Configure a Data Collector

To configure data collectors, you need the Configure Diagnostic Data Collectors permission. Follow these steps to configure a data collector:

  1. Identify the method on which to capture data. To do this, define the method signature and (optionally) filters based on the value of a code point in the method (such as, return value or argument).
  2. Specify the actual code point that serves as the source of the data.
  3. If the data collector applies to business transactions, then select the applicable business transactions.
When creating a data collector, you typically need to know the code on which you are setting up the collector, and whether it is based on access to the source code for the application, or its documentation. For the JVM 1.5 and .NET application environments, you must restart the JVM or application server if your method invocation data collector results in modifications to instrumentation configuration (class name, method name, method parameters, and so on).

These platform-specific considerations apply to data collectors:

  • For C/C++ SDK: Create a method data collector using the appd_bt_add_user_data function(), not the Controller UI as described here. See C/C++ SDK Reference.

  • For Node.js Agent: Create a method data collector using only the addSnapshotData() Node.js API, not the Controller UI as described here. See Node.js Agent API Reference.
  • For Python Agent, you can create data collectors by using:
    • Python Agent API: Create a method data collector using the add_snapshot_data() Python Agent API. See Python Agent API Reference.Or,
    • Controller UI: Only the with a Class Name that option is valid. You cannot add a method data collector to a standalone Python function. Getter chains support the access(user.name) attribute, access(user['name]) key-value, and calling(user.getName() method.

  • For PHP method data collectors, only the with a Class Name that option is valid. You cannot add a method data collector to a standalone PHP function.