[PATCH v5 v5 9/9] perf c2c: document function view in perf-c2c man page
From: Jiebin Sun
Date: Thu Jul 30 2026 - 05:15:06 EST
Describe the function view hierarchy (read-side function -> contending
writer function -> shared cachelines), the per-level indentation, and the
keys, with a worked example.
Document that reliable function attribution requires `iaddr` in
`--coalesce`, that the reader and writer may be the same function, and why
the coalesced function view cannot distinguish same-thread from
different-thread accesses in that case. Also document that verbose mode
includes code addresses in function rows.
Signed-off-by: Jiebin Sun <jiebin.sun@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Adrian Hunter <adrian.hunter@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Alexander Shishkin <alexander.shishkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Dapeng Mi <dapeng1.mi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Ian Rogers <irogers@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: James Clark <james.clark@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Jiri Olsa <jolsa@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Mark Rutland <mark.rutland@xxxxxxx>
Cc: Namhyung Kim <namhyung@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Thomas Falcon <thomas.falcon@xxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Tianyou Li <tianyou.li@xxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Wangyang Guo <wangyang.guo@xxxxxxxxx>
---
tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt | 71 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 71 insertions(+)
diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt
index e57a122b8719..8775889bc0a3 100644
--- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt
+++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt
@@ -365,6 +365,77 @@ TUI OUTPUT
The TUI output provides interactive interface to navigate
through cachelines list and to display offset details.
+Pressing the 'TAB' key in the cacheline view switches to the function
+view. The function view shows a three-level hierarchy of the symbolized
+entries retained in the cacheline view, organized around functions rather
+than cachelines. Levels 1 and 2 normally show function names, while level 3
+shows cacheline addresses. Lower levels are indented beneath their parents.
+Verbose mode also includes code addresses in function rows, and code addresses
+remain available in the per-cacheline detail view ('d').
+
+The function view requires `iaddr` in the cacheline coalescing fields. If
+`--coalesce` omits it, TAB reports that the view is unavailable rather than
+attributing already-coalesced samples to an arbitrary function.
+
+ Level 1: the read-side function, sorted by Cycles % (estimated load
+ cycles: HITM, peer-snoop and other-load cycles)
+ Level 2: the functions sampled writing the shared lines read by the
+ level-1 function, sorted by store count. This can be the same
+ function when it has both read and write samples
+ Level 3: the specific cachelines shared by the reader/writer pair
+
+The Cycles % value is the function's share of event-provided load
+latency/weight estimates from cacheline-detail entries retained in the
+current view. It can include non-HITM and non-peer loads coalesced into
+entries that pass the C2C filter, so it is not a pure contention-cycle
+percentage. The share is relative to the functions and entries retained
+for the current report and is not comparable across recordings or different
+`--coalesce` settings.
+
+The store count on a level-1 row is the number of sampled stores by writers
+shown in the function view into the cachelines that function reads, including
+stores from the same function. It decomposes into the level-2 writer rows;
+each level-2 count in turn decomposes into that writer's stores on its level-3
+cachelines. A level-3 count is therefore not the cacheline's total store
+count. The level-1 value is not the number of stores made by the reader and
+is not additive across level-1 rows: two functions reading the same line each
+carry the stores into that line.
+
+Each function aggregates all of its code addresses into a single entry,
+and a level-2 writer aggregates all of its shared cachelines, so a
+reader/writer pair is a single row with its total shown -- there is no
+need to sum a writer's traffic across cachelines by hand.
+
+In the function view the 'd' key opens the detail view of the selected
+level-3 cacheline, 'e'/'+' expands or collapses the current entry, and 'TAB',
+'ESC', 'q' or Ctrl-C returns to the cacheline view.
+
+For example, with the first two read-side functions collapsed and
+dequeue_pushable_task expanded to show the functions writing the lines it
+reads -- two of which are further expanded to their individual cachelines:
+
+ Shared Data Functions Table (19 entries, sorted on Cycles %)
+ Cycles Store
+ % count Function / Contending function / Cacheline
+ ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ + 35.67% 876 + [k] cpupri_set
+ + 24.31% 424 + [k] pull_rt_task
+ - 16.53% 555 - [k] dequeue_pushable_task
+ 145 - [k] pull_rt_task
+ 145 0xff2d0082809da080
+ 139 - [k] enqueue_pushable_task
+ 70 0xff2d00a2071f9640
+ 69 0xff2d0082809da000
+
+Here dequeue_pushable_task pays 16.53% of the estimated read-side load-cycle
+cost. Its store count decomposes into its level-2 writers, and each writer's
+count decomposes into its level-3 cachelines: pull_rt_task's 145 stores fall
+on a single line, while enqueue_pushable_task's 139 stores split across two
+lines (70 and 69). A writer can be the same function as the reader when it
+has both read and write samples; after cacheline coalescing and
+function-level grouping, the view cannot distinguish same-thread accesses
+from different threads running the same function.
+
For details please refer to the help window by pressing '?' key.
CREDITS
--
2.52.0