{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "TOP", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/TOP/1/json", "generated": "2026-06-12T14:55:57Z", "synopsis": "top -hv|-bcEeHiOSs1 -d secs -n max -u|U user -p pids -o field -w [cols]\nThe traditional switches `-' and whitespace are optional.", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "top - display Linux processes\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "top -hv|-bcEeHiOSs1 -d secs -n max -u|U user -p pids -o field -w [cols]\n\nThe traditional switches `-' and whitespace are optional.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "The top program provides a dynamic real-time view of a running system. It can display system\nsummary information as well as a list of processes or threads currently being managed by the\nLinux kernel. The types of system summary information shown and the types, order and size of\ninformation displayed for processes are all user configurable and that configuration can be\nmade persistent across restarts.\n\nThe program provides a limited interactive interface for process manipulation as well as a\nmuch more extensive interface for personal configuration -- encompassing every aspect of\nits operation. And while top is referred to throughout this document, you are free to name\nthe program anything you wish. That new name, possibly an alias, will then be reflected on\ntop's display and used when reading and writing a configuration file.\n\n", "subsections": [] }, "OVERVIEW": { "content": "", "subsections": [ { "name": "Documentation", "content": "The remaining Table of Contents\n\nOVERVIEW\nOperation\nLinux Memory Types\n1. COMMAND-LINE Options\n2. SUMMARY Display\na. UPTIME and LOAD Averages\nb. TASK and CPU States\nc. MEMORY Usage\n3. FIELDS / Columns Display\na. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields\nb. MANAGING Fields\n4. INTERACTIVE Commands\na. GLOBAL Commands\nb. SUMMARY AREA Commands\nc. TASK AREA Commands\n1. Appearance\n2. Content\n3. Size\n4. Sorting\nd. COLOR Mapping\n5. ALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions\na. WINDOWS Overview\nb. COMMANDS for Windows\nc. SCROLLING a Window\nd. SEARCHING in a Window\ne. FILTERING in a Window\n6. FILES\na. PERSONAL Configuration File\nb. ADDING INSPECT Entries\nc. SYSTEM Configuration File\nd. SYSTEM Restrictions File\n7. STUPID TRICKS Sampler\na. Kernel Magic\nb. Bouncing Windows\nc. The Big Bird Window\nd. The Ol' Switcheroo\n8. BUGS, 9. SEE Also\n\n" }, { "name": "Operation", "content": "When operating top, the two most important keys are the help (h or ?) key and quit (`q')\nkey. Alternatively, you could simply use the traditional interrupt key (^C) when you're\ndone.\n\nWhen started for the first time, you'll be presented with these traditional elements on the\nmain top screen: 1) Summary Area; 2) Fields/Columns Header; 3) Task Area. Each of these will\nbe explored in the sections that follow. There is also an Input/Message line between the\nSummary Area and Columns Header which needs no further explanation.\n\nThe main top screen is generally quite adaptive to changes in terminal dimensions under X-\nWindows. Other top screens may be less so, especially those with static text. It ultimately\ndepends, however, on your particular window manager and terminal emulator. There may be\noccasions when their view of terminal size and current contents differs from top's view,\nwhich is always based on operating system calls.\n\nFollowing any re-size operation, if a top screen is corrupted, appears incomplete or\ndisordered, simply typing something innocuous like a punctuation character or cursor motion\nkey will usually restore it. In extreme cases, the following sequence almost certainly will:\nkey/cmd objective\n^Z suspend top\nfg resume top\n force a screen redraw (if necessary)\n\nBut if the display is still corrupted, there is one more step you could try. Insert this\ncommand after top has been suspended but before resuming it.\nkey/cmd objective\nreset restore your terminal settings\n\nNote: the width of top's display will be limited to 512 positions. Displaying all fields\nrequires approximately 250 characters. Remaining screen width is usually allocated to any\nvariable width columns currently visible. The variable width columns, such as COMMAND, are\nnoted in topic 3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields. Actual output width may also be influenced by the\n-w switch, which is discussed in topic 1. COMMAND-LINE Options.\n\nLastly, some of top's screens or functions require the use of cursor motion keys like the\nstandard arrow keys plus the Home, End, PgUp and PgDn keys. If your terminal or emulator\ndoes not provide those keys, the following combinations are accepted as alternatives:\nkey equivalent-keys\nLeft alt + h\nDown alt + j\nUp alt + k\nRight alt + l\nHome alt + ctrl + h\nPgDn alt + ctrl + j\nPgUp alt + ctrl + k\nEnd alt + ctrl + l\n\nThe Up and Down arrow keys have special significance when prompted for line input terminated\nwith the key. Those keys, or their aliases, can be used to retrieve previous input\nlines which can then be edited and re-input. And there are four additional keys available\nwith line oriented input.\nkey special-significance\nUp recall older strings for re-editing\nDown recall newer strings or erase entire line\nInsert toggle between insert and overtype modes\nDelete character removed at cursor, moving others left\nHome jump to beginning of input line\nEnd jump to end of input line\n\n" }, { "name": "Linux Memory Types", "content": "For our purposes there are three types of memory, and one is optional. First is physical\nmemory, a limited resource where code and data must reside when executed or referenced. Next\nis the optional swap file, where modified (dirty) memory can be saved and later retrieved if\ntoo many demands are made on physical memory. Lastly we have virtual memory, a nearly\nunlimited resource serving the following goals:\n\n1. abstraction, free from physical memory addresses/limits\n2. isolation, every process in a separate address space\n3. sharing, a single mapping can serve multiple needs\n4. flexibility, assign a virtual address to a file\n\nRegardless of which of these forms memory may take, all are managed as pages (typically 4096\nbytes) but expressed by default in top as KiB (kibibyte). The memory discussed under topic\n`2c. MEMORY Usage' deals with physical memory and the swap file for the system as a whole.\nThe memory reviewed in topic `3. FIELDS / Columns Display' embraces all three memory types,\nbut for individual processes.\n\nFor each such process, every memory page is restricted to a single quadrant from the table\nbelow. Both physical memory and virtual memory can include any of the four, while the swap\nfile only includes #1 through #3. The memory in quadrant #4, when modified, acts as its own\ndedicated swap file.\n\nPrivate | Shared\n1 | 2\nAnonymous . stack |\n. malloc() |\n. brk()/sbrk() | . POSIX shm*\n. mmap(PRIVATE, ANON) | . mmap(SHARED, ANON)\n-----------------------+----------------------\n. mmap(PRIVATE, fd) | . mmap(SHARED, fd)\nFile-backed . pgms/shared libs |\n3 | 4\n\nThe following may help in interpreting process level memory values displayed as scalable\ncolumns and discussed under topic `3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields'.\n\n%MEM - simply RES divided by total physical memory\nCODE - the `pgms' portion of quadrant 3\nDATA - the entire quadrant 1 portion of VIRT plus all\nexplicit mmap file-backed pages of quadrant 3\nRES - anything occupying physical memory which, beginning with\nLinux-4.5, is the sum of the following three fields:\nRSan - quadrant 1 pages, which include any\nformer quadrant 3 pages if modified\nRSfd - quadrant 3 and quadrant 4 pages\nRSsh - quadrant 2 pages\nRSlk - subset of RES which cannot be swapped out (any quadrant)\nSHR - subset of RES (excludes 1, includes all 2 & 4, some 3)\nSWAP - potentially any quadrant except 4\nUSED - simply the sum of RES and SWAP\nVIRT - everything in-use and/or reserved (all quadrants)\n\nNote: Even though program images and shared libraries are considered private to a process,\nthey will be accounted for as shared (SHR) by the kernel.\n\n" }, { "name": "1. COMMAND-LINE Options", "content": "The command-line syntax for top consists of:\n\n-hv|-bcEeHiOSs1 -d secs -n max -u|U user -p pids -o field -w [cols]\n\nThe typically mandatory switch (`-') and even whitespace are completely optional.\n\n\n-h | -v :Help/Version\nShow library version and the usage prompt, then quit.\n\n\n-b :Batch-mode operation\nStarts top in Batch mode, which could be useful for sending output from top to other\nprograms or to a file. In this mode, top will not accept input and runs until the\niterations limit you've set with the `-n' command-line option or until killed.\n\n\n-c :Command-line/Program-name toggle\nStarts top with the last remembered `c' state reversed. Thus, if top was displaying\ncommand lines, now that field will show program names, and vice versa. See the `c'\ninteractive command for additional information.\n\n\n-d :Delay-time interval as: -d ss.t (secs.tenths)\nSpecifies the delay between screen updates, and overrides the corresponding value in\none's personal configuration file or the startup default. Later this can be changed\nwith the `d' or `s' interactive commands.\n\nFractional seconds are honored, but a negative number is not allowed. In all cases,\nhowever, such changes are prohibited if top is running in Secure mode, except for root\n(unless the `s' command-line option was used). For additional information on Secure\nmode see topic 6d. SYSTEM Restrictions File.\n\n\n-e :Enforce-Task-Memory-Scaling as: -e k | m | g | t | p\nInstructs top to force task area memory to be scaled as:\nk - kibibytes\nm - mebibytes\ng - gibibytes\nt - tebibytes\np - pebibytes\n\nLater this can be changed with the `e' command toggle.\n\n\n-E :Enforce-Summary-Memory-Scaling as: -E k | m | g | t | p | e\nInstructs top to force summary area memory to be scaled as:\nk - kibibytes\nm - mebibytes\ng - gibibytes\nt - tebibytes\np - pebibytes\ne - exbibytes\n\nLater this can be changed with the `E' command toggle.\n\n\n-H :Threads-mode operation\nInstructs top to display individual threads. Without this command-line option a\nsummation of all threads in each process is shown. Later this can be changed with the\n`H' interactive command.\n\n\n-i :Idle-process toggle\nStarts top with the last remembered `i' state reversed. When this toggle is Off, tasks\nthat have not used any CPU since the last update will not be displayed. For additional\ninformation regarding this toggle see topic 4c. TASK AREA Commands, SIZE.\n\n\n-n :Number-of-iterations limit as: -n number\nSpecifies the maximum number of iterations, or frames, top should produce before ending.\n\n\n-o :Override-sort-field as: -o fieldname\nSpecifies the name of the field on which tasks will be sorted, independent of what is\nreflected in the configuration file. You can prepend a `+' or `-' to the field name to\nalso override the sort direction. A leading `+' will force sorting high to low, whereas\na `-' will ensure a low to high ordering.\n\nThis option exists primarily to support automated/scripted batch mode operation.\n\n\n-O :Output-field-names\nThis option acts as a form of help for the above -o option. It will cause top to print\neach of the available field names on a separate line, then quit. Such names are subject\nto NLS (National Language Support) translation.\n\n\n-p :Monitor-PIDs mode as: -pN1 -pN2 ... or -pN1,N2,N3 ...\nMonitor only processes with specified process IDs. This option can be given up to 20\ntimes, or you can provide a comma delimited list with up to 20 pids. Co-mingling both\napproaches is permitted.\n\nA pid value of zero will be treated as the process id of the top program itself once it\nis running.\n\nThis is a command-line option only and should you wish to return to normal operation, it\nis not necessary to quit and restart top -- just issue any of these interactive\ncommands: `=', `u' or `U'.\n\nThe `p', `u' and `U' command-line options are mutually exclusive.\n\n\n-s :Secure-mode operation\nStarts top with secure mode forced, even for root. This mode is far better controlled\nthrough a system configuration file (see topic 6. FILES).\n\n\n-S :Cumulative-time toggle\nStarts top with the last remembered `S' state reversed. When Cumulative time mode is\nOn, each process is listed with the cpu time that it and its dead children have used.\nSee the `S' interactive command for additional information regarding this mode.\n\n\n-u | -U :User-filter-mode as: -u | -U number or name\nDisplay only processes with a user id or user name matching that given. The `-u' option\nmatches on effective user whereas the `-U' option matches on any user (real, effective,\nsaved, or filesystem).\n\nPrepending an exclamation point (`!') to the user id or name instructs top to display\nonly processes with users not matching the one provided.\n\nThe `p', `u' and `U' command-line options are mutually exclusive.\n\n\n-w :Output-width-override as: -w [ number ]\nIn Batch mode, when used without an argument top will format output using the COLUMNS=\nand LINES= environment variables, if set. Otherwise, width will be fixed at the maximum\n512 columns. With an argument, output width can be decreased or increased (up to 512)\nbut the number of rows is considered unlimited.\n\nIn normal display mode, when used without an argument top will attempt to format output\nusing the COLUMNS= and LINES= environment variables, if set. With an argument, output\nwidth can only be decreased, not increased. Whether using environment variables or an\nargument with -w, when not in Batch mode actual terminal dimensions can never be\nexceeded.\n\nNote: Without the use of this command-line option, output width is always based on the\nterminal at which top was invoked whether or not in Batch mode.\n\n\n-1 :Single/Separate-Cpu-States toggle\nStarts top with the last remembered Cpu States portion of the summary area reversed.\nEither all cpu information will be displayed in a single line or each cpu will be\ndisplayed separately, depending on the state of the NUMA Node command toggle ('2').\n\nSee the `1' and '2' interactive commands for additional information.\n\n" }, { "name": "2. SUMMARY Display", "content": "Each of the following three areas are individually controlled through one or more interactive\ncommands. See topic 4b. SUMMARY AREA Commands for additional information regarding these\nprovisions.\n\n" }, { "name": "2a. UPTIME and LOAD Averages", "content": "This portion consists of a single line containing:\nprogram or window name, depending on display mode\ncurrent time and length of time since last boot\ntotal number of users\nsystem load avg over the last 1, 5 and 15 minutes\n\n" }, { "name": "2b. TASK and CPU States", "content": "This portion consists of a minimum of two lines. In an SMP environment, additional lines can\nreflect individual CPU state percentages.\n\nLine 1 shows total tasks or threads, depending on the state of the Threads-mode toggle. That\ntotal is further classified as:\nrunning; sleeping; stopped; zombie\n\nLine 2 shows CPU state percentages based on the interval since the last refresh.\n\nAs a default, percentages for these individual categories are displayed. Where two labels\nare shown below, those for more recent kernel versions are shown first.\nus, user : time running un-niced user processes\nsy, system : time running kernel processes\nni, nice : time running niced user processes\nid, idle : time spent in the kernel idle handler\nwa, IO-wait : time waiting for I/O completion\nhi : time spent servicing hardware interrupts\nsi : time spent servicing software interrupts\nst : time stolen from this vm by the hypervisor\n\nIn the alternate cpu states display modes, beyond the first tasks/threads line, an\nabbreviated summary is shown consisting of these elements:\na b c d\n%Cpu(s): 75.0/25.0 100[ ...\n\n\nWhere: a) is the `user' (us + ni) percentage; b) is the `system' (sy + hi + si) percentage;\nc) is the total; and d) is one of two visual graphs of those representations. See topic 4b.\nSUMMARY AREA Commands and the `t' command for additional information on that special 4-way\ntoggle.\n\n" }, { "name": "2c. MEMORY Usage", "content": "This portion consists of two lines which may express values in kibibytes (KiB) through\nexbibytes (EiB) depending on the scaling factor enforced with the `E' interactive command.\n\nAs a default, Line 1 reflects physical memory, classified as:\ntotal, free, used and buff/cache\n\nLine 2 reflects mostly virtual memory, classified as:\ntotal, free, used and avail (which is physical memory)\n\nThe avail number on line 2 is an estimation of physical memory available for starting new\napplications, without swapping. Unlike the free field, it attempts to account for readily\nreclaimable page cache and memory slabs. It is available on kernels 3.14, emulated on\nkernels 2.6.27+, otherwise the same as free.\n\nIn the alternate memory display modes, two abbreviated summary lines are shown consisting of\nthese elements:\na b c\nGiB Mem : 18.7/15.738 [ ...\nGiB Swap: 0.0/7.999 [ ...\n\nWhere: a) is the percentage used; b) is the total available; and c) is one of two visual\ngraphs of those representations.\n\nIn the case of physical memory, the percentage represents the total minus the estimated avail\nnoted above. The `Mem' graph itself is divided between used and any remaining memory not\notherwise accounted for by avail. See topic 4b. SUMMARY AREA Commands and the `m' command\nfor additional information on that special 4-way toggle.\n\nThis table may help in interpreting the scaled values displayed:\nKiB = kibibyte = 1024 bytes\nMiB = mebibyte = 1024 KiB = 1,048,576 bytes\nGiB = gibibyte = 1024 MiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes\nTiB = tebibyte = 1024 GiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes\nPiB = pebibyte = 1024 TiB = 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes\nEiB = exbibyte = 1024 PiB = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes\n\n" }, { "name": "3. FIELDS / Columns", "content": "" }, { "name": "3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields", "content": "Listed below are top's available process fields (columns). They are shown in strict ascii\nalphabetical order. You may customize their position and whether or not they are displayable\nwith the `f' or `F' (Fields Management) interactive commands.\n\nAny field is selectable as the sort field, and you control whether they are sorted high-to-\nlow or low-to-high. For additional information on sort provisions see topic 4c. TASK AREA\nCommands, SORTING.\n\nThe fields related to physical memory or virtual memory reference `(KiB)' which is the\nunsuffixed display mode. Such fields may, however, be scaled from KiB through PiB. That\nscaling is influenced via the `e' interactive command or established for startup through a\nbuild option.\n\n\n1. %CPU -- CPU Usage\nThe task's share of the elapsed CPU time since the last screen update, expressed as a\npercentage of total CPU time.\n\nIn a true SMP environment, if a process is multi-threaded and top is not operating in\nThreads mode, amounts greater than 100% may be reported. You toggle Threads mode with\nthe `H' interactive command.\n\nAlso for multi-processor environments, if Irix mode is Off, top will operate in Solaris\nmode where a task's cpu usage will be divided by the total number of CPUs. You toggle\nIrix/Solaris modes with the `I' interactive command.\n\nNote: When running in forest view mode (`V') with children collapsed (`v'), this field\nwill also include the CPU time of those unseen children. See topic 4c. TASK AREA\nCommands, CONTENT for more information regarding the `V' and `v' toggles.\n\n\n2. %MEM -- Memory Usage (RES)\nA task's currently resident share of available physical memory.\n\nSee `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.\n\n\n3. CGNAME -- Control Group Name\nThe name of the control group to which a process belongs, or `-' if not applicable for\nthat process.\n\nThis will typically be the last entry in the full list of control groups as shown under\nthe next heading (CGROUPS). And as is true there, this field is also variable width.\n\n\n4. CGROUPS -- Control Groups\nThe names of the control group(s) to which a process belongs, or `-' if not applicable\nfor that process.\n\nControl Groups provide for allocating resources (cpu, memory, network bandwidth, etc.)\namong installation-defined groups of processes. They enable fine-grained control over\nallocating, denying, prioritizing, managing and monitoring those resources.\n\nMany different hierarchies of cgroups can exist simultaneously on a system and each\nhierarchy is attached to one or more subsystems. A subsystem represents a single\nresource.\n\nNote: The CGROUPS field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width. When displayed, it\nplus any other variable width columns will be allocated all remaining screen width (up to\nthe maximum 512 characters). Even so, such variable width fields could still suffer\ntruncation. See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information on accessing any\ntruncated data.\n\n\n5. CODE -- Code Size (KiB)\nThe amount of physical memory currently devoted to executable code, also known as the\nText Resident Set size or TRS.\n\nSee `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.\n\n\n6. COMMAND -- Command Name or Command Line\nDisplay the command line used to start a task or the name of the associated program. You\ntoggle between command line and name with `c', which is both a command-line option and an\ninteractive command.\n\nWhen you've chosen to display command lines, processes without a command line (like\nkernel threads) will be shown with only the program name in brackets, as in this example:\n[kthreadd]\n\nThis field may also be impacted by the forest view display mode. See the `V' interactive\ncommand for additional information regarding that mode.\n\nNote: The COMMAND field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width. When displayed, it\nplus any other variable width columns will be allocated all remaining screen width (up to\nthe maximum 512 characters). Even so, such variable width fields could still suffer\ntruncation. This is especially true for this field when command lines are being\ndisplayed (the `c' interactive command.) See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional\ninformation on accessing any truncated data.\n\n\n7. DATA -- Data + Stack Size (KiB)\nThe amount of private memory reserved by a process. It is also known as the Data\nResident Set or DRS. Such memory may not yet be mapped to physical memory (RES) but will\nalways be included in the virtual memory (VIRT) amount.\n\nSee `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.\n\n\n8. ENVIRON -- Environment variables\nDisplay all of the environment variables, if any, as seen by the respective processes.\nThese variables will be displayed in their raw native order, not the sorted order you are\naccustomed to seeing with an unqualified `set'.\n\nNote: The ENVIRON field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width. When displayed, it\nplus any other variable width columns will be allocated all remaining screen width (up to\nthe maximum 512 characters). Even so, such variable width fields could still suffer\ntruncation. This is especially true for this field. See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window\nfor additional information on accessing any truncated data.\n\n\n9. Flags -- Task Flags\nThis column represents the task's current scheduling flags which are expressed in\nhexadecimal notation and with zeros suppressed. These flags are officially documented in\n.\n\n\n10. GID -- Group Id\nThe effective group ID.\n\n\n11. GROUP -- Group Name\nThe effective group name.\n\n\n12. LXC -- Lxc Container Name\nThe name of the lxc container within which a task is running. If a process is not\nrunning inside a container, a dash (`-') will be shown.\n\n\n13. NI -- Nice Value\nThe nice value of the task. A negative nice value means higher priority, whereas a\npositive nice value means lower priority. Zero in this field simply means priority will\nnot be adjusted in determining a task's dispatch-ability.\n\n\n14. NU -- Last known NUMA node\nA number representing the NUMA node associated with the last used processor (`P'). When\n-1 is displayed it means that NUMA information is not available.\n\nSee the `'2' and `3' interactive commands for additional NUMA provisions affecting the\nsummary area.\n\n\n15. OOMa -- Out of Memory Adjustment Factor\nThe value, ranging from -1000 to +1000, added to the current out of memory score (OOMs)\nwhich is then used to determine which task to kill when memory is exhausted.\n\n\n16. OOMs -- Out of Memory Score\nThe value, ranging from 0 to +1000, used to select task(s) to kill when memory is\nexhausted. Zero translates to `never kill' whereas 1000 means `always kill'.\n\n\n17. P -- Last used CPU (SMP)\nA number representing the last used processor. In a true SMP environment this will\nlikely change frequently since the kernel intentionally uses weak affinity. Also, the\nvery act of running top may break this weak affinity and cause more processes to change\nCPUs more often (because of the extra demand for cpu time).\n\n\n18. PGRP -- Process Group Id\nEvery process is member of a unique process group which is used for distribution of\nsignals and by terminals to arbitrate requests for their input and output. When a\nprocess is created (forked), it becomes a member of the process group of its parent. By\nconvention, this value equals the process ID (see PID) of the first member of a process\ngroup, called the process group leader.\n\n\n19. PID -- Process Id\nThe task's unique process ID, which periodically wraps, though never restarting at zero.\nIn kernel terms, it is a dispatchable entity defined by a taskstruct.\n\nThis value may also be used as: a process group ID (see PGRP); a session ID for the\nsession leader (see SID); a thread group ID for the thread group leader (see TGID); and a\nTTY process group ID for the process group leader (see TPGID).\n\n\n20. PPID -- Parent Process Id\nThe process ID (pid) of a task's parent.\n\n\n21. PR -- Priority\nThe scheduling priority of the task. If you see `rt' in this field, it means the task is\nrunning under real time scheduling priority.\n\nUnder linux, real time priority is somewhat misleading since traditionally the operating\nitself was not preemptible. And while the 2.6 kernel can be made mostly preemptible, it\nis not always so.\n\n\n22. RES -- Resident Memory Size (KiB)\nA subset of the virtual address space (VIRT) representing the non-swapped physical memory\na task is currently using. It is also the sum of the RSan, RSfd and RSsh fields.\n\nIt can include private anonymous pages, private pages mapped to files (including program\nimages and shared libraries) plus shared anonymous pages. All such memory is backed by\nthe swap file represented separately under SWAP.\n\nLastly, this field may also include shared file-backed pages which, when modified, act as\na dedicated swap file and thus will never impact SWAP.\n\nSee `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.\n\n\n23. RSan -- Resident Anonymous Memory Size (KiB)\nA subset of resident memory (RES) representing private pages not mapped to a file.\n\n\n24. RSfd -- Resident File-Backed Memory Size (KiB)\nA subset of resident memory (RES) representing the implicitly shared pages supporting\nprogram images and shared libraries. It also includes explicit file mappings, both\nprivate and shared.\n\n\n25. RSlk -- Resident Locked Memory Size (KiB)\nA subset of resident memory (RES) which cannot be swapped out.\n\n\n26. RSsh -- Resident Shared Memory Size (KiB)\nA subset of resident memory (RES) representing the explicitly shared anonymous shm*/mmap\npages.\n\n\n27. RUID -- Real User Id\nThe real user ID.\n\n\n28. RUSER -- Real User Name\nThe real user name.\n\n\n29. S -- Process Status\nThe status of the task which can be one of:\nD = uninterruptible sleep\nI = idle\nR = running\nS = sleeping\nT = stopped by job control signal\nt = stopped by debugger during trace\nZ = zombie\n\nTasks shown as running should be more properly thought of as ready to run -- their\ntaskstruct is simply represented on the Linux run-queue. Even without a true SMP\nmachine, you may see numerous tasks in this state depending on top's delay interval and\nnice value.\n\n\n30. SHR -- Shared Memory Size (KiB)\nA subset of resident memory (RES) that may be used by other processes. It will include\nshared anonymous pages and shared file-backed pages. It also includes private pages\nmapped to files representing program images and shared libraries.\n\nSee `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.\n\n\n31. SID -- Session Id\nA session is a collection of process groups (see PGRP), usually established by the login\nshell. A newly forked process joins the session of its creator. By convention, this\nvalue equals the process ID (see PID) of the first member of the session, called the\nsession leader, which is usually the login shell.\n\n\n32. SUID -- Saved User Id\nThe saved user ID.\n\n\n33. SUPGIDS -- Supplementary Group IDs\nThe IDs of any supplementary group(s) established at login or inherited from a task's\nparent. They are displayed in a comma delimited list.\n\nNote: The SUPGIDS field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width. When displayed, it\nplus any other variable width columns will be allocated all remaining screen width (up to\nthe maximum 512 characters). Even so, such variable width fields could still suffer\ntruncation. See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information on accessing any\ntruncated data.\n\n\n34. SUPGRPS -- Supplementary Group Names\nThe names of any supplementary group(s) established at login or inherited from a task's\nparent. They are displayed in a comma delimited list.\n\nNote: The SUPGRPS field, unlike most columns, is not fixed-width. When displayed, it\nplus any other variable width columns will be allocated all remaining screen width (up to\nthe maximum 512 characters). Even so, such variable width fields could still suffer\ntruncation. See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information on accessing any\ntruncated data.\n\n\n35. SUSER -- Saved User Name\nThe saved user name.\n\n\n36. SWAP -- Swapped Size (KiB)\nThe formerly resident portion of a task's address space written to the swap file when\nphysical memory becomes over committed.\n\nSee `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.\n\n\n37. TGID -- Thread Group Id\nThe ID of the thread group to which a task belongs. It is the PID of the thread group\nleader. In kernel terms, it represents those tasks that share an mmstruct.\n\n\n38. TIME -- CPU Time\nTotal CPU time the task has used since it started. When Cumulative mode is On, each\nprocess is listed with the cpu time that it and its dead children have used. You toggle\nCumulative mode with `S', which is both a command-line option and an interactive command.\nSee the `S' interactive command for additional information regarding this mode.\n\n\n39. TIME+ -- CPU Time, hundredths\nThe same as TIME, but reflecting more granularity through hundredths of a second.\n\n\n40. TPGID -- Tty Process Group Id\nThe process group ID of the foreground process for the connected tty, or -1 if a process\nis not connected to a terminal. By convention, this value equals the process ID (see\nPID) of the process group leader (see PGRP).\n\n\n41. TTY -- Controlling Tty\nThe name of the controlling terminal. This is usually the device (serial port, pty,\netc.) from which the process was started, and which it uses for input or output.\nHowever, a task need not be associated with a terminal, in which case you'll see `?'\ndisplayed.\n\n\n42. UID -- User Id\nThe effective user ID of the task's owner.\n\n\n43. USED -- Memory in Use (KiB)\nThis field represents the non-swapped physical memory a task is using (RES) plus the\nswapped out portion of its address space (SWAP).\n\nSee `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.\n\n\n44. USER -- User Name\nThe effective user name of the task's owner.\n\n\n45. VIRT -- Virtual Memory Size (KiB)\nThe total amount of virtual memory used by the task. It includes all code, data and\nshared libraries plus pages that have been swapped out and pages that have been mapped\nbut not used.\n\nSee `OVERVIEW, Linux Memory Types' for additional details.\n\n\n46. WCHAN -- Sleeping in Function\nThis field will show the name of the kernel function in which the task is currently\nsleeping. Running tasks will display a dash (`-') in this column.\n\n\n47. nDRT -- Dirty Pages Count\nThe number of pages that have been modified since they were last written to auxiliary\nstorage. Dirty pages must be written to auxiliary storage before the corresponding\nphysical memory location can be used for some other virtual page.\n\nThis field was deprecated with linux 2.6 and is always zero.\n\n\n48. nMaj -- Major Page Fault Count\nThe number of major page faults that have occurred for a task. A page fault occurs when\na process attempts to read from or write to a virtual page that is not currently present\nin its address space. A major page fault is when auxiliary storage access is involved in\nmaking that page available.\n\n\n49. nMin -- Minor Page Fault count\nThe number of minor page faults that have occurred for a task. A page fault occurs when\na process attempts to read from or write to a virtual page that is not currently present\nin its address space. A minor page fault does not involve auxiliary storage access in\nmaking that page available.\n\n\n50. nTH -- Number of Threads\nThe number of threads associated with a process.\n\n\n51. nsIPC -- IPC namespace\nThe Inode of the namespace used to isolate interprocess communication (IPC) resources\nsuch as System V IPC objects and POSIX message queues.\n\n\n52. nsMNT -- MNT namespace\nThe Inode of the namespace used to isolate filesystem mount points thus offering\ndifferent views of the filesystem hierarchy.\n\n\n53. nsNET -- NET namespace\nThe Inode of the namespace used to isolate resources such as network devices, IP\naddresses, IP routing, port numbers, etc.\n\n\n54. nsPID -- PID namespace\nThe Inode of the namespace used to isolate process ID numbers meaning they need not\nremain unique. Thus, each such namespace could have its own `init/systemd' (PID #1) to\nmanage various initialization tasks and reap orphaned child processes.\n\n\n55. nsUSER -- USER namespace\nThe Inode of the namespace used to isolate the user and group ID numbers. Thus, a\nprocess could have a normal unprivileged user ID outside a user namespace while having a\nuser ID of 0, with full root privileges, inside that namespace.\n\n\n56. nsUTS -- UTS namespace\nThe Inode of the namespace used to isolate hostname and NIS domain name. UTS simply\nmeans \"UNIX Time-sharing System\".\n\n\n57. vMj -- Major Page Fault Count Delta\nThe number of major page faults that have occurred since the last update (see nMaj).\n\n\n58. vMn -- Minor Page Fault Count Delta\nThe number of minor page faults that have occurred since the last update (see nMin).\n\n" }, { "name": "3b. MANAGING Fields", "content": "After pressing the interactive command `f' or `F' (Fields Management) you will be presented\nwith a screen showing: 1) the `current' window name; 2) the designated sort field; 3) all\nfields in their current order along with descriptions. Entries marked with an asterisk are\nthe currently displayed fields, screen width permitting.\n\n\n• As the on screen instructions indicate, you navigate among the fields with the Up and\nDown arrow keys. The PgUp, PgDn, Home and End keys can also be used to quickly reach\nthe first or last available field.\n\n\n• The Right arrow key selects a field for repositioning and the Left arrow key or the\n key commits that field's placement.\n\n\n• The `d' key or the bar toggles a field's display status, and thus the presence\nor absence of the asterisk.\n\n\n• The `s' key designates a field as the sort field. See topic 4c. TASK AREA Commands,\nSORTING for additional information regarding your selection of a sort field.\n\n\n• The `a' and `w' keys can be used to cycle through all available windows and the `q' or\n keys exit Fields Management.\n\n\nThe Fields Management screen can also be used to change the `current' window/field group in\neither full-screen mode or alternate-display mode. Whatever was targeted when `q' or \nwas pressed will be made current as you return to the top display. See topic 5.\nALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions and the `g' interactive command for insight into `current'\nwindows and field groups.\n\n\nNote: Any window that has been scrolled horizontally will be reset if any field changes are\nmade via the Fields Management screen. Any vertical scrolled position, however, will not be\naffected. See topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information regarding vertical and\nhorizontal scrolling.\n\n" }, { "name": "4. INTERACTIVE Commands", "content": "Listed below is a brief index of commands within categories. Some commands appear more than\nonce -- their meaning or scope may vary depending on the context in which they are issued.\n\n4a. Global-Commands\n ?, =, 0,\nA, B, d, E, e, g, h, H, I, k, q, r, s, W, X, Y, Z\n4b. Summary-Area-Commands\nC, l, t, m, 1, 2, 3, 4, !\n4c. Task-Area-Commands\nAppearance: b, J, j, x, y, z\nContent: c, f, F, o, O, S, u, U, V, v\nSize: #, i, n\nSorting: <, >, f, F, R\n4d. Color-Mapping\n, a, B, b, H, M, q, S, T, w, z, 0 - 7\n5b. Commands-for-Windows\n-, , =, +, A, a, g, G, w\n5c. Scrolling-a-Window\nC, Up, Dn, Left, Right, PgUp, PgDn, Home, End\n5d. Searching-in-a-Window\nL, &\n\n" }, { "name": "4a. GLOBAL Commands", "content": "The global interactive commands are always available in both full-screen mode and\nalternate-display mode. However, some of these interactive commands are not available when\nrunning in Secure mode.\n\nIf you wish to know in advance whether or not your top has been secured, simply ask for help\nand view the system summary on the second line.\n\n\n or :Refresh-Display\nThese commands awaken top and following receipt of any input the entire display will\nbe repainted. They also force an update of any hotplugged cpu or physical memory\nchanges.\n\nUse either of these keys if you have a large delay interval and wish to see current\nstatus,\n\n\n? | h :Help\nThere are two help levels available. The first will provide a reminder of all the\nbasic interactive commands. If top is secured, that screen will be abbreviated.\n\nTyping `h' or `?' on that help screen will take you to help for those interactive\ncommands applicable to alternate-display mode.\n\n\n= :Exit-Display-Limits\nRemoves restrictions on what is shown. This command will reverse any `i' (idle\ntasks), `n' (max tasks) and `v' (hide children) commands that might be active. It\nalso provides for an exit from PID monitoring, User filtering, Other filtering, Locate\nprocessing and Combine Cpus mode.\n\nAdditionally, if the window has been scrolled it will be reset with this command.\n\n\n0 :Zero-Suppress toggle\nThis command determines whether zeros are shown or suppressed for many of the fields\nin a task window. Fields like UID, GID, NI, PR or P are not affected by this toggle.\n\n\nA :Alternate-Display-Mode toggle\nThis command will switch between full-screen mode and alternate-display mode. See\ntopic 5. ALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions and the `g' interactive command for insight into\n`current' windows and field groups.\n\n\nB :Bold-Disable/Enable toggle\nThis command will influence use of the bold terminfo capability and alters both the\nsummary area and task area for the `current' window. While it is intended primarily\nfor use with dumb terminals, it can be applied anytime.\n\nNote: When this toggle is On and top is operating in monochrome mode, the entire\ndisplay will appear as normal text. Thus, unless the `x' and/or `y' toggles are using\nreverse for emphasis, there will be no visual confirmation that they are even on.\n\n\n* d | s :Change-Delay-Time-interval\nYou will be prompted to enter the delay time, in seconds, between display updates.\n\nFractional seconds are honored, but a negative number is not allowed. Entering 0\ncauses (nearly) continuous updates, with an unsatisfactory display as the system and\ntty driver try to keep up with top's demands. The delay value is inversely\nproportional to system loading, so set it with care.\n\nIf at any time you wish to know the current delay time, simply ask for help and view\nthe system summary on the second line.\n\n\nE :Enforce-Summary-Memory-Scale in Summary Area\nWith this command you can cycle through the available summary area memory scaling\nwhich ranges from KiB (kibibytes or 1,024 bytes) through EiB (exbibytes or\n1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes).\n\nIf you see a `+' between a displayed number and the following label, it means that top\nwas forced to truncate some portion of that number. By raising the scaling factor,\nsuch truncation can be avoided.\n\n\ne :Enforce-Task-Memory-Scale in Task Area\nWith this command you can cycle through the available task area memory scaling which\nranges from KiB (kibibytes or 1,024 bytes) through PiB (pebibytes or\n1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes).\n\nWhile top will try to honor the selected target range, additional scaling might still\nbe necessary in order to accommodate current values. If you wish to see a more\nhomogeneous result in the memory columns, raising the scaling range will usually\naccomplish that goal. Raising it too high, however, is likely to produce an all zero\nresult which cannot be suppressed with the `0' interactive command.\n\n\ng :Choose-Another-Window/Field-Group\nYou will be prompted to enter a number between 1 and 4 designating the field group\nwhich should be made the `current' window. You will soon grow comfortable with these\n4 windows, especially after experimenting with alternate-display mode.\n\n\nH :Threads-mode toggle\nWhen this toggle is On, individual threads will be displayed for all processes in all\nvisible task windows. Otherwise, top displays a summation of all threads in each\nprocess.\n\n\nI :Irix/Solaris-Mode toggle\nWhen operating in Solaris mode (`I' toggled Off), a task's cpu usage will be divided\nby the total number of CPUs. After issuing this command, you'll be told the new state\nof this toggle.\n\n\n* k :Kill-a-task\nYou will be prompted for a PID and then the signal to send.\n\nEntering no PID or a negative number will be interpreted as the default shown in the\nprompt (the first task displayed). A PID value of zero means the top program itself.\n\nThe default signal, as reflected in the prompt, is SIGTERM. However, you can send any\nsignal, via number or name.\n\nIf you wish to abort the kill process, do one of the following depending on your\nprogress:\n1) at the pid prompt, type an invalid number\n2) at the signal prompt, type 0 (or any invalid signal)\n3) at any prompt, type \n\n\nq :Quit\n\n\n* r :Renice-a-Task\nYou will be prompted for a PID and then the value to nice it to.\n\nEntering no PID or a negative number will be interpreted as the default shown in the\nprompt (the first task displayed). A PID value of zero means the top program itself.\n\nA positive nice value will cause a process to lose priority. Conversely, a negative\nnice value will cause a process to be viewed more favorably by the kernel. As a\ngeneral rule, ordinary users can only increase the nice value and are prevented from\nlowering it.\n\nIf you wish to abort the renice process, do one of the following depending on your\nprogress:\n1) at the pid prompt, type an invalid number\n2) at the nice prompt, type with no input\n3) at any prompt, type \n\n\nW :Write-the-Configuration-File\nThis will save all of your options and toggles plus the current display mode and delay\ntime. By issuing this command just before quitting top, you will be able restart\nlater in exactly that same state.\n\n\nX :Extra-Fixed-Width\nSome fields are fixed width and not scalable. As such, they are subject to truncation\nwhich would be indicated by a `+' in the last position.\n\nThis interactive command can be used to alter the widths of the following fields:\n\nfield default field default field default\nGID 5 GROUP 8 WCHAN 10\nRUID 5 LXC 8 nsIPC 10\nSUID 5 RUSER 8 nsMNT 10\nUID 5 SUSER 8 nsNET 10\nTTY 8 nsPID 10\nUSER 8 nsUSER 10\nnsUTS 10\n\nYou will be prompted for the amount to be added to the default widths shown above.\nEntering zero forces a return to those defaults.\n\nIf you enter a negative number, top will automatically increase the column size as\nneeded until there is no more truncated data. You can accelerate this process by\nreducing the delay interval or holding down the bar.\n\nNote: Whether explicitly or automatically increased, the widths for these fields are\nnever decreased by top. To narrow them you must specify a smaller number or restore\nthe defaults.\n\n\nY :Inspect-Other-Output\nAfter issuing the `Y' interactive command, you will be prompted for a target PID.\nTyping a value or accepting the default results in a separate screen. That screen can\nbe used to view a variety of files or piped command output while the normal top\niterative display is paused.\n\nNote: This interactive command is only fully realized when supporting entries have\nbeen manually added to the end of the top configuration file. For details on creating\nthose entries, see topic 6b. ADDING INSPECT Entries.\n\nMost of the keys used to navigate the Inspect feature are reflected in its header\nprologue. There are, however, additional keys available once you have selected a\nparticular file or command. They are familiar to anyone who has used the pager `less'\nand are summarized here for future reference.\n\nkey function\n= alternate status-line, file or pipeline\n/ find, equivalent to `L' locate\nn find next, equivalent to `&' locate next\n scroll down, equivalent to \nb scroll up, equivalent to \ng first line, equivalent to \nG last line, equivalent to \n\n\nZ :Change-Color-Mapping\nThis key will take you to a separate screen where you can change the colors for the\n`current' window, or for all windows. For details regarding this interactive command\nsee topic 4d. COLOR Mapping.\n\n\n* The commands shown with an asterisk (`*') are not available in Secure mode, nor will they\nbe shown on the level-1 help screen.\n\n" }, { "name": "4b. SUMMARY AREA Commands", "content": "The summary area interactive commands are always available in both full-screen mode and\nalternate-display mode. They affect the beginning lines of your display and will determine\nthe position of messages and prompts.\n\nThese commands always impact just the `current' window/field group. See topic 5.\nALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions and the `g' interactive command for insight into `current'\nwindows and field groups.\n\n\nC :Show-scroll-coordinates toggle\nToggle an informational message which is displayed whenever the message line is not\notherwise being used. For additional information see topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window.\n\n\nl :Load-Average/Uptime toggle\nThis is also the line containing the program name (possibly an alias) when operating\nin full-screen mode or the `current' window name when operating in alternate-display\nmode.\n\n\nt :Task/Cpu-States toggle\nThis command affects from 2 to many summary area lines, depending on the state of the\n`1', `2' or `3' command toggles and whether or not top is running under true SMP.\n\nThis portion of the summary area is also influenced by the `H' interactive command\ntoggle, as reflected in the total label which shows either Tasks or Threads.\n\nThis command serves as a 4-way toggle, cycling through these modes:\n1. detailed percentages by category\n2. abbreviated user/system and total % + bar graph\n3. abbreviated user/system and total % + block graph\n4. turn off task and cpu states display\n\nWhen operating in either of the graphic modes, the display becomes much more\nmeaningful when individual CPUs or NUMA nodes are also displayed. See the the `1',\n`2' and `3' commands below for additional information.\n\n\nm :Memory/Swap-Usage toggle\nThis command affects the two summary area lines dealing with physical and virtual\nmemory.\n\nThis command serves as a 4-way toggle, cycling through these modes:\n1. detailed percentages by memory type\n2. abbreviated % used/total available + bar graph\n3. abbreviated % used/total available + block graph\n4. turn off memory display\n\n\n1 :Single/Separate-Cpu-States toggle\nThis command affects how the `t' command's Cpu States portion is shown. Although this\ntoggle exists primarily to serve massively-parallel SMP machines, it is not restricted\nto solely SMP environments.\n\nWhen you see `%Cpu(s):' in the summary area, the `1' toggle is On and all cpu\ninformation is gathered in a single line. Otherwise, each cpu is displayed separately\nas: `%Cpu0, %Cpu1, ...' up to available screen height.\n\n\n2 :NUMA-Nodes/Cpu-Summary toggle\nThis command toggles between the `1' command cpu summary display (only) or a summary\ndisplay plus the cpu usage statistics for each NUMA Node. It is only available if a\nsystem has the requisite NUMA support.\n\n\n3 :Expand-NUMA-Node\nYou will be invited to enter a number representing a NUMA Node. Thereafter, a node\nsummary plus the statistics for each cpu in that node will be shown until the `1', `2'\nor `4' command toggle is pressed. This interactive command is only available if a\nsystem has the requisite NUMA support.\n\n\n4 :Display-Cpus-Two-Abreast\nThis command turns the `1' toggle Off for individual cpu display but prints the\nresults two abreast. It requires a terminal with a minimum width of 80 columns. If a\nterminal's width is decreased below the minimum while top is running, top reverts to\nthe normal `1' toggle Off state.\n\nTo avoid truncation when displaying detailed cpu statistcs, as opposed to the graphic\nrepresentations, a minimum width of 165 columns would be required.\n\n\n! :Combine-Cpus-Mode\nThis command toggle is intended for massively parallel SMP environments where, even\nwith the `4' command toggle, not all processors can be displayed. With each press of\n`!' the number of additional cpu's combined is doubled thus reducing the total number\nof cpu lines displayed.\n\nFor example, with the first press of `!' one additional cpu will be combined and\ndisplayed as `0-1, 2-3, ...' instead of the normal `%Cpu0, %Cpu1, %Cpu2, %Cpu3, ...'.\nWith a second `!' command toggle two additional cpus are combined and shown as `0-2,\n3-5, ...'. Then the third '!' press, combining four additional cpus, shows as `0-4,\n5-9, ...', etc.\n\nSuch progression continues until individual cpus are again displayed and impacts both\nthe `1' and `4' toggles (one or two columns). Use the `=' command to exit Combine\nCpus mode.\n\n\nNote: If the entire summary area has been toggled Off for any window, you would be left with\njust the message line. In that way, you will have maximized available task rows but\n(temporarily) sacrificed the program name in full-screen mode or the `current' window name\nwhen in alternate-display mode.\n\n" }, { "name": "4c. TASK AREA Commands", "content": "The task area interactive commands are always available in full-screen mode.\n\nThe task area interactive commands are never available in alternate-display mode if the\n`current' window's task display has been toggled Off (see topic 5. ALTERNATE-DISPLAY\nProvisions).\n\n\nAPPEARANCE of task window\n\n\nJ :Justify-Numeric-Columns toggle\nAlternates between right-justified (the default) and left-justified numeric data. If\nthe numeric data completely fills the available column, this command toggle may impact\nthe column header only.\n\n\nj :Justify-Character-Columns toggle\nAlternates between left-justified (the default) and right-justified character data.\nIf the character data completely fills the available column, this command toggle may\nimpact the column header only.\n\n\nThe following commands will also be influenced by the state of the global `B' (bold enable)\ntoggle.\n\n\nb :Bold/Reverse toggle\nThis command will impact how the `x' and `y' toggles are displayed. It may also\nimpact the summary area when a bar graph has been selected for cpu states or memory\nusage via the `t' or `m' toggles.\n\n\nx :Column-Highlight toggle\nChanges highlighting for the current sort field. If you forget which field is being\nsorted this command can serve as a quick visual reminder, providing the sort field is\nbeing displayed. The sort field might not be visible because:\n1) there is insufficient Screen Width\n2) the `f' interactive command turned it Off\n\nNote: Whenever Searching and/or Other Filtering is active in a window, column\nhighlighting is temporarily disabled. See the notes at the end of topics 5d.\nSEARCHING and 5e. FILTERING for an explanation why.\n\n\ny :Row-Highlight toggle\nChanges highlighting for \"running\" tasks. For additional insight into this task\nstate, see topic 3a. DESCRIPTIONS of Fields, the `S' field (Process Status).\n\nUse of this provision provides important insight into your system's health. The only\ncosts will be a few additional tty escape sequences.\n\n\nz :Color/Monochrome toggle\nSwitches the `current' window between your last used color scheme and the older form\nof black-on-white or white-on-black. This command will alter both the summary area\nand task area but does not affect the state of the `x', `y' or `b' toggles.\n\n\nCONTENT of task window\n\n\nc :Command-Line/Program-Name toggle\nThis command will be honored whether or not the COMMAND column is currently visible.\nLater, should that field come into view, the change you applied will be seen.\n\n\nf | F :Fields-Management\nThese keys display a separate screen where you can change which fields are displayed,\ntheir order and also designate the sort field. For additional information on these\ninteractive commands see topic 3b. MANAGING Fields.\n\n\no | O :Other-Filtering\nYou will be prompted for the selection criteria which then determines which tasks will\nbe shown in the `current' window. Your criteria can be made case sensitive or case\ncan be ignored. And you determine if top should include or exclude matching tasks.\n\nSee topic 5e. FILTERING in a window for details on these and additional related\ninteractive commands.\n\n\nS :Cumulative-Time-Mode toggle\nWhen Cumulative mode is On, each process is listed with the cpu time that it and its\ndead children have used.\n\nWhen Off, programs that fork into many separate tasks will appear less demanding. For\nprograms like `init' or a shell this is appropriate but for others, like compilers,\nperhaps not. Experiment with two task windows sharing the same sort field but with\ndifferent `S' states and see which representation you prefer.\n\nAfter issuing this command, you'll be informed of the new state of this toggle. If\nyou wish to know in advance whether or not Cumulative mode is in effect, simply ask\nfor help and view the window summary on the second line.\n\n\nu | U :Show-Specific-User-Only\nYou will be prompted for the uid or name of the user to display. The -u option\nmatches on effective user whereas the -U option matches on any user (real, effective,\nsaved, or filesystem).\n\nThereafter, in that task window only matching users will be shown, or possibly no\nprocesses will be shown. Prepending an exclamation point (`!') to the user id or name\ninstructs top to display only processes with users not matching the one provided.\n\nDifferent task windows can be used to filter different users. Later, if you wish to\nmonitor all users again in the `current' window, re-issue this command but just press\n at the prompt.\n\n\nV :Forest-View-Mode toggle\nIn this mode, processes are reordered according to their parents and the layout of the\nCOMMAND column resembles that of a tree. In forest view mode it is still possible to\ntoggle between program name and command line (see the `c' interactive command) or\nbetween processes and threads (see the `H' interactive command).\n\nNote: Typing any key affecting the sort order will exit forest view mode in the\n`current' window. See topic 4c. TASK AREA Commands, SORTING for information on those\nkeys.\n\n\nv :Hide/Show-Children toggle\nWhen in forest view mode, this key serves as a toggle to collapse or expand the\nchildren of a parent.\n\nThe toggle is applied against the first (topmost) process in the `current' window.\nSee topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information regarding vertical\nscrolling.\n\nIf the target process has not forked any children, this key has no effect. It also\nhas no effect when not in forest view mode.\n\n\nSIZE of task window\n\n\ni :Idle-Process toggle\nDisplays all tasks or just active tasks. When this toggle is Off, tasks that have not\nused any CPU since the last update will not be displayed. However, due to the\ngranularity of the %CPU and TIME+ fields, some processes may still be displayed that\nappear to have used no CPU.\n\nIf this command is applied to the last task display when in alternate-display mode,\nthen it will not affect the window's size, as all prior task displays will have\nalready been painted.\n\n\nn | # :Set-Maximum-Tasks\nYou will be prompted to enter the number of tasks to display. The lessor of your\nnumber and available screen rows will be used.\n\nWhen used in alternate-display mode, this is the command that gives you precise\ncontrol over the size of each currently visible task display, except for the very\nlast. It will not affect the last window's size, as all prior task displays will have\nalready been painted.\n\nNote: If you wish to increase the size of the last visible task display when in\nalternate-display mode, simply decrease the size of the task display(s) above it.\n\n\nSORTING of task window\n\nFor compatibility, this top supports most of the former top sort keys. Since this is\nprimarily a service to former top users, these commands do not appear on any help screen.\ncommand sorted-field supported\nA start time (non-display) No\nM %MEM Yes\nN PID Yes\nP %CPU Yes\nT TIME+ Yes\n\nBefore using any of the following sort provisions, top suggests that you temporarily turn\non column highlighting using the `x' interactive command. That will help ensure that the\nactual sort environment matches your intent.\n\nThe following interactive commands will only be honored when the current sort field is\nvisible. The sort field might not be visible because:\n1) there is insufficient Screen Width\n2) the `f' interactive command turned it Off\n\n\n< :Move-Sort-Field-Left\nMoves the sort column to the left unless the current sort field is the first field\nbeing displayed.\n\n\n> :Move-Sort-Field-Right\nMoves the sort column to the right unless the current sort field is the last field\nbeing displayed.\n\n\nThe following interactive commands will always be honored whether or not the current sort\nfield is visible.\n\n\nf | F :Fields-Management\nThese keys display a separate screen where you can change which field is used as\nthe sort column, among other functions. This can be a convenient way to simply\nverify the current sort field, when running top with column highlighting turned\nOff.\n\n\nR :Reverse/Normal-Sort-Field toggle\nUsing this interactive command you can alternate between high-to-low and low-to-\nhigh sorts.\n\n\nNote: Field sorting uses internal values, not those in column display. Thus, the TTY and\nWCHAN fields will violate strict ASCII collating sequence.\n\n" }, { "name": "4d. COLOR Mapping", "content": "When you issue the `Z' interactive command, you will be presented with a separate screen.\nThat screen can be used to change the colors in just the `current' window or in all four\nwindows before returning to the top display.\n\n\nThe following interactive commands are available.\n4 upper case letters to select a target\n8 numbers to select a color\nnormal toggles available\nB :bold disable/enable\nb :running tasks \"bold\"/reverse\nz :color/mono\nother commands available\na/w :apply, then go to next/prior\n :apply and exit\nq :abandon current changes and exit\n\nIf you use `a' or `w' to cycle the targeted window, you will have applied the color scheme\nthat was displayed when you left that window. You can, of course, easily return to any\nwindow and reapply different colors or turn colors Off completely with the `z' toggle.\n\nThe Color Mapping screen can also be used to change the `current' window/field group in\neither full-screen mode or alternate-display mode. Whatever was targeted when `q' or \nwas pressed will be made current as you return to the top display.\n\n" }, { "name": "5. ALTERNATE-DISPLAY Provisions", "content": "" }, { "name": "5a. WINDOWS Overview", "content": "Field Groups/Windows:\nIn full-screen mode there is a single window represented by the entire screen. That\nsingle window can still be changed to display 1 of 4 different field groups (see the `g'\ninteractive command, repeated below). Each of the 4 field groups has a unique separately\nconfigurable summary area and its own configurable task area.\n\nIn alternate-display mode, those 4 underlying field groups can now be made visible\nsimultaneously, or can be turned Off individually at your command.\n\nThe summary area will always exist, even if it's only the message line. At any given time\nonly one summary area can be displayed. However, depending on your commands, there could\nbe from zero to four separate task displays currently showing on the screen.\n\n\nCurrent Window:\nThe `current' window is the window associated with the summary area and the window to\nwhich task related commands are always directed. Since in alternate-display mode you can\ntoggle the task display Off, some commands might be restricted for the `current' window.\n\nA further complication arises when you have toggled the first summary area line Off. With\nthe loss of the window name (the `l' toggled line), you'll not easily know what window is\nthe `current' window.\n\n" }, { "name": "5b. COMMANDS for Windows", "content": "- | :Show/Hide-Window(s) toggles\nThe `-' key turns the `current' window's task display On and Off. When On, that task\narea will show a minimum of the columns header you've established with the `f'\ninteractive command. It will also reflect any other task area options/toggles you've\napplied yielding zero or more tasks.\n\nThe `' key does the same for all task displays. In other words, it switches between\nthe currently visible task display(s) and any task display(s) you had toggled Off. If\nall 4 task displays are currently visible, this interactive command will leave the\nsummary area as the only display element.\n\n\n* = | + :Equalize/Reset-Window(s)\nThe `=' key forces the `current' window's task display to be visible. It also\nreverses any active `i' (idle tasks), `n' (max tasks), `u/U' (user filter), `o/O'\n(other filter), `v' (hide children), `L' (locate) and `!' (combine cpus) commands.\nAlso, if the window had been scrolled, it will be reset with this command. See topic\n5c. SCROLLING a Window for additional information regarding vertical and horizontal\nscrolling.\n\nThe `+' key does the same for all windows. The four task displays will reappear,\nevenly balanced, while retaining any customizations previously applied beyond those\nnoted for the `=' command toggle.\n\n\n* A :Alternate-Display-Mode toggle\nThis command will switch between full-screen mode and alternate-display mode.\n\nThe first time you issue this command, all four task displays will be shown.\nThereafter when you switch modes, you will see only the task display(s) you've chosen\nto make visible.\n\n\n* a | w :Next-Window-Forward/Backward\nThis will change the `current' window, which in turn changes the window to which\ncommands are directed. These keys act in a circular fashion so you can reach any\ndesired window using either key.\n\nAssuming the window name is visible (you have not toggled `l' Off), whenever the\n`current' window name loses its emphasis/color, that's a reminder the task display is\nOff and many commands will be restricted.\n\n\n* g :Choose-Another-Window/Field-Group\nYou will be prompted to enter a number between 1 and 4 designating the field group\nwhich should be made the `current' window.\n\nIn full-screen mode, this command is necessary to alter the `current' window. In\nalternate-display mode, it is simply a less convenient alternative to the `a' and `w'\ncommands.\n\n\nG :Change-Window/Field-Group-Name\nYou will be prompted for a new name to be applied to the `current' window. It does\nnot require that the window name be visible (the `l' toggle to be On).\n\n\n* The interactive commands shown with an asterisk (`*') have use beyond alternate-display\nmode.\n=, A, g are always available\na, w act the same with color mapping\nand fields management\n\n" }, { "name": "5c. SCROLLING a Window", "content": "Typically a task window is a partial view into a systems's total tasks/threads which shows\nonly some of the available fields/columns. With these scrolling keys, you can move that view\nvertically or horizontally to reveal any desired task or column.\n\n\nUp,PgUp :Scroll-Tasks\nMove the view up toward the first task row, until the first task is displayed at the top\nof the `current' window. The Up arrow key moves a single line while PgUp scrolls the\nentire window.\n\n\nDown,PgDn :Scroll-Tasks\nMove the view down toward the last task row, until the last task is the only task\ndisplayed at the top of the `current' window. The Down arrow key moves a single line\nwhile PgDn scrolls the entire window.\n\n\nLeft,Right :Scroll-Columns\nMove the view of displayable fields horizontally one column at a time.\n\nNote: As a reminder, some fields/columns are not fixed-width but allocated all remaining\nscreen width when visible. When scrolling right or left, that feature may produce some\nunexpected results initially.\n\nAdditionally, there are special provisions for any variable width field when positioned\nas the last displayed field. Once that field is reached via the right arrow key, and is\nthus the only column shown, you can continue scrolling horizontally within such a field.\nSee the `C' interactive command below for additional information.\n\n\nHome :Jump-to-Home-Position\nReposition the display to the un-scrolled coordinates.\n\n\nEnd :Jump-to-End-Position\nReposition the display so that the rightmost column reflects the last displayable field\nand the bottom task row represents the last task.\n\nNote: From this position it is still possible to scroll down and right using the arrow\nkeys. This is true until a single column and a single task is left as the only display\nelement.\n\n\nC :Show-scroll-coordinates toggle\nToggle an informational message which is displayed whenever the message line is not\notherwise being used. That message will take one of two forms depending on whether or\nnot a variable width column has also been scrolled.\n\nscroll coordinates: y = n/n (tasks), x = n/n (fields)\nscroll coordinates: y = n/n (tasks), x = n/n (fields) + nn\n\nThe coordinates shown as n/n are relative to the upper left corner of the `current'\nwindow. The additional `+ nn' represents the displacement into a variable width column\nwhen it has been scrolled horizontally. Such displacement occurs in normal 8 character\ntab stop amounts via the right and left arrow keys.\n\n\ny = n/n (tasks)\nThe first n represents the topmost visible task and is controlled by scrolling keys.\nThe second n is updated automatically to reflect total tasks.\n\n\nx = n/n (fields)\nThe first n represents the leftmost displayed column and is controlled by scrolling\nkeys. The second n is the total number of displayable fields and is established with\nthe `f' interactive command.\n\n\nThe above interactive commands are always available in full-screen mode but never available\nin alternate-display mode if the `current' window's task display has been toggled Off.\n\nNote: When any form of filtering is active, you can expect some slight aberrations when\nscrolling since not all tasks will be visible. This is particularly apparent when using the\nUp/Down arrow keys.\n\n" }, { "name": "5d. SEARCHING in a Window", "content": "You can use these interactive commands to locate a task row containing a particular value.\n\n\nL :Locate-a-string\nYou will be prompted for the case-sensitive string to locate starting from the current\nwindow coordinates. There are no restrictions on search string content.\n\nSearches are not limited to values from a single field or column. All of the values\ndisplayed in a task row are allowed in a search string. You may include spaces, numbers,\nsymbols and even forest view artwork.\n\nKeying with no input will effectively disable the `&' key until a new search\nstring is entered.\n\n\n& :Locate-next\nAssuming a search string has been established, top will attempt to locate the next\noccurrence.\n\n\nWhen a match is found, the current window is repositioned vertically so the task row\ncontaining that string is first. The scroll coordinates message can provide confirmation of\nsuch vertical repositioning (see the `C' interactive command). Horizontal scrolling,\nhowever, is never altered via searching.\n\nThe availability of a matching string will be influenced by the following factors.\n\na. Which fields are displayable from the total available,\nsee topic 3b. MANAGING Fields.\n\nb. Scrolling a window vertically and/or horizontally,\nsee topic 5c. SCROLLING a Window.\n\nc. The state of the command/command-line toggle,\nsee the `c' interactive command.\n\nd. The stability of the chosen sort column,\nfor example PID is good but %CPU bad.\n\n\nIf a search fails, restoring the `current' window home (unscrolled) position, scrolling\nhorizontally, displaying command-lines or choosing a more stable sort field could yet produce\na successful `&' search.\n\nThe above interactive commands are always available in full-screen mode but never available\nin alternate-display mode if the `current' window's task display has been toggled Off.\n\nNote: Whenever a Search is active in a window, top will turn column highlighting Off to\nprevent false matches on internal non-display escape sequences. Such highlighting will be\nrestored when a window's search string is empty. See the `x' interactive command for\nadditional information on sort column highlighting.\n\n" }, { "name": "5e. FILTERING in a Window", "content": "You can use this `Other Filter' feature to establish selection criteria which will then\ndetermine which tasks are shown in the `current' window. Such filters can be made presistent\nif preserved in the rcfile via the 'W' interactive command.\n\nEstablishing a filter requires: 1) a field name; 2) an operator; and 3) a selection value, as\na minimum. This is the most complex of top's user input requirements so, when you make a\nmistake, command recall will be your friend. Remember the Up/Down arrow keys or their\naliases when prompted for input.\n" }, { "name": "Filter Basics", "content": "1. field names are case sensitive and spelled as in the header\n\n2. selection values need not comprise the full displayed field\n\n3. a selection is either case insensitive or sensitive to case\n\n4. the default is inclusion, prepending `!' denotes exclusions\n\n5. multiple selection criteria can be applied to a task window\n\n6. inclusion and exclusion criteria can be used simultaneously\n\n7. the 1 equality and 2 relational filters can be freely mixed\n\n8. separate unique filters are maintained for each task window\n\n\nIf a field is not turned on or is not currently in view, then your selection criteria will\nnot affect the display. Later, should a filtered field become visible, the selection\ncriteria will then be applied.\n" }, { "name": "Keyboard Summary", "content": "o :Other-Filter (lower case)\nYou will be prompted to establish a filter that ignores case when matching.\n\n\nO :Other-Filter (upper case)\nYou will be prompted to establish a case sensitive filter.\n\n\n^O :Show-Active-Filters (Ctrl key + `o')\nThis can serve as a reminder of which filters are active in the `current' window. A\nsummary will be shown on the message line until you press the key.\n\n\n= :Reset-Filtering in current window\nThis clears all of your selection criteria in the `current' window. It also has\nadditional impact so please see topic 4a. GLOBAL Commands.\n\n\n+ :Reset-Filtering in all windows\nThis clears the selection criteria in all windows, assuming you are in\nalternate-display mode. As with the `=' interactive command, it too has additional\nconsequences so you might wish to see topic 5b. COMMANDS for Windows.\n\n" }, { "name": "Input Requirements", "content": "When prompted for selection criteria, the data you provide must take one of two forms.\nThere are 3 required pieces of information, with a 4th as optional. These examples use\nspaces for clarity but your input generally would not.\n#1 #2 #3 ( required )\nField-Name ? include-if-value\n! Field-Name ? exclude-if-value\n#4 ( optional )\n\nItems #1, #3 and #4 should be self-explanatory. Item #2 represents both a required\ndelimiter and the operator which must be one of either equality (`=') or relation (`<' or\n`>').\n\nThe `=' equality operator requires only a partial match and that can reduce your\n`if-value' input requirements. The `>' or `<' relational operators always employ string\ncomparisons, even with numeric fields. They are designed to work with a field's default\njustification and with homogeneous data. When some field's numeric amounts have been\nsubjected to scaling while others have not, that data is no longer homogeneous.\n\nIf you establish a relational filter and you have changed the default Numeric or Character\njustification, that filter is likely to fail. When a relational filter is applied to a\nmemory field and you have not changed the scaling, it may produce misleading results.\nThis happens, for example, because `100.0m' (MiB) would appear greater than `1.000g' (GiB)\nwhen compared as strings.\n\nIf your filtered results appear suspect, simply altering justification or scaling may yet\nachieve the desired objective. See the `j', `J' and `e' interactive commands for\nadditional information.\n" }, { "name": "Potential Problems", "content": "These GROUP filters could produce the exact same results or the second one might not\ndisplay anything at all, just a blank task window.\nGROUP=root ( only the same results when )\nGROUP=ROOT ( invoked via lower case `o' )\n\nEither of these RES filters might yield inconsistent and/or misleading results, depending\non the current memory scaling factor. Or both filters could produce the exact same\nresults.\nRES>9999 ( only the same results when )\n!RES<10000 ( memory scaling is at `KiB' )\n\nThis nMin filter illustrates a problem unique to scalable fields. This particular field\ncan display a maximum of 4 digits, beyond which values are automatically scaled to KiB or\nabove. So while amounts greater than 9999 exist, they will appear as 2.6m, 197k, etc.\nnMin>9999 ( always a blank task window )\n" }, { "name": "Potential Solutions", "content": "These examples illustrate how Other Filtering can be creatively applied to achieve almost\nany desired result. Single quotes are sometimes shown to delimit the spaces which are\npart of a filter or to represent a request for status (^O) accurately. But if you used\nthem with if-values in real life, no matches would be found.\n\nAssuming field nTH is displayed, the first filter will result in only multi-threaded\nprocesses being shown. It also reminds us that a trailing space is part of every\ndisplayed field. The second filter achieves the exact same results with less typing.\n!nTH=` 1 ' ( ' for clarity only )\nnTH>1 ( same with less i/p )\n\nWith Forest View mode active and the COMMAND column in view, this filter effectively\ncollapses child processes so that just 3 levels are shown.\n!COMMAND=` `- ' ( ' for clarity only )\n\nThe final two filters appear as in response to the status request key (^O). In reality,\neach filter would have required separate input. The PR example shows the two concurrent\nfilters necessary to display tasks with priorities of 20 or more, since some might be\nnegative. Then by exploiting trailing spaces, the nMin series of filters could achieve\nthe failed `9999' objective discussed above.\n`PR>20' + `!PR=-' ( 2 for right result )\n`!nMin=0 ' + `!nMin=1 ' + `!nMin=2 ' + `!nMin=3 ' ...\n\nNote: Whenever Other Filtering is active in a window, top will turn column highlighting Off\nto prevent false matches on internal non-display escape sequences. Such highlighting will be\nrestored when a window is no longer subject to filtering. See the `x' interactive command\nfor additional information on sort column highlighting.\n\n" }, { "name": "6. FILES", "content": "" }, { "name": "6a. PERSONAL Configuration File", "content": "This file is created or updated via the 'W' interactive command.\n\nThe legacy version is written as `$HOME/.your-name-4-top' + `rc' with a leading period.\n\nA newly created configuration file is written as procps/your-name-4-top' + `rc' without a\nleading period. The procps directory will be subordinate to either $XDGCONFIGHOME when set\nas an absolute path or the $HOME/.config directory.\n\nWhile not intended to be edited manually, here is the general layout:\nglobal # line 1: the program name/alias notation\n\" # line 2: id,altscr,irixps,delay,curwin\nper ea # line a: winname,fieldscur\nwindow # line b: winflags,sortindx,maxtasks,etc\n\" # line c: summclr,msgsclr,headclr,taskclr\nglobal # line 15: additional miscellaneous settings\n\" # any remaining lines are devoted to optional\n\" # active 'other filters' discussed in section 5e above\n\" # plus 'inspect' entries discussed in section 6b below\n\nIf a valid absolute path to the rcfile cannot be established, customizations made to a\nrunning top will be impossible to preserve.\n\n" }, { "name": "6b. ADDING INSPECT Entries", "content": "To exploit the `Y' interactive command, you must add entries at the end of the top personal\nconfiguration file. Such entries simply reflect a file to be read or command/pipeline to be\nexecuted whose results will then be displayed in a separate scrollable, searchable window.\n\nIf you don't know the location or name of your top rcfile, use the `W' interactive command to\nrewrite it and note those details.\n\nInspect entries can be added with a redirected echo or by editing the configuration file.\nRedirecting an echo risks overwriting the rcfile should it replace (>) rather than append\n(>>) to that file. Conversely, when using an editor care must be taken not to corrupt\nexisting lines, some of which will contain unprintable data or unusual characters.\n\nThose Inspect entries beginning with a `#' character are ignored, regardless of content.\nOtherwise they consist of the following 3 elements, each of which must be separated by a tab\ncharacter (thus 2 `\\t' total):\n\n.type: literal `file' or `pipe'\n.name: selection shown on the Inspect screen\n.fmts: string representing a path or command\n\nThe two types of Inspect entries are not interchangeable. Those designated `file' will be\naccessed using fopen and must reference a single file in the `.fmts' element. Entries\nspecifying `pipe' will employ popen, their `.fmts' element could contain many pipelined\ncommands and, none can be interactive.\n\nIf the file or pipeline represented in your `.fmts' deals with the specific PID input or\naccepted when prompted, then the format string must also contain the `%d' specifier, as these\nexamples illustrate.\n\n.fmts= /proc/%d/numamaps\n.fmts= lsof -P -p %d\n\nFor `pipe' type entries only, you may also wish to redirect stderr to stdout for a more\ncomprehensive result. Thus the format string becomes:\n\n.fmts= pmap -x %d 2>&1\n\nHere are examples of both types of Inspect entries as they might appear in the rcfile. The\nfirst entry will be ignored due to the initial `#' character. For clarity, the pseudo tab\ndepictions (^I) are surrounded by an extra space but the actual tabs would not be.\n\n# pipe ^I Sockets ^I lsof -n -P -i 2>&1\npipe ^I Open Files ^I lsof -P -p %d 2>&1\nfile ^I NUMA Info ^I /proc/%d/numamaps\npipe ^I Log ^I tail -n100 /var/log/syslog | sort -Mr\n\nExcept for the commented entry above, these next examples show what could be echoed to\nachieve similar results, assuming the rcfile name was `.toprc'. However, due to the embedded\ntab characters, each of these lines should be preceded by `/bin/echo -e', not just a simple\nan `echo', to enable backslash interpretation regardless of which shell you use.\n\n\"pipe\\tOpen Files\\tlsof -P -p %d 2>&1\" >> ~/.toprc\n\"file\\tNUMA Info\\t/proc/%d/numamaps\" >> ~/.toprc\n\"pipe\\tLog\\ttail -n200 /var/log/syslog | sort -Mr\" >> ~/.toprc\n\nIf any inspect entry you create produces output with unprintable characters they will be\ndisplayed in either the ^C notation or hexadecimal form, depending on their value. This\napplies to tab characters as well, which will show as `^I'. If you want a truer\nrepresentation, any embedded tabs should be expanded. The following example takes what could\nhave been a `file' entry but employs a `pipe' instead so as to expand the embedded tabs.\n\n# next would have contained `\\t' ...\n# file ^I ^I /proc/%d/status\n# but this will eliminate embedded `\\t' ...\npipe ^I ^I cat /proc/%d/status | expand -\n\nNote: Some programs might rely on SIGINT to end. Therefore, if a `pipe' such as the\nfollowing is established, one must use Ctrl-C to terminate it in order to review the results.\nThis is the single occasion where a `^C' will not also terminate top.\n\npipe ^I Trace ^I /usr/bin/strace -p %d 2>&1\n\nLastly, while `pipe' type entries have been discussed in terms of pipelines and commands,\nthere is nothing to prevent you from including shell scripts as well. Perhaps even newly\ncreated scripts designed specifically for the `Y' interactive command.\n\nFor example, as the number of your Inspect entries grows over time, the `Options:' row will\nbe truncated when screen width is exceeded. That does not affect operation other than to\nmake some selections invisible. However, if some choices are lost to truncation but you want\nto see more options, there is an easy solution hinted at below.\n\nInspection Pause at pid ...\nUse: left/right then ...\nOptions: help 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ...\n\nThe entries in the top rcfile would have a number for the `.name' element and the `help'\nentry would identify a shell script you've written explaining what those numbered selections\nactually mean. In that way, many more choices can be made visible.\n\n" }, { "name": "6c. SYSTEM Configuration File", "content": "This configuration file represents defaults for users who have not saved their own\nconfiguration file. The format mirrors exactly the personal configuration file and can also\ninclude `inspect' entries as explained above.\n\nCreating it is a simple process.\n\n1. Configure top appropriately for your installation and preserve that configuration with the\n`W' interactive command.\n\n2. Add and test any desired `inspect' entries.\n\n3. Copy that configuration file to the /etc/ directory as `topdefaultrc'.\n\n" }, { "name": "6d. SYSTEM Restrictions File", "content": "The presence of this file will influence which version of the help screen is shown to an\nordinary user.\n\nMore importantly, it will limit what ordinary users are allowed to do when top is running.\nThey will not be able to issue the following commands.\nk Kill a task\nr Renice a task\nd or s Change delay/sleep interval\n\nThis configuration file is not created by top. Rather, it is created manually and placed it\nin the /etc/ directory as `toprc'.\n\nIt should have exactly two lines, as shown in this example:\ns # line 1: secure mode switch\n5.0 # line 2: delay interval in seconds\n\n" }, { "name": "7. STUPID TRICKS Sampler", "content": "Many of these tricks work best when you give top a scheduling boost. So plan on starting him\nwith a nice value of -10, assuming you've got the authority.\n\n" }, { "name": "7a. Kernel Magic", "content": "For these stupid tricks, top needs full-screen mode.\n\n\n• The user interface, through prompts and help, intentionally implies that the delay\ninterval is limited to tenths of a second. However, you're free to set any desired delay.\nIf you want to see Linux at his scheduling best, try a delay of .09 seconds or less.\n\nFor this experiment, under x-windows open an xterm and maximize it. Then do the\nfollowing:\n. provide a scheduling boost and tiny delay via:\nnice -n -10 top -d.09\n. keep sorted column highlighting Off so as to\nminimize path length\n. turn On reverse row highlighting for emphasis\n. try various sort columns (TIME/MEM work well),\nand normal or reverse sorts to bring the most\nactive processes into view\n\nWhat you'll see is a very busy Linux doing what he's always done for you, but there was no\nprogram available to illustrate this.\n\n\n• Under an xterm using `white-on-black' colors, on top's Color Mapping screen set the task\ncolor to black and be sure that task highlighting is set to bold, not reverse. Then set\nthe delay interval to around .3 seconds.\n\nAfter bringing the most active processes into view, what you'll see are the ghostly images\nof just the currently running tasks.\n\n\n• Delete the existing rcfile, or create a new symlink. Start this new version then type `T'\n(a secret key, see topic 4c. Task Area Commands, SORTING) followed by `W' and `q'.\nFinally, restart the program with -d0 (zero delay).\n\nYour display will be refreshed at three times the rate of the former top, a 300% speed\nadvantage. As top climbs the TIME ladder, be as patient as you can while speculating on\nwhether or not top will ever reach the top.\n\n" }, { "name": "7b. Bouncing Windows", "content": "For these stupid tricks, top needs alternate-display mode.\n\n\n• With 3 or 4 task displays visible, pick any window other than the last and turn idle\nprocesses Off using the `i' command toggle. Depending on where you applied `i', sometimes\nseveral task displays are bouncing and sometimes it's like an accordion, as top tries his\nbest to allocate space.\n\n\n• Set each window's summary lines differently: one with no memory (`m'); another with no\nstates (`t'); maybe one with nothing at all, just the message line. Then hold down `a' or\n`w' and watch a variation on bouncing windows -- hopping windows.\n\n\n• Display all 4 windows and for each, in turn, set idle processes to Off using the `i'\ncommand toggle. You've just entered the \"extreme bounce\" zone.\n\n" }, { "name": "7c. The Big Bird Window", "content": "This stupid trick also requires alternate-display mode.\n\n\n• Display all 4 windows and make sure that 1:Def is the `current' window. Then, keep\nincreasing window size with the `n' interactive command until all the other task displays\nare \"pushed out of the nest\".\n\nWhen they've all been displaced, toggle between all visible/invisible windows using the\n`' command toggle. Then ponder this:\nis top fibbing or telling honestly your imposed truth?\n\n" }, { "name": "7d. The Ol' Switcheroo", "content": "This stupid trick works best without alternate-display mode, since justification is active on\na per window basis.\n\n\n• Start top and make COMMAND the last (rightmost) column displayed. If necessary, use the\n`c' command toggle to display command lines and ensure that forest view mode is active\nwith the `V' command toggle.\n\nThen use the up/down arrow keys to position the display so that some truncated command\nlines are shown (`+' in last position). You may have to resize your xterm to produce\ntruncation.\n\nLastly, use the `j' command toggle to make the COMMAND column right justified.\n\nNow use the right arrow key to reach the COMMAND column. Continuing with the right arrow\nkey, watch closely the direction of travel for the command lines being shown.\n\nsome lines travel left, while others travel right\n\neventually all lines will Switcheroo, and move right\n\n" }, { "name": "8. BUGS", "content": "Please send bug reports to ⟨procps@freelists.org⟩.\n\n\n" }, { "name": "9. SEE Also", "content": "free(1), ps(1), uptime(1), atop(1), slabtop(1), vmstat(8), w(1)\n\n\n\nprocps-ng September 2020 TOP(1)" } ] } }, "summary": "top - display Linux processes", "flags": [], "examples": [], "see_also": [], "tldr": { "source": "official", "description": "Display dynamic real-time information about running processes.", "examples": [ { "description": "Start `top`", "command": "top" }, { "description": "Do not show any idle or zombie processes", "command": "top {{-i|--idle-toggle}}" }, { "description": "Show only processes owned by given user", "command": "top {{-u|--filter-only-euser}} {{username}}" }, { "description": "Sort processes by a field", "command": "top {{-o|--sort-override}} {{field_name}}" }, { "description": "Show the individual threads of a given process", "command": "top {{-Hp|--threads-show --pid}} {{process_id}}" }, { "description": "Show only the processes with the given PID(s), passed as a comma-separated list. (Normally you wouldn't know PIDs off hand. This example picks the PIDs from the process name)", "command": "top {{-p|--pid}} $(pgrep {{-d|--delimiter}} ',' {{process_name}})" }, { "description": "Display help about interactive commands", "command": "" } ] } }