Exceptions in Pega Diagnostic Center

The Event Viewer shows recent alerts and exceptions for a period of up to 14 days.

You can filter your list to show only exceptions and select the time interval that you require, such as the current time interval.

In the following image, click the + icons to learn how to filter exceptions and change the time interval:

If Java exceptions occur, PDC creates cases that include information on why the case was created, the case impact, events corrected with the case, and other details. For more information, see Cases in Pega Diagnostic Center. 

Cases for Java exceptions can also include other tabs with useful troubleshooting information:

• Batch context tab for requests that happen in the background and are not directly initiated by a user.
• Request context tab for web or service requests, for example, a web user tries to load a webpage. 
• Stack traces tab with the full stack trace of a Java exception.

If you see Java exceptions, after reviewing the case information in PDC, you can investigate the exceptions further in Dev Studio to resolve the issue.

A case can include the Batch context tab or the Request context tab. The Batch context tab shows other events that occurred during the same batch execution as the events that PDC used to create the case. The Request context tab shows other events that occurred during the same web call or service call as the events that PDC used to create the case.

The main Event Viewer table shows the same events, but the Batch context tab and the Request context tab show the exceptions that include the same node, requester, thread, or interaction ID. This information highlights the other events that occurred during the same browser call, service call, or batch execution.

The following figure shows the batch context for a case:

The following figure shows the request context for a case:

The Stack traces tab shows the full stack trace of a Java exception. When reading the stack trace, the most current items are at the top, and the older items are displayed at the bottom.

For chain exceptions, you see the root cause at the top and the chain exceptions at the bottom. For example, you can see an exception within an exception within an exception.

In the following figure, Pega rules are highlighted in blue. In many cases, you can begin your investigation into errors with the rules.

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If PSQL exceptions occur, PDC creates cases that include information on why the case was created, the case impact, events corrected with the case, and other details. For more information, see Cases in Pega Diagnostic Center. 

Cases for PSQL exceptions include additional useful troubleshooting information:

• Call stack tab
• Clipboard tab
• Session info tab
• Stack traces tab

If you see PSQL exceptions, after reviewing the case information in PDC, you can investigate the exceptions further in Dev Studio and resolve the issue.

In the Exception Message section, the Call stack tab helps you to determine the origin of the issue. The call stack shows the state of the active subroutines of the requester when the system generated the exception. 

The following figure shows an example of the call stack for a case:

The Clipboard tab shows some of the clipboard properties, as shown in the following figure:

The Session info tab can help you find the origin of the exception. You can see the Thread and the Logger name.

The following figure shows an example of the session information for a case:

The Stack traces tab can show the type of exception, for example, a PSQL exception wrapped in a database exception. Review any issues that the system highlights in blue.

The following figure shows a stack trace without blue highlighting, but the messages provide reasons for the errors:

PDC creates cases for unique issues that might exist in more than one system. To see how many unique issues exist in your system, use the Event Viewer to group cases by Case ID. 

By default, the cases with the most events are listed first, as shown in the following figure:

In the following image, click the + icons to review what you might look for when you are investigating the scope and impact of a case:

The Improvement Plan landing page shows detailed information about the issues that affect the performance of your monitored system. By grouping the most impactful cases into categories, the Improvement Plan improves the visibility of the issues and helps you to ensure the functionality of your system. You can save a view in the Improvement Plan that shows all of your exceptions from across the entire system.

1. On the Improvement Plan - All Cases landing page, select the Default view to clear all filters.
2. Show all exceptions by filtering the Case ID column by Exception-.
   The Case ID for exceptions always starts with Exception-.
3. Show the biggest events first by sorting the Total events column. 
4. Customize the view.
   For example, you can click and drag to increase the size of the Case column or to reorganize any of the columns.
5. Click Save as new view.
6. Optional: In the View name field, enter a label for the view.

You or any PDC user can now select the view anytime to see all the exceptions in the Improvement Plan.

In the following image, click the + icons to review the UI controls for the Improvement Plan:

You can use the following process to troubleshoot exceptions in PDC:

1. Understand which application and what type of interaction is affected.
2. Verify how widespread the issue is, and whether it affects one system or many. 
3. Understand the occurrence pattern and peak times.
4. Track the origin. For example, identify the rules, activities, or steps that ran to throw the exception.
5. Investigate and try to resolve the issue in Dev Studio. Go through the code.

To see a 15-minute demonstration of the concepts in this topic, see Investigate Java runtime errors and exceptions thrown by a Pega application.

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