SAP on IBM i – Update week 20, 2017: Access to IBM DB2 for i DB Catalog Browser via DBA Cockpit

The DB Catalog Browser is the entry point for the analysis of the dependencies and usages for tables, views, functions, variables and triggers based on the information available in the system catalog views.

This new option is available for SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Enhancement Package 2 and SAP NetWeaver 7.30 or higher if the monitored system has been configured to use the data collected by the SAP Database Performance Collector for IBM i (see SAP Note 2033326).

To display the DB Catalog Browser, call transaction DBACOCKPIT and select the system you want to monitor. In the navigation frame, open the folder Diagnostics and choose the option DB Catalog Browser.

The new screen offers options to sort the listed rows, to limit the number of returned rows, and to filter the data by various criteria that can be applied to all columns. After you have finished specifying your new selections, select the button Apply selection on the upper left to refresh the list with the new restrictions or sort order.

The output list contains pushbuttons. Select a row of the output list and choose the pushbutton “Display Object” to navigate to one of the system catalog views and – depending on the object’s type – show further information about the selected object.

If triggers are assigned to an object, you can display them by selecting the object and choosing the pushbutton “Show Trigger(s)”. This selection will navigate into the DBA Cockpit option SYSTRIGGERS – Triggers in the folder System Catalog Views. Triggers can be assigned to views to implement the SAP Global Temporary Table concept.

The relationship between the selected object and other objects can be displayed by choosing one of the two options “Depends on” and “Used By”. The dependencies or usages will then be shown in another screen.

The next screenshot shows the result of a navigation from the first screen to the second screen by pressing the pushbutton “Depends on”. Here you can see what other objects reference the selected one.

Let’s assume the user pressed the pushbutton “Used By” for the object  “R3N51DATA.ACM_SO_V_2”, you get the other objects that reference it.

The root node of the tree displays the tree depth.

The column “Occurrences” shows the number of times an object is used inside the definition of the previous object. For example: If a view reads from a single table, the number of occurrences for the table will be 1. If a view references the same table twice, the number of occurrences for the table will be 2.

The column “Total Table References” shows the number of tables that an object depends on multiplied by occurrences.

The column “Number of Rows” contains the actual number of entries in the table. Be aware that if the object is not a table, the value -1 is displayed.

Finally, the column “Size(KB)” lets you know the space consumption of the table. If the object is not a table, the value -1 is displayed.

The same information can be displayed in a table format by pressing on “Display as Grid”. This pushbutton is only available, if the tree depth is greater than 0. Under this format option, you get for each row the information about both the parent and child object.

The column “Dependencies” or “Usages” displays the relationship between them.

Are you interested in this new option? Check SAP Note 2457441 – IBM i: Enhancements in the DBA Cockpit for IBM i – DB Catalog Browser to get information about the support package levels or correction instructions needed for the DB Catalog Browser.