I dont know if its possible with an Octet String, but NetView does
provide a way to remap the type of variable that is being collected.
There is a file in /usr/OV/conf called mib.coerce. I have never attempted
to use it to remap an Octet String, but I have used it in other cased to
change a Integer to a Counter and visa-versa. It might be worth a try, but
it may not work at all.

Anyone else have any input on this?

Paul


Vladan Milosevic wrote:

James, thanks for the reply...

I know I am in good hands now...

I thought that agent sends values marked somehow, but I did not know if that
could be changed.

IT IS displayString which looks like this one:

47

I think that Patrol can graph it since it knows what to expect and it
changes it to a integer.

I am quite sure that BMC did it on purpose, since the monitoring station
does just that, and all the numeric values are presented as strings. Since
you have mentioned it, is there a way I could take this info and convert the
string value to integer and then use it again?

I have tried collecting it, and although it looks like number, I get
complains about nothing to graph...

Sorry about my poor explanation of the problem, but you got it right,
anyway.

Regards,
Vladan



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nv-l AT lists.us.ibm DOT com [mailto:owner-nv-l AT lists.us.ibm DOT 
com] On
Behalf Of James Shanks
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 4:01 PM
To: nv-l AT lists.us.ibm DOT com
Subject: Re: [nv-l] Graphing data using Application builder






I don't follow what you are saying here at all.   How can you, or BMC, be
graphing anything other than a numeric value?
A Display String is a textual convention for a particular kind of octet
string, in this case printable ASCII characters. It is sent by an agent as
data type x'04', which is the BER encoding for an octet string.  All SNMP
data is preceded by its data type and length so that the receiver knows
precisely what it is getting.

Now the only thing you can collect and graph in NetView are numeric values:
integers,  counters, gauge values.  Things that vary numerically over time.
That's all.

So are you saying that this BMC patrol MIB is incorrect and that what they
are calling a Display String is really something else, a numeric value of
some kind?  Then you would have to change the MIB and reload it just to even
try to get us to collect on it.  You said you weren't sure that even makes
sense.  Well, as far as I can see, that's the only thing that does, since
you cannot graph a string of printable ASCII characters as a rate of change.

But this would be a workaround only if the MIB really is in error and the
Patrol agent is really sending some kind of numeric data, encoded as x'02'
integer, or x'41' counter, or x'42' gauge.  If it is really sending  type
x'04' octet string, then it is highly likely that the MIB collector isn't
going to know what to do with that kind of data, and will just  error out. I
don't know that for a fact, so you are welcome to try this if you like, but
I am sorely puzzled by your description of the issue here.

James Shanks
Level 3 Support  for Tivoli NetView for UNIX and Windows
Tivoli Software / IBM Software Group