prof(1)                                                             prof(1)




 NAME    [Toc]    [Back]
      prof - display profile data

 SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]
      prof [-tcan] [-ox] [-g] [-z] [-h] [-s] [-m mdata] [prog]

 DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]
      prof interprets a profile file produced by monitor() (see
      monitor(3C)).  The symbol table in the object file prog (a.out by
      default) is read and correlated with a profile file (mon.out by
      default).  For each external text symbol, the percentage of time spent
      executing between the address of that symbol and the address of the
      next is printed, together with the number of times that function was
      called and the average number of milliseconds per call.

      The mutually exclusive options t, c, a, and n determine the type of
      sorting of the output lines:

           -t          Sort by decreasing percentage of total time
                       (default).

           -c          Sort by decreasing number of calls.

           -a          Sort by increasing symbol address.

           -n          Sort by symbol name in ascending collation order (see
                       Environment Variables below).

      The mutually exclusive options o and x specify the printing of the
      address of each symbol monitored:

           -o          Print each symbol address (in octal) along with the
                       symbol name.

           -x          Print each symbol address (in hexadecimal) along with
                       the symbol name.

      The following options can be used in any combination:

           -g          Include non-global symbols (static functions).

           -z          Include all symbols in the profile range (see
                       monitor(3C)), even if associated with zero number of
                       calls and zero time.

           -h          Suppress the heading normally printed on the report.
                       (This is useful if the report is to be processed
                       further.)

           -s          Print a summary of several of the monitoring
                       parameters and statistics on the standard error



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 prof(1)                                                             prof(1)




                       output.

           -m mdata    Use file mdata instead of mon.out as the input
                       profile file.

      A program creates a profile file if it has been loaded using the cc -p
      option (see cc_bundled(1)).  This option to the cc command arranges
      for calls to monitor() at the beginning and end of execution (see
      monitor(3C)).  It is the call to the monitor command at the end of
      execution that causes a profile file to be written.  The number of
      calls to a function is tallied if the -p option was used when the file
      containing the function was compiled.

      The name of the file created by a profiled program is controlled by
      the environment variable PROFDIR.  If PROFDIR is not set, mon.out is
      produced in the directory current when the program terminates.  If
      PROFDIR=string, string/pid.progname is produced, where progname
      consists of argv[0] with any path prefix removed, and pid is the
      program's process ID.  If PROFDIR is set to a null string, no
      profiling output is produced.

 EXTERNAL INFLUENCES    [Toc]    [Back]
    Environment Variables
      LC_COLLATE determines the collating order output by the -n option.

      If LC_COLLATE is not specified in the environment or is set to the
      empty string, the value of LANG is used as a default.  If LANG is not
      specified or is set to the empty string, a default of ``C'' (see
      lang(5)) is used instead of LANG.  If any internationalization
      variable contains an invalid setting, prof behaves as if all
      internationalization variables are set to ``C'' (see environ(5)).

 WARNINGS    [Toc]    [Back]
      The times reported in successive identical runs may show variances of
      20% or more, because of varying cache-hit ratios due to sharing of the
      cache with other processes.  Even if a program seems to be the only
      one using the machine, hidden background or asynchronous processes may
      blur the data.  In rare cases, the clock ticks initiating recording of
      the program counter may ``beat'' with loops in a program, grossly
      distorting measurements.

      Call counts are always recorded precisely, however.

      Only programs that call exit() (see exit(2)) or return from main cause
      a profile file to be produced, unless a final call to monitor() is
      explicitly coded.

      The use of the cc -p option to invoke profiling imposes a limit of 600
      functions that can have call counters established during program
      execution.  For more counters, call monitor() directly.  If this limit
      is exceeded, other data is overwritten and the mon.out file is



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 prof(1)                                                             prof(1)




      corrupted.  The number of call counters used is reported automatically
      by the prof command whenever the number exceeds 5/6 of the maximum.

 FILES    [Toc]    [Back]
      mon.out             for profile
      a.out               for namelist

 SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]
      cc_bundled(1), exit(2), profil(2), crt0(3), end(3C), monitor(3C).

 STANDARDS CONFORMANCE    [Toc]    [Back]
      prof: SVID2, SVID3, XPG2


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