Specman 9.2 Preview: A Fresh Profile on the Profiler

[Preface: all features in the 9.2 preview series are in Beta now.  We invite you to sign-up for the beta program and give this feature a test drive!]
[Team Specman welcomes Avi Bloch from Specman R&D to introduce one of “his” new features.]

Abstract
Starting in Specman/IES-XL 9.2, users will be able to split the profiling process into separate run and analysis phases. This allows users to generate a profiler report regardless of how the test ended, and enables the creation multiple reports from the same profiler data.

Problem Statement
In the current profiler use model (versions 8.2 and earlier), the user can run the profiler either by running the “sn_profile.sh” utility, or by using the “set profile” command.  In both cases, Specman executes a run and generates a profiler report.  However, it’s advantageous to enable users to split this process into two parts: the first part consists of running the test while gathering profile information; and the second part will generate the report.  This will allow generating a profiler report regardless of how the test completes (even if the run crashes).  Additionally, with new filtering mechanisms added to the report generation command set, you will be able to generate multiple reports from the same profiler data, saving you valuable compute time.

Solution Overview
The following options have been added to the “set prof” command to support the capabilities described above:

-report_dir=name
By default, if a previous “set profile” command was executed during the current run in which the report_dir was specified, this specified report directory will be used.  Otherwise Specman will look for the profiler information in the directory of the form ./sn_prof.<process_id> directory with the latest modified date. This option lets you specify the output directory that was used during the desired profiler run.

-no_report
Tells Specman not to generate a report at the end of the run. In addition, it tells Specman not to remove the temporary data used for generating the profiler report (so you can reference the profile data a later time)

-report_name=name
Specifies the name of the report. Default is report_cpu.html or report_mem.html depending on the mode of the profiler.

Example:
set profile -generate

will generate a profile report based on a previous run of the profiler.  Note that -generate can be executed in stand-alone Specman even if the actual run was done with a simulator and/or compiled/loaded code.

I hope you find these new options useful, and I invite you to send me any questions or feedback by posting a comment below, or forward them via Team Specman.


Happy Profiling!

Avi Bloch
Specman R&D