Documentation / technical / api-trace.txton commit Merge branch 'so/rebase-doc-fork-point' (792a572)
   1trace API
   2=========
   3
   4The trace API can be used to print debug messages to stderr or a file. Trace
   5code is inactive unless explicitly enabled by setting `GIT_TRACE*` environment
   6variables.
   7
   8The trace implementation automatically adds `timestamp file:line ... \n` to
   9all trace messages. E.g.:
  10
  11------------
  1223:59:59.123456 git.c:312               trace: built-in: git 'foo'
  1300:00:00.000001 builtin/foo.c:99        foo: some message
  14------------
  15
  16Data Structures
  17---------------
  18
  19`struct trace_key`::
  20
  21        Defines a trace key (or category). The default (for API functions that
  22        don't take a key) is `GIT_TRACE`.
  23+
  24E.g. to define a trace key controlled by environment variable `GIT_TRACE_FOO`:
  25+
  26------------
  27static struct trace_key trace_foo = TRACE_KEY_INIT(FOO);
  28
  29static void trace_print_foo(const char *message)
  30{
  31        trace_print_key(&trace_foo, message);
  32}
  33------------
  34+
  35Note: don't use `const` as the trace implementation stores internal state in
  36the `trace_key` structure.
  37
  38Functions
  39---------
  40
  41`int trace_want(struct trace_key *key)`::
  42
  43        Checks whether the trace key is enabled. Used to prevent expensive
  44        string formatting before calling one of the printing APIs.
  45
  46`void trace_disable(struct trace_key *key)`::
  47
  48        Disables tracing for the specified key, even if the environment
  49        variable was set.
  50
  51`void trace_printf(const char *format, ...)`::
  52`void trace_printf_key(struct trace_key *key, const char *format, ...)`::
  53
  54        Prints a formatted message, similar to printf.
  55
  56`void trace_argv_printf(const char **argv, const char *format, ...)``::
  57
  58        Prints a formatted message, followed by a quoted list of arguments.
  59
  60`void trace_strbuf(struct trace_key *key, const struct strbuf *data)`::
  61
  62        Prints the strbuf, without additional formatting (i.e. doesn't
  63        choke on `%` or even `\0`).
  64
  65`uint64_t getnanotime(void)`::
  66
  67        Returns nanoseconds since the epoch (01/01/1970), typically used
  68        for performance measurements.
  69+
  70Currently there are high precision timer implementations for Linux (using
  71`clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC)`) and Windows (`QueryPerformanceCounter`).
  72Other platforms use `gettimeofday` as time source.
  73
  74`void trace_performance(uint64_t nanos, const char *format, ...)`::
  75`void trace_performance_since(uint64_t start, const char *format, ...)`::
  76
  77        Prints the elapsed time (in nanoseconds), or elapsed time since
  78        `start`, followed by a formatted message. Enabled via environment
  79        variable `GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE`. Used for manual profiling, e.g.:
  80+
  81------------
  82uint64_t start = getnanotime();
  83/* code section to measure */
  84trace_performance_since(start, "foobar");
  85------------
  86+
  87------------
  88uint64_t t = 0;
  89for (;;) {
  90        /* ignore */
  91        t -= getnanotime();
  92        /* code section to measure */
  93        t += getnanotime();
  94        /* ignore */
  95}
  96trace_performance(t, "frotz");
  97------------