Specifications

Debugging and Testing Tools
9.5 Crash Log Utility Extractor
The implementation differences between OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS AXP are
shown in Table 9–3.
Table 9–3 CLUE Differences Between OpenVMS VAX and OpenVMS AXP
OpenVMS VAX OpenVMS AXP
Attribute
Access method Invoked as a separate utility. Accessed through SDA.
History file A cumulative file that contains a
one-line summary and detailed
information from the crash dump
file for each crash.
A cumulative file that contains only
a one-line summary for each crash
dump. The detailed information
for each crash is put in a separate
listing file.
Uses in addition
to debugging
crash dumps
None. CLUE commands can be used
interactively to examine a running
system.
Where
documented
OpenVMS System Manager’s
Manual and OpenVMS System
Management Utilities Reference
Manual
OpenVMS System Manager’s
Manual and OpenVMS AXP
System Dump Analyzer Utility
Manual
9.6 DEC Performance and Coverage Analyzer
DEC Performance and Coverage Analyzer (PCA) is a component of DECset. Each
DECset tool provides a DECwindows Motif user interface and a consistent look
and feel across platforms. PCA is designed to help software engineers analyze
and improve the runtime functioning of application programs.
DEC PCA serves two functions:
• Helps pinpoint execution bottlenecks and other performance problems so that
users can modify their programs to run faster.
• Provides test coverage analysis by measuring what program sections have or
have not been executed by a specified set of test data. With this information,
users can create new tests to exercise their programs more thoroughly.
DEC PCA is fully symbolic and uses the Debug Symbol Table (DST) information
in the user’s program to access the symbolic names of program locations.
Consequently, applications written in any of the OpenVMS languages that
produce DST information can be analyzed with DEC PCA.
DEC PCA consists of two parts—the Collector and the Analyzer. The Collector
gathers performance or test coverage data on a running user program and writes
that data to a performance data file. The Analyzer—a separate, interactive
program—then reads the performance data file and presents the results as
performance histograms and tabular displays.
DEC PCA can be used to collect and analyze the following kinds of data:
• CPU sampling data—The program counter (PC) can be sampled to determine
which sections of an application use the most CPU time during program
execution.
• Program counter sampling data—The program counter can be sampled at
a specified interval (by default, every 10 milliseconds) to determine which
sections of an application take the longest time to run.
9–11