pt_insn_sync_forward - Man Page

pt_insn_sync_forward, pt_insn_sync_backward, pt_insn_sync_set — synchronize an Intel(R) Processor Trace instruction flow decoder

pt_insn_resync — resynchronize at the next IP

#include <intel-pt.h>

int pt_insn_sync_forward(struct pt_insn_decoder *decoder);

int pt_insn_sync_backward(struct pt_insn_decoder *decoder);

int pt_insn_sync_set(struct pt_insn_decoder *decoder,

uint64_t offset);

int pt_insn_resync(struct pt_insn_decoder *decoder);

Link with -lipt.

pt_insn_sync_forward(), pt_insn_sync_backward() and pt_insn_sync_set() synchronize an Intel Processor Trace (Intel PT) instruction flow decoder pointed to by decoder onto the trace stream in decoder’s trace buffer.

They search for a Packet Stream Boundary (PSB) packet in the trace stream and, if successful, set decoder’s current position and synchronization position to that packet and start processing packets. For synchronization to be successful, there must be a full PSB+ header in the trace stream.

pt_insn_sync_forward() searches in forward direction from decoder’s current position towards the end of the trace buffer. If decoder has been newly allocated and has not been synchronized yet, the search starts from the beginning of the trace.

pt_insn_sync_backward() searches in backward direction from decoder’s current position towards the beginning of the trace buffer. If decoder has been newly allocated and has not been synchronized yet, the search starts from the end of the trace.

pt_insn_sync_set() searches at offset bytes from the beginning of its trace buffer.

pt_insn_resync() resynchronizes decoder at the next IP packet, skipping packets that do not provide an IP, such as TNT. This may lead to subsequent errors when synchronizing at a deferred TIP.

All synchronization functions return zero or a positive value on success or a negative pt_error_code enumeration constant in case of an error.

On success, a bit-vector of pt_status_flag enumeration constants is returned. The pt_status_flag enumeration is declared as:

/** Decoder status flags. */
enum pt_status_flag {
    /** There is an event pending. */
    pts_event_pending   = 1 << 0,

    /** The address has been suppressed. */
    pts_ip_suppressed   = 1 << 1,

    /** There is no more trace data available. */
    pts_eos             = 1 << 2
};

The pts_event_pending flag indicates that one or more events are pending. Use pt_insn_event(3) to process pending events before calling pt_insn_next(3).

The pt_eos flag indicates that the information contained in the Intel PT stream has been consumed. Calls to pt_insn_next() will provide instructions as long as the instruction’s address can be determined without trace.

pte_invalid

The decoder argument is NULL.

pte_eos

There is no (further) PSB+ header in the trace stream (pt_insn_sync_forward() and pt_insn_sync_backward()) or at offset bytes into the trace buffer (pt_insn_sync_set()).

pte_nosync

There is no PSB packet at offset bytes from the beginning of the trace (pt_insn_sync_set() only).

pte_bad_opc

The decoder encountered an unsupported Intel PT packet opcode.

pte_bad_packet

The decoder encountered an unsupported Intel PT packet payload.

The following example re-synchronizes an Intel PT instruction flow decoder after decode errors:

int foo(struct pt_insn_decoder *decoder) {
    for (;;) {
        int status;

        status = pt_insn_sync_forward(decoder);
        if (status < 0)
            return status;

        do {
            do {
                status = decode(decoder, status);
            } while (status >= 0);

            status = pt_insn_resync(decoder);
        } while (status >= 0);
    }
}

pt_insn_alloc_decoder(3), pt_insn_free_decoder(3), pt_insn_get_offset(3), pt_insn_get_sync_offset(3), pt_insn_get_config(3), pt_insn_time(3), pt_insn_core_bus_ratio(3), pt_insn_next(3), pt_insn_event(3)

pt_insn_alloc_decoder(3), pt_insn_get_offset(3), pt_insn_next(3).

The man pages pt_insn_resync(3), pt_insn_sync_backward(3) and pt_insn_sync_set(3) are aliases of pt_insn_sync_forward(3).