uflow_example.txt

Demonstrations of uflow.


uflow traces method entry and exit events and prints a visual flow graph that
shows how methods are entered and exited, similar to a tracing debugger with
breakpoints. This can be useful for understanding program flow in high-level
languages such as Java, Python, Ruby, and PHP, which provide USDT probes for
method invocations.


For example, trace all Ruby method calls in a specific process:

# ./uflow -l ruby 27245
Tracing method calls in ruby process 27245... Ctrl-C to quit.
CPU PID    TID    TIME(us) METHOD
3   27245  27245  4.536    <- IO.gets                              
3   27245  27245  4.536    <- IRB::StdioInputMethod.gets           
3   27245  27245  4.536    -> IRB::Context.verbose?                
3   27245  27245  4.536      -> NilClass.nil?                      
3   27245  27245  4.536      <- NilClass.nil?                      
3   27245  27245  4.536      -> IO.tty?                            
3   27245  27245  4.536      <- IO.tty?                            
3   27245  27245  4.536      -> Kernel.kind_of?                    
3   27245  27245  4.536      <- Kernel.kind_of?                    
3   27245  27245  4.536    <- IRB::Context.verbose?                
3   27245  27245  4.536    <- IRB::Irb.signal_status               
3   27245  27245  4.536    -> String.chars                         
3   27245  27245  4.536    <- String.chars                         
^C

In the preceding output, indentation indicates the depth of the flow graph,
and the <- and -> arrows indicate the direction of the event (exit or entry).

Often, the amount of output can be overwhelming. You can filter specific 
classes or methods. For example, trace only methods from the Thread class:

# ./uflow -C java/lang/Thread $(pidof java)
Tracing method calls in java process 27722... Ctrl-C to quit.
CPU PID    TID    TIME(us) METHOD
3   27722  27731  3.144    -> java/lang/Thread.<init>              
3   27722  27731  3.144      -> java/lang/Thread.init              
3   27722  27731  3.144        -> java/lang/Thread.init            
3   27722  27731  3.144          -> java/lang/Thread.currentThread 
3   27722  27731  3.144          <- java/lang/Thread.currentThread 
3   27722  27731  3.144          -> java/lang/Thread.getThreadGroup
3   27722  27731  3.144          <- java/lang/Thread.getThreadGroup
3   27722  27731  3.144          -> java/lang/ThreadGroup.checkAccess
3   27722  27731  3.144          <- java/lang/ThreadGroup.checkAccess
3   27722  27731  3.144          -> java/lang/ThreadGroup.addUnstarted
3   27722  27731  3.144          <- java/lang/ThreadGroup.addUnstarted
3   27722  27731  3.145          -> java/lang/Thread.isDaemon     
3   27722  27731  3.145          <- java/lang/Thread.isDaemon     
3   27722  27731  3.145          -> java/lang/Thread.getPriority   
3   27722  27731  3.145          <- java/lang/Thread.getPriority   
3   27722  27731  3.145          -> java/lang/Thread.getContextClassLoader
3   27722  27731  3.145          <- java/lang/Thread.getContextClassLoader
3   27722  27731  3.145          -> java/lang/Thread.setPriority   
3   27722  27731  3.145            -> java/lang/Thread.checkAccess 
3   27722  27731  3.145            <- java/lang/Thread.checkAccess 
3   27722  27731  3.145            -> java/lang/Thread.getThreadGroup
3   27722  27731  3.145            <- java/lang/Thread.getThreadGroup
3   27722  27731  3.145            -> java/lang/ThreadGroup.getMaxPriority
3   27722  27731  3.145            <- java/lang/ThreadGroup.getMaxPriority
3   27722  27731  3.145            -> java/lang/Thread.setPriority0
3   27722  27731  3.145            <- java/lang/Thread.setPriority0
3   27722  27731  3.145          <- java/lang/Thread.setPriority   
3   27722  27731  3.145          -> java/lang/Thread.nextThreadID  
3   27722  27731  3.145          <- java/lang/Thread.nextThreadID  
3   27722  27731  3.145        <- java/lang/Thread.init            
3   27722  27731  3.145      <- java/lang/Thread.init              
3   27722  27731  3.145    <- java/lang/Thread.<init>              
3   27722  27731  3.145    -> java/lang/Thread.start               
3   27722  27731  3.145      -> java/lang/ThreadGroup.add          
3   27722  27731  3.145      <- java/lang/ThreadGroup.add          
3   27722  27731  3.145      -> java/lang/Thread.start0            
3   27722  27731  3.145      <- java/lang/Thread.start0            
3   27722  27731  3.146    <- java/lang/Thread.start               
2   27722  27742  3.146    -> java/lang/Thread.run                 
^C

The reason that the CPU number is printed in the first column is that events
from different threads can be reordered when running on different CPUs, and
produce non-sensible output. By looking for changes in the CPU column, you can
easily see if the events you're following make sense and belong to the same
thread running on the same CPU.


USAGE message:

# ./uflow -h
usage: uflow.py [-h] [-l {java,python,ruby,php}] [-M METHOD] [-C CLAZZ] [-v]
                pid

Trace method execution flow in high-level languages.

positional arguments:
  pid                   process id to attach to

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -l {java,python,ruby,php}, --language {java,python,ruby,php}
                        language to trace
  -M METHOD, --method METHOD
                        trace only calls to methods starting with this prefix
  -C CLAZZ, --class CLAZZ
                        trace only calls to classes starting with this prefix
  -v, --verbose         verbose mode: print the BPF program (for debugging
                        purposes)

examples:
    ./uflow -l java 185                # trace Java method calls in process 185
    ./uflow -l ruby 134                # trace Ruby method calls in process 134
    ./uflow -M indexOf -l java 185     # trace only 'indexOf'-prefixed methods
    ./uflow -C '<stdin>' -l python 180 # trace only REPL-defined methods