monitoring swap i/o

Pol <[email protected]> Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:29:31 +0100
Newsgroups org.kernel.vger.linux-admin
Message-ID <[email protected]>
I would like to be able to exactly monitor programs i/o in the swap
area; 'top' does not seem to be the right tool as processes are sorted
according to the total amount of swap space used, while i would like
processes with high i/o activity (albeit in small amounts) to be
highlighted. 

My case is with firefox and konqueror. They stay silently for hours, then
i/o starts, as one can hear that typical noise from the disk and as it can
be checked with 'vmstat'.  
Also i would like to locate programs more precisely, to tell which browser
tab, which plugin has triggered that swapping.  

Any hints?

Thank you

--
Pol