Re: [PATCH v11 10/15] tracing: Add alternative synthetic event trace action syntax

From: Namhyung Kim
Date: Fri Jan 11 2019 - 01:07:58 EST


On Wed, Jan 09, 2019 at 01:49:17PM -0600, Tom Zanussi wrote:
> From: Tom Zanussi <tom.zanussi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Add a 'trace(synthetic_event_name, params)' alternative to
> synthetic_event_name(params).
>
> Currently, the syntax used for generating synthetic events is to
> invoke synthetic_event_name(params) i.e. use the synthetic event name
> as a function call.
>
> Users requested a new form that more explicitly shows that the
> synthetic event is in effect being traced. In this version, a new
> 'trace()' keyword is used, and the synthetic event name is passed in
> as the first argument.
>
> Signed-off-by: Tom Zanussi <tom.zanussi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> Documentation/trace/histogram.rst | 21 ++++++++++++++++++++
> kernel/trace/trace.c | 1 +
> kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c | 42 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
> 3 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/trace/histogram.rst b/Documentation/trace/histogram.rst
> index 79476c906b1a..4939bad1c1cd 100644
> --- a/Documentation/trace/histogram.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/trace/histogram.rst
> @@ -1874,6 +1874,7 @@ The available handlers are:
> The available actions are:
>
> - <synthetic_event_name>(param list) - generate synthetic event
> + - trace(<synthetic_event_name>,(param list)) - generate synthetic event

Shouldn't it be

"trace(<synthetic_event_name>,param list)"

? Otherwise it looks like we need two parentheses.

IMHO, it seems better for consistency using this new syntax only.
Of course it should support the old syntax as well for compatibility
(and maybe make it undocumented?). But I won't insist strongly..


> - save(field,...) - save current event fields
> - snapshot() - snapshot the trace buffer
>
> @@ -1881,6 +1882,10 @@ The following commonly-used handler.action pairs are available:
>
> - onmatch(matching.event).<synthetic_event_name>(param list)
>
> + or
> +
> + - onmatch(matching.event).trace(<synthetic_event_name>,(param list))
> +

Ditto.


> The 'onmatch(matching.event).<synthetic_event_name>(params)' hist
> trigger action is invoked whenever an event matches and the
> histogram entry would be added or updated. It causes the named
> @@ -1889,6 +1894,16 @@ The following commonly-used handler.action pairs are available:
> that consists of the values contained in those variables at the
> time the invoking event was hit.
>
> + There are two equivalent forms available for generating synthetic
> + events. In the first form, the synthetic event name is used as if
> + it were a function name. For example, if the synthetic event name
> + is 'wakeup_latency', the wakeup_latency event would be generated
> + by invoking it as if it were a function call, with the event field
> + values passed in as arguments: wakeup_latency(arg1,arg2). The
> + second form simply uses the 'trace' keyword as the function name
> + and passes in the synthetic event name as the first argument,
> + followed by the field values: trace(wakeup_latency,arg1,arg2).
> +
> The 'param list' consists of one or more parameters which may be
> either variables or fields defined on either the 'matching.event'
> or the target event. The variables or fields specified in the
> @@ -1928,6 +1943,12 @@ The following commonly-used handler.action pairs are available:
> wakeup_new_test($testpid) if comm=="cyclictest"' >> \
> /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched/sched_wakeup_new/trigger
>
> + Or, equivalently, using the 'trace' keyword syntax:
> +
> + # echo 'hist:keys=$testpid:testpid=pid:onmatch(sched.sched_wakeup_new).\
> + trace(wakeup_new_test,$testpid) if comm=="cyclictest"' >> \
> + /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/sched/sched_wakeup_new/trigger
> +
> Creating and displaying a histogram based on those events is now
> just a matter of using the fields and new synthetic event in the
> tracing/events/synthetic directory, as usual::
> diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace.c b/kernel/trace/trace.c
> index 917677a9bcaa..aae0e4127afc 100644
> --- a/kernel/trace/trace.c
> +++ b/kernel/trace/trace.c
> @@ -4900,6 +4900,7 @@ static const char readme_msg[] =
> "\t onchange(var) - invoke action if var changes\n\n"
> "\t The available actions are:\n\n"
> "\t <synthetic_event>(param list) - generate synthetic event\n"
> + "\t trace(<synthetic_event>,(param list))- generate synthetic event\n"

Ditto.

Thanks,
Namhyung


> "\t save(field,...) - save current event fields\n"
> "\t snapshot() - snapshot the trace buffer\n"
> #endif