NAME

       pmSemStr, pmSemStr_r - convert a performance metric semantic into a string

C SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcp/pmapi.h>

       const char *pmSemStr(int sem);
       char *pmSemStr_r(int sem, char *buf, int buflen);

       cc ... -lpcp

DESCRIPTION

       Given  a  performance  metric  semantic,  pmSemStr  produces  a  terse  ASCII  equivalent,
       appropriate for use in error and diagnostic messages.  The pmSemStr_r  function  does  the
       same,  but  stores the result in a user-supplied buffer buf of length buflen, which should
       have room for at least 20 bytes.

       The value for sem is typically extracted from a pmDesc  structure,  following  a  call  to
       pmLookupDesc(3) for a particular performance metric.

       Examples   are   counter  (for  sem  equals  PM_SEM_COUNTER),  discrete  (for  sem  equals
       PM_SEM_DISCRETE), instant (for sem equals PM_SEM_INSTANT), etc.

       The string value result for pmSemStr is held in a single static buffer,  so  the  returned
       value is only valid until the next call to pmSemStr.

NOTES

       pmSemStr  returns  a  pointer  to  a  static  buffer and hence is not thread-safe.  Multi-
       threaded applications should use pmSemStr_r instead.

SEE ALSO

       PMAPI(3),    pmAtomStr(3),     pmConvScale(3),     pmExtractValue(3),     pmLookupDesc(3),
       pmPrintValue(3), pmIDStr(3), pmInDomStr(3), pmTypeStr(3) and pmUnitsStr(3).