Before You Begin

This manual describes the performance analysis tools that are available with the Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) Studio Compiler Collection product.

The Collector and Performance Analyzer are a pair of tools that perform statistical profiling of a wide range of performance data and tracing of various system calls, and relate the data to program structure at the function, source line and instruction level.

prof and gprof are tools that perform statistical profiling of CPU usage and provide execution frequencies at the function level.

tcov is a tool that provides execution frequencies at the function and source line levels.

This manual is intended for application developers with a working knowledge of Fortran, C, C++, or Java, the Solaris operating environment, and UNIX^® operating system commands. Some knowledge of performance analysis is helpful but is not required to use the tools.

How This Book Is Organized

Chapter 1 introduces the performance analysis tools, briefly discussing what they do and when to use them.

Chapter 2 is a tutorial that demonstrates how to use the Collector and Performance Analyzer to assess the performance of five example programs.

Chapter 3 describes the data collected by the Collector and how the data is converted into metrics of performance.

Chapter 4 describes how to use the Collector to collect timing data, synchronization delay data, and hardware event data from your program.

Chapter 5 describes the features of the Performance Analyzer graphical user interface. Note: you must have a license to use the Performance Analyzer.

Chapter 6 describes how to use the er_print command line interface to analyze the data collected by the Collector.

Chapter 7 describes the process of converting the data collected by the Collector into performance metrics and how the metrics are related to program structure.

Chapter 8 presents information on the utilities that are provided for manipulating and converting performance experiments and viewing annotated source code and disassembly code without running an experiment.

Appendix A describes the UNIX profiling tools prof, gprof, and tcov. These tools provide timing information and execution frequency statistics.

Typographic Conventions


Typeface	Meaning	Examples
`AaBbCc123`	The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output	Edit your `.login` file. Use `ls` `-a` to list all files. `% You have mail.`
`AaBbCc123`	What you type, when contrasted with on-screen computer output	`%` `su` `Password:`
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new words or terms, words to be emphasized	Read Chapter 6 in the User's Guide. These are called class options. You must be superuser to do this.
AaBbCc123	Command-line placeholder text; replace with a real name or value	To delete a file, type `rm` filename.


Code Symbol	Meaning	Notation	Code Example
[ ]	Brackets contain arguments that are optional.	`O[`n`]`	`O4, O`
{ }	Braces contain a set of choices for a required option.	`d{y\|n}`	`dy`
\|	The "pipe" or "bar" symbol separates arguments, only one of which may be chosen.	`B{dynamic\|static}`	`Bstatic`
:	The colon, like the comma, is sometimes used to separate arguments.	`R`dir`[:`dir`]`	`R/local/libs:/U/a`
...	The ellipsis indicates omission in a series.	`xinline=`f1`[`,...fn`]`	`xinline=alpha,dos`

Shell Prompts

Shell	Prompt
C shell	machine-name`%`
C shell superuser	machine-name`#`
Bourne shell and Korn shell	`$`
Superuser for Bourne shell and Korn shell	`#`

Accessing Compiler Collection Tools and Man Pages

The compiler collection components and man pages are not installed into the standard /usr/bin/ and /usr/share/man directories. To access the compilers and tools, you must have the compiler collection component directory in your PATH environment variable. To access the man pages, you must have the compiler collection man page directory in your MANPATH environment variable.

For more information about the PATH variable, see the csh(1), sh(1), and ksh(1) man pages. For more information about the MANPATH variable, see the man(1) man page. For more information about setting your PATH variable and MANPATH variables to access this release, see the installation guide or your system administrator.

Note - The information in this section assumes that your Sun ONE Studio Compiler Collection components are installed in the /opt directory. If your software is not installed in the /opt directory, ask your system administrator for the equivalent path on your system.

Accessing the Compilers and Tools

Use the steps below to determine whether you need to change your PATH variable to access the compilers and tools.

To Determine Whether You Need to Set Your PATH Environment Variable

1. Display the current value of the PATH variable by typing the following at a command prompt.

% echo $PATH

2. Review the output to find a string of paths that contain /opt/SUNWspro/bin/.

If you find the path, your PATH variable is already set to access the compilers and tools. If you do not find the path, set your PATH environment variable by following the instructions in the next procedure.

To Set Your PATH Environment Variable to Enable Access to the Compilers and Tools

1. If you are using the C shell, edit your home .cshrc file. If you are using the Bourne shell or Korn shell, edit your home .profile file.

2. Add the following to your PATH environment variable.

/opt/SUNWspro/bin

Accessing the Man Pages

Use the following steps to determine whether you need to change your MANPATH variable to access the man pages.

To Determine Whether You Need to Set Your MANPATH Environment Variable

1. Request the dbx man page by typing the following at a command prompt.

% man dbx

2. Review the output, if any.

If the dbx(1) man page cannot be found or if the man page displayed is not for the current version of the software installed, follow the instructions in the next procedure for setting your MANPATH environment variable.

To Set Your MANPATH Environment Variable to Enable Access to the Man Pages

1. If you are using the C shell, edit your home .cshrc file. If you are using the Bourne shell or Korn shell, edit your home .profile file.

2. Add the following to your MANPATH environment variable.

/opt/SUNWspro/man

Accessing Compiler Collection Documentation

You can access the documentation at the following locations:

The documentation is available from the documentation index that is installed with the software on your local system or network at file:/opt/SUNWspro/docs/index.html.

If your software is not installed in the /opt directory, ask your system administrator for the equivalent path on your system.

Most manuals are available from the docs.sun.com^sm web site. The following titles are available through your installed software only:

Standard C++ Library Class Reference

Standard C++ Library User's Guide

Tools.h++ Class Library Reference

Tools.h++ User's Guide

The release notes are available from the docs.sun.com web site.

The docs.sun.com web site (http://docs.sun.com) enables you to read, print, and buy Sun Microsystems manuals through the Internet. If you cannot find a manual, see the documentation index that is installed with the software on your local system or network.

Note - Sun is not responsible for the availability of third-party web sites mentioned in this document and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. Sun will not be responsible or liable for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods, or services available on or through any such sites or resources.

Documentation in Accessible Formats

The documentation is provided in accessible formats that are readable by assistive technologies for users with disabilities. You can find accessible versions of documentation as described in the following table. If your software is not installed in the /opt directory, ask your system administrator for the equivalent path on your system.

Type of Documentation	Format and Location of Accessible Version
Manuals (except third-party manuals)	HTML at `http://docs.sun.com`
Third-party manuals: Standard C++ Library Class Reference Standard C++ Library User's Guide Tools.h++ Class Library Reference Tools.h++ User's Guide	HTML in the installed software through the documentation index at `file:/opt/SUNWspro/docs/index.html`
Readmes and man pages	HTML in the installed software through the documentation index at `file:/opt/SUNWspro/docs/index.html`
Release notes	HTML at `http://docs.sun.com`

Document Title	Description
OpenMP API User's Guide	Information on compiler directives used to parallelize programs.
Fortran Programming Guide	Discusses programming techniques, including parallelization, optimization, creation of shared libraries.
Debugging a Program With `dbx`	Reference manual for use of the debugger. Provides information on attaching and detaching to Solaris processes, and executing programs in a controlled environment.
Language user's guides	Describe compilation and compiler options.

Accessing Related Solaris Documentation

The following table describes related documentation that is available through the docs.sun.com web site.

Document Collection	Document Title	Description
Solaris Reference Manual Collection	See the titles of man page sections.	Provides information about the Solaris operating environment.
Solaris Software Developer Collection	Linker and Libraries Guide	Describes the operations of the Solaris link-editor and runtime linker.
Solaris Software Developer Collection	Multithreaded Programming Guide	Covers the POSIX and Solaris threads APIs, programming with synchronization objects, compiling multithreaded programs, and finding tools for multithreaded programs.
Solaris Software Developer Collection	SPARC Assembly Language Reference Manual	Describes the assembly language for SPARC^® processors.
Solaris 9 Update Collection	Solaris Tunable Parameters Reference Manual	Provides reference information on Solaris tunable parameters.

Resources for Developers

Visit http://www.sun.com/developers/studio and click the Compiler Collection link to find these frequently updated resources:

Articles on programming techniques and best practices

A knowledge base of short programming tips

Documentation of compiler collection components, as well as corrections to the documentation that is installed with your software

Information on support levels

User forums

Downloadable code samples

New technology previews

You can find additional resources for developers at http://www.sun.com/developers/.

Contacting Sun Technical Support

If you have technical questions about this product that are not answered in this document, go to:

http://www.sun.com/service/contacting

Sun Welcomes Your Comments

Sun is interested in improving its documentation and welcomes your comments and suggestions. Email your comments to Sun at this address:

docfeedback@sun.com

Please include the part number (817-0922-10) of your document in the subject line of your email.