Workflow Event Trace Leave On or Turn Off

Mon Mar 10 09:55:07 EDT 2014

Hi,

> My question would be - why is it bad for performance?
>
> You certainly introduce a large number of writes to the event log table,

Isn't that considered answering your own question? :-)

On a serious note, yes you certainly introduce a large number of writes.
Of course it all depends on the size of the system. Remmeber that ALL
events are processed by the logger, not just those with linked workflows.
That means everything that's happening in the system - HR, Finance,
whatever - is pumping events into the same table. On a big system this can
easily achieve a rate of millions per hour.

Regards,
Mike

On Fri, March 7, 2014 11:37 am, James Johnson wrote:
> Hi WUGgers,
>
> This might sound like a stupid question (apologies in advance), but I keep
> reading (on SCN, and in Practical Workflow for SAP) that the event trace
> is bad for performance (as noted/discussed below).  My question would be -
> why is it bad for performance?
>
> You certainly introduce a large number of writes to the event log table,
> but I wouldn't think that it would really have an on performance unless
> you were to also read from the table on a regular basis.  As long as the
> space consideration of the event log table is dealt with by running the
> job to clear it down every once in a while, then it seems feasible to
> leave it running.
>
> Best Regards,
> James Johnson
>
> E-mail:JJohnson at uk.ibm.com
> Mobile: 07908715224 or 07920870270
>
>
>
> From:   Rick Bakker <rbakker at gmail.com>
> To:     "SAP Workflow Users' Group" <sap-wug at mit.edu>,
> Date:   06/03/2014 22:55
> Subject:        Re: Workflow Event Trace Leave On or Turn Off
> Sent by:        sap-wug-bounces at mit.edu
>
>
>
> Hi Eddie,
>
> Thanks for sharing your (formidable) experience. Could you tell us more
> about the situations where this brought the system down?
> Luckily I haven't encountered such a problem yet but I sure would like to
> know about it.
>
> I have found the event trace to be extremely useful in many cases. In the
> most trivial case it's good for convincing a user that yes, they did
> indeed press the Cancel button.
>
> regards
> Rick Bakker
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 6, 2014 at 11:33 PM, Morris, Eddie <eddie.morris at sap.com>
> wrote:
> Hi Rick,
>
> Speaking from experience I have seen this take systems down on quite a few
> occasions so it can go horribly wrong. If you have someone who can monitor
> it and delete trace data when needed then I guess it is workable. Also use
> the trace restrictions when switching it on so only monitor a select
> number of events.
>
> Also with note 1905199 a syslog entry (SM21) is written when an event
> linkage is deactivated so this can be used to check when the event linkage
> deactivation occurs. Then use the event trace to get specific information
> about the deactivation itself.
>
> Regards,
> Eddie
>
> From: sap-wug-bounces at mit.edu [mailto:sap-wug-bounces at mit.edu] On Behalf
> Of Rick Bakker
> Sent: 05 March 2014 22:17
> To: SAP Workflow Users' Group
> Subject: Re: Workflow Event Trace Leave On or Turn Off
>
> Hi David,
>
> I like to leave the event trace turned on. I have found this to be the
> case at most sites. Also, most workflow people I have worked with agree
> with this approach. The overhead is minuscule compared to the information
> it adds.
>
> regards
> Rick Bakker
>
> On Thu, Mar 6, 2014 at 3:29 AM, Edward Diehl <edwarddiehl at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> It's not whether or not the trace is running, it's how often you delete
> "old" entries and reorg it.  Having said that, we have stopped using it to
> test for duplicate events and now check for duplicate workflows in a check
> function.
>
>
> Ed Diehl
> "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of
> enthusiasm."
>
>
>
> To: sap-wug at mit.edu
> From: davidcooper06 at icloud.com
> Subject: Workflow Event Trace Leave On or Turn Off
> Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2014 06:55:50 +0000
>
> Hi All,
>
> The following is more a discussion item!
>
> I have read in various texts and heard from several workflow
> administrators that it is recommended to turn the workflow trace off in
> production.
>
> Reasons:
> 1) The trace adds an overhead to the application and database servers, and
> 2) The trace fills up the event table(s) with data that is not needed over
> time.
>
> My argument for leaving the trace running, is more for diagnostic reasons
> when problems occur in production.  It becomes another source for tracking
> down what happened.  Yes the overhead is a given, but I feel this is
> justified to capture the diagnostic information.  As for the database
> table being filled, implement a deletion strategy which purges the data
> from the table after a period of say 3 ,6, 9, or 12 months.
> Kind Regards
> David Cooper
> Linked-In: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-cooper/47/616/36a
>
>
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