UTILITY:SNIFFIT
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Nucleus Utilities

Sniff IT

Sniff-it is an automated, consistent, and repeatable process for mapping, analyzing, measuring, reporting, and improving the state of a system. Information provided by Sniff-it is essential in the modernization of legacy applications.

Map and analyze every account, file and program, identifying the essential elements and inter-relationships of Pick or Pick like systems with Sniff-It.

From the Account level on down, Sniff-it can selectively identify and analyze every file and map every program and it’s content. Programs and subroutines are analyzed to identify CALLs to subroutines, INCLUDES, EXECUTES and more.

Identification

SNIFF-IT routines will analyze every file in each selected account, and identify:

  • Files and their contents - whether they contain
    • Data
    • Programs
    • PROC
    • Mixed use
  • File defining items (dictionaries / properties)
  • Programs, subroutines, includes, functions and code segments
  • Program naming conflicts across files and accounts
  • Custom searches are easily coded using SnifIT mapping interfaces
  • Identify illegal characters in files

TreeWalk

The Tree Walk console will “walk” through a Data Basic program and identify every subroutine called or routine executed, traversing every level, until all programs encountered and their arguments have been identified. From the console, drill-down and view any detail. Nucleus Source Code Control secures item ownership, denying programmer access unless stringent security requirements are met.

Conflict resolution - dictionaries

SNIFF-IT will analyze file-defining items in each account:

  • Identify and cross-reference all data dictionaries
  • Identify and mark Left justified date fields
  • Identify Dictionary conflicts of same-name files, across accounts
  • Enable changing of left-justified Date fields to right justified, eliminating sorting and selection issues.

Reporting
  • Dictionary analysis and comparisons – missing justification, length, amc
  • Program naming conflict analyses – across accounts and/or files
  • File usage report – spec’s where data, programs, subroutines or procs are found
  • Oddities reporting – programs found in data dictionaries, MD or VOC
  • Files opened, files read, files written, variables used, phrase search, and more
  • Dictionary comparisons across associated accounts (DEV, QA, LIVE, etc.)

Investigation
  • Tree-walk through a program – identify calls, executes, special look-for items, etc
  • Tree-walk through an account, and identify common usage of programs
  • Forensic utilities, audit and analyze the usage of all PROC’s Programs and Subroutines

Cleanup
  • Identify and document items containing illegal characters in IDs within specified accounts. Illegal characters often cause unexpected results and at worst inexplainable systems behavior.
  • Archive of items identified as containing illegal characters, for further review.
  • Clean item's with illegal characters in item IDs
  • Identify files with obsolete references to R91 and MvBase indices
  • Identify file names in D3 and UniVerse prior to migration to windows based platforms with illegal characters in filenames.

Custom configuration
  • Configurable weighted word list to fine-tune identification of file type (program, proc, data)
  • Designate default search options, CALL, EXECUTE, OPEN, DefaultSearchString
  • Designate accounts to include during a mapping

Additional features

Analyze all or selected accounts:

  • Map keywords and BASIC tokens (OPEN, CALL, FIELD, INPUT, etc).
  • Cross-reference program variables throughout all program libraries.
  • Field number (AMC) comparison among like-named dictionaries in like-named files
  • Field number (AMC) comparison among like-named dictionaries in different files
  • Multi-level file support in lookup and selection of items, in the Sniffer
  • Multi-level file cross-referencing of programs
  • Comparison of Program Versions among multiple accounts and multiple files (based on NuControl methodology)

Usage Audits
  • Program usage – last used date, time, who, elapsed time. Number of times used
  • PROC usage – last used date, time, who. Number of times used.
  • MD/VOC entries
  • Audit API to update audit logs
  • Separate logs for Program, PROC, MD/VOC

Legacy features
  • Cleanup R91 and mvBase btree references in data files and dictionaries
  • Reorganize PROC library scattered in MD/VOC to a named PROCLIB

Assistance and Technical support

The Binary Star technical services group can quickly add a ‘measuring-stick’ for analyzing, measuring and improving the state of a system. On-site training and professional services are available.