Technical data

3
Using CTF
This chapter describes how to prepare your system for using the Common Trace
Facility (CTF), and how to use CTF.
3.1 Introduction
Before anyone can use CTF, you must ensure that all CTF-related images have
been installed and that adequate system resources are available. Section 3.2
describes the preparations that must be made before CTF can be started on a
system.
You will require specific rights identifiers in order to use certain CTF commands.
Also, if you intend to trace remote tracepoints, you will probably need to know
certain items of access control information. Section 3.3 describes the privileges
and access control information that you will require in order to use CTF.
To use the CTF command interface you must run the TRACE utility. Section 3.4
describes how you run the TRACE utility.
To generate trace output you must start collecting trace records from the
tracepoints in which you are interested. Section 3.5 describes how you start
detached, live, or snapshot tracing at one or more tracepoints, and describes how
to stop tracing when you have collected sufficient trace output.
If you are using live tracing, trace records are displayed on your terminal as
they are collected. However, if you are using detached tracing, trace records are
written to a trace file. To display the contents of a trace file you must issue the
appropriate CTF command. Section 3.6 describes how you display the contents
of a trace file, and describes how you can alter the format of the display for both
live and detached tracing.
You can associate CTF commands with function keys on your keyboard.
Section 3.7 describes how you assign CTF commands to keys.
Tracing can significantly degrade system performance, both on the local VMS
system on which CTF is run and, if you are remote tracing, on the remote server
that is being traced. Section 3.8 describes a CTF facility that enables you to
reduce the impact of tracing on system performance.
Section 3.9 describes some of the problems you might encounter using CTF, and
suggests what you should do to solve these problems.
3.2 System Requirements
This section describes the system requirements for running CTF.
Using CTF 3–1