Launching or attaching a Java process

To profile a process, it needs to be running, an agent needs to be associated with it, and you need to attach to that agent. If the process is already running, you only need to attach to its agent. Attach means that a monitor is created to contain the results observed by an associated agent.

If the process is not running, then you need to launch it. Launch means that the process is started, an agent is associated with the process, and a monitor is created to contain the results observed by the agent.

Whenever you launch or attach to a Java process, a logical representation of the Java process is created in the Profiling Monitor view. This representation, the process object, is identified both by name and an ID number (PID) that appears in the view along with the associated agents.

Note. The iSeries JVM requires the following options to generate method entry and exit events for method statistics:

      -Dos400.enbprfcol=1 -Djava.compiler=jitc

To either launch or attach either a local or a remote Java process, follow these steps:

From the Profiling and Logging Perspective, Java Perspective, Server Perspective, or Debug Perspective, select Profile:

Select either Launch or Attach, then select Java Process if the process is local or Remote Process if it is remote.
If you selected Remote Process, the Hosts page opens.
- Specify either the remote Host name or its IP address.
- Specify the Agent Controller port, if it's different from the default. Click Next.
If you selected Attach, then the Agent window appears, displaying detached (and hence available) agents that are running and collecting data.
- Select the agents that are associated with the process IDs you wish to attach to and move them to the right side pane.
- It may be useful to click Refresh to ensure that you have an up-to-date list. Click Next.
If you selected Launch, then the Class window opens.
- Either select the Java Project and Main class that you intend to profile from within the workbench or, if you intend to profile classes outside the workbench, select the Java Class on the file system.
- You may need to specify where to find the Class path, directory, and JAR file.
- You may specify, Parameters, VM arguments, and Environment Variables, as needed. Click Next. The Destination page opens.
Specify the project and monitor in which to store data from this profiling session. You could also specify an external file. Click Next. The Profiling Filters page opens.
To select what should and should not be profiled, Select a filter set or create a custom one. Click Next. The Profiling Options page opens..
If you are interested in memory related profiling, such as heap analysis and memory statistics, select My application uses too much memory.
- Click Show Details, then select Show instance level information. By selecting this option, instance details are provided. This option can increase the amount of data collected by the profiling session and, in turn, can slow down your application.
To analyze application execution, select My application is too slow.
1. Click Show Details, then select Show execution flow graphical details to analyze the application execution using the Execution Flow view. This option also increases the amount of data collected by the profiling session and, in turn, can slow down your application.
2. Click Next.
Specify whether profiling should stop after some number of method invocations or some amount of time. Click Finish. The profiling begins:
- The Profiling Console opens, displaying program input and output.
- The associated agents monitor the application (shown with the Monitoring symbol ) until it has run to completion.
- Profiling objects are created and displayed in the Profiling Monitor, and are identified both by name and a process ID number (PID). This workbench process object is a logical representation of the selected Java process; it is not a system process.
- In the monitored state, you can run garbage collection (click the Run Garbage Collection button ) or, if available, dump object references (click the Collect Object References button from the main toolbar).
- If the agent is in the running state but is not collecting data (shown with the Paused symbol ), using the Refresh Views button will not have any effect. You must start monitoring the agents to get the latest data. Select Start Monitoring from the pop-up menu of the agent.
- If the agent is in the terminated state (shown by the Terminated symbol ), it means that it has finished monitoring the application, which has run to completion.
To analyze data from the profiling session, you can open any available Profiling and Logging view. To refresh the view content, click Refresh Views .