This screen graphically describes the distribution of the various
row lengths within a particular row cache. It is necessary
to know the distribution of the various row lengths in the
row cache to determine how well sized the row cache is. For
instance, knowing that each cache entry is wasting even 5 bytes
is significant if there are 100,000 entries in the cache.
The summary region displays three lines containing information
about the row cache and boundary row lengths. The first line
identifies the selected row cache name.
The second line identifies the number of rows whose lengths
were below the minimum selected row length (XXX-) or above the
maximum selected row length (XXX+++). Also, the 95th percentile
row length is displayed; this value indicates the row size that
95% of the rows in the cache are less than or equal to.
The third line identifies the lowest and highest row length in
the cache. Also, the 85th percentile row length is displayed;
this value indicates the row size that 85% of the row in the
cache are less than or equal to.
The information displayed is based on a scale that represents
the row lengths to be analyzed. Initially, the screen's scale
is based on the cache's specified row size. This scale can be
changed using the Config menu option.
Each vertical line of the screen identifies a row length bucket,
based on the selected screen scale. Each asterisk (*) in the
bucket represents a particular number of rows in the cache. Note
that a value of 10, for instance, means that up to 10 rows are
represented by that asterisk (*).
The number of collection buckets is based on the display width
of the terminal. By default, each bucket comprises 5 columns of
the display; the number of columns can be configured by the user
using the Config menu option. For example, setting the terminal
width to 132 columns will allow you to display more information
than with an 80-column terminal width. Decreasing the number of
columns per bucket will achieve the same effect on an 80-column
terminal width, but with a corresponding loss of precision.
Two sliding indicators are displayed along the bottom horizontal
axis; "A" indicates the average row size and "M" indicates the
median row size.
The configuration menu option allows you to fine-tune the
distribution parameters and the display appearance. The options
allow you more control over what row size information is
displayed. You can:
o Set the number of bucket columns
Decreasing the number of columns per bucket allows you to
display more row sizes. Conversely, increasing the number of
columns per bucket allows you to display fewer row sizes, but
with more accurate size reporting (i.e. better scaling) per
bucket. The minimum number of columns is 2 and the maximum is
10.
o Set the row length range values
Setting a specific row size range values allows you to
determine the actual row size display range, which is by
default based on the row cache database parameters.
o Eliminate/Include empty slots
The Row Length Distribution screen is not recorded in the binary
output file produced using the Output qualifier. Consequently,
this screen is not available when you replay a binary file using
the Input qualifier.