linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v2] docs: trace: Refactor index documentation

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Message-ID: <20250210174556.70fc53b7@gandalf.local.home>
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2025 17:45:56 -0500
From: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@...dmis.org>
To: Purva Yeshi <purvayeshi550@...il.com>
Cc: mhiramat@...nel.org, corbet@....net, skhan@...uxfoundation.org,
 mathieu.desnoyers@...icios.com, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
 linux-trace-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-doc@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] docs: trace: Refactor index documentation

On Thu,  6 Feb 2025 19:44:53 +0530
Purva Yeshi <purvayeshi550@...il.com> wrote:

Note, subject should start with: "docs: tracing: ..." as "tracing" is the
subsystem and not "trace". Even though the directory is "trace" the
subsystem is "tracing".

> Refactored Documentation/trace/index.rst to improve clarity, structure, 
> and organization. Reformatted sections, added appropriate headings.
> 
> Background of Patch:
> This patch is inspired by the maintainer's suggestion on the v1 patch to

Usually it's bad form to have a patch reference itself as "Patch". The
above could be written as:

   Background:
   These changes were inspired by...

> bring the documentation into real order, similar to commit '270beb5b2aae'
> from Linux 6.13, improving clarity, structure, and usability.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Purva Yeshi <purvayeshi550@...il.com>
> ---
> V1 - https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250204133616.27694-1-purvayeshi550@gmail.com/
> V2 - Refined formatting and improved section organization.
> 
>  Documentation/trace/index.rst | 86 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
>  1 file changed, 75 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/trace/index.rst b/Documentation/trace/index.rst
> index 2c991dc96..c4ff7e7de 100644
> --- a/Documentation/trace/index.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/trace/index.rst
> @@ -1,39 +1,103 @@
> -==========================
> -Linux Tracing Technologies
> -==========================
> +================================
> +Linux Tracing Technologies Guide
> +================================
> +
> +Tracing in the Linux kernel is a powerful mechanism that allows
> +developers and system administrators to analyze and debug system
> +behavior. This guide provides documentation on various tracing
> +frameworks and tools available in the Linux kernel.
> +
> +Introduction to Tracing
> +-----------------------
> +
> +This section provides an overview of Linux tracing mechanisms
> +and debugging approaches.
>  
>  .. toctree::
> -   :maxdepth: 2
> +   :maxdepth: 1

I don't really know what the maxdepth gives here, but there was no mention
in the change log why it had to be converted from 2 to 1.

>  
> -   ftrace-design
> +   debugging
> +   tracepoints
>     tracepoint-analysis
> +
> +Core Tracing Frameworks
> +-----------------------
> +
> +The following are the primary tracing frameworks integrated into
> +the Linux kernel.
> +
> +.. toctree::
> +   :maxdepth: 1
> +
>     ftrace
> +   ftrace-design
>     ftrace-uses
> -   fprobe
>     kprobes
>     kprobetrace
>     uprobetracer
>     fprobetrace
> -   tracepoints
> +   fprobe
> +
> +Event Tracing and Analysis
> +--------------------------
> +
> +A detailed explanation of event tracing mechanisms and their
> +applications.
> +
> +.. toctree::
> +   :maxdepth: 1
> +
>     events
>     events-kmem
>     events-power
>     events-nmi
>     events-msr
> -   mmiotrace
> +   boottime-trace
>     histogram
>     histogram-design
> -   boottime-trace
> -   debugging


>     hwlat_detector
>     osnoise-tracer
>     timerlat-tracer

The above 3 probably should be in the hardware interactions section below.

> +
> +Hardware and Performance Tracing
> +--------------------------------
> +
> +This section covers tracing features that monitor hardware
> +interactions and system performance.
> +
> +.. toctree::
> +   :maxdepth: 1
> +
>     intel_th

>     ring-buffer-design

The ring-buffer-design should be in "Core Tracing Frameworks".

>     ring-buffer-map

This describes how to map the ring buffer in user space. Maybe it should go
at the "Introduction" section?


>     stm
>     sys-t
>     coresight/index
> -   user_events
>     rv/index
>     hisi-ptt
> +
> +User-space Tracing
> +------------------
> +
> +These tools allow tracing user-space applications and
> +interactions.
> +
> +.. toctree::
> +   :maxdepth: 1
> +
> +   user_events

> +   mmiotrace

mmiotrace traces events between hardware and the drivers. Perhaps this
should go up into the Hardware and Performance tracing.

> +
> +Additional Resources
> +--------------------
> +
> +For more details, refer to the respective documentation of each
> +tracing tool and framework.
> +
> +.. only:: subproject and html
> +
> +   Indices
> +   =======
> +
> +   * :ref:`genindex`
> \ No newline at end of file


Thanks,

-- Steve