{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "sprof", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sprof/1/json", "generated": "2026-06-16T03:25:05Z", "synopsis": "sprof [option]... shared-object-path [profile-data-path]", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "sprof - read and display shared object profiling data\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "sprof [option]... shared-object-path [profile-data-path]\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "The sprof command displays a profiling summary for the shared object (shared library) speci‐\nfied as its first command-line argument. The profiling summary is created using previously\ngenerated profiling data in the (optional) second command-line argument. If the profiling\ndata pathname is omitted, then sprof will attempt to deduce it using the soname of the shared\nobject, looking for a file with the name .profile in the current directory.\n", "subsections": [] }, "OPTIONS": { "content": "The following command-line options specify the profile output to be produced:\n", "subsections": [ { "name": "-c --call-pairs", "content": "Print a list of pairs of call paths for the interfaces exported by the shared object,\nalong with the number of times each path is used.\n", "flag": "-c", "long": "--call-pairs" }, { "name": "-p --flat-profile", "content": "Generate a flat profile of all of the functions in the monitored object, with counts\nand ticks.\n", "flag": "-p", "long": "--flat-profile" }, { "name": "-q --graph", "content": "Generate a call graph.\n\nIf none of the above options is specified, then the default behavior is to display a flat\nprofile and a call graph.\n\nThe following additional command-line options are available:\n\n-?, --help\nDisplay a summary of command-line options and arguments and exit.\n", "flag": "-q", "long": "--graph" }, { "name": "--usage", "content": "Display a short usage message and exit.\n", "long": "--usage" }, { "name": "-V --version", "content": "Display the program version and exit.\n", "flag": "-V", "long": "--version" } ] }, "CONFORMING TO": { "content": "The sprof command is a GNU extension, not present in POSIX.1.\n", "subsections": [] }, "EXAMPLES": { "content": "The following example demonstrates the use of sprof. The example consists of a main program\nthat calls two functions in a shared object. First, the code of the main program:\n\n$ cat prog.c\n#include \n\nvoid x1(void);\nvoid x2(void);\n\nint\nmain(int argc, char *argv[])\n{\nx1();\nx2();\nexit(EXITSUCCESS);\n}\n\nThe functions x1() and x2() are defined in the following source file that is used to con‐\nstruct the shared object:\n\n$ cat libdemo.c\n#include \n\nvoid\nconsumeCpu1(int lim)\n{\nfor (int j = 0; j < lim; j++)\ngetppid();\n}\n\nvoid\nx1(void) {\nfor (int j = 0; j < 100; j++)\nconsumeCpu1(200000);\n}\n\nvoid\nconsumeCpu2(int lim)\n{\nfor (int j = 0; j < lim; j++)\ngetppid();\n}\n\nvoid\nx2(void)\n{\nfor (int j = 0; j < 1000; j++)\nconsumeCpu2(10000);\n}\n\nNow we construct the shared object with the real name libdemo.so.1.0.1, and the soname lib‐\ndemo.so.1:\n\n$ cc -g -fPIC -shared -Wl,-soname,libdemo.so.1 \\\n-o libdemo.so.1.0.1 libdemo.c\n\nThen we construct symbolic links for the library soname and the library linker name:\n\n$ ln -sf libdemo.so.1.0.1 libdemo.so.1\n$ ln -sf libdemo.so.1 libdemo.so\n\nNext, we compile the main program, linking it against the shared object, and then list the\ndynamic dependencies of the program:\n\n$ cc -g -o prog prog.c -L. -ldemo\n$ ldd prog\nlinux-vdso.so.1 => (0x00007fff86d66000)\nlibdemo.so.1 => not found\nlibc.so.6 => /lib64/libc.so.6 (0x00007fd4dc138000)\n/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fd4dc51f000)\n\nIn order to get profiling information for the shared object, we define the environment vari‐\nable LDPROFILE with the soname of the library:\n\n$ export LDPROFILE=libdemo.so.1\n\nWe then define the environment variable LDPROFILEOUTPUT with the pathname of the directory\nwhere profile output should be written, and create that directory if it does not exist al‐\nready:\n\n$ export LDPROFILEOUTPUT=$(pwd)/profdata\n$ mkdir -p $LDPROFILEOUTPUT\n\nLDPROFILE causes profiling output to be appended to the output file if it already exists, so\nwe ensure that there is no preexisting profiling data:\n\n$ rm -f $LDPROFILEOUTPUT/$LDPROFILE.profile\n\nWe then run the program to produce the profiling output, which is written to a file in the\ndirectory specified in LDPROFILEOUTPUT:\n\n$ LDLIBRARYPATH=. ./prog\n$ ls profdata\nlibdemo.so.1.profile\n\nWe then use the sprof -p option to generate a flat profile with counts and ticks:\n\n$ sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LDPROFILEOUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile\nFlat profile:\n\nEach sample counts as 0.01 seconds.\n% cumulative self self total\ntime seconds seconds calls us/call us/call name\n60.00 0.06 0.06 100 600.00 consumeCpu1\n40.00 0.10 0.04 1000 40.00 consumeCpu2\n0.00 0.10 0.00 1 0.00 x1\n0.00 0.10 0.00 1 0.00 x2\n\nThe sprof -q option generates a call graph:\n\n$ sprof -q libdemo.so.1 $LDPROFILEOUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile\n\nindex % time self children called name\n\n0.00 0.00 100/100 x1 [1]\n[0] 100.0 0.00 0.00 100 consumeCpu1 [0]\n-----------------------------------------------\n0.00 0.00 1/1 \n[1] 0.0 0.00 0.00 1 x1 [1]\n0.00 0.00 100/100 consumeCpu1 [0]\n-----------------------------------------------\n0.00 0.00 1000/1000 x2 [3]\n[2] 0.0 0.00 0.00 1000 consumeCpu2 [2]\n-----------------------------------------------\n0.00 0.00 1/1 \n[3] 0.0 0.00 0.00 1 x2 [3]\n0.00 0.00 1000/1000 consumeCpu2 [2]\n-----------------------------------------------\n\nAbove and below, the \"\" strings represent identifiers that are outside of the pro‐\nfiled object (in this example, these are instances of main()).\n\nThe sprof -c option generates a list of call pairs and the number of their occurrences:\n\n$ sprof -c libdemo.so.1 $LDPROFILEOUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile\n x1 1\nx1 consumeCpu1 100\n x2 1\nx2 consumeCpu2 1000\n", "subsections": [] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "gprof(1), ldd(1), ld.so(8)\n", "subsections": [] }, "COLOPHON": { "content": "This page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the\nproject, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found\nat https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.\n\n\n\nLinux 2020-11-01 SPROF(1)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "sprof - read and display shared object profiling data", "flags": [ { "flag": "-c", "long": "--call-pairs", "arg": null, "description": "Print a list of pairs of call paths for the interfaces exported by the shared object, along with the number of times each path is used." }, { "flag": "-p", "long": "--flat-profile", "arg": null, "description": "Generate a flat profile of all of the functions in the monitored object, with counts and ticks." }, { "flag": "-q", "long": "--graph", "arg": null, "description": "Generate a call graph. If none of the above options is specified, then the default behavior is to display a flat profile and a call graph. The following additional command-line options are available: -?, --help Display a summary of command-line options and arguments and exit." }, { "flag": "", "long": "--usage", "arg": null, "description": "Display a short usage message and exit." }, { "flag": "-V", "long": "--version", "arg": null, "description": "Display the program version and exit." } ], "examples": [ "The following example demonstrates the use of sprof. The example consists of a main program", "that calls two functions in a shared object. First, the code of the main program:", "$ cat prog.c", "#include ", "void x1(void);", "void x2(void);", "int", "main(int argc, char *argv[])", "x1();", "x2();", "exit(EXITSUCCESS);", "The functions x1() and x2() are defined in the following source file that is used to con‐", "struct the shared object:", "$ cat libdemo.c", "#include ", "void", "consumeCpu1(int lim)", "for (int j = 0; j < lim; j++)", "getppid();", "void", "x1(void) {", "for (int j = 0; j < 100; j++)", "consumeCpu1(200000);", "void", "consumeCpu2(int lim)", "for (int j = 0; j < lim; j++)", "getppid();", "void", "x2(void)", "for (int j = 0; j < 1000; j++)", "consumeCpu2(10000);", "Now we construct the shared object with the real name libdemo.so.1.0.1, and the soname lib‐", "demo.so.1:", "$ cc -g -fPIC -shared -Wl,-soname,libdemo.so.1 \\", "-o libdemo.so.1.0.1 libdemo.c", "Then we construct symbolic links for the library soname and the library linker name:", "$ ln -sf libdemo.so.1.0.1 libdemo.so.1", "$ ln -sf libdemo.so.1 libdemo.so", "Next, we compile the main program, linking it against the shared object, and then list the", "dynamic dependencies of the program:", "$ cc -g -o prog prog.c -L. -ldemo", "$ ldd prog", "linux-vdso.so.1 => (0x00007fff86d66000)", "libdemo.so.1 => not found", "libc.so.6 => /lib64/libc.so.6 (0x00007fd4dc138000)", "/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007fd4dc51f000)", "In order to get profiling information for the shared object, we define the environment vari‐", "able LDPROFILE with the soname of the library:", "$ export LDPROFILE=libdemo.so.1", "We then define the environment variable LDPROFILEOUTPUT with the pathname of the directory", "where profile output should be written, and create that directory if it does not exist al‐", "ready:", "$ export LDPROFILEOUTPUT=$(pwd)/profdata", "$ mkdir -p $LDPROFILEOUTPUT", "LDPROFILE causes profiling output to be appended to the output file if it already exists, so", "we ensure that there is no preexisting profiling data:", "$ rm -f $LDPROFILEOUTPUT/$LDPROFILE.profile", "We then run the program to produce the profiling output, which is written to a file in the", "directory specified in LDPROFILEOUTPUT:", "$ LDLIBRARYPATH=. ./prog", "$ ls profdata", "libdemo.so.1.profile", "We then use the sprof -p option to generate a flat profile with counts and ticks:", "$ sprof -p libdemo.so.1 $LDPROFILEOUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile", "Flat profile:", "Each sample counts as 0.01 seconds.", "% cumulative self self total", "time seconds seconds calls us/call us/call name", "60.00 0.06 0.06 100 600.00 consumeCpu1", "40.00 0.10 0.04 1000 40.00 consumeCpu2", "0.00 0.10 0.00 1 0.00 x1", "0.00 0.10 0.00 1 0.00 x2", "The sprof -q option generates a call graph:", "$ sprof -q libdemo.so.1 $LDPROFILEOUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile", "index % time self children called name", "0.00 0.00 100/100 x1 [1]", "[0] 100.0 0.00 0.00 100 consumeCpu1 [0]", "-----------------------------------------------", "0.00 0.00 1/1 ", "[1] 0.0 0.00 0.00 1 x1 [1]", "0.00 0.00 100/100 consumeCpu1 [0]", "-----------------------------------------------", "0.00 0.00 1000/1000 x2 [3]", "[2] 0.0 0.00 0.00 1000 consumeCpu2 [2]", "-----------------------------------------------", "0.00 0.00 1/1 ", "[3] 0.0 0.00 0.00 1 x2 [3]", "0.00 0.00 1000/1000 consumeCpu2 [2]", "-----------------------------------------------", "Above and below, the \"\" strings represent identifiers that are outside of the pro‐", "filed object (in this example, these are instances of main()).", "The sprof -c option generates a list of call pairs and the number of their occurrences:", "$ sprof -c libdemo.so.1 $LDPROFILEOUTPUT/libdemo.so.1.profile", " x1 1", "x1 consumeCpu1 100", " x2 1", "x2 consumeCpu2 1000" ], "see_also": [ { "name": "gprof", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gprof/1/json" }, { "name": "ldd", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ldd/1/json" }, { "name": "ld.so", "section": "8", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ld.so/8/json" } ], "tldr": { "source": "official", "description": "Read and display shared object profiling data.", "examples": [ { "description": "Generate a flat profile and call graph (default output)", "command": "sprof {{path/to/library.so}} {{path/to/library.so.profile}}" }, { "description": "Generate a flat profile with counts and ticks", "command": "sprof {{-p|--flat-profile}} {{path/to/library.so}} {{path/to/library.so.profile}}" }, { "description": "Generate a call graph", "command": "sprof {{-q|--graph}} {{path/to/library.so}} {{path/to/library.so.profile}}" }, { "description": "Print call pairs and their usage counts", "command": "sprof {{-c|--call-pairs}} {{path/to/library.so}} {{path/to/library.so.profile}}" }, { "description": "Use profile data from current directory (auto-detected by soname)", "command": "sprof {{path/to/library.so}}" } ] } }