Introduction to analyzing your application’s timeline

In this section:

Briefly about analyzing the timeline

C-SPY can provide information for various aspects of your application, collected when the application is running. This can help you to analyze the application’s behavior.

You can view the timeline information in different representations:

As different graphs that correlate with the running application in relation to a shared time axis.,
As detailed logs
As summaries of the logs.

Depending on the capabilities of your hardware, the debug probe, and the C-SPY driver you are using, timeline information can be provided for:

Call stack	Can be represented in the Timeline window, as a graph that displays the sequence of function calls and returns collected by the trace system. You get timing information between the function invocations. Note that there is also a related Call Stack window and a Function Trace window, see Call Stack window and Function Trace window, respectively.
Data logging	Based on data logs collected by the trace system for up to four different variables or address ranges, specified by means of Data Log breakpoints. Choose to display the data logs: In the Timeline window, as a graph of how the values change over time. In the Data Log window and the Data Log Summary window.
Event logging	Based on event logs produced when the execution passes specific positions in your application code. Choose to display the event logs: In the Timeline window, as a graph of the timing of the events. In the Event Log window and the Event Log Summary window. Event logs can help you to analyze the application flow and inspect data correlated to a certain position in your application code.
Interrupt logging	Based on interrupt logs collected by the trace system. Choose to display the interrupt logs: In the Timeline window, as a graph of the interrupt events during the execution of your application. In the Interrupt Log window and the Interrupt Log Summary window. Interrupt logging can, for example, help you locate which interrupts you can fine-tune to make your application more efficient. For more information, see Interrupts.
Power logging	Based on logged power measurement samples generated by the debug probe or associated hardware. Choose to display the power logs: In the Timeline window, as a graph of the power measurement samples. In the Power Log window. Power logs can be useful for finding peaks in the power consumption and by double-clicking on a value you can see the corresponding source code. The precision depends on the frequency of the samples, but there is a good chance that you find the source code sequence that caused the peak. For more information, see Power debugging.
State logging	Based on logged activity—state changes—for peripheral units and clocks, as well as for CPU modes generated by the debug probe or associated hardware. Choose to display the state logs: In the Timeline window, as a graph of the state changes. In the State Log window and in the State Log Summary window. The information is useful for tracing the activity on the target system. For more information, see Power debugging.

Requirements for timeline support

Depending on the capabilities of the hardware, the debug probe, and the C-SPY driver you are using, timeline information is supported for:

Target system	Call Stack	Data logging	State logging	Event logging	Interrupt logging	Power logging
C-SPY simulator	Yes³	Yes³	—	—	Yes³	—
CMSIS-DAP	Yes²	—	—	—	—	—
I-jet	Yes²	Yes	—	Yes	Yes	Yes
J-Link	Yes²	Yes	—	Yes	Yes	Yes
J-Trace	Yes	Yes¹	—	Yes¹	Yes¹	—
ST-LINK	—	Yes³	—	Yes³	Yes³	Yes³
TI MSP-FET	—	—	Yes	—	—	Yes
TI XDS	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Table 23. Support for timeline information

1 Very limited when ETM trace is enabled.

2 Requires ETB/MTB.

3 Not for all cores and devices.

For more information about requirements related to trace data, see Requirements for using trace.

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