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Android/android-ndk-r27d/simpleperf/doc/debug_dwarf_unwinding.md

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+# Debug dwarf unwinding
+
+Dwarf unwinding is the default way of getting call graphs in simpleperf. In this process,
+simpleperf asks the kernel to add stack and register data to each sample. Then it uses
+[libunwindstack](https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/+/main:system/unwinding/libunwindstack/)
+to unwind the call stack. libunwindstack uses dwarf sections (like .debug_frame or .eh_frame) in
+elf files to know how to unwind the stack.
+
+By default, `simpleperf record` unwinds a sample before saving it to disk, to reduce space consumed
+by stack data. But this behavior makes it harder to reproduce unwinding problems. So we added
+debug-unwind command, to help debug and profile dwarf unwinding. Below are two use cases.
+
+[TOC]
+
+## Debug failed unwinding cases
+
+Unwinding a sample can fail for different reasons: not enough stack or register data, unknown
+thread maps, no dwarf info, bugs in code, etc. And to fix them, we need to get error details
+and be able to reproduce them. simpleperf record cmd has two options for this:
+`--keep-failed-unwinding-result` keeps error code for failed unwinding samples. It's lightweight
+and gives us a brief idea why unwinding stops.
+`--keep-failed-unwinding-debug-info` keeps stack and register data for failed unwinding samples. It
+can be used to reproduce the unwinding process given proper elf files. Below is an example.
+
+```sh
+# Run record cmd and keep failed unwinding debug info.
+$ simpleperf64 record --app com.example.android.displayingbitmaps -g --duration 10 \
+    --keep-failed-unwinding-debug-info
+...
+simpleperf I cmd_record.cpp:762] Samples recorded: 22026. Samples lost: 0.
+
+# Generate a text report containing failed unwinding cases.
+$ simpleperf debug-unwind --generate-report -o report.txt
+
+# Pull report.txt on host and show it using debug_unwind_reporter.py.
+# Show summary.
+$ debug_unwind_reporter.py -i report.txt --summary
+# Show summary of samples failed at a symbol.
+$ debug_unwind_reporter.py -i report.txt --summary --include-end-symbol SocketInputStream_socketRead0
+# Show details of samples failed at a symbol.
+$ debug_unwind_reporter.py -i report.txt --include-end-symbol SocketInputStream_socketRead0
+
+# Reproduce unwinding a failed case.
+$ simpleperf debug-unwind --unwind-sample --sample-time 256666343213301
+
+# Generate a test file containing a failed case and elf files for debugging it.
+$ simpleperf debug-unwind --generate-test-file --sample-time 256666343213301 --keep-binaries-in-test-file \
+    /apex/com.android.runtime/lib64/bionic/libc.so,/apex/com.android.art/lib64/libopenjdk.so -o test.data
+```
+
+## Profile unwinding process
+
+We can also record samples without unwinding them. Then we can use debug-unwind cmd to unwind the
+samples after recording. Below is an example.
+
+```sh
+# Record samples without unwinding them.
+$ simpleperf record --app com.example.android.displayingbitmaps -g --duration 10 \
+    --no-unwind
+...
+simpleperf I cmd_record.cpp:762] Samples recorded: 9923. Samples lost: 0.
+
+# Use debug-unwind cmd to unwind samples.
+$ simpleperf debug-unwind --unwind-sample
+```
+
+We can profile the unwinding process, get hot functions for improvement.
+
+```sh
+# Profile debug-unwind cmd.
+$ simpleperf record -g -o perf_unwind.data simpleperf debug-unwind --unwind-sample --skip-sample-print
+
+# Then pull perf_unwind.data and report it.
+$ report_html.py -i perf_unwind.data
+
+# We can also add source code annotation in report.html.
+$ binary_cache_builder.py -i perf_unwind.data -lib <path to aosp-main>/out/target/product/<device-name>/symbols/system
+$ report_html.py -i perf_unwind.data --add_source_code --source_dirs <path to aosp-main>/system/
+```