The following section documents the web-based monitoring facilities available in PMDF. These facilities require both TCP/IP support and a web client in order to use.

Web-based monitoring of PMDF is accomplished through an HTTP CGI (Common Gateway Interface). This interface is reached through the PMDF HTTP server and accepts URL-encoded commands via either HTTP GET or POST requests.

Presently, the CGI only provides passive monitoring of PMDF; active management is not supported but planned for future releases. Basic PMDF information, channel counters and derived statistics, and the presence of .HELD message files may be monitored. Additionally, on OpenVMS systems, PMDF processing queues and jobs may be monitored.

Section 31.7.1 describes how to use the default monitoring configuration. Note that this configuration is merely an example, albeit a fairly useful one. Sites with HTML experience can change the layouts, navigation, and choices or presentation of monitored data. Sites familiar with HTML scripting languages such as Java or JavaScript can add intelligence to how their web clients analyze the monitoring data available through the CGI. See Section 31.7.3 for complete details.