677 lines
28 KiB
ReStructuredText
677 lines
28 KiB
ReStructuredText
.. _profile:
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********************
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The Python Profilers
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********************
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**Source code:** :source:`Lib/profile.py` and :source:`Lib/pstats.py`
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--------------
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.. _profiler-introduction:
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Introduction to the profilers
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=============================
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.. index::
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single: deterministic profiling
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single: profiling, deterministic
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:mod:`cProfile` and :mod:`profile` provide :dfn:`deterministic profiling` of
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Python programs. A :dfn:`profile` is a set of statistics that describes how
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often and for how long various parts of the program executed. These statistics
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can be formatted into reports via the :mod:`pstats` module.
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The Python standard library provides three different implementations of the same
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profiling interface:
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1. :mod:`cProfile` is recommended for most users; it's a C extension with
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reasonable overhead that makes it suitable for profiling long-running
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programs. Based on :mod:`lsprof`, contributed by Brett Rosen and Ted
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Czotter.
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.. versionadded:: 2.5
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2. :mod:`profile`, a pure Python module whose interface is imitated by
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:mod:`cProfile`, but which adds significant overhead to profiled programs.
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If you're trying to extend the profiler in some way, the task might be easier
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with this module.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.4
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Now also reports the time spent in calls to built-in functions
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and methods.
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3. :mod:`hotshot` was an experimental C module that focused on minimizing
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the overhead of profiling, at the expense of longer data
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post-processing times. It is no longer maintained and may be
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dropped in a future version of Python.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.5
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The results should be more meaningful than in the past: the timing core
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contained a critical bug.
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The :mod:`profile` and :mod:`cProfile` modules export the same interface, so
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they are mostly interchangeable; :mod:`cProfile` has a much lower overhead but
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is newer and might not be available on all systems.
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:mod:`cProfile` is really a compatibility layer on top of the internal
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:mod:`_lsprof` module. The :mod:`hotshot` module is reserved for specialized
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usage.
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.. note::
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The profiler modules are designed to provide an execution profile for a given
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program, not for benchmarking purposes (for that, there is :mod:`timeit` for
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reasonably accurate results). This particularly applies to benchmarking
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Python code against C code: the profilers introduce overhead for Python code,
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but not for C-level functions, and so the C code would seem faster than any
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Python one.
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.. _profile-instant:
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Instant User's Manual
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=====================
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This section is provided for users that "don't want to read the manual." It
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provides a very brief overview, and allows a user to rapidly perform profiling
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on an existing application.
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To profile a function that takes a single argument, you can do::
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import cProfile
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import re
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cProfile.run('re.compile("foo|bar")')
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(Use :mod:`profile` instead of :mod:`cProfile` if the latter is not available on
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your system.)
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The above action would run :func:`re.compile` and print profile results like
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the following::
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197 function calls (192 primitive calls) in 0.002 seconds
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Ordered by: standard name
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ncalls tottime percall cumtime percall filename:lineno(function)
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1 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.001 <string>:1(<module>)
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1 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.001 re.py:212(compile)
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1 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.001 re.py:268(_compile)
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1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 sre_compile.py:172(_compile_charset)
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1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 sre_compile.py:201(_optimize_charset)
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4 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 sre_compile.py:25(_identityfunction)
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3/1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 sre_compile.py:33(_compile)
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The first line indicates that 197 calls were monitored. Of those calls, 192
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were :dfn:`primitive`, meaning that the call was not induced via recursion. The
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next line: ``Ordered by: standard name``, indicates that the text string in the
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far right column was used to sort the output. The column headings include:
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ncalls
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for the number of calls,
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tottime
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for the total time spent in the given function (and excluding time made in
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calls to sub-functions)
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percall
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is the quotient of ``tottime`` divided by ``ncalls``
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cumtime
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is the cumulative time spent in this and all subfunctions (from invocation
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till exit). This figure is accurate *even* for recursive functions.
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percall
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is the quotient of ``cumtime`` divided by primitive calls
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filename:lineno(function)
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provides the respective data of each function
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When there are two numbers in the first column (for example ``3/1``), it means
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that the function recursed. The second value is the number of primitive calls
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and the former is the total number of calls. Note that when the function does
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not recurse, these two values are the same, and only the single figure is
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printed.
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Instead of printing the output at the end of the profile run, you can save the
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results to a file by specifying a filename to the :func:`run` function::
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import cProfile
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import re
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cProfile.run('re.compile("foo|bar")', 'restats')
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The :class:`pstats.Stats` class reads profile results from a file and formats
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them in various ways.
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The file :mod:`cProfile` can also be invoked as a script to profile another
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script. For example::
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python -m cProfile [-o output_file] [-s sort_order] myscript.py
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``-o`` writes the profile results to a file instead of to stdout
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``-s`` specifies one of the :func:`~pstats.Stats.sort_stats` sort values to sort
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the output by. This only applies when ``-o`` is not supplied.
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The :mod:`pstats` module's :class:`~pstats.Stats` class has a variety of methods
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for manipulating and printing the data saved into a profile results file::
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import pstats
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p = pstats.Stats('restats')
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p.strip_dirs().sort_stats(-1).print_stats()
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The :meth:`~pstats.Stats.strip_dirs` method removed the extraneous path from all
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the module names. The :meth:`~pstats.Stats.sort_stats` method sorted all the
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entries according to the standard module/line/name string that is printed. The
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:meth:`~pstats.Stats.print_stats` method printed out all the statistics. You
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might try the following sort calls::
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p.sort_stats('name')
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p.print_stats()
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The first call will actually sort the list by function name, and the second call
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will print out the statistics. The following are some interesting calls to
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experiment with::
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p.sort_stats('cumulative').print_stats(10)
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This sorts the profile by cumulative time in a function, and then only prints
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the ten most significant lines. If you want to understand what algorithms are
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taking time, the above line is what you would use.
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If you were looking to see what functions were looping a lot, and taking a lot
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of time, you would do::
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p.sort_stats('time').print_stats(10)
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to sort according to time spent within each function, and then print the
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statistics for the top ten functions.
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You might also try::
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p.sort_stats('file').print_stats('__init__')
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This will sort all the statistics by file name, and then print out statistics
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for only the class init methods (since they are spelled with ``__init__`` in
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them). As one final example, you could try::
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p.sort_stats('time', 'cum').print_stats(.5, 'init')
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This line sorts statistics with a primary key of time, and a secondary key of
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cumulative time, and then prints out some of the statistics. To be specific, the
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list is first culled down to 50% (re: ``.5``) of its original size, then only
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lines containing ``init`` are maintained, and that sub-sub-list is printed.
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If you wondered what functions called the above functions, you could now (``p``
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is still sorted according to the last criteria) do::
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p.print_callers(.5, 'init')
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and you would get a list of callers for each of the listed functions.
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If you want more functionality, you're going to have to read the manual, or
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guess what the following functions do::
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p.print_callees()
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p.add('restats')
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Invoked as a script, the :mod:`pstats` module is a statistics browser for
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reading and examining profile dumps. It has a simple line-oriented interface
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(implemented using :mod:`cmd`) and interactive help.
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:mod:`profile` and :mod:`cProfile` Module Reference
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=======================================================
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.. module:: cProfile
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.. module:: profile
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:synopsis: Python source profiler.
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Both the :mod:`profile` and :mod:`cProfile` modules provide the following
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functions:
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.. function:: run(command, filename=None, sort=-1)
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This function takes a single argument that can be passed to the :func:`exec`
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function, and an optional file name. In all cases this routine executes::
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exec(command, __main__.__dict__, __main__.__dict__)
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and gathers profiling statistics from the execution. If no file name is
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present, then this function automatically creates a :class:`~pstats.Stats`
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instance and prints a simple profiling report. If the sort value is specified
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it is passed to this :class:`~pstats.Stats` instance to control how the
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results are sorted.
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.. function:: runctx(command, globals, locals, filename=None)
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This function is similar to :func:`run`, with added arguments to supply the
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globals and locals dictionaries for the *command* string. This routine
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executes::
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exec(command, globals, locals)
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and gathers profiling statistics as in the :func:`run` function above.
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.. class:: Profile(timer=None, timeunit=0.0, subcalls=True, builtins=True)
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This class is normally only used if more precise control over profiling is
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needed than what the :func:`cProfile.run` function provides.
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A custom timer can be supplied for measuring how long code takes to run via
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the *timer* argument. This must be a function that returns a single number
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representing the current time. If the number is an integer, the *timeunit*
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specifies a multiplier that specifies the duration of each unit of time. For
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example, if the timer returns times measured in thousands of seconds, the
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time unit would be ``.001``.
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Directly using the :class:`Profile` class allows formatting profile results
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without writing the profile data to a file::
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import cProfile, pstats, StringIO
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pr = cProfile.Profile()
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pr.enable()
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# ... do something ...
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pr.disable()
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s = StringIO.StringIO()
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sortby = 'cumulative'
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ps = pstats.Stats(pr, stream=s).sort_stats(sortby)
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ps.print_stats()
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print s.getvalue()
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.. method:: enable()
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Start collecting profiling data.
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.. method:: disable()
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Stop collecting profiling data.
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.. method:: create_stats()
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Stop collecting profiling data and record the results internally
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as the current profile.
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.. method:: print_stats(sort=-1)
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Create a :class:`~pstats.Stats` object based on the current
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profile and print the results to stdout.
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.. method:: dump_stats(filename)
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Write the results of the current profile to *filename*.
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.. method:: run(cmd)
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Profile the cmd via :func:`exec`.
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.. method:: runctx(cmd, globals, locals)
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Profile the cmd via :func:`exec` with the specified global and
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local environment.
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.. method:: runcall(func, *args, **kwargs)
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Profile ``func(*args, **kwargs)``
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.. _profile-stats:
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The :class:`Stats` Class
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========================
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Analysis of the profiler data is done using the :class:`~pstats.Stats` class.
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.. module:: pstats
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:synopsis: Statistics object for use with the profiler.
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.. class:: Stats(*filenames or profile, stream=sys.stdout)
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This class constructor creates an instance of a "statistics object" from a
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*filename* (or list of filenames) or from a :class:`Profile` instance. Output
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will be printed to the stream specified by *stream*.
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The file selected by the above constructor must have been created by the
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corresponding version of :mod:`profile` or :mod:`cProfile`. To be specific,
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there is *no* file compatibility guaranteed with future versions of this
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profiler, and there is no compatibility with files produced by other
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profilers. If several files are provided, all the statistics for identical
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functions will be coalesced, so that an overall view of several processes can
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be considered in a single report. If additional files need to be combined
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with data in an existing :class:`~pstats.Stats` object, the
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:meth:`~pstats.Stats.add` method can be used.
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Instead of reading the profile data from a file, a :class:`cProfile.Profile`
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or :class:`profile.Profile` object can be used as the profile data source.
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:class:`Stats` objects have the following methods:
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.. method:: strip_dirs()
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This method for the :class:`Stats` class removes all leading path
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information from file names. It is very useful in reducing the size of
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the printout to fit within (close to) 80 columns. This method modifies
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the object, and the stripped information is lost. After performing a
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strip operation, the object is considered to have its entries in a
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"random" order, as it was just after object initialization and loading.
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If :meth:`~pstats.Stats.strip_dirs` causes two function names to be
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indistinguishable (they are on the same line of the same filename, and
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have the same function name), then the statistics for these two entries
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are accumulated into a single entry.
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.. method:: add(*filenames)
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This method of the :class:`Stats` class accumulates additional profiling
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information into the current profiling object. Its arguments should refer
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to filenames created by the corresponding version of :func:`profile.run`
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or :func:`cProfile.run`. Statistics for identically named (re: file, line,
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name) functions are automatically accumulated into single function
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statistics.
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.. method:: dump_stats(filename)
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Save the data loaded into the :class:`Stats` object to a file named
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*filename*. The file is created if it does not exist, and is overwritten
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if it already exists. This is equivalent to the method of the same name
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on the :class:`profile.Profile` and :class:`cProfile.Profile` classes.
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.. versionadded:: 2.3
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.. method:: sort_stats(*keys)
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This method modifies the :class:`Stats` object by sorting it according to
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the supplied criteria. The argument is typically a string identifying the
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basis of a sort (example: ``'time'`` or ``'name'``).
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When more than one key is provided, then additional keys are used as
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secondary criteria when there is equality in all keys selected before
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them. For example, ``sort_stats('name', 'file')`` will sort all the
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entries according to their function name, and resolve all ties (identical
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function names) by sorting by file name.
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Abbreviations can be used for any key names, as long as the abbreviation
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is unambiguous. The following are the keys currently defined:
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| Valid Arg | Meaning |
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+==================+======================+
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| ``'calls'`` | call count |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'cumulative'`` | cumulative time |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'cumtime'`` | cumulative time |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'file'`` | file name |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'filename'`` | file name |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'module'`` | file name |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'ncalls'`` | call count |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'pcalls'`` | primitive call count |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'line'`` | line number |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'name'`` | function name |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'nfl'`` | name/file/line |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'stdname'`` | standard name |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'time'`` | internal time |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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| ``'tottime'`` | internal time |
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+------------------+----------------------+
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Note that all sorts on statistics are in descending order (placing most
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time consuming items first), where as name, file, and line number searches
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are in ascending order (alphabetical). The subtle distinction between
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``'nfl'`` and ``'stdname'`` is that the standard name is a sort of the
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name as printed, which means that the embedded line numbers get compared
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in an odd way. For example, lines 3, 20, and 40 would (if the file names
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were the same) appear in the string order 20, 3 and 40. In contrast,
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``'nfl'`` does a numeric compare of the line numbers. In fact,
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``sort_stats('nfl')`` is the same as ``sort_stats('name', 'file',
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'line')``.
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For backward-compatibility reasons, the numeric arguments ``-1``, ``0``,
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``1``, and ``2`` are permitted. They are interpreted as ``'stdname'``,
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``'calls'``, ``'time'``, and ``'cumulative'`` respectively. If this old
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style format (numeric) is used, only one sort key (the numeric key) will
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be used, and additional arguments will be silently ignored.
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.. For compatibility with the old profiler.
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.. method:: reverse_order()
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This method for the :class:`Stats` class reverses the ordering of the
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basic list within the object. Note that by default ascending vs
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descending order is properly selected based on the sort key of choice.
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.. This method is provided primarily for compatibility with the old
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profiler.
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.. method:: print_stats(*restrictions)
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This method for the :class:`Stats` class prints out a report as described
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in the :func:`profile.run` definition.
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The order of the printing is based on the last
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:meth:`~pstats.Stats.sort_stats` operation done on the object (subject to
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caveats in :meth:`~pstats.Stats.add` and
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:meth:`~pstats.Stats.strip_dirs`).
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The arguments provided (if any) can be used to limit the list down to the
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significant entries. Initially, the list is taken to be the complete set
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of profiled functions. Each restriction is either an integer (to select a
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count of lines), or a decimal fraction between 0.0 and 1.0 inclusive (to
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select a percentage of lines), or a regular expression (to pattern match
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the standard name that is printed. If several restrictions are provided,
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then they are applied sequentially. For example::
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print_stats(.1, 'foo:')
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would first limit the printing to first 10% of list, and then only print
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functions that were part of filename :file:`.\*foo:`. In contrast, the
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command::
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print_stats('foo:', .1)
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would limit the list to all functions having file names :file:`.\*foo:`,
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and then proceed to only print the first 10% of them.
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.. method:: print_callers(*restrictions)
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This method for the :class:`Stats` class prints a list of all functions
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that called each function in the profiled database. The ordering is
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identical to that provided by :meth:`~pstats.Stats.print_stats`, and the
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definition of the restricting argument is also identical. Each caller is
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reported on its own line. The format differs slightly depending on the
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profiler that produced the stats:
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* With :mod:`profile`, a number is shown in parentheses after each caller
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to show how many times this specific call was made. For convenience, a
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second non-parenthesized number repeats the cumulative time spent in the
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function at the right.
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* With :mod:`cProfile`, each caller is preceded by three numbers: the
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number of times this specific call was made, and the total and
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cumulative times spent in the current function while it was invoked by
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this specific caller.
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|
|
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.. method:: print_callees(*restrictions)
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|
This method for the :class:`Stats` class prints a list of all function
|
|
that were called by the indicated function. Aside from this reversal of
|
|
direction of calls (re: called vs was called by), the arguments and
|
|
ordering are identical to the :meth:`~pstats.Stats.print_callers` method.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _deterministic-profiling:
|
|
|
|
What Is Deterministic Profiling?
|
|
================================
|
|
|
|
:dfn:`Deterministic profiling` is meant to reflect the fact that all *function
|
|
call*, *function return*, and *exception* events are monitored, and precise
|
|
timings are made for the intervals between these events (during which time the
|
|
user's code is executing). In contrast, :dfn:`statistical profiling` (which is
|
|
not done by this module) randomly samples the effective instruction pointer, and
|
|
deduces where time is being spent. The latter technique traditionally involves
|
|
less overhead (as the code does not need to be instrumented), but provides only
|
|
relative indications of where time is being spent.
|
|
|
|
In Python, since there is an interpreter active during execution, the presence
|
|
of instrumented code is not required to do deterministic profiling. Python
|
|
automatically provides a :dfn:`hook` (optional callback) for each event. In
|
|
addition, the interpreted nature of Python tends to add so much overhead to
|
|
execution, that deterministic profiling tends to only add small processing
|
|
overhead in typical applications. The result is that deterministic profiling is
|
|
not that expensive, yet provides extensive run time statistics about the
|
|
execution of a Python program.
|
|
|
|
Call count statistics can be used to identify bugs in code (surprising counts),
|
|
and to identify possible inline-expansion points (high call counts). Internal
|
|
time statistics can be used to identify "hot loops" that should be carefully
|
|
optimized. Cumulative time statistics should be used to identify high level
|
|
errors in the selection of algorithms. Note that the unusual handling of
|
|
cumulative times in this profiler allows statistics for recursive
|
|
implementations of algorithms to be directly compared to iterative
|
|
implementations.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _profile-limitations:
|
|
|
|
Limitations
|
|
===========
|
|
|
|
One limitation has to do with accuracy of timing information. There is a
|
|
fundamental problem with deterministic profilers involving accuracy. The most
|
|
obvious restriction is that the underlying "clock" is only ticking at a rate
|
|
(typically) of about .001 seconds. Hence no measurements will be more accurate
|
|
than the underlying clock. If enough measurements are taken, then the "error"
|
|
will tend to average out. Unfortunately, removing this first error induces a
|
|
second source of error.
|
|
|
|
The second problem is that it "takes a while" from when an event is dispatched
|
|
until the profiler's call to get the time actually *gets* the state of the
|
|
clock. Similarly, there is a certain lag when exiting the profiler event
|
|
handler from the time that the clock's value was obtained (and then squirreled
|
|
away), until the user's code is once again executing. As a result, functions
|
|
that are called many times, or call many functions, will typically accumulate
|
|
this error. The error that accumulates in this fashion is typically less than
|
|
the accuracy of the clock (less than one clock tick), but it *can* accumulate
|
|
and become very significant.
|
|
|
|
The problem is more important with :mod:`profile` than with the lower-overhead
|
|
:mod:`cProfile`. For this reason, :mod:`profile` provides a means of
|
|
calibrating itself for a given platform so that this error can be
|
|
probabilistically (on the average) removed. After the profiler is calibrated, it
|
|
will be more accurate (in a least square sense), but it will sometimes produce
|
|
negative numbers (when call counts are exceptionally low, and the gods of
|
|
probability work against you :-). ) Do *not* be alarmed by negative numbers in
|
|
the profile. They should *only* appear if you have calibrated your profiler,
|
|
and the results are actually better than without calibration.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _profile-calibration:
|
|
|
|
Calibration
|
|
===========
|
|
|
|
The profiler of the :mod:`profile` module subtracts a constant from each event
|
|
handling time to compensate for the overhead of calling the time function, and
|
|
socking away the results. By default, the constant is 0. The following
|
|
procedure can be used to obtain a better constant for a given platform (see
|
|
:ref:`profile-limitations`). ::
|
|
|
|
import profile
|
|
pr = profile.Profile()
|
|
for i in range(5):
|
|
print pr.calibrate(10000)
|
|
|
|
The method executes the number of Python calls given by the argument, directly
|
|
and again under the profiler, measuring the time for both. It then computes the
|
|
hidden overhead per profiler event, and returns that as a float. For example,
|
|
on a 1.8Ghz Intel Core i5 running Mac OS X, and using Python's time.clock() as
|
|
the timer, the magical number is about 4.04e-6.
|
|
|
|
The object of this exercise is to get a fairly consistent result. If your
|
|
computer is *very* fast, or your timer function has poor resolution, you might
|
|
have to pass 100000, or even 1000000, to get consistent results.
|
|
|
|
When you have a consistent answer, there are three ways you can use it: [#]_ ::
|
|
|
|
import profile
|
|
|
|
# 1. Apply computed bias to all Profile instances created hereafter.
|
|
profile.Profile.bias = your_computed_bias
|
|
|
|
# 2. Apply computed bias to a specific Profile instance.
|
|
pr = profile.Profile()
|
|
pr.bias = your_computed_bias
|
|
|
|
# 3. Specify computed bias in instance constructor.
|
|
pr = profile.Profile(bias=your_computed_bias)
|
|
|
|
If you have a choice, you are better off choosing a smaller constant, and then
|
|
your results will "less often" show up as negative in profile statistics.
|
|
|
|
.. _profile-timers:
|
|
|
|
Using a custom timer
|
|
====================
|
|
|
|
If you want to change how current time is determined (for example, to force use
|
|
of wall-clock time or elapsed process time), pass the timing function you want
|
|
to the :class:`Profile` class constructor::
|
|
|
|
pr = profile.Profile(your_time_func)
|
|
|
|
The resulting profiler will then call ``your_time_func``. Depending on whether
|
|
you are using :class:`profile.Profile` or :class:`cProfile.Profile`,
|
|
``your_time_func``'s return value will be interpreted differently:
|
|
|
|
:class:`profile.Profile`
|
|
``your_time_func`` should return a single number, or a list of numbers whose
|
|
sum is the current time (like what :func:`os.times` returns). If the
|
|
function returns a single time number, or the list of returned numbers has
|
|
length 2, then you will get an especially fast version of the dispatch
|
|
routine.
|
|
|
|
Be warned that you should calibrate the profiler class for the timer function
|
|
that you choose (see :ref:`profile-calibration`). For most machines, a timer
|
|
that returns a lone integer value will provide the best results in terms of
|
|
low overhead during profiling. (:func:`os.times` is *pretty* bad, as it
|
|
returns a tuple of floating point values). If you want to substitute a
|
|
better timer in the cleanest fashion, derive a class and hardwire a
|
|
replacement dispatch method that best handles your timer call, along with the
|
|
appropriate calibration constant.
|
|
|
|
:class:`cProfile.Profile`
|
|
``your_time_func`` should return a single number. If it returns integers,
|
|
you can also invoke the class constructor with a second argument specifying
|
|
the real duration of one unit of time. For example, if
|
|
``your_integer_time_func`` returns times measured in thousands of seconds,
|
|
you would construct the :class:`Profile` instance as follows::
|
|
|
|
pr = cProfile.Profile(your_integer_time_func, 0.001)
|
|
|
|
As the :class:`cProfile.Profile` class cannot be calibrated, custom timer
|
|
functions should be used with care and should be as fast as possible. For
|
|
the best results with a custom timer, it might be necessary to hard-code it
|
|
in the C source of the internal :mod:`_lsprof` module.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. rubric:: Footnotes
|
|
|
|
.. [#] Prior to Python 2.2, it was necessary to edit the profiler source code to
|
|
embed the bias as a literal number. You still can, but that method is no longer
|
|
described, because no longer needed.
|