Light Coverage Profiler - Results of the Routines Data Category

If you want to collect profiling results for code lines, the following requirements should be met:

• The application should be compiled with debug info (this concerns both unmanaged, .NET and Java modules). For more information, see How AQTime Profilers Use Metadata and Debug Information.
• The profiled routine should be added to a line-level profiling area. For more information, see About Profiling Levels.

If both conditions are met, you can view profiling results for individual source lines in the Details and Editor panel. Note, however, that profiling a large amount of code at line level can slow down the profiling process.

The Details panel contains line coverage profiling results. Here is a sample view of results in the Details panel:

Click the image to enlarge it.

Click the image to enlarge it.

Click the image to enlarge it.

Each row in this page corresponds to a source code line. If some routines were included in a line-level area and some were not, the panel will display only those lines that belong to the routines that were included. You can work with rows on the Lines page the same way you work with rows in the Report panel.

Double-clicking a row in the Details grid will move the cursor in the Editor panel to the source code line for which that row displays results. If a routine was profiled at line level, the Editor’s grid will show the same results as the ones shown in the Details panel. For instance, you will find that the executed function and lines are marked with green dots and the unexecuted routines and line have red dots.

To select which columns to display in the gutter, use the Field Chooser window. To bring it up, select Field Chooser from the context menu. See Adding and Removing Columns.

Click the image to enlarge it.

Click the image to enlarge it.

Click the image to enlarge it.

The Code Editor of Visual Studio lets you collapse and expand blocks of source code. The grid, which AQTime adds to the Code Editor to display profiling results, supports neither collapsing, nor expanding, because Visual Studio does not send appropriate notifications to AQTime. So, to ensure that the grid shows proper profiling results for source lines and routines, please expand all of the collapsed blocks of code. To do this, use the Outlining > Toggle All Outlining or Outlining > Stop Outlining item of the Code Editor’s context menu.

The Editor of Embarcadero RAD Studio lets you collapse and expand blocks of source code. The grid, which AQTime adds to the Editor to display profiling results, supports neither collapsing, nor expanding, because Embarcadero RAD Studio does not send appropriate notifications to AQTime. So, to ensure that the grid shows proper profiling results for source lines and routines, please expand all of the collapsed blocks of code. To do this, use the Unfold > All item of the Editor’s context menu.

Notes:

• Note that in order for AQTime to show source files in the Editor, the path to these files must be specified in the Project Search Directories or Search Directory dialogs. In addition, your applications must be compiled with debug information (see How AQTime Profilers Use Metadata and Debug Information).
• Information about lines depends on debug info attached to the executable. With the Light Coverage profiler especially, you should be on the lookout for unexpected discrepancies. Some compilers, for instance, such as Borland Delphi, will skip functions that are never called (this is called Smart Linking). Therefore, the debug information will log fewer functions and fewer lines than there are in the source file.
• The Editor can display incorrect profiling-related information for some C++ applications that use several functions based on the same template (see Profiling Template Functions). In this case, refer to the Report panel to get the correct results.
• Sometimes the Light Coverage profiler can report that the last line of your routine was not executed (it shows a red dot for this line in the Editor’s grid). The reason for this is that AQTime stops profiling a routine when the application executes the ret instruction. Usually, this instruction is the last instruction in the routine’s binary code. However, compilers can produce code which includes ret instructions in “the middle” of a routine. For example, the following C++Builder code will insert ret instructions after each case line of a switch...case block.

  C++

  void foo(int i)
  {
    . . .
    switch(i)
    {
     case 1: //do something
       break;
     case 2: // do something
       break;
    }
  } // This line is never executed

• Note once again that if at least one block of a partially executed line was executed, the profiler marks the entire line as executed. For more information, see above.