Using ARM Post-Processing Macros

Post-processing ARM macros are also available. These ARM macros are specific to the SAS ARM implementation; they are not part of the ARM API standard.

After logging performance data to the ARM log, you can then use the ARM macros to read the log and create SAS data sets for reporting and analysis. The default name of the file is ARMLOG.LOG. To specify a different output file, use the ARMLOC= system option. There are three ARM post-processing macros:

'%ARMCONV Macro' on page 1067	converts an ARM log created in SAS 9 or later, which uses a simple format, into the label=item ARM format used in SAS 8.2.
'%ARMPROC Macro' on page 1076	processes the ARM log and outputs six SAS data sets that contain the information from the log. It processes ARM logs that include user metadata definitions on class transactions and user data values on start handles, update, and stop transactions.
'%ARMJOIN Macro' on page 1074	processes the six SAS data sets that are created by %ARMPROC and creates data sets and SQL views that contain common information about applications and transactions.

For SAS 9 or later, the simple format of the ARM log records is comma delimited, which consists of columns of data separated by commas. The datetime stamp and the call identifier always appear in the same column location.

The format used in SAS 8.2. is a label=item format and is easier to read. Unfortunately, SAS spends a lot of time formatting the string, and this affects performance. In SAS 9 or later, ARM logs can be compared with SAS 8.2 ARM logs by using the following methods :

1. You can generate the SAS 9 or later ARM log and process it using the SAS 9 or later %ARMPROC and %ARMJOIN. The resulting data sets contain the complete statistics for the end of the start handle and the end of the application.

2. To convert SAS 9 or later ARM log format to the SAS 8.2 format you use the SAS ARM macro %ARMCONV.