[PATCH v6 9/9] perf c2c: document function view in perf-c2c man page
Jiebin Sun <[email protected]> Mon, 3 Aug 2026 11:52:20 +0800
| Newsgroups | org.kernel.vger.linux-perf-users,org.kernel.vger.linux-kernel |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Describe the function view hierarchy (read-side function -> contending writer function -> shared cachelines), the per-level indentation, and the keys, with a worked example. Document that reliable function attribution requires `iaddr` in `--coalesce`, that the reader and writer may be the same function, and why the coalesced function view cannot distinguish same-thread from different-thread accesses in that case. Also document that verbose mode includes code addresses in function rows. Signed-off-by: Jiebin Sun <[email protected]> Cc: Adrian Hunter <[email protected]> Cc: Alexander Shishkin <[email protected]> Cc: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <[email protected]> Cc: Dapeng Mi <[email protected]> Cc: Ian Rogers <[email protected]> Cc: Ingo Molnar <[email protected]> Cc: James Clark <[email protected]> Cc: Jiri Olsa <[email protected]> Cc: Mark Rutland <[email protected]> Cc: Namhyung Kim <[email protected]> Cc: Peter Zijlstra <[email protected]> Cc: Thomas Falcon <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: Tianyou Li <[email protected]> Reviewed-by: Wangyang Guo <[email protected]> --- tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt | 71 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 71 insertions(+) diff --git a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt index e57a122b8719..8775889bc0a3 100644 --- a/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt +++ b/tools/perf/Documentation/perf-c2c.txt @@ -365,6 +365,77 @@ TUI OUTPUT The TUI output provides interactive interface to navigate through cachelines list and to display offset details. +Pressing the 'TAB' key in the cacheline view switches to the function +view. The function view shows a three-level hierarchy of the symbolized +entries retained in the cacheline view, organized around functions rather +than cachelines. Levels 1 and 2 normally show function names, while level 3 +shows cacheline addresses. Lower levels are indented beneath their parents. +Verbose mode also includes code addresses in function rows, and code addresses +remain available in the per-cacheline detail view ('d'). + +The function view requires `iaddr` in the cacheline coalescing fields. If +`--coalesce` omits it, TAB reports that the view is unavailable rather than +attributing already-coalesced samples to an arbitrary function. + + Level 1: the read-side function, sorted by Cycles % (estimated load + cycles: HITM, peer-snoop and other-load cycles) + Level 2: the functions sampled writing the shared lines read by the + level-1 function, sorted by store count. This can be the same + function when it has both read and write samples + Level 3: the specific cachelines shared by the reader/writer pair + +The Cycles % value is the function's share of event-provided load +latency/weight estimates from cacheline-detail entries retained in the +current view. It can include non-HITM and non-peer loads coalesced into +entries that pass the C2C filter, so it is not a pure contention-cycle +percentage. The share is relative to the functions and entries retained +for the current report and is not comparable across recordings or different +`--coalesce` settings. + +The store count on a level-1 row is the number of sampled stores by writers +shown in the function view into the cachelines that function reads, including +stores from the same function. It decomposes into the level-2 writer rows; +each level-2 count in turn decomposes into that writer's stores on its level-3 +cachelines. A level-3 count is therefore not the cacheline's total store +count. The level-1 value is not the number of stores made by the reader and +is not additive across level-1 rows: two functions reading the same line each +carry the stores into that line. + +Each function aggregates all of its code addresses into a single entry, +and a level-2 writer aggregates all of its shared cachelines, so a +reader/writer pair is a single row with its total shown -- there is no +need to sum a writer's traffic across cachelines by hand. + +In the function view the 'd' key opens the detail view of the selected +level-3 cacheline, 'e'/'+' expands or collapses the current entry, and 'TAB', +'ESC', 'q' or Ctrl-C returns to the cacheline view. + +For example, with the first two read-side functions collapsed and +dequeue_pushable_task expanded to show the functions writing the lines it +reads -- two of which are further expanded to their individual cachelines: + + Shared Data Functions Table (19 entries, sorted on Cycles %) + Cycles Store + % count Function / Contending function / Cacheline + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + 35.67% 876 + [k] cpupri_set + + 24.31% 424 + [k] pull_rt_task + - 16.53% 555 - [k] dequeue_pushable_task + 145 - [k] pull_rt_task + 145 0xff2d0082809da080 + 139 - [k] enqueue_pushable_task + 70 0xff2d00a2071f9640 + 69 0xff2d0082809da000 + +Here dequeue_pushable_task pays 16.53% of the estimated read-side load-cycle +cost. Its store count decomposes into its level-2 writers, and each writer's +count decomposes into its level-3 cachelines: pull_rt_task's 145 stores fall +on a single line, while enqueue_pushable_task's 139 stores split across two +lines (70 and 69). A writer can be the same function as the reader when it +has both read and write samples; after cacheline coalescing and +function-level grouping, the view cannot distinguish same-thread accesses +from different threads running the same function. + For details please refer to the help window by pressing '?' key. CREDITS -- 2.52.0