path: root/lib/et/doc/src/et.xml

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  <header>
    <copyright>
      <year>2002</year><year>2010</year>
      <holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
    </copyright>
    <legalnotice>
      The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License,
      Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
      compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the
      Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be
      retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/.

      Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
      basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
      the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
      under the License.

    </legalnotice>

    <title>et</title>
    <prepared>H&aring;kan Mattsson</prepared>
    <responsible>H&aring;kan Mattsson</responsible>
    <docno></docno>
    <approved>H&aring;kan Mattsson</approved>
    <checked></checked>
    <date></date>
    <rev>%VSN%</rev>
  </header>
  <module>et</module>
  <modulesummary>Main API of the Event Trace (ET) application</modulesummary>
  <description>
    <p>Interface module for the Event Trace (ET) application</p>
  </description>
  <funcs>
    <func>
      <name>trace_me(DetailLevel, From, To, Label, Contents) -> hopefully_traced</name>
      <fsummary>A function that is intended to be traced.</fsummary>
      <type>
        <v>DetailLevel = integer(X) when X =&lt; 0, X >= 100</v>
        <v>From        = actor()</v>
        <v>To          = actor()</v>
        <v>Label       = atom() | string() | term()</v>
        <v>Contents    = [{Key, Value}] | term()</v>
        <v>actor()     = term()</v>
      </type>
      <desc>
        <p>A function that is intended to be traced.</p>
        <p>This function is intended to be invoked at strategic places
        in user applications in order to enable simplified
        tracing. The functions are extremely light weight as they do
        nothing besides returning an atom. The functions are designed
        for being traced. The global tracing mechanism in
        <c>et_collector</c> defaults to set its trace pattern to these
        functions.</p>
        <p>The label is intended to provide a brief summary of the
        event. It is preferred to use an atom but a string would also
        do.</p>
        <p>The contents can be any term but in order to simplify
          post processing of the traced events, a plain list
          of {Key, Value} tuples is preferred.</p>
        <p>Some events, such as messages, are directed from some actor to another.
          Other events (termed actions) may be undirected and only have one actor.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>trace_me(DetailLevel, FromTo, Label, Contents) -> hopefully_traced</name>
      <fsummary>A function that is intended to be traced.</fsummary>
      <desc>
       <p>Invokes <c>et:trace_me/5</c> with both <c>From</c> and <c>To</c>
       set to <c>FromTo</c>.</p>
     </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name>phone_home(DetailLevel, FromTo, Label, Contents) -> hopefully_traced</name>
      <name>phone_home(DetailLevel, From, To, Label, Contents) -> hopefully_traced</name>
      <fsummary>Send a signal to the outer space</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>These functions sends a signal to the outer space and the
        caller hopes that someone is listening. In other words, they
        invoke <c>et:trace_me/4</c> and <c>et:trace_me/5</c>
        respectively.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>
    <func>
      <name>report_event(DetailLevel, FromTo, Label, Contents) -> hopefully_traced</name>
      <name>report_event(DetailLevel, From, To, Label, Contents) -> hopefully_traced</name>
      <fsummary>Deprecated functions</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Deprecated functions which for the time being are kept for
        backwards compatibility. Invokes <c>et:trace_me/4</c> and
        <c>et:trace_me/5</c> respectively.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>
  </funcs>
  
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