Re: [tracecompass-dev] UI for external analyses

[Matthew Khouzam <matthew.khouzam@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 16-02-15 05:37 PM, Alexandre Montplaisir wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am currently working on finishing up the integration between Trace
> Compass and the lttng-analyses project [1]. For those not familiar
> with it, this is a set of scripts that can be run on LTTng traces to
> extract statistics, graphs etc. in different categories (I/O,
> scheduling, CPU usage, and so on). The integration with Trace Compass
> will allow calling these scripts directly from the UI, and reporting
> the resulting in tables or charts in Trace Compass.
>
> One thing I am wondering is how to present this new feature in the UI.
>
> Some background information first:
> Trace Compass has the notion of "analysis", which means "something
> that runs on a trace". Typically those analyses first create some
> indexes, statesystems, etc., and then show their results in views
> (like the Control Flow view, CPU Usage view, etc.). These views are
> dynamic, which mean they will follow time range selections and update
> what they show accordingly.

> However, "external" analyses like the lttng-analyses function a little
> bit differently. They do not run automatically on a trace, instead the
> user decides to run them, either on the whole trace or on a given time
> range. The results are then shown in static tables or graphs. Unlike
> the "dynamic" views from before, these tables will not update their
> contents. They just show the static results of the analysis, which
> we've been calling "report".
>
> So it goes like this:
> (standard) analysis -> dynamic views
> external analysis -> report -> static tables/graphs
>
> Note that subsequent runs of a given external analysis would produce
> separate reports. It could be useful to have each one of those reports
> remain available, until they are explicitly deleted.
>
>
> In my current prototype, I just display all available external
> analyses under the trace, just like standard analyses are (see
> attached screenshot). They can then be invoked by right-click on them
> and choosing "Run External Analysis" from the contextual menu. The
> results are displayed in non-singleton views, one per table of output
> of the analysis.
>
> This is not ideal, because it's confusing which analysis are supposed
> to be run manually, and which are just there for listing their
> outputs. A potential alternative would be to have a new "Run External
> Analysis" option, from the context menu of the *trace*, which would
> open a dialog to handle all available external analyses.
>
> Also, we'd probably need a new name instead of "External Analysis".
> These may not even be external eventually, they could be defined in
> Java, shipped with Trace Compass, and be able to be called on demand
> by the user.
I think analysis snapshot would be more descriptive.

Think about a profiler, you take snapshots and verify their results.

Also, you will need to find a way to manage them, you will have a lot of
snapshots, maybe they should be auto archived or something... I know,
v2.0. :)

Do you have a git branch we can play with? it can help us get a better
feel for the feature than a simple screenshot.
>
> Thoughts?
>
>
> Thanks,
> Alex
>
>
> [1] https://github.com/lttng/lttng-analyses
>
>
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