Performing an analysis

This is a step by step walkthrough on how to use SAM to perform an analysis on a NETLOG file that has already been created. For a walkthrough on creating NETLOG files, go here .

Loading a network log

Click on the `Open' button on the toolbar, or alternatively click on `File', then `Open' in the top menu. This starts an open file dialog, where you can browse to select the NETLOG file you wish to perform the analysis on. NETLOG files have the extension .nlog, e.g. mylogfile.nlog. You can also cancel from the open file dialog by clicking on the `Cancel' button, which will return you to the main window. If the file you choose isn't a valid NETLOG file, a dialog box will pop and tell you, and you will be able to select another file.

Select a file to open, then click `Ok'. If the file you have selected is invalid, a dialog will notify you of this, and you will have the opportunity to choose again. Once you have selected a valid file and clicked `Ok', you will be returned to SAM's main window. Streams and Fields from the NETLOG file will now be available for selection.

Figure 4: Click on `Open' on the toolbar to open a NETLOG file

Choosing analysis settings

Select any number of streams from the leftmost column, and a single field, analysis type and output type from the other three columns, in any order. The `Aggregate' stream is a combination of all the streams which are available. Note that this only makes sense for a certain data fields. When your selection is made, click on the `Graph' button on the toolbar. An example of a selection is shown below.

Figure 5: SAM's main window after loading a file and making a selection

For a description of the analysis plugins that come with SAM, click here . For output plugins, click here .

Extra plugin settings

Depending on the analysis and output plugins that were chosen in the previous step, there may be extra settings for you to fill in. For example, the Graph plugin has a window of settings which pops up, as below. The settings for each analysis plugin (where they are needed) are described along with each plugin here . Similar information for output plugins is available here .

Figure 6: Extra settings for the Graph output plugin