There’s a tool called the Parameter Reference Database on our support site that lets you export the PATROL Knowledge Module parameters to a CSV file so you can re-mix them as you want.
This Parameter Reference Database tool for exporting the KM parameters looks really cool to me so I wanted to be sure you all know about it too. One neat thing about this type of documentation is that updates are not tied to product release cycles. It’s much closer to the single sourcing holy grail where you change your source file and that change can be propagated through the whole system with a few button clicks. If you’re more of a driller-down type, go to the Support Central page, and then click Product Lists & Manuals, and then click Parameter Reference Database.
Once you’re on the Parameter Reference Database page, select the products whose parameter information you want to download. Here’s a list of the products.
| BMC Performance Manager for Microsoft Exchange Servers PATROL DataStore PATROL End-to-End Response Timer PATROL for BEA Tuxedo PATROL for BEA WebLogic PATROL for DB2 Universal Database PATROL for Dell OpenManage PATROL for Informix PATROL for Microsoft SQL Server PATROL for Microsoft Windows Terminal Services PATROL for Oracle PATROL for SAP Enterprise Portal PATROL for SAP Internet Transaction Server PATROL for SAP Solutions – Trak PATROL for SAP Web Application Server PATROL for Siebel eBusiness Applications PATROL for Sybase PATROL for Virtual Servers PATROL for WebSphere Application Server |
PATROL for WebSphere MQ Integrator PATROL Infrastructure Monitor PATROL Integration for SAP CCMS and SAP Solution Manager PATROL Internet Server Manager PATROL Knowledge Module for AS/400 PATROL Knowledge Module for Component Object Model Plus PATROL Knowledge Module for Event Management PATROL Knowledge Module for History Loader PATROL Knowledge Module for Log Management PATROL Knowledge Module for Microsoft Cluster Server PATROL Knowledge Module for Microsoft Windows Active Directory PATROL Knowledge Module for Microsoft Windows Domain Services PATROL Knowledge Module for OpenVMS PATROL Knowledge Module for Unix PATROL Knowledge Module for Windows NT PATROL Web Data Optimizer PATROL Wizard for Microsoft Performance Monitor and WMI SLM Express Connector |
Next pick the version number, click another button or two, and you have a CSV file! Here are the categories for each parameter that the tool gives you in the CSV file.
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | APPLICATION_CLASS | COMMAND_TYPE | PLATFORM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | DESCRIPTION | APPLICATION_CLASS | COMMAND_TYPE | PLATFORM |
| ICON_STYPE | UNIT | BORDER_RANGE | ALARM1_RANGE | ALARM2_RANGE |
| POLL_TYPE | ACTIVE_AT_INSTALL | PARAMETER_TYPE | VALUE_SET_BY |
Let me know how you and your teams are re-mixing the content. I’m envisioning database queries, XML output, other types of outputs that can be created with a CSV file. What’cha got? What other reference material might be good to output in this way? I’ve done some work with XML output for error messages so that’s another type of content I’m interested in single-sourcing. Bring it on.