Ubuntu Manpage: ocount - Event counting tool for Linux

Provided by: oprofile_1.3.0-0ubuntu13_amd64

NAME

       ocount - Event counting tool for Linux

SYNOPSIS

       ocount [ options ] [ --system-wide | --process-list <pids> | --thread-list <tids> | --cpu-
       list <cpus> | [ command [ args ] ] ]

DESCRIPTION

       ocount is an OProfile tool that can be used to count native hardware events  occurring  in
       either  a  given  application,  a  set  of processes or threads, a subset of active system
       processors, or the entire  system.  The  data  collected  during  a  counting  session  is
       displayed to stdout by default or, optionally, to a file.

       When  counting  multiple  events,  the  kernel  may  not  be  able  to  count  all  events
       simultaneously and, thus, may need to multiplex the  counting  of  the  events.   If  this
       happens, the "Percent time enabled" column in the ocount output will be less than 100, but
       counts are scaled up to a 100% estimated value.

RUN MODES

One (and only one) of the following run modes must be specified. If you run ocount using
a run mode other than command [args] , press Ctrl-c to stop ocount when finished counting
(e.g., when the monitored process ends). If you background ocount (i.e., with '&') while
using one these run modes, you must stop it in a controlled manner so that the data
collection process can be shut down cleanly and final results can be displayed. Use kill
-SIGINT <ocount-PID> for this purpose.

command [args]
The command is the application for which to count events. args are the input
arguments required by the application. The command and its arguments must be
positioned at the end of the command line, after all ocount options.

--process-list / -p pids
Use this option to count events for one or more already-running applications,
specified via a comma-separated list ( pids ). Event counts will be collected for
all children of the passed process(es) as well. You must have privileges for the
user ID under which the specified process(es) are running; e.g., for a non-root
user, the user ID of the process(es) is the same as that used for running ocount. A
lack of privileges will result in the following failure message:
perf_event_open failed with Permission denied

--thread-list / -r tids
Use this option to count events for one or more already-running threads, specified
via a comma-separated list ( tids ). Event counts will not be collected for any
children of the passed thread(s). See the description of --process-list concerning
required privileges.

--system-wide / -s
This option is for counting events for all processes running on your system. You
must have root authority to run ocount in this mode.

--cpu-list / -C cpus
This option is for counting events on a subset of processors on your system. You
must have root authority to run ocount in this mode. This is a comma-separated
list, where each element in the list may be either a single processor number or a
range of processor numbers; for example: '-C 2,3,4-11,15'.

OTHER OPTIONS

       --events / -e event1[,event2[,...]]
              This  option  is  for  passing  a  comma-separated list of event specifications for
              counting. Each event spec is of the form:
                 name[:unitmask[:kernel[:user]]]
              Note: Do not include a count value in the event spec, as  that  parameter  is  only
              needed when profiling.

              You  can  specify  unitmask  values using either a numerical value (hex values must
              begin with "0x") or a symbolic name (if the name=<um_name> field is  shown  in  the
              ophelp  output).  For  some  named  unit  masks, the hex value is not unique; thus,
              OProfile tools enforce specifying such unit masks value by name.  If no  unit  mask
              is specified, the default unit mask value for the event is used.

              The kernel and user parts of the event specification are binary values ('1' or '0')
              indicating whether or not to count events in kernel space and user space.
              Note: In order to specify the kernel/user bits, you must also  specify  a  unitmask
              value,  even if the running processor type does not use unit masks — in which case,
              use the value '0' to signify a null unit mask; for example:
                 -e INST_RETIRED_ANY_P:0:1:0
                                       ^ ^ ^
                                       | | |--- '0': do not count user space events
                                       | |-- '1': count kernel space events
                                       |-- '0': the null unit mask

              Event names for certain processor types include a _GRP<n> suffix.  For such  cases,
              the --events option may be specified with or without the _GRP<n> suffix.

              When  no  event specification is given, the default event for the running processor
              type will be used for counting.  Use ophelp to list the available events  for  your
              processor type.

       --separate-thread / -t
              This  option can be used in conjunction with either the --process-list or --thread-
              list option to display event counts on a per-thread (per-process)  basis.   Without
              this option, all counts are aggregated.

              NOTE:  If new threads are started by the process(es) being monitored after counting
              begins, the counts for those threads are aggregated with their parent's counts.

       --separate-cpu / -c
              This option can be used in conjunction with either the --system-wide or  --cpu-list
              option to display event counts on a per-cpu basis.  Without this option, all counts
              are aggregated.

       --time-interval / -i interval_length[:num_intervals]

              Note:  The  interval_length  is  given  in  milliseconds.  However,   the   current
              implementation  only supports 100 ms granularity, so the given interval_length will
              be rounded to the nearest 100 ms.  Results collected for  each  time  interval  are
              printed  immediately  instead of the default of one dump of cumulative event counts
              at the end of the run.  Counters are reset to zero at the start of each interval.

              If num_intervals is specified, ocount exits after the specified number of intervals
              occur.

       --brief-format / -b
              Use this option to print results in the following brief format:
                  [cpu or thread,]<event_name>[:umask[:K:U]],<count>,<percent_time_enabled>
                  [    <u32>    ,]<  string  >[< u32>[<bb>]],< u64 >,<       double       >

              The  umask,  Kernel and User modes are only printed if the values were specified as
              part of the event.  The 'K' and 'U' fields are binary fields separated  by  colons,
              where the value for each binary field may be either '0' or '1'.

              If --timer-interval is specified, a separate line formatted as
                  timestamp,<num_seconds_since_epoch>[.n]
              is  printed  ahead  of each dump of event counts. If the time interval specified is
              less than one second, the timestamp will have 1/10 second precision.

       --output-file / -f outfile_name
              Results are written to outfile_name instead of interactively to the terminal.

       --verbose / -V
              Use this option to increase the verbosity of the output.

       --version / -v
              Show ocount version.

       --help / -h
              Display brief usage message.

       --usage / -u
              Display brief usage message.

EXAMPLE

       $ ocount make

VERSION

       This man page is current for oprofile-1.3.0.