Trace Probes for C

The Trace Probes feature of HCL OneTest™ Embedded allows you to manually add special probe C macros at specific points in the source code under test, in order to trace messages.

Upon execution of the instrumented binary, the probes record information on the exchange of specified messages, including message content and a time stamp. Probe trace results can then be processed and displayed in the UML/SD Viewer.

The use of C macros offers extreme flexibility. For example, when delivering the final application, you can leave the macros in the final source and simply provide an empty definition.

Trace Probes supports ANSI 89, ANSI 99, or K&R C.

How Trace Probes work

The first step is to manually add specific macros to your C source code.

When the test or application node is executed, the Probe Processor produces an instrumented source file. which is functionally identical to the original, but which generates extra message tracing results.

The resulting source code is then executed and the Trace Probe feature outputs a .rio output file for each probe instance.

A .tsf static trace file is generated during instrumentation, and the .rio output file is processed and transformed into a .tdf file. These files can be viewed and controlled from the HCL OneTest™ Embedded GUI. Both the .tsf and .tdf files need to be opened simultaneously to view the UML sequence diagram report.

Of course, these steps are mostly transparent to the user when the test or application node is executed in the HCL OneTest™ Embedded GUI.