Information points let you define custom metrics for your application based on code points you specify in your configuration.

Information points are very similar to data collectors. However, data collectors capture application data only in the context of a business transaction. An information point collects data from a given point in code across all business transactions.

You can supplement the code metrics that you get by default by defining custom metrics (business metrics) for the information point. Business metrics reflect the value of runtime data, such as the method parameter, return value, or a value captured by getter chain on the object on which the identified method was invoked. The business metric value represents either the sum or average of the values of the code point you identify as the information point.

Information points can give you significant insight into how the performance of an application corresponds to business performance.

The easiest way to create an information point is from the call drill down view in the transaction snapshot for a business transaction that uses the method you want to instrument as an information point. When you find an invocation of the method in the call graph, right click on it and select the option for configuring instrumentation on this class/method.

Alternatively, create information points from the Information Points page (under More in the left navigation panel), where you can also modify and remove existing information points.

Specify the class and method for which you want to collect information, along with other identifying information.

You can view information point values in various places in the Controller UI, including the following:

*Information Points page: The primary page for viewing and administering information points is the Information Points page. From there, click on an information point to view a histogram of the metrics for the information point for the selected time period.

*Metric Browser: The metrics also appear in the Metric Browser under the Information Points node