trazer 0.2.1

A lightweight trace analysis framework.

Trazer

A lightweight trace analysis framework (trace analyzer) for execution and network traces, focusing on event chain analysis.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python >= 3.8

Installation

pip install trazer

Usage

Create Trace and Add Events

>>> from trazer import Trace, TraceEventDurationBegin, TraceEventDurationEnd
>>> trace = Trace()
>>> trace.add_event(TraceEventDurationBegin('my_event', 1.0, pid=0, tid=0))  # my_event begins at 1.0 s
>>> trace.add_event(TraceEventDurationEnd('my_event', 2.0, pid=0, tid=0))  # my_event ends at 2.0 s

Export Trace to Chrome Tracing JSON

>>> from io import StringIO
>>> s = StringIO()
>>> trace.to_tef_json(file_like=s)  # Exported timestamps are in milliseconds by default
>>> print(s.getvalue())
{
    "traceEvents": [
        {
            "name": "my_event",
            "ts": 1000.0,
            "pid": 0,
            "tid": 0,
            "args": {},
            "ph": "B"
        },
        {
            "name": "my_event",
            "ts": 2000.0,
            "pid": 0,
            "tid": 0,
            "args": {},
            "ph": "E"
        }
    ],
    "displayTimeUnit": "ms"
}

The exported .json file can be opened in the trace visualization tools chrome://tracing in Chrome and Perfetto.

Match Event Chains

Different related events in a trace can be merged and represented as an event chain at a higher hierarchical level.

An event chain is described using an event pattern, where the following symbols have special interpretation:

• + following an event name: the event begins.
• - following an event name: the event ends.
• *: arbitrary events, excluding repetitions.

>>> from trazer import Trace, TraceEventDurationBegin, TraceEventDurationEnd
>>> trace = Trace()

# Add an event sequence: event1 begins, event2 begins, event2 ends, event1 ends
>>> trace.add_events([
... TraceEventDurationBegin('event1', 1),
... TraceEventDurationBegin('event2', 2),
... TraceEventDurationEnd('event2', 3),
... TraceEventDurationEnd('event1', 4)
... ])

>>> print(trace)
[1 ms]: event1 (B)
[2 ms]: event2 (B)
[3 ms]: event2 (E)
[4 ms]: event1 (E)

>>> from trazer import TraceAnalyzer
>>> trace_analyzer = TraceAnalyzer(trace)

# We want to find the event chains matching the sequence:
# event1 begins -> event2 begins -> event2 ends -> event1 ends
>>> trace_analyzer.match('event1+event2+event2-event1-', 'event_chain')
[[1 - 4 ms]: event_chain (4 events)]

# Or use an alternative pattern employing wildcards.
# We want to find the event chains that begins with event1 and ends with event1.
>>> trace_analyzer = TraceAnalyzer(trace)
>>> trace_analyzer.match('event1+*-event1-', 'event_chain')
[[1 - 4 ms]: event_chain (4 events)]

Export Trace with Event Chains

The event chains can be visualized together with the original trace in the same view. For visualization in chrome://tracing or Perfetto, a dedicated process ID needs to be assigned to the event chains, such that they will be displayed separately from the original trace.

trace_analyzer.to_tef_json(5555)  # Process ID = 5555

Contributing

1. Install development dependencies

pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

2. Install runtime dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Setup pre-commit hook (formatting with black and linting with flake8)

pre-commit install

4. Make sure all tests are passed by running pytest