Ubuntu Manpage: ocount - Event counting tool for Linux

Provided by: oprofile_0.9.9-0ubuntu8_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.

--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).

--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  need  when
              profiling.

              You  can specify unit mask 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.

              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 num_seconds[:num_intervals]
              Results collected for each time interval are printed every num_seconds instead of the  default  of
              one  dump of cumulative event counts at the end of the run.  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:
                  [optional cpu or thread,]<event_name>,<count>,<percent_time_enabled>
                  [        <int>         ,]<  string  >,< u64 >,<     double         >

              If --timer-interval is specified, a separate line formatted as
                  timestamp,<num_seconds_since_epoch>
              is printed ahead of each dump of event counts.

       --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-0.9.9.