1SCONS-TIME(1) SCons 4.4.0 SCONS-TIME(1)
2
6 scons-time - generate and display SCons timing information
7
9 scons-time subcommand [options...] [arguments...]
10
12 scons-time run [-hnqv] [-f FILE] [--number=NUMBER] [--outdir=OUTDIR]
13 [-p STRING] [--python=PYTHON] [-s DIR] [--scons=SCONS] [--svn=URL]
14 [ARGUMENTS]
15 Extracting Function Timings
17 scons-time func [-h] [--chdir=DIR] [-f FILE] [--fmt=FORMAT]
18 [--func=NAME] [-p STRING] [-t NUMBER] [--title= TITLE] [ARGUMENTS]
19 Extracting Memory Statistics
21 scons-time mem [-h] [--chdir=DIR] [-f FILE] [--fmt=FORMAT] [-p STRING]
22 [--stage=STAGE] [-t NUMBER] [--title=TITLE] [ARGUMENTS]
23 Extracting Object Counts
25 scons-time obj [-h] [--chdir=DIR] [-f FILE] [--fmt=FORMAT] [-p STRING]
26 [--stage=STAGE] [-t NUMBER] [--title=TITLE] [ARGUMENTS]
27 Extracting Execution Times
29 scons-time time [-h] [--chdir=DIR] [-f FILE] [--fmt=FORMAT] [-p STRING]
30 [-t NUMBER] [--title=TITLE] [--which=WHICH] [ARGUMENTS]
31 Help Text
33 scons-time help SUBCOMMAND [...]
34
36 The scons-time command runs an SCons configuration through a standard
37 set of profiled timings and can extract and graph information from the
38 resulting profiles and log files of those timings. The action to be
39 performed by the scons-time script is specified by a subcommand, the
40 first argument on the command line. See the SUBCOMMANDS section below
41 for information about the operation of specific subcommands.
42 The basic way to use scons-time is to run the scons-time run subcommand
44 (possibly multiple times) to generate profile and log file output, and
45 then use one of the other subcommands to display the results captured
46 in the profiles and log files for a particular kind of information:
47 function timings (the scons-time func subcommand), total memory used
48 (the scons-time mem subcommand), object counts (the scons-time obj
49 subcommand) and overall execution time (the scons-time time
50 subcommand). Options exist to place and find the profiles and log files
51 in separate directories, to generate the output in a format suitable
52 for graphing with the gnuplot(1) program, and so on.
53 There are two basic ways the scons-time run subcommand is intended to
55 be used to gather timing statistics for a configuration. One is to use
56 the --svn= option to test a configuration against a list of revisions
57 from the SCons Subversion repository. This will generate a profile and
58 timing log file for every revision listed with the --number= option,
59 and can be used to look at the impact of committed changes to the SCons
60 code base on a particular configuration over time.
61 The other way is to profile incremental changes to a local SCons code
63 base during a development cycle--that is, to look at the performance
64 impact of changes you're making in the local tree. In this mode, you
65 run the scons-time run subcommand without the --svn= option, in which
66 case it simply looks in the profile/log file output directory (the
67 current directory by default) and automatically figures out the next
68 run number for the output profile and log file. Used in this way, the
69 development cycle goes something like: make a change to SCons; run
70 scons-time run to profile it against a specific configuration; make
71 another change to SCons; run scons-time run again to profile it; etc.
72
74 The scons-time command only supports a few global options:
75 -h, --help
77 Displays the global help text and exits, identical to the
78 scons-time help subcommand.
79 -V, --version
81 Displays the scons-time version and exits.
82 Most functionality is controlled by options to the individual
84 subcommands. See the next section for information about individual
85 subcommand options.
86
88 The scons-time command supports the following individual subcommands.
89 The func Subcommand
91 scons-time func [-h] [--chdir=DIR] [-f FILE] [--fmt=FORMAT]
92 [--func=NAME] [-p STRING] [-t NUMBER] [--title= TITLE] [ARGUMENTS]
93 The scons-time func subcommand displays timing information for a
95 specific Python function within SCons. By default, it extracts
96 information about the _main() function, which includes the Python
97 profiler timing for all of SCons.
98 The scons-time func subcommand extracts function timing information
100 from all the specified file arguments, which should be Python profiler
101 output files. (Normally, these would be *.prof files generated by the
102 scons-time run subcommand, but they can actually be generated by any
103 Python profiler invocation.) All file name arguments will be globbed
104 for on-disk files.
105 If no arguments are specified, then function timing information will be
107 extracted from all *.prof files, or the subset of them with a prefix
108 specified by the -p option.
109 Options include:
111 -C DIRECTORY, --chdir=DIRECTORY
113 Changes to the specified DIRECTORY before looking for the specified
114 files (or files that match the specified patterns).
115 -f FILE, --file=FILE
117 Reads configuration information from the specified FILE.
118 -fmt=FORMAT, --format=FORMAT
120 Reports the output in the specified FORMAT. The formats currently
121 supported are ascii (the default) and gnuplot.
122 --func=NAME
124 Extracts timings for the specified function NAME. The default is to
125 report cumulative timings for the _main() function, which contains
126 the entire SCons run.
127 -h, --help
129 Displays help text for the scons-time func subcommand.
130 -p STRING, --prefix=STRING
132 Specifies the prefix string for profiles from which to extract
133 function timing information. This will be used to search for
134 profiles if no arguments are specified on the command line.
135 -t NUMBER, --tail=NUMBER
137 Only extracts function timings from the last NUMBER files.
138 The help Subcommand
140 scons-time help SUBCOMMAND [...] The help subcommand prints help text
141 for any other subcommands listed as later arguments on the command
142 line.
143 The mem Subcommand
145 scons-time mem [-h] [--chdir=DIR] [-f FILE] [--fmt=FORMAT] [-p STRING]
146 [--stage=STAGE] [-t NUMBER] [--title=TITLE] [ARGUMENTS]
147 The scons-time mem subcommand displays how much memory SCons uses.
149 The scons-time mem subcommand extracts memory use information from all
151 the specified file arguments, which should be files containing output
152 from running SCons with the --debug=memory option. (Normally, these
153 would be *.log files generated by the scons-time run subcommand.) All
154 file name arguments will be globbed for on-disk files.
155 If no arguments are specified, then memory information will be
157 extracted from all *.log files, or the subset of them with a prefix
158 specified by the -p option.
159 -C DIR, --chdir=DIR
161 Changes to the specified DIRECTORY before looking for the specified
162 files (or files that match the specified patterns).
163 -f FILE, --file=FILE
165 Reads configuration information from the specified FILE.
166 -fmt=FORMAT, --format=FORMAT
168 Reports the output in the specified FORMAT. The formats currently
169 supported are ascii (the default) and gnuplot.
170 -h, --help
172 Displays help text for the scons-time mem subcommand.
173 -p STRING, --prefix=STRING
175 Specifies the prefix string for log files from which to extract
176 memory usage information. This will be used to search for log files
177 if no arguments are specified on the command line.
178 --stage=STAGE
180 Prints the memory used at the end of the specified STAGE: pre-read
181 (before the SConscript files are read), post-read , (after the
182 SConscript files are read), pre-build (before any targets are
183 built) or post-build (after any targets are built). If no --stage
184 option is specified, the default behavior is post-build, which
185 reports the final amount of memory used by SCons during each run.
186 -t NUMBER, --tail=NUMBER
188 Only reports memory statistics from the last NUMBER files.
189 The obj Subcommand
191 scons-time obj [-h] [--chdir=DIR] [-f FILE] [--fmt=FORMAT] [-p STRING]
192 [--stage=STAGE] [-t NUMBER] [--title=TITLE] [ARGUMENTS]
193 The scons-time obj subcommand displays how many objects of a specific
195 named type are created by SCons.
196 The scons-time obj subcommand extracts object counts from all the
198 specified file arguments, which should be files containing output from
199 running SCons with the --debug=count option. (Normally, these would be
200 *.log files generated by the scons-time run subcommand.) All file name
201 arguments will be globbed for on-disk files.
202 If no arguments are specified, then object counts will be extracted
204 from all *.log files, or the subset of them with a prefix specified by
205 the -p option.
206 -C DIR, --chdir=DIR
208 Changes to the specified DIRECTORY before looking for the specified
209 files (or files that match the specified patterns).
210 -f FILE, --file=FILE
212 Reads configuration information from the specified FILE.
213 -fmt=FORMAT, --format=FORMAT
215 Reports the output in the specified FORMAT. The formats currently
216 supported are ascii (the default) and gnuplot.
217 -h, --help
219 Displays help text for the scons-time obj subcommand.
220 -p STRING, --prefix=STRING
222 Specifies the prefix string for log files from which to extract
223 object counts. This will be used to search for log files if no
224 arguments are specified on the command line.
225 --stage=STAGE
227 Prints the object count at the end of the specified STAGE: pre-read
228 (before the SConscript files are read), post-read , (after the
229 SConscript files are read), pre-build (before any targets are
230 built) or post-build (after any targets are built). If no --stage
231 option is specified, the default behavior is post-build, which
232 reports the final object count during each run.
233 -t NUMBER, --tail=NUMBER
235 Only reports object counts from the last NUMBER files.
236 The run Subcommand
238 scons-time run [-hnqv] [-f FILE] [--number=NUMBER] [--outdir=OUTDIR]
239 [-p STRING] [--python=PYTHON] [-s DIR] [--scons=SCONS] [--svn=URL]
240 [ARGUMENTS] The scons-time run subcommand is the basic subcommand for
241 profiling a specific configuration against a version of SCons.
242 The configuration to be tested is specified as a list of files or
244 directories that will be unpacked or copied into a temporary directory
245 in which SCons will be invoked. The scons-time run subcommand
246 understands file suffixes like .tar, .tar.gz, .tgz and .zip and will
247 unpack their contents into a temporary directory. If more than one
248 argument is specified, each one will be unpacked or copied into the
249 temporary directory "on top of" the previous archives or directories,
250 so the expectation is that multiple specified archives share the same
251 directory layout.
252 Once the file or directory arguments are unpacked or copied to the
254 temporary directory, the scons-time run subcommand runs the requested
255 version of SCons against the configuration three times:
256 Startup
258 SCons is run with the --help option so that just the SConscript
259 files are read, and then the default help text is printed. This
260 profiles just the perceived "overhead" of starting up SCons and
261 processing the SConscript files.
262 Full build
264 SCons is run to build everything specified in the configuration.
265 Specific targets to be passed in on the command l ine may be
266 specified by the targets keyword in a configuration file; see below
267 for details.
268 Rebuild
270 SCons is run again on the same just-built directory. If the
271 dependencies in the SCons configuration are correct, this should be
272 an up-to-date, "do nothing" rebuild.
273 Each invocation captures the output log file and a profile.
275 The scons-time run subcommand supports the following options:
277 -f FILE, --file=FILE
279 Reads configuration information from the specified FILE. This often
280 provides a more convenient way to specify and collect parameters
281 associated with a specific timing configuration than specifying
282 them on the command line. See the CONFIGURATION FILE section below
283 for information about the configuration file parameters.
284 -h, --help
286 Displays help text for the scons-time run subcommand.
287 -n, --no-exec
289 Do not execute commands, just printing the command-line equivalents
290 of what would be executed. Note that the scons-time script actually
291 executes its actions in Python, where possible, for portability.
292 The commands displayed are UNIX equivalents of what it's doing.
293 --number=NUMBER
295 Specifies the run number to be used in the names of the log files
296 and profile outputs generated by this run.
297 When used in conjunction with the --svn=URL option, NUMBER specifies
299 one or more comma-separated Subversion revision numbers that will be
300 retrieved automatically from the Subversion repository at the specified
301 URL. Ranges of delta or revision numbers may be specified be separating
302 two numbers with a hyphen (-).
303 Example:
305 % scons-time run --svn=http://scons.tigris.org/svn/trunk --num=1247,1249-1252 .
307 -p STRING, --prefix=STRING
309 Specifies the prefix string to be used for all of the log files and
310 profiles generated by this run. The default is derived from the
311 first specified argument: if the first argument is a directory, the
312 default prefix is the name of the directory; if the first argument
313 is an archive (tar or zip file), the default prefix is the the base
314 name of the archive, that is, what remains after stripping the
315 archive suffix (.tgz, .tar.gz or .zip).
316 --python=PYTHON
318 Specifies a path to the Python executable to be used for the timing
319 runs. The default is to use the same Python executable that is
320 running the scons-time command itself.
321 -q, --quiet
323 Suppresses display of the command lines being executed.
324 -s DIR, --subdir=DIR
326 Specifies the name of directory or subdirectory from which the
327 commands should be executed. The default is XXX
328 --scons=SCONS
330 Specifies a path to the SCons script to be used for the timing
331 runs. The default is XXX
332 --svn=URL, --subversion=URL
334 Specifies the URL of the Subversion repository from which the
335 version(s) of scons being timed will be extracted. When --svn is
336 specified, the --number=NUMBER option specifies revision numbers
337 that will be tested. Output from each invocation run will be placed
338 in file names that match the Subversion revision numbers. If the
339 --number= option is not specified, then the default behavior is to
340 time the HEAD of the specified URL.
341 -v, --verbose
343 Displays the output from individual commands to the screen (in
344 addition to capturing the output in log files).
345 The time Subcommand
347 scons-time time [-h] [--chdir=DIR] [-f FILE] [--fmt=FORMAT] [-p STRING]
348 [-t NUMBER] [--title=TITLE] [--which=WHICH] [ARGUMENTS]
349 The scons-time time subcommand displays SCons execution times as
351 reported by the scons --debug=time option.
352 The scons-time time subcommand extracts SCons timing from all the
354 specified file arguments, which should be files containing output from
355 running SCons with the --debug=time option. (Normally, these would be
356 *.log files generated by the scons-time run subcommand.) All file name
357 arguments will be globbed for on-disk files.
358 If no arguments are specified, then execution timings will be extracted
360 from all *.log files, or the subset of them with a prefix specified by
361 the -p option.
362 -C DIR, --chdir=DIR
364 Changes to the specified DIRECTORY before looking for the specified
365 files (or files that match the specified patterns).
366 -f FILE, --file=FILE
368 Reads configuration information from the specified FILE.
369 -fmt=FORMAT, --format=FORMAT
371 Reports the output in the specified FORMAT. The formats currently
372 supported are ascii (the default) and gnuplot.
373 -h, --help
375 Displays help text for the scons-time time subcommand.
376 -p STRING, --prefix=STRING
378 Specifies the prefix string for log files from which to extract
379 execution timings. This will be used to search for log files if no
380 arguments are specified on the command line.
381 -t NUMBER, --tail=NUMBER
383 Only reports object counts from the last NUMBER files.
384 --which=WHICH
386 Prints the execution time for the specified WHICH value: total (the
387 total execution time), SConscripts (total execution time for the
388 SConscript files themselves), SCons (exectuion time in SCons code
389 itself) or commands (execution time of the commands and other
390 actions used to build targets). If no --which option is specified,
391 the default behavior is total, which reports the total execution
392 time for each run.
393
395 Various scons-time subcommands can read information from a specified
396 configuration file when passed the -f or --file options. The
397 configuration file is actually executed as a Python script. Setting
398 Python variables in the configuration file controls the behavior of the
399 scons-time script more conveniently than having to specify command-line
400 options or arguments for every run, and provides a handy way to
401 "shrink-wrap" the necessary information for producing (and reporting)
402 consistent timing runs for a given configuration.
403 archive_list
405 A list of archives (files or directories) that will be copied to
406 the temporary directory in which SCons will be invoked. .tar,
407 .tar.gz, .tgz and .zip files will have their contents unpacked in
408 the temporary directory. Directory trees and files will be copied
409 as-is.
410 initial_commands
412 A list of commands that will be executed before the actual timed
413 scons runs. This can be used for commands that are necessary to
414 prepare the source tree-for example, creating a configuration file
415 that should not be part of the timed run.
416 key_location
418 The location of the key on Gnuplot graphing information generated
419 with the --format=gnuplot option. The default is bottom left.
420 prefix
422 The file name prefix to be used when running or extracting timing
423 for this configuration.
424 python
426 The path name of the Python executable to be used when running or
427 extracting information for this configuration. The default is the
428 same version of Python used to run the SCons
429 scons
431 The path name of the SCons script to be used when running or
432 extracting information for this configuration. The default is
433 simply scons.
434 scons_flags
436 The scons flags used when running SCons to collect timing
437 information. The default value is --debug=count --debug=memory
438 --debug=time --debug=memoizer.
439 scons_lib_dir, scons_wrapper, startup_targets, subdir
441 The subdirectory of the project into which the scons-time script
442 should change before executing the SCons commands to time.
443 subversion_url
445 The Subversion URL from
446 svn
448 The subversion executable used to check out revisions of SCons to
449 be timed. The default is simple svn.
450 svn_co_flag, tar, targets
452 A string containing the targets that should be added to the command
453 line of every timed scons run. This can be used to restrict what's
454 being timed to a subset of the full build for the configuration.
455 targets0, targets1, targets2, title, unzip, verbose, vertical_bars
457 Example
459 Here is an example scons-time configuration file for a hypothetical
460 sample project:
461 # The project doesn't use SCons natively (yet), so we're
463 # timing a separate set of SConscript files that we lay
464 # on top of the vanilla unpacked project tarball.
465 arguments = ['project-1.2.tgz', 'project-SConscripts.tar']
466 # The subdirectory name contains the project version number,
468 # so tell scons-time to chdir there before building.
469 subdir = 'project-1.2'
470 # Set the prefix so output log files and profiles are named:
472 # project-000-[012].{log,prof}
473 # project-001-[012].{log,prof}
474 # etc.
475 prefix = 'project'
476 # The SConscript files being tested don't do any SConf
478 # configuration, so run their normal ./configure script
479 # before we invoke SCons.
480 initial_commands = [
481 './configure',
482 ]
483 # Only time building the bin/project executable.
485 targets = 'bin/project'
486 # Time against SCons revisions of the branches/core branch
488 subversion_url = 'http://scons.tigris.org/svn/scons/branches/core'
489
491 The scons-time script uses the following environment variables:
492 PRESERVE
494 If this value is set, the scons-time script will not remove the
495 temporary directory or directories in which it builds the specified
496 configuration or downloads a specific version of SCons.
497
499 gnuplot(1), scons(1)
500
502 Steven Knight <knight at baldmt dot com>
503SCons 4.4.0 01/21/2023 SCONS-TIME(1)