RHEL 6 SystemTap Guide - 4.3.2. Call Graph Tracing

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4.3.2. Call Graph Tracing

This section describes how to trace incoming and outgoing function calls.

para-callgraph.stp

#! /usr/bin/env stap

function trace(entry_p, extra) {
  %( $# > 1 %? if (tid() in trace) %)
  printf("%s%s%s %s\n",
         thread_indent (entry_p),
         (entry_p>0?"->":"<-"),
         probefunc (),
         extra)
}


%( $# > 1 %?
global trace
probe $2.call {
  trace[tid()] = 1
}
probe $2.return {
  delete trace[tid()]
}
%)

probe $1.call   { trace(1, $$parms) }
probe $1.return { trace(-1, $$return) }

para-callgraph.stp takes two command-line arguments:

The function(s) whose entry/exit you'd like to trace ($1).
A second optional trigger function ($2), which enables or disables tracing on a per-thread basis. Tracing in each thread will continue as long as the trigger function has not exited yet.

para-callgraph.stp uses thread_indent(); as such, its output contains the timestamp, process name, and thread ID of $1 (i.e. the probe function you are tracing). For more information about thread_indent(), refer to its entry in SystemTap Functions.

The following example contains an excerpt from the output for stap para-callgraph.stp 'kernel.function("*@fs/*.c")' 'kernel.function("sys_read")':

Example 4.12. para-callgraph.stp Sample Output

[...]
   267 gnome-terminal(2921): <-do_sync_read return=0xfffffffffffffff5
   269 gnome-terminal(2921):<-vfs_read return=0xfffffffffffffff5
     0 gnome-terminal(2921):->fput file=0xffff880111eebbc0
     2 gnome-terminal(2921):<-fput 
     0 gnome-terminal(2921):->fget_light fd=0x3 fput_needed=0xffff88010544df54
     3 gnome-terminal(2921):<-fget_light return=0xffff8801116ce980
     0 gnome-terminal(2921):->vfs_read file=0xffff8801116ce980 buf=0xc86504 count=0x1000 pos=0xffff88010544df48
     4 gnome-terminal(2921): ->rw_verify_area read_write=0x0 file=0xffff8801116ce980 ppos=0xffff88010544df48 count=0x1000
     7 gnome-terminal(2921): <-rw_verify_area return=0x1000
    12 gnome-terminal(2921): ->do_sync_read filp=0xffff8801116ce980 buf=0xc86504 len=0x1000 ppos=0xffff88010544df48
    15 gnome-terminal(2921): <-do_sync_read return=0xfffffffffffffff5
    18 gnome-terminal(2921):<-vfs_read return=0xfffffffffffffff5
     0 gnome-terminal(2921):->fput file=0xffff8801116ce980