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| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/tracepoints.txt | 87 |
1 files changed, 47 insertions, 40 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/tracepoints.txt b/Documentation/tracepoints.txt index 3a1c74384ffb..2d42241a25c3 100644 --- a/Documentation/tracepoints.txt +++ b/Documentation/tracepoints.txt @@ -3,28 +3,30 @@ Mathieu Desnoyers -This document introduces Linux Kernel Tracepoints and their use. It provides -examples of how to insert tracepoints in the kernel and connect probe functions -to them and provides some examples of probe functions. +This document introduces Linux Kernel Tracepoints and their use. It +provides examples of how to insert tracepoints in the kernel and +connect probe functions to them and provides some examples of probe +functions. * Purpose of tracepoints -A tracepoint placed in code provides a hook to call a function (probe) that you -can provide at runtime. A tracepoint can be "on" (a probe is connected to it) or -"off" (no probe is attached). When a tracepoint is "off" it has no effect, -except for adding a tiny time penalty (checking a condition for a branch) and -space penalty (adding a few bytes for the function call at the end of the -instrumented function and adds a data structure in a separate section). When a -tracepoint is "on", the function you provide is called each time the tracepoint -is executed, in the execution context of the caller. When the function provided -ends its execution, it returns to the caller (continuing from the tracepoint -site). +A tracepoint placed in code provides a hook to call a function (probe) +that you can provide at runtime. A tracepoint can be "on" (a probe is +connected to it) or "off" (no probe is attached). When a tracepoint is +"off" it has no effect, except for adding a tiny time penalty +(checking a condition for a branch) and space penalty (adding a few +bytes for the function call at the end of the instrumented function +and adds a data structure in a separate section). When a tracepoint +is "on", the function you provide is called each time the tracepoint +is executed, in the execution context of the caller. When the function +provided ends its execution, it returns to the caller (continuing from +the tracepoint site). You can put tracepoints at important locations in the code. They are lightweight hooks that can pass an arbitrary number of parameters, -which prototypes are described in a tracepoint declaration placed in a header -file. +which prototypes are described in a tracepoint declaration placed in a +header file. They can be used for tracing and performance accounting. @@ -63,36 +65,41 @@ Where : - subsys_eventname is an identifier unique to your event - subsys is the name of your subsystem. - eventname is the name of the event to trace. -- TPPTOTO(int firstarg, struct task_struct *p) is the prototype of the function - called by this tracepoint. -- TPARGS(firstarg, p) are the parameters names, same as found in the prototype. -Connecting a function (probe) to a tracepoint is done by providing a probe -(function to call) for the specific tracepoint through +- TPPTOTO(int firstarg, struct task_struct *p) is the prototype of the + function called by this tracepoint. + +- TPARGS(firstarg, p) are the parameters names, same as found in the + prototype. + +Connecting a function (probe) to a tracepoint is done by providing a +probe (function to call) for the specific tracepoint through register_trace_subsys_eventname(). Removing a probe is done through unregister_trace_subsys_eventname(); it will remove the probe. -tracepoint_synchronize_unregister() must be called before the end of the module exit -function to make sure there is no caller left using the probe. This, and the -fact that preemption is disabled around the probe call, make sure that probe -removal and module unload are safe. See the "Probe example" section below for a -sample probe module. - -The tracepoint mechanism supports inserting multiple instances of the same -tracepoint, but a single definition must be made of a given tracepoint name over -all the kernel to make sure no type conflict will occur. Name mangling of the -tracepoints is done using the prototypes to make sure typing is correct. -Verification of probe type correctness is done at the registration site by the -compiler. Tracepoints can be put in inline functions, inlined static functions, -and unrolled loops as well as regular functions. - -The naming scheme "subsys_event" is suggested here as a convention intended -to limit collisions. Tracepoint names are global to the kernel: they are -considered as being the same whether they are in the core kernel image or in -modules. + +tracepoint_synchronize_unregister() must be called before the end of +the module exit function to make sure there is no caller left using +the probe. This, and the fact that preemption is disabled around the +probe call, make sure that probe removal and module unload are safe. +See the "Probe example" section below for a sample probe module. + +The tracepoint mechanism supports inserting multiple instances of the +same tracepoint, but a single definition must be made of a given +tracepoint name over all the kernel to make sure no type conflict will +occur. Name mangling of the tracepoints is done using the prototypes +to make sure typing is correct. Verification of probe type correctness +is done at the registration site by the compiler. Tracepoints can be +put in inline functions, inlined static functions, and unrolled loops +as well as regular functions. + +The naming scheme "subsys_event" is suggested here as a convention +intended to limit collisions. Tracepoint names are global to the +kernel: they are considered as being the same whether they are in the +core kernel image or in modules. If the tracepoint has to be used in kernel modules, an -EXPORT_TRACEPOINT_SYMBOL_GPL() or EXPORT_TRACEPOINT_SYMBOL() can be used to -export the defined tracepoints. +EXPORT_TRACEPOINT_SYMBOL_GPL() or EXPORT_TRACEPOINT_SYMBOL() can be +used to export the defined tracepoints. * Probe / tracepoint example |