Back Forward Tracer
Understanding results

After you choose a connection and set Tracer options, the Tracer records selected events from the rule executions, database operations, and other event types you selected.

Tracer results

Rows of the Tracer results display

The Tracer adds a row for each of the Events To Trace that you selected in your Trace Options and for rules executing in the selected RuleSets.

Each row has a color-coded background:

NoteThe value of some columns in the Tracer results display change depending on the type of traced event. When applicable, a change in value for a column is noted in the table below.

Column

Description
Line

Number of events traced, starting at 1 for the first (oldest).
Rule #

Count of distinct activities traced. This is not reset to zero if you clear all the events. When a single activity is re-executed later, the previously assigned number is repeated.

Rules other than activities are not assigned a number.
Step Method

For an activity, the method in this step.

For a declarative rule or decision rule, indicates the start or end of a computation.

For a when condition rule or Boolean expression, identifies the rule name or (a portion of) the expression.

NoteWhen tracing a database operation, this column lists the specific operation performed on the database. (Commit, insert, update)
Step Page

Name of the step page, or =unnamed= if the Step Page column of this step is blank. A bright ORANGE background marks step pages that have messages set on them (such as error messages).

NoteWhen tracing a database operation, this column lists the database table affected by the database operation in the Step Method column.
Step

Step number of this step. When two or more rows appear with the same step number, an iteration is in process at that step.
Step Status

Status of the method in the step, from the pxMethodStatus property, such as Good, Fail, or Warn. A RED background marks Fail steps (that are not addressed by a transition).

Exit Iteration marks the end of an iteration step.

NoteIn this context, a red Fail row indicates an unhandled exception condition. If a method returns a Fail status but the step contains a transition, the Tracer row is displays the status as Good and has a normal gray background. This is consistent with the processing status that is be perceived by the next activity step to execute; it reflects that any error condition that existed has been noted by the activity. See How to test method results using a transition.

NoteWhen tracing a database operation, this column lists the number of bytes involved in a write to the database.
Watch

(Optional column.) Properties that you've used the Watch Variable facility to watch.
Event Type

Type of event or rule: Step Begin, Step End, Activity End, Constraint, Expression, DecisionTree, MapValue, and so on. When Begin and When End events identify the start of a when condition rule or similar test, such as in a precondition or transition.
Elapsed

For Step End and Activity End rows, elapsed time in seconds for the step. (This time interval may be seriously degraded by Tracer operation.)
Name

Full name of the rule being traced as a blue-text link, showing all key parts.

NoteWhen tracing a database or cache operation, the Name and RuleSet columns are combined. The text in this combined column provides details on the rules being searched for in the cache, or on the size of the database operation.
RuleSet

RuleSet and Version containing the rule being traced.

Interacting with Tracer results

This window supports five types of interactions:

A blue arrow marks the row of your most recent interaction.

Up Using the Tracer