Spool Requests Test

The SAP System differentiates between two types of request when printing:

Spool request: A spool request is a document for which a print function has been selected. However, it has not yet been output to a printer or another device. The output data for the print document is stored partly formatted in a data store until an output request is created, that is, until it is sent to a particular output device.

The spool system uses a spool request to store the print data temporarily and to access it. The data is stored in a temporary format. You can also display the print document.

The system automatically assigns a 10-digit ID number to a spool request.
Output request: From the point of view of the SAP spool system, an output request outputs the print data of a spool request to a particular output device.

Multiple output requests may exist for a single spool request. Each represents an instance of the output of the same spool request. Each of these output requests may have different attributes, such as the target printer or number of copies.

By differentiating between spool request and output requests, the spool system provides a means of storing the data temporarily.

This test monitors the spool requests of the target SAP ABAP instance and reports how many spool requests were created? Using this test, administrators may figure out how many spool requests were error prone. Apart from this, you can figure out the number of output problems and output errors encountered by the output requests for a corresponding spool request. This way, administrators may figure out what exactly caused the errors while processing the spool requests and when exactly were the errors at their peak!

Target of the test : A SAP ABAP instance

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every processing group on a SAP ABAP instance.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed
Host	Host name of the server for which the test is to be configured.
PortNo	Enter the port to which the specified host listens.
ClientName	Specify the ID of the client system as what the eG agent will be connecting to the SAP ABAP instance. To know how to determine the client ID to use, follow the instructions provided in Determining the Client ID/Name for the eG Agent to Connect to the SAP ABAP Instance.
SAPUser	Typically, to connect to a SAP ABAP instance and run tests, the eG agent requires the permissions of a SAP user who has been assigned with certain authorization objects. Ideally, you will have to create a new user role on the SAP ABAP instance for this purpose, associate the above-mentioned authorization objects with that role, and assign the new role to an existing SAP user. The procedure for the same has been provided in Creating a New User Role for Monitoring and Assigning it to a SAP User. Once the new role is assigned to a SAP user, specify the name of this user against SAPUser.
Password	The password of the specified SAPUser.
Confirm Password	Confirm the password by retyping it here.
SysNo	An indicator of the TCP/IP port at which the SAP server listens. For example, for a server that listens at port 3200, the SysNo will be ‘00’. Similarly, if the SAP server port is 3201, the SysNo will have to be specified as ‘01’. Therefore, in the SysNo text box specify the system number of the SAP server with which the specified client communicates. To know the system number for the ABAP server being monitored, follow the procedure detailed in Identifying the SAP Router String and System Number.
Router	If the SAP client with the specified ClientName exists in a network external to the SAP server, then a router will be used to enable the server-client communication. In such a case, specify the router string of the router in the Router text box. If both the client and the server exist in the same network, then specify ‘none’ against the Router text box. To know what is the SAP Router string for the ABAP server being monitored, follow the procedure detailed in Identifying the SAP Router String and System Number.
InstanceName	This is set to none by default. This implies that the eG agent automatically discovers the instance name at run time.
Timeout	Indicate the duration (in seconds) for which this test should wait for a response from the SAP ABAP instance. By default, this is set to 120 seconds.
JCO Version	The eG agent uses the SAP JCO library to connect to the SAP ABAP system and pull out metrics. To enable the eG agent to make this connection and query the metrics, you need to specify the version of the SAP JCO library that the agent needs to use. For instance, to instruct the eG agent to use JCO v2.1.19, it would suffice if you specify the ‘major version number’ alone against JCO Version – in the case of this example, this will be 2.x. Note that if you have downloaded the SAP JCO CONNECTOR files for SAP JCO version 3 from the SAP market place (as instructed by Downloading the SAP JCO Connector files Required for Monitoring ), then the JCO Version configuration should be 3.x.
IsPassive	If the value chosen is Yes, then the server under consideration is a passive server in a SAP ABAP INSTANCE cluster. No alerts will be generated if the server is not running. Measures will be reported as “Not applicable” by the agent if the server is not up.
DD Frequency	Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD Frequency.
Detailed Diagnosis	To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option. The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled: The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Spool requests	Indicates the number of spool requests created during the last measurement period.	Requests	These measures are a good indicator of the load on the spool system.
Spool request rate	Indicates the rate at which spool requests were created during the last measurement period.	Requests/sec
Total number of spool errors	Indicates the total number of outstanding spool requests with errors.	Requests	Ideally, the value of this measure should be zero.
Spool error rate	Indicates the rate of spool requests with errors during the last measurement period.	Requests/sec	A sudden/gradual increase in the value of this measure indicates that the overall spool system is error prone.
Total number of output problems	Indicates the number of output problems encountered by the output requests for a corresponding spool request.	Requests	These output problems are encountered while executing the output requests corresponding a spool request. However, you can infer that there was an output for the request but problems were encountered during printing.
Rate of output problems	Indicates the rate at which output problems were encountered by the output requests.	Requests/sec	A sudden/gradual increase in the value of this measure indicates issues with output device connectivity or printing issues.
Total number of output errors	Indicates the number of output errors encountered by the output requests for a corresponding spool request.	Requests	The output errors occur when there is no output for a particular output request.
Rate of output errors	Indicates the rate at which the output errors were encountered by the output requests during the last measurement period.	Requests/sec	A sudden/gradual increase in the value of this measure indicates issues with output device connectivity or printing issues.
New spool errors	Indicates the number of spool requests with errors during the last measurement period.	Requests	Ideally, the value of this measure should be zero. The detailed diagnosis of this measure if enabled, lists the request number, corresponding output request status, title, output device, timestamp etc.,
New output problems	Indicates the number of output problems encountered by the output requests during the last measurement period.	Requests	The detailed diagnosis of this measure if enabled, lists the spool request number, output device, total output requests processed, number of output problems, number of requests with no printout, timestamp etc.
New output errors	Indicates the number of output errors encountered by the output requests during the last measurement period.	Requests	Ideally, the value of this measure should be zero. The detailed diagnosis of this measure if enabled, lists the spool request number, output device, total output requests processed, number of output problems, number of requests with no printout, timestamp etc.,