Symbolic Name Aliases

This section describes symbolic name aliases, which are used by the Trace Analyzer to apply meaningful labels to numeric address data.

Purpose

A symbolic name aliases is a user-configurable name which can be applied to the following:

A MAC address
The manufacturer ID portion of a MAC address
An IP address

For aliases to be applied to data, aliasing must be turned on in

Configure - Preferences. When data is encountered in a trace record which is of one of the above types and which matches a data value for which an alias has been defined, the numeric data is replaced in all reports and views with the descriptive alias associated with that data value.

Editing Aliases

A number of predefined aliases are shipped with the Trace Analyzer. New aliases may be added through the Aliases page of the Configuration Dialog Window.

The Aliases page is accessible from the Configure - Aliases action in the Global Toolbar or the Main Menu. An example of the Aliases page is depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Symbolic Name Aliases setup page

The example in Figure 1 depicts a partial list of the preloaded manufacturer ID aliases. When the Data Type combo box selection is changed, the table is repopulated with data appropriate to the selected type.

Aliases can be added or removed using the add new row and the remove selected row(s) buttons, respectively:

Add New Row: This button creates a new row at the end of the table and prompts for a Data Value and a Symbolic Name Alias to be applied to that data value. A new data value must be entered using the format clause displayed in the Data Format label.
Remove Selected Row(s): This button permanently removes from the table any selected rows. A user confirmation is required for this action.

The data and symbolic name values may be edited directly in the table. This is done by double clicking on the entry to be edited, then typing the changes directly in the edit field which appears. Note that if the data value is changed, it must be entered using the format clause displayed in the Data Format label.

Important Note: When entering MAC address or Manufacturer ID values into the alias list, it is critical that the correct address format be used (see discussion of MSB vs. Canonical MAC address formats). If the incorrect format is used, the alias will not work correctly.