Starting LoopTool

You can start LoopTool by giving it the name of a program (an executable) to load:

% looptool program &

If you start LoopTool without specifying a file, the Open File dialog box is displayed, allowing you to select a file to examine:

% looptool &

Loading a Timing File

LoopTool reads the timing file associated with your program. The timing file contains information about loops. Typically, this file has a name of the format program.looptimes and is in the same directory as your program.

By default, LoopTool looks in the executable's directory for a timing file. Therefore, if the timing file is there (the usual case), you don't need to specify where to look for it:

% looptool program &

If you name a timing file on the command line, then LoopTool and LoopReport use it.

% looptool program program.looptimes &

If you use the command line option -p, LoopTool and LoopReport check for a timing file in the directory indicated by -p:

% looptool -p timing_file_directory program &

If the environment variable LVPATH is set, the tools check that directory for a timing file.

% setenv LVPATH timing_file_directory
% looptool program &