[PATCH 2/3] perf trace: Auto-assign kernel symbol beautifier to function pointer fields

Aaron Tomlin <[email protected]> Mon, 3 Aug 2026 17:08:41 -0400
Newsgroups org.kernel.vger.linux-perf-users,org.kernel.vger.linux-kernel
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Tracepoint fields that convey kernel function pointers, such as 'function',
'fn', 'work', 'action', and 'callsite' are currently formatted as generic
hexadecimal pointers by default.

Enhance syscall_arg_fmt__init_array() to automatically detect these
fields by name and type signature (e.g., typedefs ending with '_func_t'
or '_fn', or C function pointer types containing '(*)') and assign
'SCA_KSYM' as their default beautifier.

Additionally, register common function pointer field names within the
sorted 'syscall_arg_fmts__by_name' lookup table. This ensures tracepoint
arguments such as 'workqueue:workqueue_execute_start.function' are
symbolised automatically without requiring explicit per-event
configuration. For example:

    ❯ sudo tools/perf/perf trace --event workqueue:workqueue_execute_end --max-events 2 --show-cpu
         0.000 [000] kworker/u32:15/236682 workqueue:workqueue_execute_end(work: 0xffffffffab2f1420, function: toggle_allocation_gate)
         0.132 [000] kworker/u32:15/236682 workqueue:workqueue_execute_end(work: 0xffff8ac2c1adc010, function: flush_to_ldisc)

Signed-off-by: Aaron Tomlin <[email protected]>
---
 tools/perf/builtin-trace.c | 13 +++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index cbc5bdc0cc12..d3401b64340a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -2090,8 +2090,13 @@ static int syscall__alloc_arg_fmts(struct syscall *sc, int nr_args)
 }
 
 static const struct syscall_arg_fmt syscall_arg_fmts__by_name[] = {
+	{ .name = "action",	.scnprintf = SCA_KSYM, },
+	{ .name = "callsite",	.scnprintf = SCA_KSYM, },
+	{ .name = "fn",		.scnprintf = SCA_KSYM, },
+	{ .name = "function",	.scnprintf = SCA_KSYM, },
 	{ .name = "msr",	.scnprintf = SCA_X86_MSR,	  .strtoul = STUL_X86_MSR,	   },
 	{ .name = "vector",	.scnprintf = SCA_X86_IRQ_VECTORS, .strtoul = STUL_X86_IRQ_VECTORS, },
+	{ .name = "work",	.scnprintf = SCA_KSYM, },
 };
 
 static int syscall_arg_fmt__cmp(const void *name, const void *fmtp)
@@ -2192,6 +2197,14 @@ syscall_arg_fmt__init_array(struct syscall_arg_fmt *arg, struct tep_format_field
 		    ((len >= 4 && strcmp(field->name + len - 4, "name") == 0) ||
 		     strstr(field->name, "path") != NULL)) {
 			arg->scnprintf = SCA_FILENAME;
+		} else if (strcmp(field->name, "fn") == 0 ||
+			   strcmp(field->name, "function") == 0 ||
+			   strcmp(field->name, "callsite") == 0 ||
+			   strcmp(field->name, "action") == 0 ||
+			   (field->type && (strstr(field->type, "(*)") != NULL ||
+					    strstr(field->type, "_func_t") != NULL ||
+					    strstr(field->type, "_fn") != NULL))) {
+			arg->scnprintf = SCA_KSYM;
 		} else if ((field->flags & TEP_FIELD_IS_POINTER) || strstr(field->name, "addr") ||
 			   field_has_hex_fmt(field, len))
 			arg->scnprintf = SCA_PTR;
-- 
2.55.0