GPROF(1)                              GNU                             GPROF(1)



NAME
       gprof - display call graph profile data

SYNOPSIS
       gprof [ -[abcDhilLrsTvwxyz] ] [ -[ACeEfFJnNOpPqQZ][name] ]
        [ -I dirs ] [ -d[num] ] [ -k from/to ]
        [ -m min-count ] [ -R map_file ] [ -t table-length ]
        [ --[no-]annotated-source[=name] ]
        [ --[no-]exec-counts[=name] ]
        [ --[no-]flat-profile[=name] ] [ --[no-]graph[=name] ]
        [ --[no-]time=name] [ --all-lines ] [ --brief ]
        [ --debug[=level] ] [ --function-ordering ]
        [ --file-ordering ] [ --directory-path=dirs ]
        [ --display-unused-functions ] [ --file-format=name ]
        [ --file-info ] [ --help ] [ --line ] [ --min-count=n ]
        [ --no-static ] [ --print-path ] [ --separate-files ]
        [ --static-call-graph ] [ --sum ] [ --table-length=len ]
        [ --traditional ] [ --version ] [ --width=n ]
        [ --ignore-non-functions ] [ --demangle[=STYLE] ]
        [ --no-demangle ] [ image-file ] [ profile-file ... ]

DESCRIPTION
       "gprof"  produces  an execution profile of C, Pascal, or Fortran77 pro-
       grams.  The effect of called routines is incorporated in the profile of
       each  caller.   The  profile  data is taken from the call graph profile
       file (gmon.out default) which is created by programs that are  compiled
       with  the  -pg  option  of  "cc", "pc", and "f77".  The -pg option also
       links in versions of the library routines that are compiled for profil-
       ing.   "Gprof" reads the given object file (the default is "a.out") and
       establishes the relation between its symbol table and  the  call  graph
       profile from gmon.out.  If more than one profile file is specified, the
       "gprof" output shows the sum of the profile information  in  the  given
       profile files.

       "Gprof"  calculates  the  amount  of time spent in each routine.  Next,
       these times are propagated along the edges of the call  graph.   Cycles
       are  discovered,  and  calls into a cycle are made to share the time of
       the cycle.

       Several forms of output are available from the analysis.

       The flat profile shows how much time your program spent in  each  func-
       tion,  and how many times that function was called.  If you simply want
       to know which functions burn most of the cycles, it is stated concisely
       here.

       The  call  graph  shows,  for each function, which functions called it,
       which other functions it called, and how many times.  There is also  an
       estimate  of  how  much time was spent in the subroutines of each func-
       tion.  This can suggest places where you might try to  eliminate  func-
       tion calls that use a lot of time.

       The  annotated  source  listing is a copy of the program's source code,
       labeled with the number of times each line of the program was executed.

OPTIONS
       These  options  specify  which of several output formats "gprof" should
       produce.

       Many of these options take an optional symspec to specify functions  to
       be  included  or  excluded.   These  options  can be specified multiple
       times, with different symspecs, to include or exclude sets of  symbols.

       Specifying  any  of  these options overrides the default (-p -q), which
       prints a flat profile and call graph analysis for all functions.

       "-A[symspec]"
       "--annotated-source[=symspec]"
           The -A option causes "gprof" to print annotated  source  code.   If
           symspec is specified, print output only for matching symbols.

       "-b"
       "--brief"
           If the -b option is given, "gprof" doesn't print the verbose blurbs
           that try to explain the meaning of all of the fields in the tables.
           This  is useful if you intend to print out the output, or are tired
           of seeing the blurbs.

       "-C[symspec]"
       "--exec-counts[=symspec]"
           The -C option causes "gprof" to print a tally of functions and  the
           number  of  times  each was called.  If symspec is specified, print
           tally only for matching symbols.

           If the profile data file contains basic-block count records, speci-
           fying  the  -l option, along with -C, will cause basic-block execu-
           tion counts to be tallied and displayed.

       "-i"
       "--file-info"
           The -i option causes "gprof" to display summary  information  about
           the  profile  data file(s) and then exit.  The number of histogram,
           call graph, and basic-block count records is displayed.

       "-I dirs"
       "--directory-path=dirs"
           The -I option specifies a list of search directories  in  which  to
           find  source  files.   Environment  variable GPROF_PATH can also be
           used to convey this information.  Used mostly for annotated  source
           output.

       "-J[symspec]"
       "--no-annotated-source[=symspec]"
           The  -J  option  causes "gprof" not to print annotated source code.
           If symspec is  specified,  "gprof"  prints  annotated  source,  but
           excludes matching symbols.

       "-L"
       "--print-path"
           Normally, source filenames are printed with the path component sup-
           pressed.  The -L option causes "gprof" to print the  full  pathname
           of  source  filenames,  which is determined from symbolic debugging
           information in the image file and is relative to the  directory  in
           which the compiler was invoked.

       "-p[symspec]"
       "--flat-profile[=symspec]"
           The  -p  option causes "gprof" to print a flat profile.  If symspec
           is specified, print flat profile only for matching symbols.

       "-P[symspec]"
       "--no-flat-profile[=symspec]"
           The -P option causes "gprof" to suppress printing a  flat  profile.
           If  symspec  is  specified,  "gprof"  prints  a  flat  profile, but
           excludes matching symbols.

       "-q[symspec]"
       "--graph[=symspec]"
           The -q option causes "gprof" to print the call graph analysis.   If
           symspec  is  specified,  print call graph only for matching symbols
           and their children.

       "-Q[symspec]"
       "--no-graph[=symspec]"
           The -Q option causes "gprof" to suppress printing the  call  graph.
           If  symspec is specified, "gprof" prints a call graph, but excludes
           matching symbols.

       "-t"
       "--table-length=num"
           The -t option causes the num  most  active  source  lines  in  each
           source  file  to  be listed when source annotation is enabled.  The
           default is 10.

       "-y"
       "--separate-files"
           This  option  affects  annotated  source  output  only.   Normally,
           "gprof"  prints annotated source files to standard-output.  If this
           option is specified, annotated source for a file  named  path/file-
           name  is  generated  in  the  file filename-ann.  If the underlying
           filesystem would truncate filename-ann so that  it  overwrites  the
           original  filename,  "gprof" generates annotated source in the file
           filename.ann instead (if the original file name has  an  extension,
           that extension is replaced with .ann).

       "-Z[symspec]"
       "--no-exec-counts[=symspec]"
           The  -Z option causes "gprof" not to print a tally of functions and
           the number of times each was  called.   If  symspec  is  specified,
           print tally, but exclude matching symbols.

       "-r"
       "--function-ordering"
           The  --function-ordering option causes "gprof" to print a suggested
           function ordering for the program based on  profiling  data.   This
           option suggests an ordering which may improve paging, tlb and cache
           behavior for the program on systems which support arbitrary  order-
           ing of functions in an executable.

           The  exact details of how to force the linker to place functions in
           a particular order is system dependent and out of the scope of this
           manual.

       "-R map_file"
       "--file-ordering map_file"
           The  --file-ordering  option causes "gprof" to print a suggested .o
           link line ordering for the program based on profiling  data.   This
           option suggests an ordering which may improve paging, tlb and cache
           behavior for the program on systems which do not support  arbitrary
           ordering of functions in an executable.

           Use of the -a argument is highly recommended with this option.

           The  map_file argument is a pathname to a file which provides func-
           tion name to object file mappings.  The format of the file is simi-
           lar to the output of the program "nm".

                   c-parse.o:00000000 T yyparse
                   c-parse.o:00000004 C yyerrflag
                   c-lang.o:00000000 T maybe_objc_method_name
                   c-lang.o:00000000 T print_lang_statistics
                   c-lang.o:00000000 T recognize_objc_keyword
                   c-decl.o:00000000 T print_lang_identifier
                   c-decl.o:00000000 T print_lang_type
                   ...

           To  create  a  map_file  with  GNU  "nm",  type  a command like "nm
           --extern-only --defined-only -v --print-file-name program-name".

       "-T"
       "--traditional"
           The -T option causes "gprof" to print its output in ``traditional''
           BSD style.

       "-w width"
       "--width=width"
           Sets  width  of  output  lines  to width.  Currently only used when
           printing the function index at the bottom of the call graph.

       "-x"
       "--all-lines"
           This option affects annotated source output only.  By default, only
           the lines at the beginning of a basic-block are annotated.  If this
           option is specified, every line in a basic-block  is  annotated  by
           repeating the annotation for the first line.  This behavior is sim-
           ilar to "tcov"'s -a.

       "--demangle[=style]"
       "--no-demangle"
           These options control whether C++ symbol names should be  demangled
           when  printing  output.   The  default is to demangle symbols.  The
           "--no-demangle" option may be used to turn off demangling.  Differ-
           ent  compilers have different mangling styles.  The optional deman-
           gling style argument can be used to choose  an  appropriate  deman-
           gling style for your compiler.

       Analysis Options


       "-a"
       "--no-static"
           The -a option causes "gprof" to suppress the printing of statically
           declared (private) functions.  (These are functions whose names are
           not  listed  as  global,  and  which  are  not  visible outside the
           file/function/block where they were defined.)  Time spent in  these
           functions,  calls  to/from them, etc, will all be attributed to the
           function that was loaded directly before it in the executable file.
           This option affects both the flat profile and the call graph.

       "-c"
       "--static-call-graph"
           The  -c option causes the call graph of the program to be augmented
           by a heuristic which examines the text space of the object file and
           identifies function calls in the binary machine code.  Since normal
           call graph records are only generated when functions  are  entered,
           this  option  identifies  children that could have been called, but
           never were.  Calls to functions that were not compiled with profil-
           ing  enabled  are also identified, but only if symbol table entries
           are present for them.  Calls to dynamic library routines are  typi-
           cally not found by this option.  Parents or children identified via
           this heuristic are indicated in the call graph with call counts  of
           0.

       "-D"
       "--ignore-non-functions"
           The  -D option causes "gprof" to ignore symbols which are not known
           to be functions.  This option will give more accurate profile  data
           on systems where it is supported (Solaris and HPUX for example).

       "-k from/to"
           The  -k  option  allows  you to delete from the call graph any arcs
           from symbols matching symspec from to those matching symspec to.

       "-l"
       "--line"
           The -l option enables line-by-line  profiling,  which  causes  his-
           togram  hits to be charged to individual source code lines, instead
           of functions.  If the program was compiled with basic-block  count-
           ing  enabled,  this  option  will also identify how many times each
           line of code was executed.  While line-by-line profiling  can  help
           isolate  where  in a large function a program is spending its time,
           it also significantly increases the running time  of  "gprof",  and
           magnifies statistical inaccuracies.

       "-m num"
       "--min-count=num"
           This  option affects execution count output only.  Symbols that are
           executed less than num times are suppressed.

       "-n[symspec]"
       "--time[=symspec]"
           The -n option causes "gprof", in its call graph analysis,  to  only
           propagate times for symbols matching symspec.

       "-N[symspec]"
       "--no-time[=symspec]"
           The  -n  option  causes "gprof", in its call graph analysis, not to
           propagate times for symbols matching symspec.

       "-z"
       "--display-unused-functions"
           If you give the -z option, "gprof" will mention  all  functions  in
           the  flat  profile, even those that were never called, and that had
           no time spent in them.  This is useful in conjunction with  the  -c
           option for discovering which routines were never called.

       Miscellaneous Options


       "-d[num]"
       "--debug[=num]"
           The -d num option specifies debugging options.  If num is not spec-
           ified, enable all debugging.

       "-h"
       "--help"
           The -h option prints command line usage.

       "-Oname"
       "--file-format=name"
           Selects the format of the profile data files.   Recognized  formats
           are  auto (the default), bsd, 4.4bsd, magic, and prof (not yet sup-
           ported).

       "-s"
       "--sum"
           The -s option causes "gprof" to summarize the  information  in  the
           profile  data  files  it read in, and write out a profile data file
           called gmon.sum, which contains all the information from  the  pro-
           file data files that "gprof" read in.  The file gmon.sum may be one
           of the specified input files; the effect of this is  to  merge  the
           data in the other input files into gmon.sum.

           Eventually  you  can  run  "gprof"  again without -s to analyze the
           cumulative data in the file gmon.sum.

       "-v"
       "--version"
           The -v flag causes "gprof" to print the current version number, and
           then exit.

       Deprecated Options

           These  options have been replaced with newer versions that use sym-
           specs.

       "-e function_name"
           The -e function option tells "gprof" to not print information about
           the function function_name (and its children...) in the call graph.
           The function will still be listed as a child of any functions  that
           call it, but its index number will be shown as [not printed].  More
           than one -e option may be given;  only  one  function_name  may  be
           indicated with each -e option.

       "-E function_name"
           The "-E function" option works like the "-e" option, but time spent
           in the function (and children who were  not  called  from  anywhere
           else),  will not be used to compute the percentages-of-time for the
           call graph.  More than one -E option may be given; only  one  func-
           tion_name may be indicated with each -E option.

       "-f function_name"
           The  -f  function  option causes "gprof" to limit the call graph to
           the function  function_name  and  its  children  (and  their  chil-
           dren...).   More  than  one  -f option may be given; only one func-
           tion_name may be indicated with each -f option.

       "-F function_name"
           The -F function option works like the "-f" option,  but  only  time
           spent in the function and its children (and their children...) will
           be used to determine total-time  and  percentages-of-time  for  the
           call  graph.   More than one -F option may be given; only one func-
           tion_name may be indicated with each  -F  option.   The  -F  option
           overrides the -E option.

FILES
       "a.out"
           the namelist and text space.

       "gmon.out"
           dynamic call graph and profile.

       "gmon.sum"
           summarized dynamic call graph and profile.

BUGS
       The  granularity  of  the sampling is shown, but remains statistical at
       best.  We assume that the time for each execution of a function can  be
       expressed  by  the total time for the function divided by the number of
       times the function is called.  Thus the time propagated along the  call
       graph  arcs  to  the function's parents is directly proportional to the
       number of times that arc is traversed.

       Parents that are not themselves profiled will have the  time  of  their
       profiled  children propagated to them, but they will appear to be spon-
       taneously invoked in the call graph listing, and will  not  have  their
       time  propagated further.  Similarly, signal catchers, even though pro-
       filed, will appear to be spontaneous (although for  more  obscure  rea-
       sons).   Any  profiled  children  of  signal catchers should have their
       times propagated properly, unless the signal catcher was invoked during
       the execution of the profiling routine, in which case all is lost.

       The  profiled  program  must  call "exit"(2) or return normally for the
       profiling information to be saved in the gmon.out file.

SEE ALSO
       monitor(3), profil(2), cc(1), prof(1), and the Info entry for gprof.

       ``An Execution Profiler  for  Modular  Programs'',  by  S.  Graham,  P.
       Kessler,  M. McKusick; Software - Practice and Experience, Vol. 13, pp.
       671-685, 1983.

       ``gprof: A Call Graph Execution Profiler'', by S. Graham,  P.  Kessler,
       M.  McKusick; Proceedings of the SIGPLAN '82 Symposium on Compiler Con-
       struction, SIGPLAN Notices, Vol. 17, No  6, pp. 120-126, June 1982.

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 1988, 92, 97, 98, 99,  2000,  2001,  2003  Free  Software
       Foundation, Inc.

       Permission  is  granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
       under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version  1.1  or
       any  later  version  published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
       Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with  no  Back-Cover
       Texts.   A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
       Free Documentation License".



binutils-2.15.96                  2005-03-08                          GPROF(1)
