuration and export each
one. This will produce a properties file for each unique calendar definition, including any “COMMON”
calendars.
There are no parameters for this policy.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 267

Removing specific outage data
The SLA_Utility project includes functions that can be used to remove specific outages from the table
used for the SLO Reporting. These functions should be used only to make finer adjustments to the outage
data that was generated by the SLO function.
Note: You should always consider backing up the SLORPRT database before using functions to remove
outage data.
The functions included can remove outages for a service, for an SLA metric, or for a specific SLA metric
and service mapping. In addition, you can remove outages based on time criteria, for example outages
before a certain time, after a certain time, or in a specific interval defined by a beginning and ending
timestamp. Some functions combine the capabilities to support removing outages for services or SLAs
while also defining a time range. When a time range is defined, it is applied to the VALUETIME column of
the SLO_METRIC_VALUE table, which is the timestamp that defines when the outage occurred.
For all functions that remove outages , the outages are archived into another table and stored with the
name of the service and SLA metric. If you later attempt to restore the outages from the archive, the
service name and SLA metric name must exist in the configuration or the records will not be restored.
Archived records include an “archive time”, which is set to the current time. This timestamp is used by the
policy sloManageOutageTables if you have activated this policy to automatically prune the outage and
archive tables.
Policy sloRemoveOutages
Policy sloRemoveOutages is provided as a sample policy for calling the various remove functions. The
policy has extensive comments that describe how to call each function. In its shipped state the policy
does not perform any actions, as all sample function calls are commented out.
You should create your own policy and use the code in sloRemoveOutages as a model for building the
function calls you need.

Restoring outage data

The SLA_Utility project includes functions that can be used to restore specific outages from the archive
table.
These outages were put in the archive when one of the following actions occurred:
• Regular maintenance was performed on the outage table by activating policy
sloManageOutageTables
• A service, SLA, or mapping between a service and SLA was deleted
• One or more of the remove functions described in the previous section was used to remove specific
outages from the SLO Reporting data
It is important to remember that archived outages are only retained for 30 days by default. This assumes
you are activating policy sloManageOutageTables to perform regular pruning of the outage and archive
tables.
Note: You should always consider backing up the SLORPRT database before using functions to restore
archived data.
The restore functions mirror the remove functions described in the previous section, with the same
capabilities for defining the restore criteria that are available when defining the remove criteria. The
restore functions can recover outages for a service, for an SLA metric, or for a specific SLA metric and
service mapping. In addition, you can restore outages based on time criteria or a combination of the time
and name parameters.
For all functions that restore outages , the outages are restored into the SLO_METRIC_VALUE table and
removed from the archive table. It is important to note the following when restoring outages:
• Each archived record has the name of the service and the name of the SLA metric. The service and SLA
must exist in the configuration, and must have a mapping defined, or the records cannot be restored.
For example, if a service was deleted, causing outages to be archived, then that service and the

268 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 appropriate SLA mappings for the service must be created in the SLO configuration before the archived
records can be restored.
• When archive records are restored, be aware that the next run of sloManageOutageTables, if activated,
may archive the outage again, depending on the VALUETIME of the outage and your configuration value
for how long to retain outage records (365 days by default). However, the archive time will be set to the
current time, giving you more time to update the configuration and retry the restore before the outages
are permanently deleted from the archive.
• Some restore functions may perform more slowly if there are a lot of archived records to examine. As
noted above, the service name, SLA metric name, and mapping must be validated before an archived
outage can be restored. Thus if only the time criteria is specified, then the archived records may include
a variety of service and SLA combinations, each of which must be validated as part of the restore
operation.
Always check the Impact policylogger.log file to ensure the expected outages were restored.
If service, SLA, or mapping configuration is missing, correct the configuration and re-run the restore
operation.
Policy sloRestoreOutages
Policy sloRestoreOutages is provided as a sample policy for calling the various restore functions. The
policy has extensive comments that describe how to call each function. In its shipped state the policy
does not perform any actions, as all sample function calls are commented out.
You should create your own policy and use the code in sloRestoreOutages as a model for building the
function calls you need.

Setting SLO configuration values

This section describes each of the SLO configuration values and shows how to query and set the values.
OUTAGE_RETENTION_DAYS
Set this configuration value to the number of days that outages should be kept in table
SLO_METRIC_VALUE before being archived. The default value is 365 days. This configuration value is
used by policy sloManageOutageTables to prune the outage table, if the policy has been activated.
A higher value for this setting means that more outage data will be retained and a longer historical
pattern can be shown in the reports. Reduce this value to prune the data more quickly and retain less
historical data.
OUTAGE_ARCHIVE_RETENTION_DAYS
Set this configuration value to the number of days that archived outages should be kept in table
SLO_METRIC_VALUE_ARCHIVE before being permanently deleted. The default value is 30 days. This
configuration value is used by policy sloManageOutageTables to prune the archive table, if the
policy has been activated.
A higher value for this setting means that more archive data will be retained, providing a longer
opportunity to restore the data if needed. Reduce this value to prune the data more quickly, reducing
the window of time when the data can be restored.
SLO_EXPORT_DIRECTORY
Set this configuration value to the directory to be used for exporting SLO services and calendars. This
value must be set before running any export function. There is no default value.
TBSM_OUTAGE_STATUS
Set this configuration value to control how the sample policy getDataFromTBSMAvailability
determines an outage from data in the TBSM metric history database.
The default, recommended value is “BAD”, which indicates that outages are defined as ONLY when
the TBSM status is “Bad”. This is the default value if you deploy SLO for the first time after installing
Fixpack 4.
If you already have SLO deployed when you install Fixpack 4, then an outage is defined to end ONLY
when the TBSM status becomes “Good”. This was the previous behavior and will not be changed by
just installing Fixpack 4.

Chapter 11. Service Level Objectives (SLO) Reporting 269

 Use sloSetConfigurationValue to set this property to “BAD” to configure the recommended
behavior. Set the value to anything else (for example, “”) to use the legacy behavior, which requires
the TBSM status to be “Good” to end an outage.
Policy sloSetConfigurationValue
The SLA_Utility project includes policy sloSetConfigurationValue for querying and setting the
configuration values described above.
The parameter Configuration Property is required and must take one of the following values:
• OUTAGE_RETENTION_DAYS
• OUTAGE_ARCHIVE_RETENTION_DAYS
• SLO_EXPORT_DIRECTORY
• TBSM_OUTAGE_STATUS
The parameter Configuration Value specifies the value to be set for the property. If you specify “?”
for this parameter, then the policy will just log the current value to the Impact policylogger.log file.

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Chapter 12. Configuring Maintenance Window
Management
Maintenance Window Management (MWM) is an add-on for managing Netcool/OMNIbus maintenance
windows.
MWM can be used with Netcool/OMNIbus versions 7.x and later. A maintenance time window is a
prescheduled period of downtime for a particular asset. Faults and alarms, also known as events, are
often generated by assets undergoing maintenance, but these events can be ignored by operations.
MWM creates maintenance time windows and ties them to Netcool/OMNIbus events that are based
on OMNIbus fields values such as Node or Location. Netcool/Impact watches the Netcool/OMNIbus
event stream and puts these events into maintenance according to the maintenance time windows. The
Netcool/Impact MWMActivator service in the Services tab under the MWM project must be running
to use this feature. For more information about maintenance windows, see “About MWM maintenance
windows” on page 273.

Activating MWM in a Netcool/Impact cluster

Maintenance Window Management (MWM) interacts with Netcool/OMNIbus using an Netcool/Impact
policy activator service called MWMActivator. This service is turned off by default in Netcool/Impact.

About this task

Use the following steps to activate MWM in the Netcool/Impact cluster NCICLUSTER.

Procedure
1. Log on to Netcool/Impact.
2. Click Policies to open the Policies tab.
3. From the Cluster list, select NCICLUSTER. From the Project list, select MWM.
4. In the Policies tab, select the MWM_Properties policy, right click, and select Edit or click the Edit
policy icon to view the policy and make any required changes. For more information, see “Configure
the MWM_Properties policy” on page 271.
5. Click Services.
6. In the Services tab, select MWMActivator, right click, and select Edit or click the Edit services icon to
open the MWMActivator service properties. Make any required changes. For information about these
properties, see “Configuring MWMActivator service properties” on page 272.
7. To start the service, in the service status pane, select MWMActivator and either right click and select
Start or click the Start Service arrow in the Services toolbar.
When the service is running it puts OMNIbus events into maintenance based on schedules entered into
the MWM GUI.

Configure the MWM_Properties policy

Configure the MWM_Properties policy for use with the MWM add-on.
The following configurable options are available in the Maintenance Window Management
MWM_Properties policy.
• Maintenance window expiration
– By default, MWM clears the “in maintenance” flag from corresponding OMNIbus events when
a window expires. You can edit the policy so that MWM leaves those events flagged as “in
maintenance” after the maintenance window expires.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 271

 • Flagging existing events when a maintenance window starts
– By default, any matching events in OMNIbus are flagged, regardless of when they came into
OMNIbus. You can modify the policy so that MWM flags only events arrive or deduplicate while the
maintenance window is running.
You can change these options by editing the MWM_Properties policy in the MWM project.
1. Click Polices to open the Policies tab.
2. In the Projects list, select MWM.
3. In the Policies tab, select MWM_Properties, right click and select Edit to open the policy.
MWM_Properties is a small policy with a single function called getProperties(). Other MWM
policies call this function to retrieve configuration information.
4. To change the MWM options, change the function and the given values to TRUE or FALSE if required.
See the following information in the policy for clearFlag options. clearFlag = TRUE is the default
option.

Use clearFlag = TRUE if you want the maintenance flag

on events cleared when windows expire.
Use clearFlag = FALSE if you want Impact to leave the events tagged
as in maintenance after the window expires.

See the following information in the policy for flagExistingEvents options. flagExistingEvents
= TRUE is the default option.

Use flagExistingEvents = TRUE if you want Impact to flag as "in maintenance"

events which last came in (based on LastOccurrence) before the time window started.
Use flagExistingEvents = FALSE if you want Impact to NOT flag events as
"in maintenance" unless they come in during the maintenance window.

function getProperties(propsContext)
{
propsContext = newobject();

clearFlag = TRUE;
flagExistingEvents = TRUE;

propsContext.clearFlag = clearFlag;
propsContext.flagExistingEvents = flagExistingEvents;

Configuring MWMActivator service properties

Configure the MWMActivator service to check for OMNIbus events that require maintenance.

Procedure
1. Click Services to open the Services tab.
2. In the Services tab, right click MWMActivator and select Edit or click the Edit services icon to open
the properties for the MWMActivator service.
3. By default, the MWMActivator Activation Interval is set to 7 seconds. The MWMActivator service
checks OMNIbus every seven seconds for events that require maintenance. Select the interval time
you want to use. If possible use prime numbers.
4. You can change the Policy value if you have created your own policy to replace the MWM_Properties
policy.
5. Select Startup to start the MWMActivator service when Netcool/Impact starts.
6. Select the Service Log to create a file of the service log.

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Logging on to Maintenance Window Management
How to access Maintenance Window Management (MWM).

Procedure
1. Click the Maintenance Window tab.
This page lists the instances of the different types of maintenance window.
2. Click the New Maintenance Window button to create a new window.

About MWM maintenance windows

Use the Maintenance Window Management (MWM) web interface to create maintenance time windows
and associate them with Netcool/OMNIbus events.
Netcool/OMNIbus events are based on OMNIbus field values such as Node or Location. The Netcool/
OMNIbus events are then put into maintenance according to these maintenance time windows. If events
occur during a maintenance window, MWM flags them as being in maintenance by changing the value of
the OMNIbus field, integer field, SuppressEscl to 6 in the alerts.status table.
A maintenance time window is prescheduled downtime for a particular asset. Faults and alarms (events)
are often generated by assets that are undergoing maintenance, but these events can be ignored by
operations. MWM tags OMNIbus events in maintenance so that operations know not to focus on them.
You can use MWM to enter one time and recurring maintenance time windows.
• One time windows are maintenance time windows that run once and do not recur. One Time Windows
can be used for emergency maintenance situations that fall outside regularly scheduled maintenance
periods. You can use them all the time if you do not have a regular maintenance schedule.
• Recurring time windows are maintenance time windows that occur at regular intervals. MWM supports
three types of recurring time windows:
– Recurring Day of Week
– Recurring Date of Month
– Every nth Weekday
– Weekly Windows
Maintenance time windows must be linked to OMNIbus events in order for MWM to mark events as being
in maintenance. When you configure a time window, you also define which events are to be associated
with the time window. The MWM supports the use of all Netcool/OMNIbus fields for linking events to time
windows.

Creating a one time maintenance window

Create a one time maintenance time window for a particular asset.

Procedure
1. Click the New Maintenance Window button to create a new window.
2. For Type of Maintenance Window, select One Time.
3. Check that the Time Zone you want to use is selected.
4. Add fields you wish to assign in the filter to match events. For each field you add, select the operator
from the list provided and assign a value to the field to be used for the filter.
Tip: When using the like operator, you can specify a regular expression for the field value. When the
MWM entry is saved, the field value will be automatically enclosed within a pair of wildcard characters
except when the value itself starts with or ends with a wildcard, contains a start of line anchor (^), or
an end of line anchor ($).

Chapter 12. Configuring Maintenance Window Management 273

 Tip: For the in operator, provide a space separated list of strings that the field can be (for example,
server1.ibm.com server2.ibm.com server3.ibm.com)
Tip: Any field where a value is not provided will not be included in the filter.
5. Click the calendar icons to select the Start Date and End Date for the maintenance time window.
6. Click the Save button to create the window.
7. Click the Back button to view the newly created window in the list of one time windows.

Creating a recurring maintenance window

Create a recurring maintenance time window for a particular asset.

Procedure
1. Click the New Maintenance Window button to create a new window.
2. For Type of Maintenance Window, select the type of recurring window you wish to configure. This can
be either Day of Week, Day of Month, Weekly, or Nth Day of Week in Month.
3. Check that the Time Zone you want to use is selected.
4. Add fields you wish to assign in the filter to match events. For each field you add, select the operator
from the list provided and assign a value to the field to be used for the filter.
Tip: When using the like operator, you can specify a regular expression for the field value. When the
MWM entry is saved, the field value will be automatically enclosed within a pair of wildcard characters
except when the value itself starts with or ends with a wildcard, contains a start of line anchor (^), or
an end of line anchor ($).
Tip: Any field where a value is not provided will not be included in the filter.
5. Provide the Start Time and End Time (hour, minute, second) for the maintenance window.
6. Provide the details specific to the chosen recurring type of window:
• Recurring Day of Week These windows occur every week on the same day and at the same time of
day. For example, you can set the window to every Saturday from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Or you can set
the window for multiple days such as Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.
• Recurring Day of Month These windows occur every month on the same date at the same time of
day. For example, you can set the window to every month on the 15th from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. Or you
can set the window for multiple months.
• Every nth Weekday These windows occur every month on the same day of the week at the same
time. For example, you can set the window to the first and third Saturday of the month from 5 p.m. to
12 a.m.
• Recurring Weekly These windows occur between two days within a week, and recurs every week.
For example, you can set the window to start on Monday 8 a.m. to Friday 8 p.m.
7. Click the Save button to create the window.
8. Click the Back button to view the newly created window in the list of windows.

Viewing maintenance windows

The main Maintenance Window page displays the full list of maintenance windows, grouped by window
type. You can use the Filter control to view the windows of a single window type (All Windows, One Time,
Day of Week, Day of Month, Nth Day of Week in Month or Active).
In the One Time Window, the color of the status icon indicates whether the window is active (green),
expired (purple), or has not started yet future (blue).
In the other windows the color of the status icon indicates whether the window is active (green) or
inactive (orange).
You can sort the maintenance windows by column by clicking on a column header of the table. Clicking
again reverses the sort.

274 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

To edit an existing maintenance window, click the Edit icon for the window.
You can delete the maintenance windows by checking the boxes next to windows to delete and clicking
Delete for that window type.

Maintenance Window Management and other Netcool/Impact policies

Maintenance Window Management (MWM) runs independently from other Netcool/Impact policies or
OMNIbus automations. Every seven seconds, MWM checks for open maintenance windows and marks the
appropriate events as being in maintenance. Take this feature into consideration when you add your own
policies and automations.

Known shortcomings
If there are overlapping time windows, there is a chance that an event could be temporarily flagged
as out of maintenance when the first window ends. If this situation occurs, the event is flagged as in
maintenance the next time the MWMActivator Service runs. The clearFlag property comes to play
here. If the clearFlag = FALSE, then the event is never marked as out of maintenance.
Maintenance Window Management does not work properly if the default cluster name, NCICLUSTER, is
not used. When the MWM main page opens, you see the following message:
Could not retrieve a client for accessing the Impact server, under cluster:
clustername

For information about how to resolve this issue, see the Troubleshooting section.

Auditing changes to MWM configurationt

Whenever a user creates or deletes an MWM maintenance window, an audit entry is created in the
following file:
IMPACT_HOME/logs/<server>_maintwinaudit.log
The log entry records which user performed the action, the time the configuration change was made, and
the details about the window that was created or deleted.

Creating multiple MWM from file

You can use the MWM_AddAllFromFile policy to create multiple maintenance time windows from a CSV
formatted file.
A copy of the policy and its parameters file can be found under $IMPACT_HOME/policy/ but it must be
added to Impact's policy list before you can run it. You can use the nci_policy script to add the policy.
After the policy has been uploaded, you can run the policy from the command line using nci_trigger or
from within the Policy Editor in the GUI.
The policy requires two input parameters:
• FILENAME: Name of the file with MMWs in CSV format.
For example: FILENAME = "mwms.txt"
• DIRNAME: Full path to the directory where the MWM CSV is located.
For example: DIRNAME = "/tmp/" // Linux
or: DIRNAME = "C:\\temp\\" // Windows
The following example demonstrates how to run the MWM_AddAllFromFile policy from the command
line. The policy will create maintenance windows found in the /tmp/mwms.txt file:
nci_trigger NCI impactadmin/netcool MWM_AddAllFromFile DIRNAME "/tmp" FILENAME
"mwms.txt"

Chapter 12. Configuring Maintenance Window Management 275

 When running the policy from the Impact GUI, use the Run with Parameters option to specify the input
parameters.
The input file should be a CSV format, each line corresponding to a new MWM entry. Both One Time and
Recurring windows are supported. No particular order is required, but any entries with an invalid MWM
type, invalid or missing parameters and empty lines are ignored. If the line is accepted, a new MWM entry
will be added to the Impact database, MW_WINDOWS (similar to how MWM entries are created from the
GUI).
The MWM entry must be specified with the following format.
type, username, timezone, start_date_and_time, end_date_and_time, filter,
start_time, end_time, days_of_the_week, day_of_the_month, nth_day
Where:
type: Can be otw (One Time Window), dow (Day of Week), dom (Day of Month), or nth (Nth Day).
username: The username used to create the MWM, for example impactadmin.
timezone: The time zone of the window, for example GMT.
start_date_and_time: For one time windows, the date and time must be specified. For recurring
windows, only the time is required.
end_date_and_time: For one time windows, the date and time must be specified. For recurring
windows, only the time is required.
filter: Filter used with the window. For expressions that use the like, not like or in keyword, then the
keyword must be in lower case.
start_time : Applies to Day of Week, Day of Month, and Nth Day only.
end_time: Applies to Day of Week, Day of Month, and Nth Day only.
days_of_the_week: The days on which the MWM is active. Applies to Day of Week only. Days are
separated by the pipe symbol: |
day_of_the_month: The dates of the month on which the MWM is active. Applies to Day of Month. Dates
are separated by the pipe symbol: |
nth_day: The days on which the MWM is active. Applies to Nth Day only. Days are separated by the pipe
symbol: |
The following samples show each of the accepted formats:

otw,impactadmin,EST,1935-01-08 10:59:11,1977-08-16 22:50:55, Node="John" AND Location="NYC" AND

Identifier = 40

otw,impactadmin,GMT,2011-01-08 13:06:11,2011-01-18 14:50:55, Node like "Steve"

dow,impactadmin,MIT,10:59:11,22:44:55, Node="Paul",Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat

dom,impactadmin,MIT,10:59:11,22:44:55, Node="John",7|18|19

nth,impactadmin,MIT,10:59:11,22:44:55, Node="Harry",fourthSun|fourthSat|fifthSun|fifthSat

Warning: The policy does not perform validation of the CSV content or the new MWM entries. An
MWM may be created even if date, time, timezone, and filter do not conform to the expected
format. If the MWM entry is created with an incorrect value, then you should delete the MWM entry
and repeat the policy with a corrected CSV file. Invalid MWM entries can be deleted directly from
the mm_windows data type using the Data Model editor.
The date, time, and timezone values in the file are expected in the following accepted format and are not
validated:
type, username, timezone, start_date_and_time, end_date_and_time, filter,
start_time, end_time, days_of_the_week, day_of_the_month, nth_day

276 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and
Correlation
Event Isolation and Correlation is provided as an additional component of the Netcool/Impact product.
Event Isolation and Correlation is developed using the operator view technology in Netcool/Impact. You
can set up Event Isolation and Correlation to isolate an event that has caused a problem. You can also
view the events dependent on the isolated event.

Note: The Event Isolation and Correlation feature is deprecated. Users should consider IBM Netcool
Operations Insight which introduces seasonality function for advanced analytics of event information. For
more information about the seasonality function, see IBM Netcool Operations Insight documentation.

Overview
Netcool/Impact has a predefined project, EventIsolationAndCorrelation that contains predefined data
sources, data types, policies, and operator views. When all the required databases and schemas are
installed and configured, you must set up the data sources. Then, you can create the event rules by using
the ObjectServer sql in the Event Isolation and Correlation configuration view from the UI. You can view
the event analysis in the operator view, EIC_Analyze. You can also view the output in the topology widget
dashboard in the Dashboard Applications Services Hub.
Complete the following steps to set up and run the Event Isolation and Correlation feature.
1. Install Netcool/Impact.
2. Install DB2 or use an existing DB2 installation.
3. Configure the DB2 database with the DB2 schema.
4. Install the Discovery Library Toolkit with the setup-dltoolkit-<platform>_64.bin installation
image that is available in the directory IMPACT_INSTALL_IMAGE/<platform>.
If you already have a Tivoli® Application Dependency Discovery Manager (TADDM) installation,
configure the Discovery Library Toolkit to consume the relationship data from TADDM. You
can also consume the data through the loading of Identity Markup Language (IdML) books.
For more information about the discovery library toolkit, see the Tivoli Business Service
Manager Administrator's Guide and the Tivoli Business Service Manager Customization Guide.
The guides are available in the Tivoli Business Service Manager 6.1.1 documentation, available
from the following URL, https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#!/
wiki/Tivoli%20Documentation%20Central.
You can load customized name space or your own model into SCR. This model can be used
for application topology-based event correlation. For more information see Tivoli Business Service
Manager Customization Guide, Customizing the import process of the Service Component Repository,
Service Component Repository API overview.
5. In the GUI, configure the data sources and data types in the EventIsolationAndCorrelation project to
use with the Impact Server.
6. Create the event rules in the UI to connect to the Impact Server.
7. Configure WebGUI to add a new launchpoint or configure a topology widget to visualize the results.
Tip: When you use Event Isolation and Correlation, the Event Isolation and Correlation events must
have a BSM identity value in field BSM_Identity. If the field does not have a value, you must enter
it manually or create it using the event enrichment feature by using the EIC_EventEnrichment policy
and EIC_EventEnrichment service in the EventIsolationAndCorrelation project. You might also want to
update the event reader Filter Expression in the Event Mapping tab according to your requirements.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 277

 General information about navigating Event Isolation and Correlation is in the online help. Additional
detailed information about setting up and configuring Event Isolation and Correlation, is in the Netcool/
Impact Solutions Guide.

Installing Netcool/Impact and the DB2 database

To run the Event Isolation and Correlation feature, install Netcool/Impact and the DB2 database and
configure the DB2 schema.

Procedure
1. Install Netcool/Impact.
Refer to Netcool/Impact Administration Guide, Installation chapter.
2. Install DB2.
Netcool/Impact and Tivoli Business Service Manager support DB2 version 9.5 or higher. For
information about installing and by using DB2, see the information center that is listed
here for the version you are using: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v9r7/topic/
com.ibm.db2.luw.common.doc/doc/t0021844.html.
3. Configure the DB2 database with the DB2 schema.
A user who has permissions to run the DB2 command-line tools completes this step.
• For UNIX, use the user ID db2inst1.
• For Windows, use the user ID db2admin.
You can install the DB2 schema by using the installation image setup-dbconfig-<platform>.bin
that is available in the IMPACT_INSTALL_IMAGE/<platform> directory.

Installing the Discovery Library Toolkit

Install the discovery library toolkit to import the discovered resources and relationships into the Services
Component Registry database.

About this task

For information about building the required relationships in the Services Component Registry for Event
Isolation and Correlation, see the Services Component Registry API information in the Tivoli Business
Service Manager Customization Guide. See URL, https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/
home?lang=en#!/wiki/Tivoli%20Documentation%20Central.
Use the discovery library toolkit to import data from Tivoli® Application Dependency Discovery Manager
7.1 or later to Tivoli Business Service Manager. The toolkit also provides the capability of reading
discovery library books in environments that do not have a Tivoli Application Dependency Discovery
Manager installation.

• If you are using Tivoli Business Service Manager and Netcool/Impact, use the information in Installing
the Discovery Library Toolkit in the Tivoli Business Service Manager Installation Guide available in the
Tivoli Business Service Manager 6.2.0 information center. Use the following url, https://www.ibm.com/
developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#!/wiki/Tivoli%20Documentation%20Central.
• For a Netcool/Impact implementation that does not use Tivoli Business Service Manager, install the
Discovery Library Toolkit with the setup-dltoolkit-<platform>_64.bin installation image that
is available in the directory IMPACT_INSTALL_IMAGE/<platform>. For the Tivoli Business Service
Manager related information, the data source must be configured to access the DB2 database. This
information is not required for an Netcool/Impact installation.
Important:
Netcool/Impact 7.1 bundles DBConfig 6.1.1 and XML Toolkit 6.1.1 on the installation image. The DBConfig
setup-dbconfig-<platform> is version 6.1.1. This DBConfig 6.1.1 and XML Toolkit 6.1.1 are exactly

278 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 the same as DBConfig 6.1.1 and XML Toolkit 6.1.1 that were used and bundled with Impact 6.1.1 and
TBSM 6.1.1.

Procedure
1. Go to the IMPACT_INSTALL_IMAGE/<platform> directory where the Impact Server is installed.
2. Run the setup-dbconfig-<platform>.bin to install the database schema.
3. To install the discovery library toolkit, run the setup-dltoolkit-<platform>_64.bin.
During the installation of the discovery library toolkit, there are options to configure the Tivoli Business
Service Manager data server. You can add any values that you want. These values are not used in
Netcool/Impact.

Updating the RCA views

When the Event Isolation and Correlation feature is analyzing an event to determine the resources
relationship, some resource information is missing. The reason is a misconfiguration in the
RCA_DEPENDENCYCOMPONENTS and the RCA_COMPONENTS views.

About this task

The Netcool/Impact Event Isolation and Correlation component uses these views to do the
analysis. To rectify this issue, you must run the RCA_DEPENDENCYCOMPONENTS.ddl file and the
RCA_COMPONENTS.ddl file to show the resource information.

Procedure
1. Copy the RCA_DEPENDENCYCOMPONENTS.ddl file and the RCA_COMPONENTS.ddl from
$IMPACT_HOME/add-ons/eic/db/ to the DB2 database machine where the SCR is installed.
For example, to /tmp/RCA_ DEPENDENCYCOMPONENTS.ddl and /tmp/RCA_COMPONENTS.ddl.
2. Connect to the db2 database by using the following command.
db2 connect to TBSM
Where TBSM is the name of the database that contains the Service Component Registry.
3. Run the db2 command to run the RCA_DEPENDENCYCOMPONENTS.ddl file to update the
RCA_DEPENDENCYCOMPONENTS view.

DB2_INSTALLATION_HOME/bin/db2 -tvf /tmp/RCA_DEPENDENCYCOMPONENTS.ddl

4. Run the db2 command to run the RCA_COMPONENTS.ddl file to update the RCA_COMPONENTS view.

DB2_INSTALLATION_HOME/bin/db2 -tvf /tmp/RCA_COMPONENTS.ddl

Updating RCA views by using the XML toolkit

You can also update the RCA views by editing the scc_schema_views.sql file in the
$XMLtoolkit_HOME/sql directory.

About this task

Procedure
1. Edit the scc_schema_views.sql file in the $XMLtoolkit_HOME/sql directory.
2. Locate the rca_components and rca_dependencycomponents CREATE VIEW statements in the
scc_schema_views.sql file.
3. Add the cdm:core.Collection class to the CREATE VIEW statements for the two views.

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 279

 CREATE VIEW %SCR_SCHEMADOT%rca_components AS
SELECT c.id, c.class, c.label, COALESCE(bc.baseclass, '(N/A)') AS baseclass,
min(n.name) AS guid
FROM %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_components c
LEFT JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_namingemulations bc ON bc.class = c.class
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%sccp_componentnaming n ON n.comp_id = c.id
WHERE bc.baseclass IN ( 'cdm:sys.ComputerSystem',
'cdm:sys.OperatingSystem',
'cdm:app.AppServer',
'cdm:process.Activity',
'cdm:app.AppServerCluster',
'cdm:sys.ITSystem',
'cdm:app.SoftwareModule',
'cdm:sys.SoftwareComponent',
'cdm:core.Collection',
'cdm:sys.RuntimeProcess'
)
OR bc.class is null
GROUP BY c.id, c.class, c.label, bc.baseclass

CREATE VIEW %SCR_SCHEMADOT%rca_dependencycomponents AS

( SELECT DISTINCT m.service_id AS srcid, cdmcs.class AS srcclass,
tgtservice.service_id AS tgtid, cdmct.class AS tgtclass, r.reltype
FROM %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_serviceid_to_component_id m
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%sccp_components comp ON comp.id = m.service_id
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_classids cdmcs ON comp.class_id = cdmcs.id
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_serviceid_to_component_id m2 ON m2.service_id = m.service_id
AND (m2.type = 0 OR m2.type = 1)
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_relations r ON m2.comp_id = r.srcid
AND (r.dependencydirection = 0 or r.dependencydirection = 2)
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_serviceid_to_component_id tgtcomp ON tgtcomp.comp_id = r.tgtid
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_serviceid_to_component_id tgtservice ON tgtservice.type = 0
AND tgtservice.service_id = tgtcomp.service_id
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%sccp_components tgtcomponents ON tgtcomponents.id =
tgtservice.service_id
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_classids cdmct ON tgtcomponents.class_id = cdmct.id
LEFT JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_namingemulations bct ON bct.class = cdmct.class
LEFT JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_namingemulations bcs ON bcs.class = cdmcs.class
WHERE m.type = 0 AND (m2.type = 0 OR (m2.type = 1 and m2.incCompRels=1))
AND (tgtcomp.type = 0 OR (tgtcomp.type = 1 and
tgtcomp.incCompRels=1))
AND m.radinstanceid <> tgtservice.radinstanceid
AND (
bcs.baseclass IN ( 'cdm:sys.ComputerSystem',
'cdm:sys.OperatingSystem',
'cdm:app.AppServer',
'cdm:process.Activity',
'cdm:app.AppServerCluster',
'cdm:sys.ITSystem',
'cdm:app.SoftwareModule',
'cdm:sys.SoftwareComponent',
'cdm:core.Collection',
'cdm:sys.RuntimeProcess'
)
OR bcs.class is null
)
AND (
bct.baseclass IN ( 'cdm:sys.ComputerSystem',
'cdm:sys.OperatingSystem',
'cdm:app.AppServer',
'cdm:process.Activity',
'cdm:app.AppServerCluster',
'cdm:sys.ITSystem',
'cdm:app.SoftwareModule',
'cdm:sys.SoftwareComponent',
'cdm:core.Collection',
'cdm:sys.RuntimeProcess'
)
OR bct.class is null
)

)
UNION
( SELECT DISTINCT m.service_id AS srcid, cdmcs.class AS srcclass,
tgtservice.service_id AS tgtid, cdmct.class AS tgtclass, r.reltype
FROM %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_serviceid_to_component_id m
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%sccp_components comp ON comp.id = m.service_id
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_classids cdmcs ON comp.class_id = cdmcs.id
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_serviceid_to_component_id m2 ON m2.service_id = m.service_id
AND (m2.type = 0 OR m2.type = 1)
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_relations r ON m2.comp_id = r.tgtid AND

280 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 ( r.dependencydirection = 1 or r.dependencydirection = 3 )
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_serviceid_to_component_id tgtcomp ON tgtcomp.comp_id = r.srcid
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%scc_serviceid_to_component_id tgtservice ON tgtservice.type = 0
AND tgtservice.service_id = tgtcomp.service_id
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%sccp_components tgtcomponents ON tgtcomponents.id =
tgtservice.service_id
JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_classids cdmct ON tgtcomponents.class_id = cdmct.id
LEFT JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_namingemulations bct ON bct.class = cdmct.class
LEFT JOIN %SCR_SCHEMADOT%cdm_namingemulations bcs ON bcs.class = cdmcs.class

WHERE m.type = 0 AND (m2.type = 0 OR (m2.type = 1 and m2.incCompRels=1))

AND (tgtcomp.type = 0 OR (tgtcomp.type = 1 and
tgtcomp.incCompRels=1))
AND m.radinstanceid <> tgtservice.radinstanceid
AND (
bcs.baseclass IN ( 'cdm:sys.ComputerSystem',
'cdm:sys.OperatingSystem',
'cdm:app.AppServer',
'cdm:process.Activity',
'cdm:app.AppServerCluster',
'cdm:sys.ITSystem',
'cdm:app.SoftwareModule',
'cdm:sys.SoftwareComponent',
'cdm:core.Collection',
'cdm:sys.RuntimeProcess'
)
OR bcs.class is null
)
AND (
bct.baseclass IN ( 'cdm:sys.ComputerSystem',
'cdm:sys.OperatingSystem',
'cdm:app.AppServer',
'cdm:process.Activity',
'cdm:app.AppServerCluster',
'cdm:sys.ITSystem',
'cdm:app.SoftwareModule',
'cdm:sys.SoftwareComponent',
'cdm:core.Collection',
'cdm:sys.RuntimeProcess'
)
OR bct.class is null
)
)
;

4. Run the command setdbschema.bat -U dbuser -P dbpassword -f v to drop and add the
schema.
Where -U is the database user identifier, -P is the database password, -f is the function that is
identified, - v drops and rebuilds all of the views.
5. The changes are updated to the XMLtoolkit sql library for future reference.

Event Isolation and Correlation policies

The EventIsolationAndCorrelation project has a list of predefined polices that are specific to Event
Isolation and Correlation.
The following policies are in the EventIsolationAndCorrelation project and support the Event Isolation
and Correlation feature and must not be modified:
• EIC_ActionExecutionExamplePolicy
• EIC_ActionExecutionExamplePolicyJS
• EIC_EventEnrichment
• EIC_IsolateAndCorrelate
• EIC_PrimaryEvents
• EIC_ResourcesTopology
• EIC_TopologyVisualization
• EIC_UtilsJS
• EIC_eventrule_config

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 281

 • EIC_utils
• Opview_EIC_Analyze
• Opview_EIC_confSubmit
• Opview_EIC_configure
• Opview_EIC_requestHandler

Event Isolation and Correlation Services

The EventIsolationAndCorrelation project has a service specific to Event Isolation and Correlation.
The following service is in the EventIsolationAndCorrelation project and supports the Event Isolation
and Correlation feature.
• EIC_EventEnrichment

Event Isolation and Correlation operator views

The EventIsolationAndCorrelation project has a list of predefined operator views that are specific to
Event Isolation and Correlation.
• EIC_Analyze shows the analysis of an event query.
• EIC_confSubmit supports the configuration of Event Isolation and Configuration.
• EIC_configure configures the event rules for Event Isolation and Configuration.
• EIC_requestHandler supports the configuration of Event Isolation and Configuration.

Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation data sources

All the Event Isolation and Correlation-related features are associated with the project,
EventIsolationAndCorrelation. Configure the necessary data sources, data types, and data items for
the event isolation and correlation.

Procedure
1. In the GUI, click Data Model.
2. From the project list, select the project EventIsolationAndCorrelation.
A list of data sources specific to the EventIsolationAndCorrelation feature is displayed.
• EIC_alertsdb
• SCR_DB
• EventrulesDB
3. For each data source, update the connection information, user ID, and password and save it.
4. Configure EIC_alertsdb to the object server where the events are to be correlated and isolated.
5. Configure SCR_DB to the Services Component Registry database. When you create the SCR schema,
the following tables are created EIC_ACTIONS and EIC_RULERESOURCE.
Note: When you configure the Services Component Registry (SCR) data sources, you must point the
data sources to what is commonly called the SCR. The SCR is a schema within the TBSM database
that is created when you run the DB2 schema configuration step. The schema is called TBSMSCR. The
database has a default name of TBSM.
6. You must manually add the tables EIC_ACTIONS and EIC_RULERESOURCE to the Services
Component Registry.
a) Use the following SQL commands create the tables in your DB2 Services Component Registry
database.

282 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 --EIC_ACTIONS

CREATE TABLE EVENTRULES.EIC_ACTIONS (

RULENAME VARCHAR(64), ACTIONNAME VARCHAR(100), POLICYNAME VARCHAR(64),
AUTOEXECUTE char(5) not null,
CONSTRAINT auto_true_false CHECK (AUTOEXECUTE in ('true','false')));

--EIC_RULERESOURCE

CREATE TABLE EVENTRULES.EIC_RULERESOURCE (

RULENAME VARCHAR(65) not null, SERIAL integer, Resources CLOB);

7. Configure the EventRulesDB data source to connect to the Services Component Registry database.

Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation data types

The EventIsolationAndCorrelation project has a list of predefined data types that are specific to
Event Isolation and Correlation. Except for the data type EIC_alertquery, which you must configure,
the remaining data types are preconfigured and operate correctly once the parent data sources are
configured.

About this task

The following list shows the Event Isolation and Correlation data sources and their data types:
• EIC_alertsdb
– EIC_alertquery
– EIC_TopologyVisualization
• SCR_DB
The following data types are used to retrieve relationship information from the Services Component
Registry.
– bsmidenties
– getDependents
– getRscInfo
• EventRulesDB
The following data types that are used by the database contain the user configuration for Event
Isolation and Correlation.
– EIC_RulesAction
– EIC_RuleResources
– EVENTRULES
– EIC_PARAMETERS

Procedure
1. To configure the EIC_alertquery data type, right-click on the data type and select Edit.
2. The Data Type Name and Data Source Name are prepopulated.
3. The State check box is automatically selected as Enabled to activate the data type so that it is
available for use in policies.
4. Base Table:
Specifies the underlying database and table where the data in the data type is stored.
5. Click Refresh to populate the table.

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 283

 The table columns are displayed as fields in a table. To make database access as efficient as possible,
delete any fields that are not used in policies. For information about adding and removing fields from
the data type, see the SQL data type configuration window - Table Description tab in the Online help.
6. Click Save to implement the changes.

Configuring policies for Event Isolation and Correlation

Polices are not available to be run as part Event Isolation and Correlation by default. To enable a policy
to run with an action for Event Isolation and Correlation, you must enable the policy in the policy editor.
When a policy is enabled for Event Isolation and Correlation, you can run the policy as part of the Event
Isolation and Correlation process.

About this task

The following predefined action policies are available in the EventIsolationAndCorrelation project:
• EIC_ActionExecutionExamplePolicy
• EIC_ActionExecutionExamplePolicyJS
You can use these predefined policies or add the following command to your own action policy. The
impactObjects must be an array of impact object.
For IPL:

EIC_utils.getRuleResourcesAsImpactObjects(RuleName,PrimaryEventSerial,impactObjects)

For JavaScript:

Load("EIC_UtilsJS");
impactObjects=getRuleResourcesAsImpactObjects(MatchingRuleName,PrimaryEventSerial);

When the policy runs, all the resources information and related ObjectServer events are available to the
policy context in a variable called impactObjects.

Procedure
1. In the policy editor toolbar, click the Configure Policy Settings icon to open the policy settings editor.
You can create policy input and output parameters and also configure actions on the policy that relate
to the UI Data Provider and Event Isolation and Correlation options.
2. To enable a policy to run with the Event Isolation and Correlation capabilities, select the Enable Policy
for Event Isolation and Correlation Actions check box.
3. Click OK to save the changes to the parameters and close the window.

Creating, editing, and deleting event rules

How to create, edit, and delete an event rule for Event Isolation and Correlation.

Procedure
1. Select Event Isolation and Correlation to open the Event Isolation and Correlation tab.
2. Click the Create New Rule icon to create an Event Rule. While creating this item the configure page
has empty values for various properties.
3. Click the Edit the Selected Rule icon to edit the existing event rules.
4. Click the Delete the Selected Rule icon to delete an event rule from the system and the list.

284 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Creating an event rule
Complete the following fields to create an event rule.

Procedure
1. Event Rule Name: Specify the event rule name. The event rule name must be unique across this
system.
When you select Edit or New if you specify an existing event rule name, the existing event rule is
updated. When you edit an event rule and change the event rule name, a new event rule is created
with the new name.
2. Primary Event: Enter the SQL to be run against the ObjectServer that is configured in the data source
EIC_alerts db.
The primary event is the event that is selected for analysis.
The primary event filter is used to identify if the event that was selected for analysis has a rule
associated with it. The primary event filter is also used to identify the object in the Services
Component Registry database that has the event that is associated with it.
The object may or may not have dependent entities. During analysis, the event isolation and
correlation feature finds all the dependent entities and their associated events.
For example, the primary event has 3 dependent or child entities and each of these entities has three
events that are associated with it. In total, there are nine dependent events. Any of these secondary
events could be the cause of the primary event. This list of events is what is termed the list of
secondary events. The secondary event filter is used to isolate one or more of these events to be the
root cause of the issue.
3. Test SQL: Click Test SQL to test the SQL syntax that is specified in the primary event.
Modify the query so that only one row is returned. If there are multiple rows, you can still configure
the rule. However, during analysis only the first row from the query is used to do the analysis.
4. Secondary Events: The text area is for the SQL to identify the dependent events. When you specify
the dependent events, you can specify variables or parameters that can be substituted from the
primary event information. The variables are specified with the @ sign.
For example, if the variable name is dbname, it must be specified as @dbname@. An example is
Identifier = 'BusSys Level 1.2.4.4' and Serial = @ser@. The variables are replaced
during the analysis step. The information is retrieved from the primary event that is based on the
configuration in the parameters table and shows in the Variables Assignment section of the page.
5. Extract parameters: Click Extract Parameters to extract the variable name between @ and populate
the parameter table.
When the variable information is extracted into the table, you can edit each column.
a) Select the field against the regular expression you want to run, and a substitution value is
extracted.
b) Enter the regular expression in the regular expression column. The regular expression follows the
IPL Syntax and is run by using the RExtract function.
c) When the regular expression is specified, click Refresh to validate the regular expression and
check that the correct value is extracted.
The table contains the parameters.
6. Click the Create a new Action icon to add an event-related policy to the event.
A list of policies that are associated with the event that are enabled for Event Isolation and
Correlation are displayed.
7. Select the Auto Execute Action check box to run the policy during the analysis.
When the analysis is complete, you can also run the action by selecting it.
8. Limit Analysis results to related configuration items in the Service Component Registry: Select
this check box if the analysis is to be limited to related configuration items only.

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 285

 If the check box is not selected, the dependent query is returned.
9. Primary Event is a root cause event: Select this check box to identify whether the primary event is
the cause event and rest of events, are symptom only events.
10. Event Field: Identifies the field in the event that contains the resource identifier in the Services
Component Registry. Select the field from the drop-down menu that holds the resource identifier in
the event.
11. Time window in seconds to correlate events: Add the time period the event is to analyze. The
default value is 600 seconds. The events that occurred 600 seconds before the primary event are
analyzed.
12. Click Save Configuration to add the configuration to the backend database.
13. Now the event rules are configured. The event is ready to be analyzed. You can view the event
analysis in the EIC_Analyze page or in the topology widget in the Dashboard Applications Services
Hub.

Configuring WebGUI to add a new launch point

Configure the WebGUI with a launch out context to launch the analysis page.

About this task

WebGUI can be configured to launch the analysis page. Refer to the procedure for launch out
integration described in the following URL, http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v8r1/topic/
com.ibm.netcool_OMNIbus.doc_7.4.0/webtop/wip/task/web_con_integrating.html.
The URL you need for Event Isolation and Correlation is <IMPACTHOSTNAME>:<IMPACTPORT>/opview/
displays/NCICLUSTER-EIC_Analyze.html. Pass the serial number of the selected row for the event.
Note: NCICLUSTER is the name of the cluster configured during the installation of Netcool/Impact. You
must use the name of your cluster whatever it is, in the URL. For example, in Tivoli Business Service
Manager the default cluster name is TBSMCLUSTER. To launch from Tivoli Business Service Manager, you
would need to use the following html file, TBSMCLUSTER-EIC_Analyze.html.

Launching the Event Isolation and Correlation analysis page

How to launch the Event Isolation and Correlation analysis page.

About this task

You can launch the Event Isolation and Correlation analysis page in the following ways:
• Manually by using the webpage and Event Serial number.
• Using the launch out functionality on Active Event List (AEL) or Lightweight Event List (LEL) from
WebGUI.
• Using a topology widget.

Procedure
Open a browser on Netcool/Impact. Use one of the following options:
• Point to <Impact_Home>:<Impact_Port>/opview/displays/NCICLUSTER-
EIC_Analyze.html?serialNum=<EventSerialNumber>. Where <Impact_Home> and
<Impact_Port> are the Netcool/Impact GUI Server and port and EventSerialNumber is the serial
number of the event you want to analyze. To launch the analysis page outside of the AEL (Action Event
List), you can add serialNum=<Serial Number> as the parameter.
• The Event Isolation and Correlation analysis page can be configured to launch from the Active Event
List (AEL) or LEL (Lightweight Event List) within WebGUI. For more information see, “Configuring
WebGUI to add a new launch point” on page 286. When you create the tool you have to specify only

286 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 <Impact_Home>:port/opview/displays/NCICLSTER-EIC_Analyze.html. You do not have to
specify SerialNum as the parameter, the parameter is added by the AEL tool.

Viewing the Event Analysis

View the analysis of an Event query in the EIC_Analyze page. You can also view the results in a topology
widget.

About this task

The input for the EIC_IsolateAndCorrelate policy is the serial number of the event through the serialNum
variable. The policy looks up the primary event to retrieve the resource identifier. The policy then looks
up the dependent events based on the configuration. The dependent events are further filtered using the
related resources, if the user has chosen to limit the analysis to the related resources. Once the serial
number has been passed as the parameter in WebGUI, you can view the event from the AEL or LEL and
launch the Analyze page.

Procedure
Select the event from the AEL or LEL and launch the Analyze page. The EIC_Analyze page contains three
sections:
• Primary Event Information: shows the information on the selected event. This is the event on which
the event isolation and correlation analysis takes place.
• Correlated Events: shows information about the dependent events identified by the tool. Dependant
events are identified as the events that are associated with the dependant child resources of the
device or object that is associated with the primary event. These events are displayed in the context of
dependent resources that were identified from the Services Component Registry.
• Event Rule Processed: shows the rule which was identified and processed when this primary event was
analyzed.

Visualizing Event Isolation and Correlation results in a topology

widget
How to view Event Isolation and Correlation results in a topology widget.

Before you begin

By default the following data types and policy parameters available to the UI data provider to create
widgets. Use the following information to check the configuration for the data types and policy.
• Check that the data types EVENTRULES and EIC_TopologyVisualization in the
EventIsolationAndCorrelation project have the Access the data through UI data provider selected. In
the Data Model, select the data type. Then, select Edit to view the settings.
• Check that policy EIC_TopologyVisualization is configured with an output parameter
EIC_Relationship. The output parameter shows the topology in the topology widget. And the
EICAffectedEvents output parameter shows only the ObjectServer events that are related to the
resources in the topology.
• The policy EIC_PrimaryEvents includes an output parameter EICPrimaryEvents with a filter to get the
primary events for the specific rule.

About this task

In Jazz for Service Management, in the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub, create a page and use
two tables widgets and one Topology widget.

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 287

 Procedure
1. Create a page in the console.
a. Open the console.
b. To create a page, click Settings > Pages > New Page.
c. Enter Page for Event Isolation and Correlation in the Page Name field.
d. To save the page, click Ok.
2. Configure one table widget called Events Rules for the data type EVENTRULES to show all the rules
in the database. This table widget is the main widget that drives the second table widget.
a. Open the Page for Event Isolation and Correlation page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set. Select the EVENTRULES data type that belongs to the EventrulesDB data
source. The data set information is only displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5
minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. The system shows all the available columns by default.
You can change the displayed columns in the Visualization Settings section of the UI. You can also
select the row selection and row selection type options.
f. To save the widget, click Save and exit on the toolbar.
3. Configure another table widget called Primary Events for the policy output parameter
EICPrimaryEvents.
a. Open the Page for Event Isolation and Correlation page that you created.
b. Drag the Table widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set EICPrimaryEvents. The data set information is only displayed after the defined
refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings UI is displayed. The system shows all the available columns by default.
You can change the displayed columns in the Visualization Settings section of the UI. You can also
select the row selection and row selection type options.
f. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is displayed, select the ExecutePolicy check box.
Click Ok.
g. To save the widget, click Save and exit on the toolbar.
4. Configure a Topology widget called Resource Topology for the output parameter
EIC_Relationship.
a. Open the Page for Event Isolation and Correlation page that you created.
b. Drag the Topology widget into the content area.
c. To configure the widget data, click it. Click the down arrow icon and click Edit. The Select a dataset
window is displayed.
d. Select the data set. Select the EIC_Relationship data set. The data set information is only
displayed after the defined refresh interval. The default is 5 minutes.
e. The Visualization Settings window is displayed. To ensure that the policy runs when the widget is
displayed, select the executePolicy check box. Click Ok.
f. To save the widget, click Save and exit on the toolbar.
5. Configure a direct wire from the EVENTRULES table widget to the EICPrimaryEvents table widget.
a. Edit the page.
b. Click the Wires button.

288 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 c. Click New Wire.
d. Select the source as the Event Rule widget OnNodeClicked and click OK.
e. Select the target as Primary Events widget.
f. Repeat and select target as Resources Topology to clear the typology.
6. Configure a direct wire from the EICPrimaryEvents table widget to the EIC_Relationship topology
widget.
a. Edit the page.
b. Click the Wires button.
c. Click New Wire.
d. Select the source as the Primary Events widget OnNodeClicked and click OK.
e. Select the target as Resources Topology widget.
Tip: If you have not saved the page yet, you can find it by going to the Select Target for New Wire
dialog and locate the Resources Topology widget in Console Settings / This page.
f. Save the page.

Results
When you click an item in the EVENTRULES table widget, it populates the EICPrimaryEvents table with
the primary events from the objects. When you click an item in the EICPrimaryEvents table widget,
it populates the Topology widget when the Event Isolation and Correlation operation is completed.
Optionally, you can create a table widget instead of the topology widget to view the related events only.
The table widget is configured for the EICAffectedEvents output parameter.

Reference information for the Service Component Repository API

The Service Component Repository (SCR) Application Programming Interface (API) allows you to load
resource, attribute, and relationship information into the SCR by using a programmatic interface. The SCR
API is an alternative to using iDML books or loading the information by using TADDM.
The types of resource information that can be added to the SCR by using the SCR API can also be added
by using other SCR import methods. The SCR API takes advantage of the integration Impact policies that
you can use to access data from various sources that can then be used to introduce resource, attribute,
and relationship data models into the SCR.
The SCR API interface is a set of Impact function calls that run within an Impact Policy Language (IPL)
or JavaScript policy. Using the advanced data access capabilities of Impact with this API and the support
of both Common Data Model (CDM) and custom namespace models provides a powerful platform for
integrating a broad set of resource and relationship instance dependency models into SCR and other
third-party applications.
For documentation on the advanced features of the Service Component Repository
see the Tivoli Business Service Management Customization Guide available from the
following URL, http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/topic/com.ibm.tivoli.itbsm.doc_6.1.1/
customization/bsmc_dlkc_importing_scr.html.

Components of the SCR API

The Service Component Registry (SCR) Application Programming Interface (API) allows you to add new
components, attributes, and relationships to the SCR. The API also allows you to delete components and
relationships from the SCR.
The following Impact policy functions have been developed that use the functions provided by the
SCR API. These functions are not available in the policy editor in the GUI. For each transaction, where
information is entered into the SCR using this API, the functions outlined must be executed in the
sequence in which they are outlined:

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 289

 SCRRegister( )
This function creates the unique transaction ID (UUID) and also ensures that the transaction
information is persisted to the registration table. The unique transaction ID returned from this
function, is required for all other functions so that the components and relationships created can
be identified.
SCRCreateComponentInfo( )
This function creates and adds component information values to the appropriate database table. It
returns the unique transaction ID, or where an exception occurs, it returns a null value.
SCRCreateRelationship( )
This function creates a relationship between two components. It returns the unique transaction ID, or
where an exception occurs, it returns a null value.
SCRDeleteComponentInfo( )
Where required, this function deletes a component from the SCR. It returns the unique transaction ID,
or where an exception occurs, it returns a null value.
SCRDeleteRelationship( )
Where required, this function deletes the relationship between two components. It returns the unique
transaction ID, or where an exception occurs, it returns a null value.
SCRComplete( )
This function commits all the component information and relationship values for the transaction ID to
the database. This function returns 0 when successful and returns an exception when it fails.

SCR API functions

This section describes each of the Service Component Registry (SCR) Application Programming Interface
(API) functions.
Note: The examples provided to illustrate Service Component Registry (SCR) Application Programming
Interface (API) functions are provided in Impact Policy Language (IPL) unless otherwise stated. For
information about the differences between IPL and JavaScript, see the Differences between IPL and
JavaScript section of the Policy Reference Guide.

SCRRegister
The SCRRegister function creates the unique transaction ID (UUID) and also ensures that the
transaction information is persisted to the registration table. The unique transaction ID returned from
this function, is required for all other functions so that the components and relationships referenced can
be correctly associated with this source.

Syntax
SCRRegister (dataSource,transientId, cdmIdentity, productName, sourceControlInfo,
transtype,);

Parameters
This function has the following parameters.

Table 88. SCRRegister function parameters

Parameter Format Description
dataSource String This is the name for the data source created in
the data model
transientId String ID that locally identifies what is being registered
cdmIdentity String MSS name for the source
productName String Product name being used

290 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Table 88. SCRRegister function parameters (continued)
Parameter Format Description
sourceControlInfo String Source control information
transtype String This parameter can be set to Refresh if
you are synchronizing all components and
relationships as known by the source, otherwise
set this to Delta which allows components and
relationships to be deleted as well as created
individually.

Example
The following example returns the transaction ID and allows for components and relationships to be
deleted as well as created.

DataSource=”SCR_DB”;
TransientID=”Service_0001”;
CDMIdentity=”Service”;
ProductName=”ServiceApp”;
SourceControlInfo=NULL;
Transtype=”Delta”;
transactionID=SCRRegister(DataSource, TransientID, CDMIdentity,
ProductName, SourceControlInfo, Transtype);

SCRCreateComponentInfo
The SCRCreateComponentInfo function creates and adds component information values to the
appropriate database table. It returns the unique transaction ID, or where an exception occurs, it returns
a null value.

Syntax
transactionID =SCRCreateComponentInfo (dataSource, transactionId, transientId,
classType, label, sourceToken, keywords, values, modifyOnly);

Parameters
This function has the following parameters.

Table 89. SCRCreateComponentInfo function parameters

Parameter Format Description
dataSource String The name for the data source that is created in
the data model
transactionId String The unique transaction ID returned from
SCRRegister ();
transientId String Unique ID of the component within the
context of the transaction started with the
SCRRegister function call

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 291

 Table 89. SCRCreateComponentInfo function parameters (continued)
Parameter Format Description
classType String Resources that are created in the service
component registry must have a class type
in the format of namespace:resourceclass. The
namespace designation is there to lessen the
likelihood of unexpected class collisions. The
namespace can be set to something as simple as
a short character designation of a company for
example myinc. The class name must describe
the type of resource to be created for example:
• myinc:ComputerSystem
• myinc:Application
• myinc.Router

label String Label of the component that is being created

sourceToken String Source token for the component that is being
created.
keywords String The keywords array allows keyword attributes
to be added for each component you create.
Every resource that you create must include a
keyword and value combination that uniquely
identifies the resource. By default, you can use
tbsm:identity as the identity keyword for your
resources.
values String The values array allows value attributes to
be added for each component that is being
created. If you assigned a keyword that is
named tbsm:identity, the value must be a unique
identifying string for this resource.
modifyOnly Boolean (Optional) When true an existing component is
updated if it exists. If false, the component is
created if it does not exist or updated if it does
exist.

Example
The following example uses the transactionID created by the SCRRegister function and creates a
resource in the SCR called Comp0001.

ComponentTransientID=”Comp0001”;
ClassType= "myinc:ComputerSystem";
Label=”NO_LABEL”;
SourceToken=NULL”;
Keywords = {"tbsm:identity"};
Values = {"Comp0001-uniquestring"};

transactionID=SCRCreateComponentInfo(DataSource, transactionID,
ComponentTransientID, ClassType, Label, SourceToken, Keywords,
Values);

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SCRCreateRelationship
The SCRCreateRelationship function creates a relationship between two components. It returns the
unique transaction ID, or where an exception occurs, it returns a null value.

Syntax
transactionID =SCRCreateRelationship (dataSource, transactionId, relationshipType,
sourceId, targetId);

Parameters
This function has the following parameters.

Table 90. SCRCreateRelationship function parameters

Parameter Format Description
dataSource String The name for the data source created in the data
model
transactionId String The unique transaction ID returned from
SCRRegister ();
relationshipType String The relationship type, for example,
tbsm:contains
sourceId String Transient ID of the relationship source
targetId String Transient ID of the relationship target

Example
The following example utilizes the transactionID created by the SCRRegister function. It creates a
relationship between the two components created using the SCRCreateComponentInfo function.

RelationshipType=”tbsm:contains”;
SourceID=”Comp0001”;
TargetID=”Comp0002”;

transactionID=SCRCreateRelationship(DataSource, transactionID,
RelationshipType, SourceID, TargetID);

SCRDeleteComponentInfo
Where required, the SCRDeleteComponentInfo function deletes a component from the SCR. It returns
the unique transaction ID, or where an exception occurs, it returns a null value.

Syntax
transactionID =SCRDeleteComponentInfo (dataSource, transactionId, transientId,
classType, label, sourceToken, keywords, values);

Parameters
This function has the following parameters.

Table 91. SCRDeleteComponentInfo function parameters

Parameter Format Description
dataSource String This is the name for the data source created in
the data model

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 293

 Table 91. SCRDeleteComponentInfo function parameters (continued)
Parameter Format Description
transactionId String This is the unique transaction ID returned from
SCRRegister ();
transientId String Unique ID for the component being created
classType String Class type of the component being created
label String Label of the component being created
sourceToken String Source token for the component being created.
This value cannot be Null.
keywords String The keywords array allows keyword attributes
to be added for each component being created
values String The values array allows value attributes to be
added for each component being created

Example
The following example utilizes the transactionID created by the SCRRegister function.

// DataSource declared
// transactionID created by the SCRRegister function

ComponentTransientID=”Comp0001”;
ClassType=”ServiceComponent”;
Label=”NO_LABEL”;
SourceToken=NULL”;
Keywords={};
Values={};

// delete the component

transactionID=SCRDeleteComponentInfo(DataSource, transactionID,
ComponentTransientID, ClassType, Label, SourceToken, Keywords,
Values);

SCRDeleteRelationship
Where required, the SCRDeleteRelationship function deletes the relationship between two
components. It returns the unique transaction ID, or where an exception occurs, it returns a null value.

Syntax
transactionID =SCRDeleteRelationship (dataSource, transactionId, relationshipType,
sourceId, targetId);

Parameters
This function has the following parameters.

Table 92. SCRDeleteRelationship function parameters

Parameter Format Description
dataSource String The name for the data source created in the data
model
transactionId String The unique transaction ID returned from
SCRRegister ();

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Table 92. SCRDeleteRelationship function parameters (continued)
Parameter Format Description
relationshipType String The relationship type, for example,
tbsm:contains
sourceId String Transient ID of the relationship source
targetId String Transient ID of the relationship target

Example
The following example utilizes the transactionID created by the SCRRegister function. It deletes the
relationship between the two components deleted by the SCRDeleteComponentInfo function:

RelationshipType=”tbsm:contains”;
SourceID=”Comp0001”;
TargetID=”Comp0002”;

transactionID=SCRDeleteRelationship(DataSource, transactionID,
RelationshipType, SourceID, TargetID);

SCRComplete
The SCRComplete function commits all the component info and relationship values for the transaction ID
to the database. This function returns 0 when successful and returns an exception when it fails.

Syntax
SCRComplete (dataSource, transactionId);

Parameters
This function has the following parameters.

Table 93. SCRComplete function parameters

Parameter Format Description
dataSource String The name for the data source created in the data
model
transactionId String The unique transaction ID returned from
SCRRegister ();

Example
The following example uses the transactionID created by the SCRRegister function. It returns 0 if it
completes correctly, otherwise an exception is thrown.

ReturnValue = SCRComplete(DataSource, transactionID);

SCRReadRelationships
The SCRReadRelationships function returns a list of all relationships.

Syntax
DataItems = SCRReadRelationships(dataSource, dependencyDirection, relationshipType,
sourceLabel, sourceClass, targetLabel, targetClass);

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 295

 Parameters
This function has the following parameters.

Table 94. SCRReadRelationships function parameters

Parameter Format Description
dataSource String The name of the data source created in the data
model
dependencyDirection String Filters by dependency direction
relationshipType String Filters by relationship type
sourceLabel String Filters by source label
sourceClass String Filters by source class
sourceToken String Filters by source token
targetLabel String Filters by target label
targetClass String Filters by target class

Example
The example provided returns the relationships within the DataSource, using the parameters as filters:

DataSource = "SCR_DB";

DataItems = SCRReadRelationships(DataSource, NULL, "tbsm:contains", "NO_LABEL",

"a:Organization", "NO_LABEL", "a:Person");

SCRReadManagedElements
The SCRReadManagedElements function returns all managed elements, filtered by class type if the
value is not null.

Syntax
DataItems = SCRReadManagedElements (dataSource,classType);

Parameters
This function has the following parameters.

Table 95. SCRReadManagedElements function parameters

Parameter Format Description
dataSource String This is the name for the data source created in
the data model
classType String Filters by class type

Example
This example return all the managed elements, filtered by the class type a:Organization:

DataSource = "SCR_DB";

DataItems = SCRReadManagedElements(DataSource, "a:Organization")

296 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Creating a Netcool/Impact policy using the SCR API
This Netcool/Impact policy retrieves resources from a database and created components and
relationships for the resources in the Service Component Repository (SCR). To allow this policy to run
successfully, the database must be populated with sample data. The sample policy in this topic provides
the SCR API functions to populate the database. Instructions to allow you to use this sample policy are
embedded in the code text shown.
This policy uses the following SCR functions:
• SCRRegister(): to register the transaction taking place
• SCRCreateComponentInfo(): to create each component from each resource retrieved from the
database
• SCRRelationship(): to create a relationship between the components
• SCRComplete(): to persist all the components and relationships created.
Note: The components and relationships can be viewed in the CRViewer after the Discovery Library
Toolkit has run.

Sample Impact policy

This sample JavaScript policy creates two resources in the SCR. One called Comp0001 and one called
Comp0002. The policy creates a relationship between Comp0001 (the parent) to Comp0002 (the child).
The example uses a tbsm:resource namespace class designation which you can for your own purposes,
you can also create a company specific class structure.

TransactionID = SCRRegister
("SCR_DB", "Service_0001", "Service", "ServiceApp", null, "Delta");
Log("TransactionID is " + TransactionID);

TransactionID = SCRCreateComponentInfo
("SCR_DB", TransactionID, "Comp0001", "tbsm:resource", "NO_LABEL",
null, ["tbsm:identity"], ["comp0001-uniquestring"] );
TransactionID = SCRCreateComponentInfo
("SCR_DB", TransactionID, "Comp0002", "tbsm:resource", "NO_LABEL",
null, ["tbsm:identity"], ["comp0002-uniquestring"] );
TransactionID = SCRCreateRelationship
("SCR_DB", TransactionID, "tbsm:contains", "Comp0001", "Comp0002");
SCRComplete("SCR_DB", TransactionID);

Chapter 13. Configuring Event Isolation and Correlation 297

298 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide
Chapter 14. Simple email notification
The Simple Email Notification solution, provides a way to configure email notifications to be sent based on
rules that are configured.

Note: The Simple Email Notification solution has been deprecated. New notification features such as
ChatOps are available from IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps. Email notifications are also available with
the SendEmail policy function which can send emails when a preset set of conditions or events occur.
This solution is based on IBM Tivoli Netcool/Impact, and IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub, which
comes as part of IBM Jazz for Service Management. To make this solution work, you need the IBM
Dashboard Application Services Hub component.
The solution provides a GUI to add configuration and control the rules to send emails. The solution is
packaged in a compressed file in the $IMPACT_HOME/add-ons/notifications/ directory.
• For UNIX systems, use the Notifications.jar file.
• For Windows, use the Notifications.zip file
Each compressed file consists of the following parts:
• A db directory that contains sql files that can be used to create the database tables in Apache Derby or
DB2.
• An importData directory that contains an Impact project that contains the artifacts like, policies, data
source, and data type configurations for this solution to work.
• A data.zip directory that contains a sample Dashboard page that must be customized for your
environment.

Installation
You must complete the following steps before you can use the solution.
1. In your database, create the database table that you want to use to store the configuration in.
2. For UNIX systems, expand the IMPACT_HOME\add-ons\notifications\Notifications.jar.
Import the Netcool/Impact artifacts in the importData directory into the Notifications.jar
package in the Impact Server by using the IMPACT_HOME/bin/nci_import script.
3. Update the EmailSender service with a working SMTP server.
4. Install the Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war file in the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub. Then,
import the exported page in the data.zip file into the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub.
• For Windows, use the same process to install the Notifications.zip file.

Creating the database table

Apache Derby or DB2 can be used as the database to store the configuration. You can also use the
internal Impact database.

Procedure
1. To create the table in the Derby database, edit the notifications_derby.sql file in the db
directory of the compressed Notifications file.
• For UNIX systems use the Notifications.jar file.
• For Windows, use the Notifications.zip file.
2. Replace derbypass with your Derby password.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006, 2023 299

 3. After you update the file, go to the IMPACT_HOME/bin directory. Run the nci_db command to create
the table. The command must be run from Netcool/Impact primary server.
Use the following command syntax.

nci_db connect -sqlfile <files_extracted_location>/db/notifications_derby.sql

Where <files_extracted_location> is the directory where the compressed Notifications file

was extracted to.
4. If you are using a DB2 database see “Using DB2 as the database ” on page 302 .

Importing Netcool/Impact Artifacts

About this task

The Netcool/Impact artifacts are in the importData directory in the <files_extracted_location>.

Procedure
Use the nci_import command to import the Netcool/Impact artifacts into the Impact Server.

nci_import <ServerName> <files_extracted_location>/importData

Where <ServerName> is the Impact server name for example: NCI.

Updating the email service

Update the email service with a working SMTP server.

Procedure
1. Log in to Netcool/Impact. Go to the Services tab.
2. Edit the EmailSender service.
3. Enter a valid SMTP host and port.

Importing the exported page into the IBM Dashboard Application Services
Hub
How to install the war file and import the dashboard into the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub.

Procedure
1. Before you import the data.zip file, the Impact_SSD_Dashlet.war file must be installed in the
IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub.
2. The following link shows how to install the war file in to the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub.
“Installing the Netcool/Impact Self Service Dashboard widgets” on page 157
3. The data.zip file contains the sample dashboard that accesses the data from the Remote Provider
Connection name and Provider ID and can point to any cluster.
4. To import the dashboard, copy the data.zip file into the DASH_HOME/ui/input directory. If the
input directory does not exist, create the directory.
5. Run the following command:

DASH_HOME/ui/bin/consolecli.sh Import
--username <console_admin_user_ID>
--password <console_admin_password>
--excludePlugins TCRImportPlugins

300 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 6. For more information about this command, see the following link in the Jazz for Service Management
information center.
http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/index.jsp?
topic=%2Fcom.ibm.psc.doc_1.1.0%2Ftip_original%2Fttip_import.html
7. When you import the dashboard, if you are going to use DB2 or a different cluster name further
customization is required. For information see, “Using DB2 as the database ” on page 302.

Results
The Impact Notification dashboard page is now available in the Default folder.

Creating a Remote Connection

How to configure a remote connection between the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub and
Netcool/Impact.

Procedure
1. Log in to the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub.
2. From the settings in the navigation bar, open the Connections tab.
3. In the connections page, enter the host name where your Netcool/Impact GUI Server is installed.
4. Enter the admin user ID and password. Click Search.
5. The list of providers is displayed in the table. Select Impact_NCICLUSTER or similar depending on
your cluster name.
6. Modify the name and the provider ID as follows:
IMPACT_EMAIL_NOTIFICATION_ADDON
7. Click OK to implement the changes.

Updating the Object Server data source configuration

How to update the Object Server data source to use event filtering.

Procedure
1. Log in to Netcool/Impact.
2. In the Projects list, switch to the Notifications project.
3. Select Data Model.
4. Edit the ImpactNotificationsOS data source, update the Username, password, hostname, and port
for the ObjectServer. The ObjectServer is used for event filtering.

Email notification GUI

How to use the email notification in your environment.
To start the email notification GUI, click the Default folder button from the IBM Dashboard Application
Services Hub and choose Impact Notifications
The GUI has the following sections
• User Input: Save Email Notification
• Configured Email Notifications: Email Configuration
• Sample Results: Sample Results

Chapter 14. Simple email notification 301

Creating an email notification
The Save Email Notification form provides a way to configure event rules for which email needs to be
generated.

Procedure
1. Add the event in the Event Filter field. The event filter must be a valid ObjectServer SQL.
2. Enter the subject for the email in the Email Subject field.
For example, @Node@ @Severity@ event has occurred.
3. Enter the body of the email in the Email Body field.
For example, the Email Subject and Email Body can substitute values from the event. If a
column in Netcool/OMNIbus is added to the email, the variable substitution must be of the format
@COLUMNAME@. For example, if the value column Node is added to subject or body of the email, specify
@Node@ in the string. The value is substituted when the email is generated.
4. To, CC, and BCC email addresses can be entered in the appropriate text boxes.
5. Select the Activate Filter check box, if you want to activate this filter while you are adding or updating
this configuration.
6. Click the Save Email Notification button.

Viewing configured email notifications and sample results

How to view configured email notifications and sample results.

About this task

The Email Notification section shows the email notification configurations that are created. The list is
updated when a new configuration is added. If you did not select the Activate Filter check box, you can
also activate a row in the configuration by selecting the Activate button.
• Select the row that you want to activate, and click the Activate button.
• To delete a configuration, select the row and click the Delete button.
• To deactivate a configuration, select the row in the table and click the Deactivate button.
The Sample Results table shows up to 10 rows of sample subject and body values that are created for
the selected configuration. This table is updated when you choose a row in the Email Notification table.

Activating email notifications

How to activate the email notifications by editing the ImpactEmailNotificationPolicyActivator service.

Procedure
1. To activate email notifications, login to Netcool/Impact.
2. Click Services to open the Services tab.
3. Switch to the Notifications project.
4. Edit the ImpactEmailNotificationPolicyActivator service, update the Activation Interval interval to a
value that suits your environment. The default is every 30 seconds.
5. Start the ImpactEmailNotificationPolicyActivator service.

Using DB2 as the database

To enable DB2 as the database, you need to complete the following steps:
• Create the database and the table.

302 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

 • Update the DB2 data source ImpactNotificationsDB2 to your db2 user ID and password to access the
DB2 table.
• Update the notificationConstants policy.
• Update the IBM Dashboard Applications Services Hub GUI to pull the data from DB2.

Creating the database and the table

How to set up the DB2 database with the notifications_db2.sql file and update the DB2 data
source in Netcool/Impact.

Procedure
1. If you want to use the DB2 database in your DB2 environment, create a database that is called
NOTIFCTN.
2. Copy the notifications_db2.sql file to your DB2 environment.
3. Connect to the new database by running db2 connect to NOTIFCTN.
4. Run the db2 -tvf notifications_db2.sql command to create the table.
5. Remove the database connection by running db2 connect reset.

Updating the DB2 data source

Procedure
1. In Netcool/Impact, click Data Model to open the Data Model tab.
2. Select the Notifications Project.
3. Edit the ImpactNotificationsDB2 data source.
4. Update the user ID, password, port, and the host for this configuration.

Updating the notificationConstants policy

Update the notificationConstants policy variables for Derby and DB2 database so that the email
notifications work correctly.

About this task

Procedure
1. Click Policies to open the Policies tab.
2. Select the Notifications project.
3. For DB2 and for Derby databases, you must update the impact_sender_address variable to ensure that
the email that is sent has a valid sender address.
For example:

var impact_sender_address="[email protected]";

4. For a DB2 database, you must update the emailConfigDTName and the emailConfigDSName variable
a) Edit the notificationConstants policy. Update the emailConfigDTName variable to
EmailConfigurationDB2.
b) In the same policy update emailConfigDSName variable to ImpactNotificationsDB2.

Chapter 14. Simple email notification 303

304 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide
Index

A data sources (continued)

Mediator DSA 11
Access policy output parameters 202 overview 5, 10
accessibility x setting up 12
Accessing an array of Netcool/Impact objects 111 SQL database 10
Accessing data type output 209 data type
add-ons auto-populating 17
Maintenance Window Management 271–275 data item ordering 18
getting name of structural element 17
LDAP 14
B SQL 14
books data types
see publications ix caching 19
Button widget 159 categories 13
data item filter 18
external 13
C fields 15
internal 13, 14
Column labels 169
keys 17
Configuration 91
mediator 14
configuring data sources 282
overview 13
configuring data types 283
predefined 13
conventions
predefined internal 15
typeface xiii
setting up 17
Creating a policy 92
system 15
Creating a service 94
user-defined internal 15
Creating a widget on a page in the console 106
Data types and the DirectSQL function 110
Creating an event rule 285
database event listener
Creating editing and deleting an event rule 284
creating call spec 41
customer support xi
creating triggers 41, 43–45
Customized links 144
editing listener properties file 38
editing nameserver.props file 37
D example triggers 46–51
granting database permissions 39
data installing client files into Oracle 38
adding 71, 72 sending database events 40
deleting 74, 75 setting up database server 36
retrieving by filter 63 writing policies 52, 53
retrieving by key 68 database functions
retrieving by link 70 calling 75
updating 73 DataItem (built-in variable) 63
data items DataItems (built-in variable) 63
field variables 63 directory names
data mashups 135 notation xiii
data model
components 5
creating 3 E
data models
education x
architecture 7
enterprise service model
examples 7
elements 8
setting up 6
environment variables
data sources
notation xiii
architecture 12
event container 59
categories 10
event enrichment 1
creating 13
event fields
JMS 11
accessing 59, 60
LDAP 11
updating 60

Index 305
event gateway 2 L
Event Isolation and Correlation 277, 278, 282–285
Event Isolation and Correlation operator views 282 large data model support 163
Event Isolation and Correlation polices 281 Large data model support 161
Event Isolation and Correlation Services 282 large data models 162
event notification 2 Launching the Event Isolation and Correlation analysis page
event querying 286
reading state file 26 LDAP data sources
event reader creating 11
actions 27 LDAP filters 65
event locking 27 links
event matching 27 overview 70
event order 27
mapping 26
event readers
M
architecture 25 manuals
process 25 see publications ix
event sources Mediator DSA
Architecture 21 data sources 11
non-ObjectServer 20 Mediator filters 66
ObjectServer 19 multiple key expressions 69
events MWM 271, 275
adding journal entries to 60, 61
deleting 62
sending new 61 N
Exporting and Importing ForImpactMigration 92
Netcool/Impact data types as OSLC resources 184
notation
F environment variables xiii
path names xiii
Filter data output 147 typeface xiii
Filtering data in the console 113
filters
LDAP filters 65 O
Mediator filters 66
ObjectServer event source
SQL filters 63
setting up 21
fixes
omnibus event listener
obtaining x
triggers 55
using ReturnEvent 56
G omnibus event reader
event querying 26
GetByFilter 139 event queueing 26
OMNIbus triggers 57
I OMNIbusEventListener 56
OMNIbusEventReader prevent reread 30
Installing Discovery Library Toolkit 278 OMNIbusEventReader re-reading events 33
Installing Self Service Dashboard widgets 157 OMNIbusEventReader retrying connection on error 32
Installing the DB2 data base 278 OMNIbusEventReader with an ObjectServer pair 28
internal data repository 11 online publications
accessing ix
operator view EIC_Analyze 287
J ordering publications x
JavaScript and the UI Data Provider 173 OSLC 181
JDBC Gateway OSLC and data types 183
changing default name 32 OSLC and variables from policy results 203
JMS OSLC introduction 181
data source 11 OSLC resource shapes for data types 186
OSLC resources and identifiers 183
Overview 91, 277
K
key expressions 68 P
keys
multiple key expressions 69 Passing argument values to a policy 214
Passing parameter values from a table to a gauge 149

306 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide

Passing parameter values from a widget to a policy 148 Software Support (continued)
PassToTBSM 91, 92, 94 overview x
path names receiving weekly updates x
notation xiii solution
percentage 119 running 3
pie chart widget 131 solution components 1
policies solutions
creating 3 setting up 2
policy types 1
retrieving data by filter 66–68 SQL filters 63
retrieving data by key 69 Status 119
retrieving data by link 70
problem determination and resolution xii
projects 92
T
publications Tivoli Information Center ix
accessing online ix Tivoli technical training x
ordering x tooltips 171
topology widget 174
R training
Tivoli technical x
RDFRegister function 198, 231 Tree widget and array of Impact objects 114
RDFUnRegister function 201, 234 typeface conventions xiii

S U
SCR UI data provider 163
API UI data provider and GetByFilter function 109
SCRComplete 295 UI data provider customization 166
SCRCreateComponentInfo 291 Uninstalling the Self Service Dashboard widgets 158
SCRCreateRelationship 293 updating data 72
SCRDeleteComponentInfo 293 Updating the RCA components view 279
SCRDeleteRelationship 294 User parameters 107, 207
SCRReadManagedElements 296 using Spid 57
SCRReadRelationships 295
SCRRegister 290
functions
V
SCRComplete 295 variables
SCRCreateComponentInfo 291 notation for xiii
SCRCreateRelationship 293 Viewing Event Isolation and Correlation results 286, 287
SCRDeleteComponentInfo 293 viewing field values and the UI Data Provider 172
SCRDeleteRelationship 294 Visualizing a data mashup from two IBM Tivoli Monitoring
SCRReadManagedElements 296 sources 152
SCRReadRelationships 295 Visualizing a policy action in a widget 132
SCRRegister 290 Visualizing data mashups with an array of Impact objects
Self service dashboard widgets 157 138
Serial rollover 33 Visualizing data output 139
service Visualizing data with the tree and topology widgets 142
database event listener 36, 40 Visualizing Event Isolation and Correlation 155, 287
omnibus event listener 54
OMNIbus event listener 54
OMNIbus event reader 24 W
service model
Web hosting model
enterprise 8
elements 9
services
WebGUI 286
overview 23
working with data models 5
predefined 23
setting up 3
user-defined 24 X
working with 1, 23
Simple Email Notification 300 x events in y time 2
Slack Integration project 77
Software Support
contacting xi

Index 307
308 Netcool/Impact: Solutions Guide
IBM®