SPNU151V January 1998 – February 2020
The code generation tools include a tool called the Profile Data Decoder or armpdd, which is used for post processing profile data (PDAT) files. The armpdd tool generates a profile feedback (PRF) file. See Section 3.7.1 for a discussion of where armpdd fits in the profiling flow. The armpdd tool is invoked with this syntax:
armpdd -eexec.out -oapplication.prffilename.pdat |
-a | Computes the average of the data values in the data sets instead of accumulating data values |
-eexec.out | Specifies exec.out is the name of the application executable. |
-oapplication.prf | Specifies application.prf is the formatted profile feedback file that is used as the argument to --use_profile_info during recompilation. If no output file is specified, the default output filename is pprofout.prf. |
filename.pdat | Is the name of the profile data file generated by the run-time-support function. This is the default name and it can be overridden by using the host environment variable TI_PROFDATA. |
The run-time-support function and armpdd append to their respective output files and do not overwrite them. This enables collection of data sets from multiple runs of the application.
NOTE
Profile Data Decoder RequirementsYour application must be compiled with at least DWARF debug support to enable feedback directed optimization. When compiling for feedback directed optimization, the armpdd tool relies on basic debug information about each function in generating the formatted .prf file.
The pprofout.pdat file generated by the run-time support is a raw data file of a fixed format understood only by armpdd. You should not modify this file in any way.