NAME

       pmUnitsStr, pmUnitsStr_r - convert a performance metric's units into a string

C SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcp/pmapi.h>

       const char *pmUnitsStr(const pmUnits *pu);
       char *pmUnitsStr_r(const pmUnits *pu, char *buf, int buflen);

       cc ... -lpcp

DESCRIPTION

       The  encoding of a performance metric's dimensionality and scale uses a pmUnits structure;
       see pmLookupDesc(3).

       As an aid to labeling graphs and tables, or for error messages,  pmUnitsStr  will  take  a
       dimension  and  scale  specification  as per pu, and return the corresponding text string.
       The pmUnitsStr_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 60 bytes.

       For  example  {1,  -2,  0,  PM_SPACE_MBYTE, PM_TIME_SEC, 0}, as the value of *pu gives the
       result string Mbyte / sec^2.

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

       If the ``count'' dimension is non-zero, and the ``count'' scale is not zero, then the text
       string will include a decimal scaling factor, eg.  count x 10^6.

       As a special case, if all components of the dimension are zero, then the  ``count''  scale
       is  used  to  produce  the  text.   If  this  scale is zero the result is an empty string,
       otherwise the result is of the form x1 0^2.

NOTES

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

SEE ALSO

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