Creating an XML Dynamic Application

This section describes how to create and test an XML Performance Dynamic Application.

Use the following menu options to navigate the SL1 user interface:

To view a pop-out list of menu options, click the menu icon ().
To view a page containing all of the menu options, click the Advanced menu icon ().

Creating the Dynamic Application

In this example, the Dynamic Application will collect data from a Dial Number Identification Service on a transaction switch. To define the properties for the Dynamic Application, perform the following steps:

Go to the Dynamic Applications Manager page (System > Manage > Applications).
Select the Actions button, then select Create New Dynamic Application. The Dynamic Applications Create New Application page appears.
Supply values in the following fields:

Application Name. Enter "Dial Number Identification Service" in this field.
Application Type. Select XML Performance.
Poll Frequency. Select Every 1 Minute to see data as quickly as possible.

For this example, you can leave the remaining fields set to their default value. Select the Save button to save the Dynamic Application.

Defining XML Data-Points to Monitor

After defining the properties for the XML Dynamic Application, we must determine what data-points are available for the Dynamic Application to collect. Each data point will be used to create a collection object.

This example Dynamic Application will collect data from an XML document that looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO‐8859‐1"?>

<TS-IENMonitor>

<DNIS>

<DNIS-ID>997</DNIS-ID>

</DNIS>

<DNIS>

<DNIS-ID>998</DNIS-ID>

</DNIS>

<DNIS-Summary>

</DNIS-Summary>

</TS-IENMonitor>

We will define the following collection objects in SL1:

Name	XML Tag	Description
DNIS ID	<DNIS -ID>	DNIS stands for dialed number identification service. DNIS is a service sold by telecommunications companies to corporate clients that lets them determine which telephone number was dialed by a customer. For example, a company may have a different toll free number for each product line it sells. If a call center is handling calls for multiple product lines, the switch that receives the class can examine the DNIS, then play the appropriate recorded greeting. The collection object "DNIS ID" specifies the phone number called by customers
Successful X25 Calls	<X25CallsSuccess>	X.25 is a data communications protocol developed to describe how data passes into and out of public data communication networks. The protocol is used primarily by telephone companies. The collection object "Successful X25 Calls" specifies how many incoming and outgoing phone calls using X25 were successfully connected.
Failed X25 Calls	<X25CallsFail>	The collection object "Failed X25 Calls" specifies how many incoming and outgoing phone calls using X25 were not successfully connected.
Successful Authentications	<AuthsSuccess>	Authentication means the verification of the identity of a person or process placing the call. The collection object "Successful Authentication" specifies how many calls were successfully authenticated.
Failed Authentications	<AuthsFail>	The collection object "Failed Authentication" specifies how many calls were not successfully authenticated.
Authentication Failure Rate	<AuthsFailRate>	The collection object "Authentication Failure Rate" specifies the percentage of authentications that failed.
Successful Settlements	<SettlementsSuccess>	A Settlement is the process by which merchant banks and cardholder banks exchange financial data resulting from sales transactions, cash disbursements, and merchandise credits. The collection object "Successful Settlements" specifies how many settlement transactions were completed successfully.
Failed Settlements	<SettlementsFail>	The collection object "Failed Settlements" specifies how many settlement transactions were not completed successfully.
Settlement Failure Rate	<SettlementsFailRate>	The collection object "Settlement Failure Rate" specifies the percentage of settlements that failed.
Total X25 Calls	<X25CallsTotal>	The collection object "Total X25 Calls" specifies the total number of successful and failed, incoming and outgoing phone calls using X25 on all monitored DNIS numbers.
Total Authentications	<AuthsTotal>	The collection object "Total Authentications" specifies the total number of successful and failed authentications on all monitored DNIS numbers.
Total Settlements	<SettlementsTotal>	The collection object Total Settlements specifies the total number of successful and failed settlements on all monitored DNIS numbers.

Defining the Collection Objects

After determining what data-points are available, you can define your collection objects. To define the collection objects:

Go to the Dynamic Applications Manager page (System > Manage > Applications).
Select the wrench icon () for the Dial Number Identification Service Application.
Select the Collections tab. The Dynamic Applications | Collections Objects page appears.
To create the collection object for DNIS ID, supply values in the following fields:
Object Name. Enter "DNIS ID" in this field.
XML Tags. In this field you specify the element or attribute that should be parsed from the XML document for this collection object. Enter "<TS-IENMonitor><DNIS><DNIS-ID>" in this field
Class Type. Select Label (Always Polled). This value will be used to label the graph lines on the performance graph.
Group Number. We selected Group 1. All collection objects that appear inside the <DNIS> section of the XML document will be in this group. Including all these collection objects in the same group means that this collection object will be used to label the graph lines on every performance graph that uses these collection objects.

For this example, you can leave the remaining fields set to their default values.
Select the Save button.
Select the Reset button to clear the form fields.
For the remaining nine collection objects, follow the example above. Once complete, the Collection Object Registry will look like this:

NOTE: Select Performance Gauge as the Class Type for the remaining collection objects, because these collection objects contain performance values that can go up or down between poll periods. Include every collection object in Group 1, except for the Total X25 Calls, Total Settlements, and Total Authentications. Because these values must not be associated with the "DNS ID" labels, group these three collection objects in Group 2.

Creating the Presentation Object

When you create a collection object in a Performance Dynamic Application, SL1 automatically creates a presentation object that corresponds to that collection object. You must enable these presentation objects for SL1 to generate a graph using those presentation objects. To enable a presentation object:

Go to the Dynamic Applications Manager page (System > Manage > Applications).
Select the wrench icon () for the Dial Number Identification Service Application.
Select the Presentations tab. The Dynamic Applications Presentation Objects page appears.
In the Dynamic Applications Presentation Objects page, select the wrench icon () for the presentation object you want to enable.

In the Active State drop-down, select Enabled.
Select the Save button.
Repeat the steps above for the remaining nine presentation objects.

Testing the Dynamic Application

To test the Dial Number Identification Service Dynamic Application in this example, you must configure a web server to host the XML document. The web server must:

Return the XML document listed in the Defining XML Data-Points to Monitor section in response to a GET request.
Be discoverable by SL1 as an SNMP device or a Non-SNMP device.

This example uses an Administration Portal as the web server. The root directory for an Administration Portal is:

/usr/local/silo/gui/ap/www/

For this example:

A directory called "xml" was created in the root directory of the Administration Portal.
A file called "ienmonitor.xml", which contains the XML listed in the Defining XML Data-Points to Monitor section, was created in the "xml" directory.
The permissions on the "xml" directory and the "ienmonitor.xml" file were changed to 755.
The Administration Portal was discovered in SL1.

Creating a Credential

For SL1 to collect data for the Dial Number Identification Service Dynamic Application from a test device, you must create a SOAP/XML credential. To create the SOAP/XML credential:

Go to the Credential Management page (System > Manage > Credentials).
Select the Create button, then select SOAP/XML Host Credential from the drop-down list. The Create New CURL/SOAP Credential page appears.
Supply values in the following fields:

Profile Name. Enter "Dial Number XML".
Method. Select GET in this field.
URL. Enter the URL of the XML document. Use the "%D" substitution character to supply the IP address of the test device. This example uses the URL "http://%D/xml/ienmonitor.xml".

For this example, you can leave the reaming fields set to the default values.
Select the Save button.

Manually Aligning the Dynamic Application to the Test Device

After you have configured the test device, you can align the Dial Number Identification Service Dynamic Application to the device. After aligning the Dynamic Application to the device, SL1 will collect data and we can view the Presentation objects we defined in the Creating a Presentation Object section.

To manually align the Dynamic Application to a device:

Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic SL1 user interface).
In the Device Manager page, find the test device you configured for this example. Select its wrench icon ().
The Device Properties page appears. Select the Collections tab.
In the Dynamic Application Collections page, select the Action button and select Add Dynamic Application. The Dynamic Application Alignment page appears.

In the Dynamic Applications pane, select the Dial Number Identification Service Dynamic Application. In the Credentials pane, select Dial Number XML.
Select the Save button to assign the credential.

Viewing the Reports

After the Dynamic Application has collected the data specified in the collection objects, you can view the performance report for the test device. To view the performance report for the test device with the Dial Number Identification Service Dynamic Application aligned to it:

From the Dynamic Application Collections page, select the Reset button to update the page with the latest information.
Locate the Dial Number Identification Service. If the graph icon () is colored, the performance graph is available. Select the graph icon for the presentation object you want to view.

Or:

Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic SL1 user interface).
In the Device Manager page, find the test device you aligned the Dial Number Identification Service application to. Select the device's graph icon ().
The Device Summary page appears. Select the Performance tab.

In the left NavBar, select Dial Number Identification Service, then select the presentation object you want to view. For example, select AuthsSuccess.
The AuthsSuccess report is displayed.

You can mouseover different data points on the report, and the report will display the collected value for the given time.
The values for each label object are displayed in the graph key at the bottom of the report.

To learn more above device performance reports, see the section on Viewing Performance Data.