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Devel::DProf(3) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Devel::DProf(3)

NAME
Devel::DProf - a Perl code profiler

SYNOPSIS
perl -d:DProf test.pl

DESCRIPTION
The Devel::DProf package is a Perl code profiler. This will collect information on the
execution time of a Perl script and of the subs in that script. This information can be
used to determine which subroutines are using the most time and which subroutines are
being called most often. This information can also be used to create an execution graph
of the script, showing subroutine relationships.

To profile a Perl script run the perl interpreter with the -d debugging switch. The pro-
filer uses the debugging hooks. So to profile script test.pl the following command should
be used:

perl -d:DProf test.pl

When the script terminates (or when the output buffer is filled) the profiler will dump
the profile information to a file called tmon.out. A tool like dprofpp can be used to
interpret the information which is in that profile. The following command will print the
top 15 subroutines which used the most time:

dprofpp

To print an execution graph of the subroutines in the script use the following command:

dprofpp -T

Consult dprofpp for other options.

PROFILE FORMAT
The old profile is a text file which looks like this:

#fOrTyTwO
$hz=100;
$XS_VERSION='DProf 19970606';
# All values are given in HZ
$rrun_utime=2; $rrun_stime=0; $rrun_rtime=7
PART2
+ 26 28 566822884 DynaLoader::import
- 26 28 566822884 DynaLoader::import
+ 27 28 566822885 main::bar
- 27 28 566822886 main::bar
+ 27 28 566822886 main::baz
+ 27 28 566822887 main::bar
- 27 28 566822888 main::bar
[....]

The first line is the magic number. The second line is the hertz value, or clock ticks,
of the machine where the profile was collected. The third line is the name and version
identifier of the tool which created the profile. The fourth line is a comment. The
fifth line contains three variables holding the user time, system time, and realtime of
the process while it was being profiled. The sixth line indicates the beginning of the
sub entry/exit profile section.

The columns in PART2 are:

sub entry(+)/exit(-) mark
app's user time at sub entry/exit mark, in ticks
app's system time at sub entry/exit mark, in ticks
app's realtime at sub entry/exit mark, in ticks
fully-qualified sub name, when possible

With newer perls another format is used, which may look like this:

#fOrTyTwO
$hz=10000;
$XS_VERSION='DProf 19971213';
# All values are given in HZ
$over_utime=5917; $over_stime=0; $over_rtime=5917;
$over_tests=10000;
$rrun_utime=1284; $rrun_stime=0; $rrun_rtime=1284;
$total_marks=6;

PART2
@ 406 0 406
& 2 main bar
+ 2
@ 456 0 456
- 2
@ 1 0 1
& 3 main baz
+ 3
@ 141 0 141
+ 2
@ 141 0 141
- 2
@ 1 0 1
& 4 main foo
+ 4
@ 142 0 142
+ & Devel::DProf::write
@ 5 0 5
- & Devel::DProf::write

(with high value of $ENV{PERL_DPROF_TICKS}).

New "$over_*" values show the measured overhead of making $over_tests calls to the pro-
filer These values are used by the profiler to subtract the overhead from the runtimes.

The lines starting with "@" mark time passed from the previous "@" line. The lines start-
ing with "&" introduce new subroutine id and show the package and the subroutine name of
this id. Lines starting with "+", "-" and "*" mark entering and exit of subroutines by
ids, and "goto &subr".

The old-style "+"- and "-"-lines are used to mark the overhead related to writing to pro-
filer-output file.

AUTOLOAD
When Devel::DProf finds a call to an &AUTOLOAD subroutine it looks at the $AUTOLOAD vari-
able to find the real name of the sub being called. See "Autoloading" in perlsub.

ENVIRONMENT
"PERL_DPROF_BUFFER" sets size of output buffer in words. Defaults to 2**14.

"PERL_DPROF_TICKS" sets number of ticks per second on some systems where a replacement for
times() is used. Defaults to the value of "HZ" macro.

"PERL_DPROF_OUT_FILE_NAME" sets the name of the output file. If not set, defaults to
tmon.out.

BUGS
Builtin functions cannot be measured by Devel::DProf.

With a newer Perl DProf relies on the fact that the numeric slot of $DB::sub contains an
address of a subroutine. Excessive manipulation of this variable may overwrite this slot,
as in

$DB::sub = 'current_sub';
...
$addr = $DB::sub + 0;

will set this numeric slot to numeric value of the string "current_sub", i.e., to 0. This
will cause a segfault on the exit from this subroutine. Note that the first assignment
above does not change the numeric slot (it will mark it as invalid, but will not write
over it).

Another problem is that if a subroutine exits using goto(LABEL), last(LABEL) or
next(LABEL) then perl may crash or Devel::DProf will die with the error:

panic: Devel::DProf inconsistent subroutine return

For example, this code will break under Devel::DProf:

sub foo {
last FOO;
}
FOO: {
foo();
}

A pattern like this is used by Test::More's skip() function, for example. See perldiag
for more details.

Mail bug reports and feature requests to the perl5-porters mailing list at
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