Diagnostic Data Collection occurs when a triggering event is encountered. A triggering event, for the purposes of Diagnostic Data Collection, is one of the following:
Each event records a unique entry in a diagnostic event tracking log file before recording the requested data. This unique entry can be used to match the event id associated with each event, with the output directory containing any additional requested diagnostic data output.
For any occurrence of a triggering event, there will be consistent storage and formatting of the data collected. The amount of data collected depends on the event level. The formats of the output files are described in
Diagnostic data output file formats. The triggering events also provide an alert mechanism and the option to invoke an external executable. The executable can provide the DBA the opportunity to perform additional data collection or processing. Lastly, a configurable pause, provides time to the DBA to optionally perform additional manual actions prior to the event being processed.