ProbeVue: Extended Users Guide Specification

Suresh Warrier (swarrier@us.ibm.com)IBM

15 Jan 2008

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Use this dynamic tracing facility for performance analysis as well as for debugging problems. A probe is a software mechanism that interrupts normal system action to investigate and obtain information about current context and system state.

Introduction

ProbeVue is a dynamic tracing facility with the following features:

• Trace hooks do not have to be pre-compiled. ProbeVue works on unmodified kernel or user applications.
• Trace hooks have no effect (do not exist) until they are dynamically enabled.
• Tracing actions (specified by the instrumentation code) to be executed at a trace hook are provided dynamically at the time the trace hook is enabled.
• Trace data captured as part of the tracing actions are available for viewing immediately and can be displayed as terminal output or saved to a file for later viewing.

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Resources

• Read about the probevue command for detailed information.
  
  
• The Dynamic Tracing section in the General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs provides information about the VUE programming language and its features.
  
  
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About the contributor

		Suresh Warrier works in the AIX RAS department, where he led the effort to implement dynamic tracing in AIX. Previously, he used to work in the system process management department of the AIX kernel. You can reach him at swarrier@us.ibm.com.

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