NAME

       pmIDStr, pmIDStr_r - convert a performance metric identifier into a string

C SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcp/pmapi.h>

       const char *pmIDStr(pmID pmid);
       char *pmIDStr_r(pmID pmid, char *buf, int buflen);

       cc ... -lpcp

DESCRIPTION

       For  use  in  error and diagnostic messages, pmIDStr returns a `human readable' version of
       the specified Performance Metric Identifier (PMID).  The pmIDStr_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.

       Internally, a PMID is encoded as follows;

            typedef struct {
                int             pad:2;
                unsigned int    domain:8;
                unsigned int    cluster:12;
                unsigned int    item:10;
            } __pmID_int;

       pmIDStr returns a string with each of the domain, cluster and item subfields appearing  as
       decimal numbers, separated by periods.

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

NOTES

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

PCP ENVIRONMENT

       Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameterize the file and directory
       names used by PCP.  On each installation, the file /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values
       for  these  variables.   The  $PCP_CONF  variable  may  be  used to specify an alternative
       configuration file, as described in  pcp.conf(5).   Values  for  these  variables  may  be
       obtained programmatically using the pmGetConfig(3) function.

SEE ALSO

       PMAPI(3), pmGetConfig(3), pmInDomStr(3), pmLookupDesc(3), pcp.conf(5) and pcp.env(5).