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Message Stack Tool Window

  • Article

The Message Stack Tool Window is an interactive, message-specific, and dockable window where the display of details is driven by message selection in a viewer such as the Analysis Grid, Grouping, or other viewer. The result is an independent display of the full stack for any message selected in a particular viewer. This enables you to quickly observe and explore the network architecture of any message, without having to manually open different parts of the stack (origins messages) in the Analysis Grid viewer. The Message Stack window contains a toolbar that provides different buttons for changing the format of the message stack view, as follows:

  • Visual stack — the default view which provides data that is organized into a simple visual stack display along with summary information.

  • Table — provides a table with data in three columns consisting of the top-level Message number, Module name, and a Summary description for the selected message.

  • Tree with field information — provides similar data with a different organization of summary information.

  • Origins — the toolbar in the Message Stack window also provides a label that indicates the Origins count, which is a measure of the number of origins trees under a top-level message node.

    For example, there are typically two origins trees under an operation, one that represents a request stack and one that represents the response stack. Under other top-level messages, there is typically one origins tree. However, if there are message fragments, the Origins count can be higher.

Analyzing Stack Data

The Message Stack window can act as a central hub from where you can quickly correlate additional message details and contexts. This capability enables you to enhance your data analysis perspectives because you can do the following:

  • Drive the data displayed in the Details Tool Window. For example, by selecting a network/message node in the Message Stack window, the Details window is automatically populated with the field data of the selected message.

  • Drive selection of top-level messages in the Analysis Grid viewer, which can show the context of the surrounding message configuration in the Analysis Grid viewer.

  • Drive message selection in the Analysis Grid viewer of any origins message under a top-level parent message node, providing that the origins tree is in the expanded state for the particular top-level message. Otherwise, no messages will be highlighted when you select any origins message in the Message Stack window.

  • Compare Message Stack information for one message in the Analysis Grid viewer with the message stack of a second message in the Analysis Grid, by clicking the cubed icon of the second message and comparing the data on the Stack tab of the inline message details in the Analysis Grid viewer with the data displaying in the Message Stack window.

Using the Message Stack Window Interactive Features

After you select a top-level message row in the Analysis Grid viewer, the entire message stack for the selected message displays in the Message Stack window. If you expand all the message nodes underneath the top-level message in the Analysis Grid viewer and then select any of its child messages (origins tree messages), the Message Stack window highlights those child messages within the stack in light blue. Likewise, if you select any message in the Message Stack window, the corresponding message rows in the Analysis Grid viewer are automatically highlighted, provided that the nodes for those messages are in the expanded state in the Analysis Grid viewer; otherwise, no messages will be highlighted. The selection in the Message Stack window also displays field data in the Details window grid for the selected node in the stack, even if the node of the associated top-level message in the Analysis Grid viewer is unexpanded.

Using the Message Stack Window Context Menu Commands

The Message Stack window has several context menu commands that display only when you right-click a message row in the Table view. These commands and the actions they invoke are described as follows:

  • Show Toolbar — alternately displays and hides the Message Stack window toolbar.

  • Copy Selected Rows — enables you to copy the data for one or more selected message rows in the Message Stack window. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C to execute this command.

  • Copy ‘<columnName>’ — enables you to copy the data in any column that you right-click in the Message Stack window. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+C to execute this command.

Displaying the Message Stack Tool Window

If the Message Stack window is no longer displaying in an Analysis Session, you can redisplay it by selecting the Message Stack item in the Windows submenu, which is accessible from the global Message Analyzer Tools menu. You can also undock and reposition the Message Stack window by taking advantage of the docking navigation control that displays after you drag the Message Stack window by its tab away from its default docking location. You might do this to move the Message Stack window adjacent to another viewer or Tool Window with which you are working, to enhance your data analysis perspective.

Analyzing Data with Multiple Message Stack Tool Window Instances

The Message Stack window provides a multi-instance capability that enables you to display up to a maximum of four windows of this type. This feature supports your data analysis process because it enables you to compare the top-level and origins data of different messages across multiple instances of this window type.

For example, selecting a message in the Analysis Grid viewer drives the selection of the corresponding message in the Message Stack 1 window, if it is currently open. Before selecting another related message of interest in the Analysis Grid viewer, you can pin or freeze the data in the Message Stack 1 window and then open the Message Stack 2 window from the Windows submenu in the global Tools menu. You can then select another related message in the Analysis Grid viewer and the newly selected message is automatically selected in Message Stack 2 window. You can now easily compare data between the two Message Stack window instances.