# profiler(n) 0.2 profiler "Tcl Profiler"

## NAME

profiler - Tcl source code profiler

## SYNOPSIS

package require Tcl 8.3
package require profiler ?0.2?

::profiler::init
::profiler::dump pattern
::profiler::print ?pattern?
::profiler::reset
::profiler::suspend ?pattern?
::profiler::resume ?pattern?
::profiler::sortFunctions key

## DESCRIPTION

The profiler package provides a simple Tcl source code profiler. It is a function-level profiler; that is, it collects only function-level information, not the more detailed line-level information. It operates by redefining the Tcl proc command. Profiling is initiated via the ::profiler::init command.

## COMMANDS

::profiler::init
  Initiate profiling. All procedures created after this command is called will be profiled. To profile an entire application, this command must be called before any other commands.
::profiler::dump pattern
  Dump profiling information for the all functions matching pattern. If no pattern is specified, information for all functions will be returned. The result is a list of key/value pairs that maps function names to information about that function. The information about each function is in turn a list of key/value pairs. The keys used and their values are:
  totalCalls
    The total number of times functionName was called.
  callerDist
    A list of key/value pairs mapping each calling function that called functionName to the number of times it called functionName.
  compileTime
    The runtime, in clock clicks, of functionName the first time that it was called.
  totalRuntime
    The sum of the runtimes of all calls of functionName.
  averageRuntime
    Average runtime of functionName.
  descendantTime
    Sum of the time spent in descendants of functionName.
  averageDescendantTime
    Average time spent in descendants of functionName.
::profiler::print ?pattern?
  Print profiling information for all functions matching pattern. If no pattern is specified, information about all functions will be displayed. The return result is a human readable display of the profiling information.
::profiler::reset
  Reset profiling information for all functions matching pattern. If no pattern is specified, information will be reset for all functions.
::profiler::suspend ?pattern?
  Suspend profiling for all functions matching pattern. If no pattern is specified, profiling will be suspended for all functions. It stops gathering profiling information after this command is issued. However, it does not erase any profiling information that has been gathered previously. Use resume command to re-enable profiling.
::profiler::resume ?pattern?
  Resume profiling for all functions matching pattern. If no pattern is specified, profiling will be resumed for all functions. This command should be invoked after suspending the profiler in the code.
::profiler::sortFunctions key
  Return a list of functions sorted by a particular profiling statistic. Supported values for key are: calls, exclusiveTime, compileTime, nonCompileTime, totalRuntime, avgExclusiveTime, and avgRuntime. The return result is a list of lists, where each sublist consists of a function name and the value of key for that function.

## KEYWORDS

profile, performance, speed