linux/kernel/trace
Steven Rostedt da4d03020c tracing: new format for specialized trace points
Impact: clean up and enhancement

The TRACE_EVENT_FORMAT macro looks quite ugly and is limited in its
ability to save data as well as to print the record out. Working with
Ingo Molnar, we came up with a new format that is much more pleasing to
the eye of C developers. This new macro is more C style than the old
macro, and is more obvious to what it does.

Here's the example. The only updated macro in this patch is the
sched_switch trace point.

The old method looked like this:

 TRACE_EVENT_FORMAT(sched_switch,
        TP_PROTO(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *prev,
                struct task_struct *next),
        TP_ARGS(rq, prev, next),
        TP_FMT("task %s:%d ==> %s:%d",
              prev->comm, prev->pid, next->comm, next->pid),
        TRACE_STRUCT(
                TRACE_FIELD(pid_t, prev_pid, prev->pid)
                TRACE_FIELD(int, prev_prio, prev->prio)
                TRACE_FIELD_SPECIAL(char next_comm[TASK_COMM_LEN],
                                    next_comm,
                                    TP_CMD(memcpy(TRACE_ENTRY->next_comm,
                                                 next->comm,
                                                 TASK_COMM_LEN)))
                TRACE_FIELD(pid_t, next_pid, next->pid)
                TRACE_FIELD(int, next_prio, next->prio)
        ),
        TP_RAW_FMT("prev %d:%d ==> next %s:%d:%d")
        );

The above method is hard to read and requires two format fields.

The new method:

 /*
  * Tracepoint for task switches, performed by the scheduler:
  *
  * (NOTE: the 'rq' argument is not used by generic trace events,
  *        but used by the latency tracer plugin. )
  */
 TRACE_EVENT(sched_switch,

	TP_PROTO(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *prev,
		 struct task_struct *next),

	TP_ARGS(rq, prev, next),

	TP_STRUCT__entry(
		__array(	char,	prev_comm,	TASK_COMM_LEN	)
		__field(	pid_t,	prev_pid			)
		__field(	int,	prev_prio			)
		__array(	char,	next_comm,	TASK_COMM_LEN	)
		__field(	pid_t,	next_pid			)
		__field(	int,	next_prio			)
	),

	TP_printk("task %s:%d [%d] ==> %s:%d [%d]",
		__entry->prev_comm, __entry->prev_pid, __entry->prev_prio,
		__entry->next_comm, __entry->next_pid, __entry->next_prio),

	TP_fast_assign(
		memcpy(__entry->next_comm, next->comm, TASK_COMM_LEN);
		__entry->prev_pid	= prev->pid;
		__entry->prev_prio	= prev->prio;
		memcpy(__entry->prev_comm, prev->comm, TASK_COMM_LEN);
		__entry->next_pid	= next->pid;
		__entry->next_prio	= next->prio;
	)
 );

This macro is called TRACE_EVENT, it is broken up into 5 parts:

 TP_PROTO:        the proto type of the trace point
 TP_ARGS:         the arguments of the trace point
 TP_STRUCT_entry: the structure layout of the entry in the ring buffer
 TP_printk:       the printk format
 TP_fast_assign:  the method used to write the entry into the ring buffer

The structure is the definition of how the event will be saved in the
ring buffer. The printk is used by the internal tracing in case of
an oops, and the kernel needs to print out the format of the record
to the console. This the TP_printk gives a means to show the records
in a human readable format. It is also used to print out the data
from the trace file.

The TP_fast_assign is executed directly. It is basically like a C function,
where the __entry is the handle to the record.

Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt <srostedt@redhat.com>
2009-03-10 00:35:07 -04:00
..
blktrace.c tracing: remove extra latency_trace method from trace structure 2009-03-04 21:42:04 -05:00
events.c tracing: use generic __stringify 2009-03-10 00:35:05 -04:00
ftrace.c tracing: fix deadlock when setting set_ftrace_pid 2009-03-06 12:07:38 +01:00
Kconfig tracing/core: drop the old trace_printk() implementation in favour of trace_bprintk() 2009-03-06 17:59:12 +01:00
kmemtrace.c tracing: Introduce trace_buffer_{lock_reserve,unlock_commit} 2009-02-06 01:01:41 +01:00
Makefile tracing/core: drop the old trace_printk() implementation in favour of trace_bprintk() 2009-03-06 17:59:12 +01:00
ring_buffer.c tracing: make all file_operations const 2009-03-05 21:46:40 -05:00
trace_boot.c tracing: Introduce trace_buffer_{lock_reserve,unlock_commit} 2009-02-06 01:01:41 +01:00
trace_branch.c tracing: remove extra latency_trace method from trace structure 2009-03-04 21:42:04 -05:00
trace_clock.c tracing: implement trace_clock_*() APIs 2009-02-26 18:44:06 +01:00
trace_event_types.h tracing: new format for specialized trace points 2009-03-10 00:35:07 -04:00
trace_events_stage_1.h tracing: new format for specialized trace points 2009-03-10 00:35:07 -04:00
trace_events_stage_2.h tracing: new format for specialized trace points 2009-03-10 00:35:07 -04:00
trace_events_stage_3.h tracing: new format for specialized trace points 2009-03-10 00:35:07 -04:00
trace_events.c tracing: new format for specialized trace points 2009-03-10 00:35:07 -04:00
trace_export.c tracing: new format for specialized trace points 2009-03-10 00:35:07 -04:00
trace_functions_graph.c tracing/core: drop the old trace_printk() implementation in favour of trace_bprintk() 2009-03-06 17:59:12 +01:00
trace_functions.c tracing/core: use appropriate waiting on trace_pipe 2009-02-18 01:40:20 +01:00
trace_hw_branches.c tracing/hw-branch-tracing: convert bts-tracer mutex to a spinlock 2009-02-25 09:16:01 +01:00
trace_irqsoff.c tracing: have latency tracers set the latency format 2009-03-04 22:15:30 -05:00
trace_mmiotrace.c tracing/core: drop the old trace_printk() implementation in favour of trace_bprintk() 2009-03-06 17:59:12 +01:00
trace_nop.c trace: Call tracing_reset_online_cpus before tracer->init() 2009-02-06 01:01:41 +01:00
trace_output.c tracing/core: drop the old trace_printk() implementation in favour of trace_bprintk() 2009-03-06 17:59:12 +01:00
trace_output.h tracing/core: drop the old trace_printk() implementation in favour of trace_bprintk() 2009-03-06 17:59:12 +01:00
trace_power.c tracing: convert c/p state power tracer to use tracepoints 2009-02-13 09:06:18 -05:00
trace_printk.c tracing/core: drop the old trace_printk() implementation in favour of trace_bprintk() 2009-03-06 17:59:12 +01:00
trace_sched_switch.c tracing/core: use appropriate waiting on trace_pipe 2009-02-18 01:40:20 +01:00
trace_sched_wakeup.c tracing: have latency tracers set the latency format 2009-03-04 22:15:30 -05:00
trace_selftest_dynamic.c ftrace: fix dynamic ftrace selftest 2008-05-23 21:13:23 +02:00
trace_selftest.c tracing: use generic __stringify 2009-03-10 00:35:05 -04:00
trace_stack.c trace: better use of stack_trace_enabled for boot up code 2008-12-18 12:56:56 +01:00
trace_stat.c tracing: fix typing mistake in hint message and comments 2009-02-17 12:38:24 -05:00
trace_stat.h tracing/ftrace: separate events tracing and stats tracing engine 2009-01-14 12:11:37 +01:00
trace_sysprof.c tracing: make all file_operations const 2009-03-05 21:46:40 -05:00
trace_workqueue.c trace_workqueue: use percpu data for workqueue stat 2009-01-20 13:06:59 +01:00
trace.c tracing/core: drop the old trace_printk() implementation in favour of trace_bprintk() 2009-03-06 17:59:12 +01:00
trace.h tracing: new format for specialized trace points 2009-03-10 00:35:07 -04:00