23.3 The Profiler menu and Profiler-specific toolbar buttons

The Works > Profiler menu lets you modify the Profiler tool.

• Choosing Read Profiler Tree From File... reads a profiler tree from a file that you select. Normally this should have .tree extension. The file is opened and the profiler tries to read a profiler tree from it. If successful, then the tree becomes the current tree in the tool and is displayed.

  Profiler tree files would normally be created either by calling hcl:save-current-profiler-tree or by choosing Save Profiler tree. from the Works > Profiler menu. In principle, they may be generated in some other way, provided that they match the format that is described in "Profiler tree file format" in the LispWorks® User Guide and Reference Manual.

• Choosing Save Profiler Tree... saves the current tree to a file that you specify. If the file name does not have an extension, the Profiler adds .tree (the same as hcl:save-current-profiler-tree).

  Note the name of the tree is written to the file as well, so you may want to set the name beforehand by choosing Name the current tree....

• Choosing Import Current Internal Tree imports the current internal profiler tree into the tool and displays it. The internal tree is set either by a call to hcl:stop-profiling with :suspend nil (which is the default), or when hcl:profile returns successfully.

  Note that the current internal tree is the same tree that hcl:save-current-profiler-tree saves.

• Choosing Start Profiling... raises a dialog to configure profiling parameters and starts the profiler by calling hcl:start-profiling. The initial settings in the dialog are from the previous time you raised it and clicked OK.

  Use Stop Profiling and Import to stop profiling.

  Note: profiling is a global operation, i.e. there can be only one profile operation at the same time, and it uses the last global setting of profiler parameters.

  You cannot click OK in the configuration dialog until you select some processes. Check the All processes box to profile all processes or choose specific processes by clicking the Select processes button and optionally check the New processes box to include processes created while profiling is running as well. This corresponds to the :processes argument to hcl:start-profiling.

  Check Profile waiting processes or Ignore processes inside a foreign call to collect information from processes when they are waiting or inside a foreign call.

  This action can also be done by clicking the Start Profiling toolbar button.

• Choosing Stop Profiling and Import stops the profiler by calling hcl:stop-profiling and then imports the profiler tree, which makes it current, displayed tree in the tool.

  This action can also be done by clicking the Stop Profiling toolbar button.

• Choosing Name The Current Tree... allows you to give the current tree a name.

  The name is displayed in the message area at the bottom of the tool, is listed in the History menu, and is used when saving the tree to a file.

• Choosing Set Profiling Parameters... allows you to select what is shown in the profiler. See 23.4 Selecting what to profile for more details.

  This action can also be done by clicking the Set Up Profiler toolbar button.

  Compatibility note: This item replaces the Symbols... and Packages... buttons that used to be in the Code To Profile frame of the Profiler in LispWorks 7.0 and earlier releases.

• Choosing Profile the 'Code To Profile' reads a form from the editor pane in the Code To Profile tab, and profiles it, in the same way that hcl:profile does. The results of the profiling then become the current profiler information in the tool and is displayed in the other tabs.

  This action can also be done by clicking the Profile toolbar button.

  Compatibility note: This item replaces the Profile button that used to be in the Code To Profile frame in LispWorks 7.0 and earlier releases.