racket/collects/future-visualizer/scribblings/future-visualizer.scrbl
2012-09-07 09:11:16 -06:00

149 lines
6.8 KiB
Racket

#lang scribble/doc
@(require "common.rkt" (for-label future-visualizer
future-visualizer/trace
racket/future))
@title[#:tag "futures-visualizer"]{Futures Visualizer}
@guideintro["effective-futures"]{the future visualizer}
@defmodule[future-visualizer]
The @deftech{futures visualizer} is a graphical profiling tool
for parallel programs written using @racket[future]. The tool
shows a timeline of a program's execution including all future-related
events, as well as the overall amount of processor utilization
at any point during the program's lifetime.
@deftogether[(
@defform[(visualize-futures e ...)]
@defproc[(visualize-futures-thunk [thunk (-> any)]) any]
)]{
The @racket[visualize-futures] macro enables the collection
of data required by the visualizer and displays a profiler
window showing the corresponding trace. The @racket[visualize-futures-thunk]
provides similar functionality where program code is contained
within @racket[thunk].
A typical program using profiling might look like the following:
@racketblock[
(require racket/future
future-visualizer)
(visualize-futures
(let ([f (future (lambda () ...))])
...
(touch f)))
]
The preceding program is equivalent to:
@racketblock[
(require racket/future
future-visualizer/trace
future-visualizer)
(start-future-tracing!)
(let ([f (future (lambda () ...))])
...
(touch f))
(stop-future-tracing!)
(show-visualizer)
]
}
@defproc[(show-visualizer [#:timeline timeline (listof indexed-future-event?)]) void?]{
Displays the visualizer window. If the function is called with no arguments,
it must be preceded by the following sequence: a call to @racket[start-future-tracing!],
program code that is being traced, and a call to @racket[stop-future-tracing!] -- in which case
the visualizer will show data for all events logged in between those calls (via @racket[timeline-events]).
Note that @racket[visualize-futures] and @racket[visualize-futures-thunk] are simpler alternatives to using these
primitives directly.
The @racket[timeline] argument can be used to show the visualizer for a previously-generated
trace.
}
@section[#:tag "future-visualizer-timeline"]{Execution Timeline}
The @deftech{execution timeline}, shown in the top left-hand corner of the
profiler window, displays a history of the program
and all events associated with its futures, with OS-level threads
or @deftech{processes} organized along the y-axis and time increasing along
the x-axis. Garbage collections are shown as translucent maroon bars spanning
the height of the timeline. A coloring convention is used to distinguish between
different types of events (see @refsecref["future-logging"] for a full
description of these event types):
@itemlist[
@item{Blue dot: @racket['create]}
@item{Green bar: @racket['start-work], @racket['start-0-work]}
@item{Orange dot: @racket['sync]}
@item{Red dot: @racket['block], @racket['touch]}
@item{White dot: @racket['result], @racket['end-work]}
@item{Green dot: @racket['touch-pause], @racket['touch-resume]}
@item{Maroon bar: @racket['gc]}
]
Mousing over any non-GC event connects it via purple lines to the sequence
of events for its future. Additionally, orange dotted lines
with arrowheads may be shown to indicate operations performed from
one future to another (e.g. @racket['create] or @racket['touch] actions).
To view details about two events simultaneously, a selection
can be tacked by clicking the mouse.
The timeline displays vertical lines at 100-microsecond intervals. Note that
though the time interval is fixed, the pixel distance between lines varies
based on the event density for any given time range to prevent overlapping
event circles.
@defproc[(timeline-pict [events (listof indexed-future-event?)]
[#:x x (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:y y (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:width width (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:height height (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:selected-event-index selected-event-index (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]) pict?]{
Returns a @racket[pict] showing the execution timeline for the trace in @racket[events]. The optional
arguments @racket[x], @racket[y], @racket[width], and @racket[height] can be used to obtain a specific
area (in pixels) of the timeline image. The @racket[selected-event-index] argument, if specified, shows
the timeline image as if the user placed the mouse pointer over the @racket[indexed-future-event] with
the corresponding index.
}
@section[#:tag "future-visualizer-tree"]{Future Creation Tree}
The @deftech{creation tree} shows a tree with a single node per
future created by the program. This display can be particularly useful
for programs which spawn futures in nested fashion (futures within futures).
For any given future node, the children
of that node represent futures which were created by that future (within
the scope of its thunk). For all programs, the root of the tree
is a special node representing the main computation thread (the runtime thread),
and is denoted @deftech{RTT}.
@defproc[(creation-tree-pict [events (listof indexed-future-event?)]
[#:x x (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:y y (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:width width (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:node-width node-width (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:height height (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:padding padding (or #f exact-nonnegative-integer?) #f]
[#:zoom zoom exact-nonnegative-integer? 1]) pict?]{
Returns a @racket[pict] showing the future creation tree for the trace in @racket[events]. The optional
arguments @racket[x], @racket[y], @racket[width], and @racket[height] can be used to obtain a specific
area (in pixels) of the creation tree image. The @racket[node-width] argument
specifies (in pixels) the diameter of each node. The @racket[padding] argument specifies the minimum space vertically
between each depth and horizontally between siblings. The @racket[zoom] argument specifies the zoom factor for the
tree image in the range 1-5, where 5 returns a 500% zoom.
}
@; ----------------------------------------
@include-section["futures-trace.scrbl"]