Identifying phases of program execution
Active threads within a program can be easily identified
using the Execution Flow view of the Profiling Tool. Using the Execution
Flow view will allow you to examine the threads within a program and
quickly identify when and where most of a program's resources are
spent.
Before you begin
It is necessary to complete the following steps to open and use the Execution Flow view:
- In the Profiling Monitor view, select a resource under a profile project, for example a monitor or an agent.
- Right click, then select . The Execution Flow view opens.
- In the Execution Flow view, each thread consists of a large number
of method calls. The methods are represented by vertical stripes,
progressing from left to right, and the active parts of the thread
are identified by this left-to-right progression.
You can examine specific parts of the graph by zooming in to a particular area, using the
toolbar button.
Similarly, you can use the
toolbar button to zoom out.- For sections of the graph that may be cluttered from repetitive
calls due to iterative constructs, you can use the pop-up menu option Detect
All Repetitions to consolidate the repetitions in the
graph. The repetitive calls are marked with an X.n where n is
the number of calls. In the example below, the getPackageName method
is called 2 times.
Similarly you can use the pop-up menu option Hide All Repetitions to hide the repetitions in the graph.
About this task
- When you select a method all its called methods are highlighted in yellow.
- You can drag and drop the views on the workbench, arranging the layout of the perspective if needed.
- Wherever you point the cursor, the corresponding base time is indicated in the status bar.
- To reset the display of the view, click the Home button.