xprofiler Command
Purpose
Starts Xprofiler, a GUI-based AIX® performance profiling tool.
Syntax
xprofiler [ program ] [ -b ] [ -s ] [ -z ] [ -a path ] [ -c file ] [ -L pathname ] [ [ -e function]...] [ [ -E function ]...] [ [ -f function]...] [ [ -F function ]...] [ -disp_max number_of_functions ] [ [ gmon.out ]...]
Description
The xprofiler command invokes Xprofiler, a GUI-based AIX performance profiling tool. Xprofiler is used to analyze the performance of both serial and parallel applications. Xprofiler uses data collected by the -pg compiling option and presents a graphical representation of the functions in the application in addition to providing textual data in several report windows. These presentation formats are intended to identify the functions which are most processor-intensive.
Flags
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| -a | To specify an alternate search path or paths for library files and source code files. If more than one path is specified, the paths must be embraced by "," and each path should be separated by either ":" or space. |
| -b | Suppresses the printing of the field descriptions for the Flat Profile, Call Graph Profile, and Function Index reports when they are written to a file with the Save As option of the File menu. |
| -c | Loads a configuration file that contains information to be used to determine which functions will be displayed when Xprofiler is brought up. |
| -disp_max | Sets the number of function boxes that Xprofiler initially displays in the function call tree. The value supplied with this flag can be any integer between 0 and 5,000. Xprofiler displays the function boxes for the most processor-intensive functions through the number you specify. For instance, if you specify 50, Xprofiler displays the function boxes for the 50 functions in your program that consume the most processor. After this, you can change the number of function boxes that are displayed via the Filter menu options. This flag has no effect on the content of any of the Xprofiler reports. |
| -e | De-emphasizes the general appearance of the function box or boxes for the specified functions in the function call tree, and limits the number of entries for these function in the Call Graph Profile report. This also applies to the specified function's descendants, as long as they have not been called by non-specified functions. In the function call tree, the function boxes for the specified functions appear greyed-out. Its size and the content of the label remain the same. This also applies to descendant functions, as long as they have not been called by non-specified functions. In the Call Graph Profile report, an entry for the specified function only appears where it is a child of another function, or as a parent of a function that also has at least one non-specified function as its parent. The information for this entry remains unchanged. Entries for descendants of the specified function do not appear unless they have been called by at least one non-specified function in the program. |
| -E | Changes the general appearance and label information of the function box or boxes for the specified functions in the function call tree. Also limits the number of entries for these functions in the Call Graph Profile report, and changes the processor data associated with them. These results also apply to the specified function's descendants, as long as they have not been called by non-specified functions in the program. In the function call tree, the function box for the specified function appears greyed-out, and its size and shape also changes so that it appears as a square of the smallest allowable size. In addition, the processor time shown in the function box label, appears as 0 (zero). The same applies to function boxes for descendant functions, as long as they have not been called by non-specified functions. This option also causes the processor time spent by the specified function to be deducted from the left side processor total in the label of the function box for each of the specified function's ancestors. In the Call Graph Profile report, an entry for the specified function only appears where it is a child of another function, or as a parent of a function that also has at least one non-specified function as its parent. When this is the case, the time in the self and descendants columns for this entry is set to 0 (zero). In addition, the amount of time that was in the descendants column for the specified function is subtracted from the time listed under the descendants column for the profiled function. As a result, be aware that the value listed in the % time column for most profiled functions in this report will change. |
| -f | De-emphasizes the general appearance of all function boxes in the function call tree, except for that of the specified function(s) and its descendant(s). In addition, the number of entries in the Call Graph Profile report for the non-specified functions and non-descendant functions is limited. The -f flag overrides the -e flag. In the function call tree, all function boxes except for that of the specified function(s) and it descendant(s) appear greyed-out. The size of these boxes and the content of their labels remain the same. For the specified function(s), and it descendants, the appearance of the function boxes and labels remain the same. In the Call Graph Profile report, an entry for a non-specified or non-descendant function only appears where it is a parent or child of a specified function or one of its descendants. All information for this entry remains the same. |
| -F | Changes the general appearance and label information of all function boxes in the function call tree except for that of the specified function(s) and its descendants. In addition, the number of entries in the Call Graph Profile report for the non-specified and non-descendant functions is limited, and the processor data associated with them is changed. The -F flag overrides the -E flag. In the function call tree, the function box for the specified function appears greyed-out, and its size and shape also changes so that it appears as a square of the smallest allowable size. In addition, the processor time shown in the function box label, appears as 0 (zero). In the Call Graph Profile report, an entry for a non-specified or non-descendant function only appears where it is a parent or child of a specified function or one of its descendants. The time in the self and descendants columns for this entry is set to 0 (zero). When this is the case, the time in the self and descendants columns for this entry is set to 0 (zero). As a result, be aware that the value listed in the % time column for most profiled functions in this report will change. |
| -h -help | Writes the Xprofiler usage to STDERR and then exits. The information includes xprofiler command line syntax and a description of Xprofiler runtime options. |
| -L | Uses an alternate path name for locating shared libraries. If you plan to specify multiple paths, use the Set File Search Paths option of the File menu on the Xprofiler GUI. |
| -s | If multiple gmon.out files are specified when Xprofiler is started, produces the gmon.sum profile data file. The gmon.sum file represents the sum of the profile information in all the specified profile files. Note that if you specify a single gmon.out file, the gmon.sum file contains the same data as the gmon.out file. |
| -z | Includes functions that have both zero processor usage and no call counts in the Flat Profile, Call Graph Profile, and Function Index reports. A function will not have a call count if the file that contains its definition was not compiled with the -pg option, which is common with system library files. |
Example
To use xprofiler,
you must first compile your program (for example, foo.c)
with -pg:
xlc -pg -o foo foo.c- When the program foo is executed, one gmon.out file
will be generated for each processor involved in the execution. To
invoke xprofiler, enter:
xprofiler foo [[gmon.out]...]
Files
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/Xprofiler | Location of the xprofiler command. |