SNAP-IX APPC Application Suite User's Guide

5.2 Using APING

Use the following command syntax to invoke APING:

aping RemoteSystemID

The RemoteSystemID can be either a CPI-C symbolic destination name, a fully qualified LU name, or an ANAME alias . If an ANAME alias conflicts with a CPI-C symbolic destination name, the APPC Application Suite uses the CPI-C symbolic destination name . For more information, see Destination Names.

The simplest way to use APING is to specify only the RemoteSystemID. For example, you can start APING with the following command:

aping RemoteSystemID

Running the APING program results in a session allocation that is timed. When the session allocation is complete, APING sends 100 bytes to the partner computer and receives the same number of bytes. APING then displays how long it took to complete the transfer. Because the first timing usually includes process start up time on the partner side, the data exchange occurs twice.

The following example shows some additional parameters that can be used with APING (for more information about these parameters, see APING Parameters and Options):

aping -s 10000 -i 2 -c 4 RemoteSystemID

In this example:

10000 specifies the size of the packet transmitted.
2 requests two iterations.
4 specifies the number of Send calls by each side before giving the partner permission to send.

The next figure, APINGsample output, shows sample output from the APING program.

Sample Output for APING

Allocate duration:                                  0 ms
Program startup and Confirm duration:             720 ms

       Duration         Data Sent           Data Rate         Data Rate
        (msec)           (bytes)             (KB/s)            (mb/s)
       --------         ---------           ---------         ---------
          60              64000              1041.7             8.333
          30              64000              2083.3            16.667
Totals:   90             128000              1388.9            11.111

Duration statistics:  Min = 30        Ave = 45        Max =60

The value shown for the Allocate duration field in APINGsample output, is the length of time it takes the Allocate call to return to the program. The next call in APING is a Confirm call, which is timed to determine the approximate program start up time of the partner transaction program.

The table output in APINGsample output, shows the duration and data transfer statistics for each ping (Send and Receive cycle):

The number of ping duration lines corresponds to the number of iterations requested by using the -i parameter. (See APING Parameters and Options.) This example uses two iterations, which is the default.
Totals shows the overall data rate for all pings.
Duration statistics shows a summary of the ping duration lines already displayed. This line shows the minimum, average, and maximum ping duration in milliseconds.

5.2.1 APING Parameters and Options

You can use the following parameters and options with the aping command:

RemoteSystemID

This parameter identifies the partner computer on which the APINGD target program is running. The RemoteSystemID ( partner LU name) can be a fully qualified partner LU name (FQPLU), a CPI-C symbolic destination name, or an ANAME alias.

For more information about RemoteSystemID, see Destination Names.

The mode name. The default mode name is #INTER.

This option specifies the size, in bytes, of the packet to be transmitted. The default is 100 bytes.

N is the number of iterations made. The default number of iterations is 2. The number of iterations is shown in the output as the number of sets of timing information. You may want to increase this number to get a larger sample of timings. Allowable values are 1 to 32767.

N is the number of consecutive packets sent by each side before giving the partner permission to send. For each iteration, each side sends this number of packets, with each one being of the specified packet size. Allowable values are 1 to 32767. The default number of consecutive packets is 1.

The user ID that is sent to the partner computer. The user ID can be up to eight characters in length. Use this parameter if the RemoteSystemID transaction program is configured for security.

This is the password for the user ID that is sent to the partner computer. The password, which can be one to eight characters in length, is required when a user ID has been specified. If you do not enter a password after specifying a user ID, APING will prompt you to enter one.

Randomize the outgoing data buffer. By default, the outgoing data is all zeros.

Output a count of completed transactions along with the timing information.

Quiet operation. No output is produced. If the command succeeds, a return code of zero is returned. If the command fails, a nonzero return code is returned, and error information is written to the APING error log (aping.err).

Overrides the security parameter. By default, a request for the remote application should include a user ID and an indication that the password has been verified. If the destination accepts already-verified user IDs, the user ID of the running process is sent without a password. If the destination (target) transaction program is not configured to require security, use the option if you receive the error message

XC_SECURITY_NOT_VALID

This option specifies that data be sent only from the source TP to the target TP (not in both directions).

Note

This option is the numeral one (1), not the letter L.

If you specify any of the options more than once, the system uses the last one entered.

5.2.2 Using Help

To get help on how to use APING, enter one of the following commands:

aping ?

aping -h

aping -help