[PATCH v3 2/2] Adding trace documentation

Gedare Bloom gedare at rtems.org
Tue Jun 12 16:16:02 UTC 2018


On Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 11:15 AM, Vidushi Vashishth <reachvidu at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Adjusted line length to 79-80
> ---
>  user/index.rst                 |   2 +
>  user/tracing/captureengine.rst | 188 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  user/tracing/examples.rst      |  12 ++
>  user/tracing/index.rst         |  33 +++++
>  user/tracing/introduction.rst  | 184 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  user/tracing/tracelinker.rst   | 294 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  user/tracing/usecases.rst      | 129 ++++++++++++++++++
>  7 files changed, 842 insertions(+)
>  create mode 100644 user/tracing/captureengine.rst
>  create mode 100644 user/tracing/examples.rst
>  create mode 100644 user/tracing/index.rst
>  create mode 100644 user/tracing/introduction.rst
>  create mode 100644 user/tracing/tracelinker.rst
>  create mode 100644 user/tracing/usecases.rst
>
> diff --git a/user/index.rst b/user/index.rst
> index 8cbcd1b..a764fe8 100644
> --- a/user/index.rst
> +++ b/user/index.rst
> @@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ to the Community Project hosted at http://www.rtems.org/.
>
>         tools/index
>
> +        tracing/index
> +
>         support/index
>
>         glossary/index
> diff --git a/user/tracing/captureengine.rst b/user/tracing/captureengine.rst
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..b80d7d0
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/user/tracing/captureengine.rst
> @@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
> +.. comment SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
> +
> +.. comment: Copyright (c) 2016 Chris Johns <chrisj at rtems.org>
> +.. comment: All rights reserved.
> +
> +.. _capturengine:
> +
> +Capture Engine
> +**************
> +
> +Capture Engine is a trace tool built inside the RTEMS operating system. Capture
> +Engine

It is not right to just blanket wrap to 80 characters. This one word
on a line by itself is no good. Many text editors can make the
wrapping work in a nice way, but I don't know what editor you use. For
example, I use vim, and text formatting can be done by highlighting
text in Visual mode and using 'gq' command to reformat.

> +is designed to cause the lowest load on the system when operating. Hence it
> +does not
> +effect RTEMS when operating or when disabled. It binds to RTEMS at runtime and
> +does not
> +require RTEMS or your application to be rebuilt in order to use it.
> +
> +The Capture Engine's sample testcase for the `sparc/erc32` is available in the
> +"$HOME/development/rtems/kernel/erc32/sparc-rtems5/c/erc32/testsuites/samples"
> +directory,
> +provided you followed the installation directions of the quickstart section. In
> +order to
> +access the capture testcase perform the following set of operations.
> +
> +.. code-block:: shell
> +
> +  $ cd
> +  $HOME/development/rtems/kernel/erc32/sparc-rtems5/c/erc32/testsuites/samples
> +  $ ../samples
> +  $ sparc-rtems5-run ./capture.exe
> +
> +
> +  *** BEGIN OF TEST CAPTURE ENGINE ***
> +  *** TEST VERSION: 5.0.0.de9b7d712bf5da6593386fd4fbca0d5f8b8431d8
> +  *** TEST STATE: USER_INPUT
> +  *** TEST BUILD: RTEMS_NETWORKING RTEMS_POSIX_API
> +  *** TEST TOOLS: 7.3.0 20180125 (RTEMS 5, RSB
> +  a3a6c34c150a357e57769a26a460c475e188438f, Newlib 3.0.0)
> +  Press any key to start capture engine (20s remaining)
> +  Press any key to start capture engine (19s remaining)
> +  Press any key to start capture engine (18s remaining)
> +
> +  Monitor ready, press enter to login.
> +
> +  1-rtems $
> +
> +Capture Engine comes with a set of commands to perform various actions.
> +
> +Capture Engine Commands
> +-----------------------
> +
> +1) ``copen <buffer-size>``: Used to initialize the Capture Engine with the
> +   trace buffer size in bytes. By default the Capture Engine is not initialized
> +   and not running.
> +
> +2) ``cwceil <priority-value>``: Capture Engine filter used to put an upper
> +   limit on the event priority to be captured.
> +
> +
> +3) ``cwfloor <priority-value>``: Capture Engine filter used to put a lower
> +   limit on the event priority to be captured.
> +
> +
> +4) ``cwglob <on/off>``: Enable or disable the global watch.
> +
> +
> +5) ``cenable``: Enables the Capture Engine. Capture Engine is by default
> +   disabled after being opened.
> +
> +
> +6) ``cdisable``: Disables the Capture Engine.
> +
> +
> +7) ``ctlist``: Lists the watch and trigger configurations.
> +
> +
> +8) ``ctrace``: Dumps the recorded traces. By default this command displays 24
> +   trace records. Repeated use of this command will display all the recorded
> +   traces.
> +
> +9) ``cwadd <task-name>``: Add watch on a particular task.
> +
> +
> +10) ``cwtctl <task-name> <on/off>``: Enable or disable watch on a particular
> +    task.
> +
> +
> +11) ``ctset``: Used to set a trigger. The general form of the command is:
> +
> +``ctset [-?] type [to name/id] [from] [from name/id]``
> +
> +'type' in the above command refers to the type of trigger needed. The types of
> +triggers that currently exist
> +are:
> +
> +- switch  : a context switch from one task to another task
> +- create  : the executing task creates a task
> +- start   : the executing task starts a task
> +- restart : the executing task restarts a task
> +- delete  : the executing task deletes a task
> +- begin   : a task is beginning
> +- exitted : a task is exitting
> +
> +Example
> +-------
> +
> +The following is a sample run of the capture testsuite. The test1 command on
> +the Capture Engine Command Line Interface (CLI) makes the 'RMON' task invoke
> +a call to the 'capture_test_1()' command. This function (in the
> +'test1.c' source code) creates and starts three tasks : 'CT1a', 'CT1b' and
> +'CT1c'. These tasks are passed the object id of a semaphore as a task argument.
> +This run through traces the context switches between these tasks.
> +``cwceil`` and ``cwfloor`` are set to a narrow range of task priorities to
> +avoid creating noise from a large number of context switches between tasks we
> +are not interested in.
> +
> +.. code:: shell
> +
> +  *** BEGIN OF TEST CAPTURE ENGINE ***
> +  *** TEST VERSION: 5.0.0.de9b7d712bf5da6593386fd4fbca0d5f8b8431d8
> +  *** TEST STATE: USER_INPUT
> +  *** TEST BUILD: RTEMS_NETWORKING RTEMS_POSIX_API
> +  *** TEST TOOLS: 7.3.0 20180125 (RTEMS 5, RSB
> +  a3a6c34c150a357e57769a26a460c475e188438f, Newlib 3.0.0)
> +  Press any key to start capture engine (20s remaining)
> +  Press any key to start capture engine (19s remaining)
> +  Press any key to start capture engine (18s remaining)
> +  Press any key to start capture engine (17s remaining)
> +
> +  Monitor ready, press enter to login.
> +
> +  1-rtems $ copen 50000
> +  capture engine opened.
> +  1-rtems $ cwceil 100
> +  watch ceiling is 100.
> +  1-rtems $ cwfloor 102
> +  watch floor is 102.
> +  1-rtems $ cwglob on
> +  global watch enabled.
> +  1-rtems $ ctset RMON
> +  trigger set.
> +  1-rtems $ cenable
> +  capture engine enabled.
> +  1-rtems $ test1
> +  1-rtems $ cdisable
> +  capture engine disabled.
> +  1-rtems $ ctrace
> +  0 0:18:17.462314124           0a010003 CT1a 102 102 102   4096  TASK_RECORD
> +  0 0:18:17.462398963         0 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             CREATED
> +  0 0:18:17.462647987    249024 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             STARTED
> +  0 0:18:17.462904334    256347 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:17.463069129    164795 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             BEGIN
> +  0 0:18:17.463335853    266724 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  0 0:18:18.461348547           0a010004 CT1b 101 101 101   4096  TASK_RECORD
> +  0 0:18:18.461433997 998098144 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             CREATED
> +  0 0:18:18.461683631    249634 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             STARTED
> +  0 0:18:18.461934485    250854 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:18.462099891    165406 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             BEGIN
> +  0 0:18:19.460935339 998835448 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  0 0:18:19.461431555           0a010005 CT1c 100 100 100   4096  TASK_RECORD
> +  0 0:18:19.461516394    581055 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             CREATED
> +  0 0:18:19.461765418    249024 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             STARTED
> +  0 0:18:19.462019324    253906 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:19.462184119    164795 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             BEGIN
> +  0 0:18:19.462475257    291138 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  0 0:18:19.462551551     76294 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:19.960935645 498384094 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  0 0:18:19.961012549     76904 0a010003 CT1a 102 100             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:19.961341528    328979 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  1-rtems $ ctrace
> +  0 0:18:19.961418433         0 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:19.961672339    253906 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  0 0:18:19.961749854     77515 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:20.460967077 499217223 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  0 0:18:20.461219763    252686 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:20.461424231    204468 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             TERMINATED
> +  0 0:18:20.461747107    322876 0a010005 CT1c 100 100             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  0 0:18:20.461824011     76904 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:20.462015052    191041 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             TERMINATED
> +  0 0:18:20.462336707    321655 0a010004 CT1b 101 101             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  0 0:18:20.462414222     77515 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             SWITCHED_IN
> +  0 0:18:20.462608924    194702 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             TERMINATED
> +  0 0:18:20.462933021    324097 0a010003 CT1a 102 102             SWITCHED_OUT
> +  1-rtems $ ctrace
> +  1-rtems $
> +
> +
> diff --git a/user/tracing/examples.rst b/user/tracing/examples.rst
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..f51613e
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/user/tracing/examples.rst
> @@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
> +.. comment SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
> +
> +.. comment: Copyright (c) 2016 Chris Johns <chrisj at rtems.org>
> +.. comment: All rights reserved.
> +
> +.. _examples:
> +
> +Tracing Examples
> +****************
> +
> +[TBD]
> +
> diff --git a/user/tracing/index.rst b/user/tracing/index.rst
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..a879207
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/user/tracing/index.rst
> @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
> +.. comment SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
> +
> +.. comment: Copyright (c) 2016 Chris Johns <chrisj at rtems.org>
> +.. comment: All rights reserved.
> +
> +.. _tracing-framework:
> +
> +RTEMS Tracing Framework
> +***********************
> +.. index:: Tracing Framework
> +
> +RTEMS Tracing Framework is an on-target software based system which helps track
> +the ongoings inside applications, 3rd party packages, and the kernel in real
> +time.
> +
> +Software based tracing is a complex process which requires components on both
> +the
> +target and the host to work together. However its portability across all
> +architectures
> +and board support packages makes it a useful asset. A key requirement in RTEMS
> +trace process
> +is to take existing code in compiled format (ELF) and instrument it in order to
> +log various events
> +and records in real time. However instrumenting of the code for tracing should
> +happen without rebuilding
> +the code from the source and without annotating the source with trace code.
> +
> +.. toctree::
> +
> +   introduction
> +   usecases
> +   examples
> +
> diff --git a/user/tracing/introduction.rst b/user/tracing/introduction.rst
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..b4925b2
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/user/tracing/introduction.rst
> @@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
> +.. comment SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
> +
> +.. comment: Copyright (c) 2016 Chris Johns <chrisj at rtems.org>
> +.. comment: All rights reserved.
> +
> +.. _introduction:
> +
> +Introduction to Tracing
> +***********************
> +
> +Tracing is an important function which has several applications including
> +identification of complex threading, detection of deadlocks, tracing
> +functions along with their argument values, and return values through
> +progression of several function calls and audit the performance of an
> +application according to required specifications.
> +
> +RTEMS tracing framework is under development and welcomes contribution by users.
> +
> +RTEMS has the following trace components:
> +
> +- RTEMS :ref:`tracelinker`
> +- RTEMS :ref:`capturengine`
> +- Common Trace Format Integration
> +
> +
> +RTEMS trace framework can currently function using the following methods. Both
> +of the methods make use
> +of the :ref:`tracelinker` :
> +
> +.. _tracebuffering:
> +
> +RTEMS Trace Using Trace Buffering
> +=================================
> +
> +This scheme of tracing goes through the flow of events described in a
> +subsequent flowchart:
> +
> +Step 1: The user creates an application and user configuration file. The
> +configuration file specifies the use of the trace buffer generator and other
> +standard initializations. The user then configures her BSP and invokes the
> +trace linker using a command to link the application executable. The trace
> +linker uses the application files in compiled format (ELF) and the libraries
> +used to build the application for performing this link.
> +
> +Step 2: The RTEMS Trace Linker reads the user’s configuration file and that
> +results in it reading the standard Trace Buffering Configuration files
> +installed with the RTEMS Trace Linker. The trace linker uses the target
> +compiler and linker to create the trace enabled application executable. It
> +wraps the functions defined in the user’s configuration with code that captures
> +trace records into the statically allocated buffer. The trace wrapper code is
> +compiled with the target compiler and the resulting ELF object file is added
> +to the standard link command line used to link the application and the
> +application is re-linked using the wrapping option of the GNU linker.
> +
> +Step 3: The trace linker creates an executable which is capable of running on
> +the target hardware or simulator.
> +
> +Step 4: RTEMS shell provides the “rtrace” command to display and save trace
> +buffers.
> +
> +.. comment: taken from https://devel.rtems.org/wiki/Developer/Tracing
> +.. figure:: ../../images/user/rtems-trace-buffering.png
> +  :align: center
> +  :width: 75%
> +
> +
> +.. _printk:
> +
> +RTEMS Trace Using Printk
> +========================
> +
> +This scheme of tracing goes through the flow of events described in a
> +subsequent flowchart:
> +
> +Step 1: The user creates an RTEMS application in the normal manner as well as
> +a Trace Linker configuration file. The configuration file specifies using the
> +Printk trace mode and the functions to trace. The user invokes the Trace Linker
> +with the configuration and the normal link command line used to the link the
> +application executable. The application ELF object files and libraries,
> +including the RTEMS libraries are standard and do not need to be built specially.
> +
> +Step 2: The RTEMS Trace Linker reads the user's configuration file and that
> +results in it reading the standard Printk Trace Configuration files installed
> +with the RTEMS Trace Linker. The trace linker uses the target compiler
> +and linker to create the trace enabled application executable. It wraps the
> +functions defined in the user's configuration with code that prints the entry
> +with arguments and exit and return value if any. The trace wrapper code is
> +compiled with the target compiler and the resulting ELF object file is added
> +to the standard link command line used to link the application and the
> +application is relinked using the wrapping option of the GNU linker.
> +
> +Step 3: The trace linker creates and RTEMS ELF executable that can be run on
> +the target hardware or simulator.
> +
> +Step 4: The application is run in the hardware directly or using a debugger.
> +The printk() output appears on the target console and the user can save that
> +to a file.
> +
> +.. comment: taken from https://devel.rtems.org/wiki/Developer/Tracing
> +.. figure:: ../../images/user/rtems-trace-printk.png
> +  :align: center
> +  :width: 75%
> +
> +The :ref:`examples` section describes generation of traces using both of the
> +aforementioned techniques using the `fileio` testsuite available with RTEMS
> +installation.
> +
> +RTEMS Trace Using CTF
> +=====================
> +
> +`Common Trace Format <http://diamon.org/ctf/>`_ (CTF) is a binary trace format
> +which is fast to write and has great flexibility. It allows traces to be
> +developed by bare-metal applications or by any other C/C++ system. RTEMS
> +tracing framework can benefit from these features of CTF.
> +
> +A typical CTF *trace* consists of multiple *streams* of binary *events*. The
> +*metadata* stream is a mandatory stream which describes the layout of all the
> +other streams in a trace. This metadata stream is written using *Trace Stream
> +Description Language* (TSDL).
> +
> +.. comment: image taken from view-source:http://diamon.org/ctf/img/ctf-trace.png
> +.. comment: Not generating a copyright in the high chance we decide to not keep
> +.. comment: a descriptive section on CTF
> +
> +.. figure:: ../../images/user/ctf-trace.png
> +  :align: center
> +  :width: 75%
> +
> +A binary *stream* is further a concatenation of several packets each containing
> +the following:
> +
> +- A packet header
> +- An optional packet context
> +- A set of concatenated events each containing:
> + - An event header
> + - A stream-specific context
> + - An event-specific context
> + - A payload
> +
> +.. comment: taken from http://diamon.org/ctf/img/ctf-stream-packet.png
> +.. comment: Not generating a copyright in the high chance we decide to not keep
> +.. comment: a descriptive section on CTF
> +
> +.. figure:: ../../images/user/ctf-stream-packet.png
> +  :align: center
> +  :width: 75%
> +
> +All the headers, contexts and payloads are written in TSDL using CTF data
> +types. CTF supports a rich set of configurable datatypes which makes it
> +possible to describe a larger variety of binary structure. Moreover types
> +in CTF are organized as type classes where type specifications can be inherited
> +to allow deriving types. These factors make CTF flexible. CTF enables fast
> +writing of binary data as it usually involves appending memory contents,
> +as it is to a binary CTF stream. CTF streams are capable of being sent or
> +received over the network without any data being written to disk and hence
> +can be useful in transporting traces from the target to the host machine for
> +analysis.
> +
> +Due to these advantages tracing using CTF will prove to be beneficial for the
> +users. This method of tracing is currently under development. Currently the
> +RTEMS tracing framework is able to output trace data in the form of trace buffers,
> +console output and csv files. A conversion tool which transforms these trace
> +output formats to CTF will be viable approach to generating CTF traces. In this
> +regard we utilize babeltrace, which is described in the following section.
> +
> +Babeltrace
> +----------
> +
> +Babeltrace is an open source trace format converter which can be used to
> +convert RTEMS traces into CTF. It is also a reference parser implementation
> +of CTF. Babeltrace currently supports the following output formats for traces:
> +
> +- Text
> +- CTF
> +- CTF-metadata
> +- Dummy
> +- lttng-live
> +
> +Babeltrace comes in the form of a library, python bindings (python3) and
> +command line tool called ``babeltrace``. To install babeltrace on your host
> +you can install a distribution package or build from source using tarballs or
> +git repositories of babeltrace. Refer to http://diamon.org/babeltrace/ for
> +further details.
> +
> diff --git a/user/tracing/tracelinker.rst b/user/tracing/tracelinker.rst
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..4bef4e5
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/user/tracing/tracelinker.rst
> @@ -0,0 +1,294 @@
> +.. comment SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
> +
> +.. comment: Copyright (c) 2016 Chris Johns <chrisj at rtems.org>
> +.. comment: All rights reserved.
> +
> +.. _tracelinker:
> +
> +Trace Linker
> +************
> +
> +RTEMS trace linker is a post link tool central to the RTEMS trace framework. It
> +is installed as a part of the RTEMS Tool Project.The RTEMS Trace Linker is a
> +post link tool that performs a re-link of your application to produce a trace
> +executable. A trace executable has been instrumented by the RTEMS Trace Linker
> +with additional code that implements software tracing. A key requirement of the
> +trace process in RTEMS is to take existing code in a compiled format (ELF) and
> +instrument it without rebuilding that code from source and without annotating
> +that source with trace code.
> +
> +
> +Command Line
> +============
> +
> +A typical command to invoke the trace linker consists of two parts separated by
> +``--``.  The first part controls the trace linker and provides the various
> +options it needs and the second part is a standard linker command line you would
> +use to link an RTEMS application. The current command line for trace linker
> +consists of:
> +
> +.. code-block:: shell
> +
> +  $ rtems-tld -h
> +  rtems-trace-ld [options] objects
> +  Options and arguments:
> +   -h          : help (also --help)
> +   -V          : print linker version number and exit (also --version)
> +   -v          : verbose (trace import parts), can supply multiple times
> +                 to increase verbosity (also --verbose)
> +   -w          : generate warnings (also --warn)
> +   -k          : keep temporary files (also --keep)
> +   -c compiler : target compiler is not standard (also --compiler)
> +   -l linker   : target linker is not standard (also --linker)
> +   -E prefix   : the RTEMS tool prefix (also --exec-prefix)
> +   -f cflags   : C compiler flags (also --cflags)
> +   -r path     : RTEMS path (also --rtems)
> +   -B bsp      : RTEMS arch/bsp (also --rtems-bsp)
> +   -W wrapper  : wrapper file name without ext (also --wrapper)
> +   -C ini      : user configuration INI file (also --config)
> +   -P path     : user configuration INI file search path (also --path)
> +
> +The trace linker generates code that needs to be compiled and linked to the
> +application executable so it needs to know the target compiler and `CFLAGS`.
> +There are a couple of ways to do this. The simplest is to provide the path to
> +RTEMS using the `-r` option and the architecture and BSP name in the standard
> +RTEMS format of arch/bsp. The trace linker will extract the compiler and flags
> +used to build RTEMS and will use them. If you require specific options you can
> +use the `-f`, `-c`, `-l` and `-E` options to provide them. If the functions
> +you are tracing use types from your code then add the include path to the
> +`CFLAGS`.
> +
> +The trace linker requires you to provide a user configuration file using the
> +`-C` or ``--config`` option. This is an INI format file detailed in the
> +Configuration section. You can also provide an INI file search path using the
> +`-P` option.
> +
> +If you are working with new configuration files and you want to view the files
> +the trace linker generates add the `-k` option to keep the temporary files, and
> +`-W` to specify an explicit wrapper C file name. If you set the ``dump-on-error``
> +option in the configuration options section you will get a dump of the
> +configuration on an error.
> +
> +
> +Configuration (INI) files
> +=========================
> +
> +The Trace Linker is controlled using configuration files. Configuration files
> +are categorized into 3 types:
> +
> +- User Configuration: These are specific to the user application to be traced.
> +  This file initializes the values of the trace generator, triggers, enables and
> +  traces.
> +
> +- Tracer Configuration: These are like a library of common or base trace
> +  functions that can be referenced by an application. These files tend to hold
> +  the details needed to wrap a specific set of functions. Examples provided with
> +  the RTEMS Linker are the RTEMS API and Libc.
> +
> +- Generator Configuration: This is used to encapsulate a specific method of
> +  tracing. Rtems currently provides generators for trace buffering, printk and
> +  printf.
> +
> +The configuration files are in the *INI file format* which is composed of
> +`sections`. Each section has a section name and set of *keys* which consist
> +of *names* and *values*. A typical key is of the form ``name=value``. Keys
> +can be used to include other INI files using the include key name. This is
> +shown in the following example where the values indicate rtems and rtld-base
> +configuration files:
> +
> +.. code-block::shell
> +  include = rtems.ini, rtld-base.ini
> +
> +The trace linker also uses values in keys to specify other sections. In this
> +example the functions name
> +lists test-trace-funcs and that section contains a headers key that references
> +a further section test-headers:
> +
> +.. code-block::shell
> +  functions = test-trace-funcs, rtems-api
> +
> +  [test-trace-funcs]
> +  ; Parsed via the 'function-set', not parse as a 'trace'.
> +  headers = test-headers
> +
> +  [test-headers]
> +  header = '#include "test-trace-1.h"'
> +
> +The format of a configuration file is explained next. Snippets of the
> +fileio-trace.ini file have been used for explicit understanding. This file can
> +be downloaded from `here
> +<https://devel.rtems.org/attachment/wiki/Developer/Tracing/Trace_Buffering/filei
> +o-trace.ini>`_.
> +
> +Tracer Section
> +--------------
> +
> +The topmost level section is the ``tracer`` section. It can contains the
> +following keys:
> +
> +- name: The name of trace being linked.
> +
> +- options: A list of option sections.
> +
> +- defines: A list of sections containing defines or define record.
> +
> +- define: A list of define string that are single or double quoted.
> +
> +- enables: The list of sections containing enabled functions to trace.
> +
> +- triggers: The list of sections containing enabled functions to trigger trace
> +  on.
> +
> +- traces: The list of sections containing function lists to trace.
> +
> +- functions: The list of sections containing function details.
> +
> +- include: The list of files to include
> +
> +
> +.. code-block:: shell
> +  [tracer]
> +  name = File IO tracer
> +  ;
> +  ; The configuration
> +  ;
> +  options = fileio-options
> +  traces = fileio
> +  defines = fileio
> +  enables = fileio
> +  triggers = fileio
> +  functions = fileio-funcs, rtems-api, rtems-posix, libc-heap
> +  include = rtems.ini, rtld-base.ini, rtld-trace-buffer.ini, libc-heap.ini
> +
> +
> +Options section
> +---------------
> +
> +The options section in the fileio-trace.ini is called the `fileio-options`. A
> +general options section can contain following sets of keys:
> +
> +- dump-on-error: Dump the parsed configuration data on error. The value can be
> +  true or false.
> +
> +- verbose: Set the verbose level. The value can be true or a number value.
> +
> +- prefix: The prefix for the tools and an install RTEMS if rtems-path is not
> +  set.
> +
> +- cc: The compiler used to compile the generated wrapper code. Overrides the
> +  BSP configuration value if a BSP
> +  is specified.
> +
> +- ld: The linker used to link the application. The default is the cc value as
> +  read from the BSP configuration
> +  if specificed. If your application contains C++ code use this setting to the
> +  change the linker to g++.
> +
> +- cflags: Set the CFLAGS used to compiler the wrapper. These flags are
> +  pre-pended to the BSP read flags if a BSP
> +  is specified. This option is used to provide extra include paths to header
> +  files in your application that contain
> +  types any functions being traced reference.
> +
> +- rtems-path: The path to an install RTEMS if not installed under the prefix.
> +
> +- rtems-bsp: The BSP we are building the trace executable for. The is an arch
> +  and bsp pair. For example sparc/erc32.
> +
> +.. code-block:: shell
> +
> +  [fileio-options]
> +  dump-on-error = true
> +  ;
> +  ; Tools
> +  ;
> +  prefix = /development/rtems/5
> +  rtems-path = /development/rtems/kernel/5
> +  rtems-bsp = sparc/erc32
> +  ;
> +  ; Generator options.
> +  ;
> +  gen-enables = enable
> +  gen-triggers = enable
> +
> +
> +Trace Section
> +--------------
> +
> +A trace section defines how trace wrapper functions are built. To build a trace
> +function that wraps an existing function in an ELF object file or library archive
> +we need to have the function's signature. A signature is the function's declaration
> +with any types used. The the signature has specific types we need access to those
> +types which means the wrapper code needs to include header files that define those
> +types. There may also be specific defines needed to access those types.
> +
> +- generator: The generator defines the type of tracing being used.
> +
> +- headers: List of sections that contain header files keys.
> +
> +- header: A header key. Typically the include code.
> +
> +- defines: List of sections that contain defines.
> +
> +- define: A define key. Typically the define code.
> +
> +- signatures: List of function signature sections.
> +
> +- trace: Functions that are instrumented with trace code.
> +
> +
> +[TBD]
> +
> +
> +Function Wrapping
> +=================
> +
> +The trace linker's major role is to wrap functions in the existing executable
> +with trace code. The directions on how to wrap application functions is
> +provided by the generator configuration. The wrapping function uses a
> +GNU linker option called --wrap=symbol. The GNU Ld manual states:
> +
> +"Use a wrapper function for symbol. Any undefined reference to symbol will be
> +resolved to __wrap_symbol. Any undefined reference to __real_symbol will be
> +resolved to symbol."
> +
> +The trace linker generates C code with a wrapper for each function to be
> +instrumented. The trace code generated is driven by the configuration INI
> +files.
> +
> +
> +Function Signatures
> +===================
> +
> +A function signature is the function's declaration. It is the name of the
> +function, the return value and the arguments. Tracing using function
> +wrappers requires that we have accurate function signatures and ideally
> +we would like to determine the function signature from the data held in
> +ELF files. ELF files can contain DWARF data, the ELF debugging data format.
> +In time the trace project would like to support libdwarf so the DWARF data
> +can be accessed and use to determine a function's signature. This work is
> +planned but not scheduled to be done and so in the meantime we explicitly
> +define the function signatures in the configuration files.
> +
> +
> +Development
> +===========
> +
> +The Trace Linker is part of the RTEMS tools git repository available at :
> +https://git.rtems.org/rtems-tools
> +The RTEMS tools project utilizes the waf build system. Use the following
> +commands in the topmost build directory to build the tools project:
> +
> +First we configure using:
> +
> +.. code-block:: shell
> +
> +  $./waf configure --prefix=$HOME/development/rtems/5
> +
> +Then we build and install using:
> +
> +.. code-block:: shell
> +
> +  $./waf build install
> +
> +
> diff --git a/user/tracing/usecases.rst b/user/tracing/usecases.rst
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..20ce43d
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/user/tracing/usecases.rst
> @@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
> +.. comment SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
> +
> +.. comment: Copyright (c) 2016 Chris Johns <chrisj at rtems.org>
> +.. comment: All rights reserved.
> +
> +.. _usecases:
> +
> +Tracing Use Cases
> +*****************
> +
> +Following are the use cases of the tracing framework that are currently under
> +development:
> +
> +Function Tracing
> +================
> +
> +Tracing the entry and exit of a function as well as the values of the arguments
> +and
> +return values can prove to be an important application for the tracing
> +framework.
> +
> +Objective
> +---------
> +
> +This use case can prove to be helpful in debugging of applications for the
> +users. It can also
> +be used to understand the working of existing application code bases. Capturing
> +of argument and
> +return values maybe useful in tracking unexpected output results from the
> +applications.
> +
> +Requirements
> +------------
> +
> +The current tracing framework provides this functionality with
> +:ref:`tracebuffering`. The output is
> +provided in the form of printing on console or saving the buffer in the form of
> +a bin file. In order to
> +develop this use case using CTF we need to be able to convert this RTEMS trace
> +output into CTF. This could
> +be done using babeltrace. The converted CTF traces would then be sent over to
> +the host using a transport
> +mechanism.
> +
> +Example
> +-------
> +
> +As a start to the development of function tracing using CTF we can work on the
> +fileio
> +sample testsuite and trace all the calls to malloc, calloc, free and realloc
> +functions.
> +Along with the calls made to these functions the trace must also capture the
> +values of
> +their arguments at entry and the return values at function exit. As an example
> +of an application
> +having the following progression of function calls:
> +
> +.. code-block:: c
> +
> +  #include <stdlib.h>
> +  int main(int argc, char** argv)
> +  {
> +    int* a = malloc(sizeof(int));
> +    free(a);
> +    a = calloc(1, sizeof(int));
> +    return 0;
> +  }
> +
> +
> +The trace of such an application must be output of the following kind:
> +
> +.. code-block:: shell
> +
> +  Timestamp1    entry of malloc > argument value
> +  Timestamp2    exit of malloc < return value
> +  Timestamp3    entry of free > argument value
> +  Timestamp4    exit of free < return value (null)
> +  Timestamp5    entry of calloc > argument1 value, argument2 value
> +  Timestamp6    exit of calloc < return value1
> +
> +There could be additional columns of details including current priority, task
> +state etc.
> +
> +
> +Tracing Thread Operations
> +=========================
> +
> +Tracing thread creation, switching and termination operation in a thread's
> +lifetime within an application.
> +
> +Objective
> +---------
> +
> +Real time applications inherently utilize parallel programming which entails
> +several
> +tasks executing simultaneously and competing for common resources. On single
> +processor systems
> +the CPU performs context switching between each of these tasks rapidly. By
> +tracing the creation and
> +termination of tasks as well as the context switches between them one can
> +possibly identify probable race
> +conditions or complex threading operations.
> +
> +Requirements
> +------------
> +
> +[TBD]
> +
> +Example
> +-------
> +
> +A sample trace tracking two tasks Ta and Tb could have an output of the
> +following kind:
> +
> +.. code-block:: shell
> +
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Ta CREATED
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Ta SWITCHED-IN
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Ta BEGIN
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Tb CREATED
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Ta SWITCHED-OUT
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Tb SWITCHED-IN
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Tb BEGIN
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Tb SWITCHED-OUT
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Tb TERMINATED
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Ta SWITCHED-IN
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Ta SWITCHED-OUT
> +  Timestamp1 taskid Ta TERMINATED
> +
> --
> 2.7.4
>
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