TDF and TFF File Usage

The TDF, and TFF files produced by TRCUST are used in the following way:

                                ┌─────────┐
                                │  .TSF   │
                                └────┬────┘
                                     V
                              ┌──────┴──────┐
                              │ TRCUST Util │
                              └──────┬──────┘
        ┌────────────────────────────┤
        V                            V
   ┌────┴────┐                  ┌────┴────┐
   │  .TDF   │                  │  .TFF   │
   └────┬────┘                  └────┬────┘
        V                            │
 ┌──────┴──────┐                     │
 │  TRACE Util │                     │
 └──────┬──────┘                     │
        V                            │
┌───────┴───────┐                    │
│tracepoints set│                    │
└───────┬───────┘                    │
        V                            │
┌───────┴───────┐                    │
│ tracepoint hit│                    │
└───────┬───────┘                    │
        V                            │
┌───────┴───────┐                    │
│  OS/2 kernel  │                    │
└───────┬───────┘                    │
        V                            │
        │                            │
        │                            │
        │                            │
        │                            │
        │                            │
        │                            │
        │                            │
        V                            V
┌───────┴───────┐             ┌──────┴──────┐
│  trace buffer ├────────────>┤TRACEFMT Util│
└───────────────┘             └──────┬──────┘
                                     V
                              ┌──────┴──────┐
                              │  formatted  │
                              │trace records│
                              └─────────────┘

To trace a module do the following:

• Define the tracepoints and data to be traced in the TSF.

• Invoke the Trace Customizer using the TSF as input.

  This produces two files, a TDF and a TFF.

  3.
  Put the TDF file in the same directory the module to trace resides, put the TFF file in a directory accessible by TRACEFMT. It is suggested that all TFF files reside in the same subdirectory, an example directory would be \OS2\SYSTEM\TRACE, which is the default directory searched by TRACEFMT. However a private directory may be specified by using the /t= command line option or the Set TFF Path memu pulldown of TRACEFMT.
  4.
  Invoke the OS/2 TRACE command using eith the name of the TDF or the module name instead of the major code value, which is done only with static trace.

  Note:

  The TRACE command will assume that a simple unqualified name refers to a TDF and will search, \OS2\SYSTEM\TRACE, the current directory and DPATH for the TDF. If it is still unable to locate the TDF then the name is assumed to be a DLL and LIBPATH is searched for the TDF.

  If a qualified name is used then TRACE will assume this to be the traced module and will attempt to locate the TDF in the module's directory, by searching the current directory then LIBPATH for DLLs or PATH for non-DLLs.

  This activates the tracepoints, causing the trace data to be saved in the system trace buffer.

  5.
  The OS/2 TRACE command can be used to turn tracing off at any time.
  6.
  The system trace buffer may be captured for formatting at a later time using either of the TRACEGET or TRSPOOL utilities. Or alternatively TRACEFMT may be use to capture and format the trace buffer immediately.

  TRACEFMT uses the major code to determine the TFF file and uses the formatting string corresponding to the minor code value to format the data in the RAS trace buffer and output it to the screen, file or printer.

  Tracepoints may selectively be turnned on or off at any time, by reference to individual minor codes or a group or group+type combination.

  Active tracepoints may be queried using either:

        TRACE /Q

  or

        DTRACE QUERY /X /A
  

  The latter example gives detailed information on tracepoint status and location within each module.

  ---

  [Back: Building a Module]
  [Next: Symbols and Abbreviations Used in the Document]