The DECevent dia Command Verb

This chapter discusses the DECevent dia command verb and the four main flags you can append to it.

5.1 Introduction

The dia DECevent command verb allows the translation of an event file residing on a Tru64 UNIX system. DECevent allows you to append four main flags to the dia command verb, each accomplishing different functions on an input event file. The four main flags are described in Table 5-1.

Table 5-1 DECevent Main Flags
Main	Flag Description
-a	The default qualifier for the dia command allowing the translation of events into a report.
-b	Allows smaller binary event log files to be created from larger event log files.
-c	Allows events to be formatted as they are logged by the operating system event logger.
-d	Allows the canonical format of events to be output in a hexidecimal dump format.

5.2 The dia -a Command

The dia -a command option performs a Bit-To-Text translation on the default system event file or on a user specified file if the -f flag is used. The default system event log file on a Tru64 UNIX operating system is /usr/adm/binary.errlog.

The dia command defaults to the -a flag if no main flag is specified on the command line. The dia -a command is the equivalent of the dia command. The following syntax is used for the dia -a command option:

dia [-a -f infile[ ...]]

5.2.1 Flags and Parameters for the -a Flag

The following flags can be appended to the dia -a command to further expand the utility function. Refer to Appendix C for a definition of these flags.

-f infile [ ...]
-v
-R
-e [s:start_number][e:end_number]
-i keyword [=val] [ ...]
-x keyword [=val] [ ...]
-H hostname [ ...]
-t [s:time][e:time]
-o output_type
> outfile

5.2.2 The infile Parameter

The dia -a command allows you to use the optional infile parameter. This allows you to choose one or more alternative input event files for translation. Reporting is done in sequential order. If you do not supply a file name for this parameter, the default event file is used. The default event file is defined as either the default system event log for each operating system, or a file specified using the set evt command.

The default system event log file on a Tru64 UNIX system is /usr/adm/binary.errlog.

5.2.3 Example

The following example results in the translation of events from the binary_errlogold.sys event file:

% dia -f /usr/adm/binary_errlogold.sys

5.3 The dia -b Command

The dia --b command allows you to copy all or part of a log file into another binary output file. This command is typically used in conjunction with the -i and -x flags and with selection keywords to select only those entries of interest. The binfile is the output file created from the -b command and is not optional.

The following syntax is used for the dia -b command option:

dia -b binfile [-f infile[ ...]]

5.3.1 Flags and Parameters for the -b Flag

The following list presents the valid flags and parameters for the dia -b command. Refer to Appendix C for definitions of these flags.

-f infile [ ...]
-v
-R
-j [rejfile]
-e [s:start_number][e:end_number]
-i keyword [=val] [ ...]
-x keyword [=val] [ ...]
-H hostname [ ...]
-t [s:time][e:time]

5.3.2 The binfile Parameter

The dia -b command creates a binary output file using the binfile parameter. You must supply a name for the binary output file with the .bin extension, as shown in the following example.

5.3.3 Example

The following example selects disk entries from the input file errlogold.sys and creates the disk.bin file:

% dia -b disk.bin -f errlogold.sys -i disk

5.4 The dia -c Command

The dia -c command reads and displays events as they occur directly from the system event logger. The output goes to the user terminal by default unless it is redirected to a file.

The following syntax is used for the dia -c command option:

dia -c

Note

A special file is created in the /tmp directory when you use the dia -c command: DECevent_MbxYYYY, where YYYY is a four digit number assigned by the system.

Do not delete this file while DECevent is running. These files are deleted upon normal termination of the dia -c command.

5.4.1 Flags and Parameters for the -c Flag

The following list presents the valid flags and parameters for the dia -c command. Refer to Appendix C for definitions of these flags.

-i keyword [=val] [ ...]
-x keyword [=val] [ ...]
-o output_type
> outfile

5.4.2 Examples

The following example reads events in real time and displays them on screen in the brief report format.

% dia -c -o brief

5.4.3 Halting Continuous Display Mode

To halt the continuous display of events as they occur, enter Ctrl/C. This stops the display, and the system prompt appears on the screen.

5.5 The dia -d Command

The dia -d command provides a brief report type followed by a dump of a generic buffer. The following syntax is used for the dia -d command option:

dia -d

5.5.1 Flags and Parameters for the -d Flag

The following list presents the valid flags and parameters for the dia -d command. Refer to Appendix C for definitions of these flags.

-f infile [ ...]
-v
-R
-e [s:start_number][e:end_number]
-i keyword [=val] [ ...]
-x keyword [=val] [ ...]
-H hostname [ ...]
-t [s:time][e:time]
> outfile

5.5.2 The infile Parameter

The dia -d command allows you to use the optional [infile] parameter. This allows you to choose one or more alternative input event files for translation. Reporting is done in sequential order. If you do not supply a file name for this parameter, the default event file is used. The default file is defined as either the default system event log for each operating system, or a file specified using the set evt command.

The default system event log file on a Tru64 UNIX system is /user/adm/binary.errlog.

5.5.3 Examples

The following example provides an ASCII output file called errlog.dmp containing disk entries from the errlogold.sys input file.

% dia -d -f errlogold.sys -i disk > errlog.dmp

Chapter 5