Machine-readable call graph data from pprof

[be...@uber.com]

I am profiling a go server using "go tool pprof" command. I want to generate a machine-readable call graph using the dynamic profile of my program. When I run "go tool pprof" with the -tree option, I see this. I want precisely this information in a machine readable form. Specifically, I want to take a profile and generate a graph such that:

• Nodes are functions
• Directed edges between nodes represent that one function called another
• The weight of edges represent the percent of calls from one function to another (exactly like the last column in the image above)

I have thought of a few potential options:

• Parse the string output of "go tool pprof --tree"
• Copy the code in the cmd/pprof library which generates a graph from a dynamic profile

However, I don't love either of these options because they can break in future versions of go if the pprof reporting format changes. Are there any alternatives I should consider? For example, could I use the -proto option to get a protobuf file including the graph?

[Russ Cox]

On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 5:42 PM, <be...@uber.com> wrote:

I am profiling a go server using "go tool pprof" command. I want to generate a machine-readable call graph using the dynamic profile of my program. When I run "go tool pprof" with the -tree option, I see this. I want precisely this information in a machine readable form. Specifically, I want to take a profile and generate a graph such that:

• Nodes are functions
• Directed edges between nodes represent that one function called another
• The weight of edges represent the percent of calls from one function to another (exactly like the last column in the image above)

I think I'm missing something. How does this differ from pprof's graph output?

Russ

[be...@uber.com]

What do you mean "pprof's graph output"? Do you mean the output from the -tree option (the image I attached)? Is there some graph output I am missing?

[Tamás Gulácsi]

Yes. Read go tool pprof -help. See http://blog.golang.org/profiling-go-programs .

Pprof has a dot (graphviz) output.