NAME

tracelog - LTTng-UST printf(3)-like interface with a log level

SYNOPSIS

#include <lttng/tracelog.h>

#define tracelog(level, fmt, ...)

Link with -llttng-ust.

DESCRIPTION

The LTTng-UST tracelog() API allows you to trace your application with the help of a simple printf(3)-like macro, with an additional parameter for the desired log level. The fmt argument is passed directly to the fmt parameter of vasprintf(3), as well as the optional parameters following fmt.

The purpose of tracelog() is to ease the migration from logging to tracing.

The available values for the level parameter are:

TRACE_EMERG

TRACE_ALERT

TRACE_CRIT

TRACE_ERR

TRACE_WARNING

TRACE_NOTICE

TRACE_INFO

TRACE_DEBUG_SYSTEM

TRACE_DEBUG_PROGRAM

TRACE_DEBUG_PROCESS

TRACE_DEBUG_MODULE

TRACE_DEBUG_UNIT

TRACE_DEBUG_FUNCTION

TRACE_DEBUG_LINE

TRACE_DEBUG

To use tracelog(), include <lttng/tracelog.h> where you need it, and link your application with liblttng-ust. See the EXAMPLE section below for a complete usage example.

Once your application is instrumented with tracelog() calls and ready to run, use lttng-enable-event(1) to enable the lttng_ust_tracelog:* event. You can isolate specific log levels with the --loglevel and --loglevel-only options of this command.

The tracelog() events contain the following fields:

If you do not need to attach a specific log level to a tracelog() call, use tracef(3) instead.

See also the LIMITATIONS section below for important limitations to consider when using tracelog().

EXAMPLE

Here’s a usage example of tracelog():

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <lttng/tracelog.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{


    int i;


    if (argc < 2) {


        tracelog(TRACE_CRIT, "Not enough arguments: %d", argc);


        return EXIT_FAILURE;


    }


    tracelog(TRACE_INFO, "Starting app with %d arguments", argc);


    for (i = 0; i < argc; i++) {


        tracelog(TRACE_DEBUG, "Argument %d: %s", i, argv[i]);


    }


    tracelog(TRACE_INFO, "Exiting app");


    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

This C source file, saved as app.c, can be compiled into a program like this:

$ cc -o app app.c -llttng-ust

You can create an LTTng tracing session, enable all the tracelog() events, and start the created tracing session like this:

$ lttng create my-session
$ lttng enable-event --userspace 'lttng_ust_tracelog:*'
$ lttng start

Or you can enable tracelog() events matching a log level at least as severe as a given log level:

$ lttng enable-event --userspace 'lttng_ust_tracelog:*' \


                   --loglevel=TRACE_INFO

Next, start the program to be traced:

$ ./app a few arguments passed to this application

Finally, stop the tracing session, and inspect the recorded events:

$ lttng stop
$ lttng view

LIMITATIONS

The tracelog() utility macro was developed to make user space tracing super simple, albeit with notable disadvantages compared to custom, full-fledged tracepoint providers:

Thus, tracelog() is useful for quick prototyping and debugging, but should not be considered for any permanent/serious application instrumentation.

See lttng-ust(3) to learn more about custom tracepoint providers.

BUGS

If you encounter any issue or usability problem, please report it on the LTTng bug tracker <https://bugs.lttng.org/projects/lttng-ust>.

RESOURCES

COPYRIGHTS

This macro is part of the LTTng-UST project.

This macro is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1 <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.en.html>. See the COPYING <https://github.com/lttng/lttng-ust/blob/master/COPYING> file for more details.

THANKS

Thanks to Ericsson for funding this work, providing real-life use cases, and testing.

Special thanks to Michel Dagenais and the DORSAL laboratory <http://www.dorsal.polymtl.ca/> at École Polytechnique de Montréal for the LTTng journey.

AUTHORS

LTTng-UST was originally written by Mathieu Desnoyers, with additional contributions from various other people. It is currently maintained by Mathieu Desnoyers <mailto:mathieu.desnoyers@efficios.com>.

SEE ALSO

tracef(3), lttng-ust(3), lttng(1), printf(3)