PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS

The processing time needed to create full statistics reports depends on many factors:

  • The size of the I/O buffer (reported by http-analyze when -v is given) should be as big as possible. For example, a buffer size of 64KB can significantly reduce disk activity when reading the logfile.
  • If many Ign* directives are defined, the analyzer must compare each logfile entry against each entry in the corresponding Ign* list. The recommended way to suppress certain parts of the web server in the statistics report is to have the server not record any accesses to those areas in the logfile. Similar, many Hide* directives may also require additional table lookups, although this will happen only once for each unique (different) URL, sitename, browser type or referrer URL.
  • If StripCGI is set to No, this will require more memory.
  • Some systems impose a memory limit on a per-process base (see ulimit(1) and setrlimit(3)). There are no unusual requirements regarding main memory needed by http-analyze - to be precise that means "the bigger, the better" -, but you should make sure that about 5-10MB is available for processing of a medium-size logfile.

    • TROUBLESHOOTING

    If you discover any problems using the analyzer you may find the verbose mode helpful. Each -v option increases the verbosity level. In verbosity level 1, http-analyze comments ongoing processing; in level 2 it indicates progress by printing a dot for each new day discovered in the logfile. In level 3, a debug message for each logfile entry parsed successfully is printed and in level 4 an even more detailed message appears on standard error. Furthermore, compiling http-analyze without the macro NDEBUG includes various assertion checks in the executable.

    $ http-analyze -vvvm3f -o testd files/logfmt.elf
http-analyze 2.4 (IP22; IRIX 6.2; XPG4 MNLS; PNG)
Copyright 2000 by RENT-A-GURU(TM)
Generating full statistics in output directory `testd'
Reading data from `files/logfmt.elf'
Best blocksize for I/O is set to 64 KB
Hmm, looks like Extended Logfile Format (ELF)
    1 01/Jan/2000:16:37:25 [298971279], req="GET /", sz=280 <- OK (Code 200), PAGEVIEW
Start new period at 01/Jan/2000
    2 01/Jan/2000:16:38:39 [298971355], req="GET /def/", sz=910 <- OK (Code 200), PAGEVIEW
    3 02/Jan/2000:16:39:39 [299060697], req="GET /abc/", sz=910 <- OK (Code 200), PAGEVIEW
...

    Filing bug-reports

    If you want to file a bug report, use the option -X to have http-analyze generate an URL of a bug reporting form with some information already filled in. You can pass this URL to your favourite browser using cut&paste or - on Unix systems - using command substitution as in:

    $ netscape `http-analyze -X`

    This requests a bug report form on http://support.rent-a-guru.de/ with the following information filled in already:

  • the customer's name as specified in the registration
  • the registration ID with licensing information (Personal/Commercial License)
  • the version number of http-analyze
  • the platform the program was compiled for.

    • Using this interface to submit report bugs will ensure proper handling and timely response. Please note that although we gladly accept bug reports from everyone, only Commercial Service Licensees are entitled to request technical assistance or open a support call.