Track function start and ends for flame graphs

With this patch, and this file I called `log.py`:

    #!/usr/bin/env nix-shell
    #!nix-shell -i python3 -p python3 --pure

    import sys
    from pprint import pprint

    stack = []
    timestack = []

    for line in open(sys.argv[1]):
        components = line.strip().split(" ", 2)
        if components[0] != "function-trace":
            continue

        direction = components[1]
        components = components[2].rsplit(" ", 2)

        loc = components[0]
        _at = components[1]
        time = int(components[2])

        if direction == "entered":
            stack.append(loc)
            timestack.append(time)
        elif direction == "exited":
            dur = time - timestack.pop()
            vst = ";".join(stack)
            print(f"{vst} {dur}")
            stack.pop()

and:

    nix-instantiate --trace-function-calls -vvvv ../nixpkgs/pkgs/top-level/release.nix -A unstable > log.matthewbauer 2>&1
    ./log.py ./log.matthewbauer > log.matthewbauer.folded
    flamegraph.pl --title matthewbauer-post-pr log.matthewbauer.folded > log.matthewbauer.folded.svg

I can make flame graphs like: http://gsc.io/log.matthewbauer.folded.svg

---

Includes test cases around function call failures and tryEval. Uses
RAII so the finish is always called at the end of the function.

contrib/stack-collapse.py

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env nix-shell
+#!nix-shell -i python3 -p python3 --pure
+
+# To be used with `--trace-function-calls` and `-vvvv` and
+# `flamegraph.pl`.
+#
+# For example:
+#
+# nix-instantiate --trace-function-calls -vvvv '<nixpkgs>' -A hello 2> nix-function-calls.trace
+# ./contrib/stack-collapse.py nix-function-calls.trace > nix-function-calls.folded
+# nix-shell -p flamegraph --run "flamegraph.pl nix-function-calls.folded > nix-function-calls.svg"
+
+import sys
+from pprint import pprint
+import fileinput
+
+stack = []
+timestack = []
+
+for line in fileinput.input():
+    components = line.strip().split(" ", 2)
+    if components[0] != "function-trace":
+        continue
+
+    direction = components[1]
+    components = components[2].rsplit(" ", 2)
+
+    loc = components[0]
+    _at = components[1]
+    time = int(components[2])
+
+    if direction == "entered":
+        stack.append(loc)
+        timestack.append(time)
+    elif direction == "exited":
+        dur = time - timestack.pop()
+        vst = ";".join(stack)
+        print(f"{vst} {dur}")
+        stack.pop()

doc/manual/command-ref/conf-file.xml

@@ -973,6 +973,34 @@ requiredSystemFeatures = [ "kvm" ];
 
   </varlistentry>
 
+  <varlistentry xml:id="conf-trace-function-calls"><term><literal>trace-function-calls</literal></term>
+
+    <listitem>
+
+      <para>Default: <literal>false</literal>.</para>
+
+      <para>If set to <literal>true</literal>, the Nix evaluator will
+      trace every function call. Nix will print a log message at the
+      "vomit" level for every function entrance and function exit.</para>
+
+      <informalexample><screen>
+function-trace entered undefined position at 1565795816999559622
+function-trace exited undefined position at 1565795816999581277
+function-trace entered /nix/store/.../example.nix:226:41 at 1565795253249935150
+function-trace exited /nix/store/.../example.nix:226:41 at 1565795253249941684
+</screen></informalexample>
+
+      <para>The <literal>undefined position</literal> means the function
+      call is a builtin.</para>
+
+      <para>Use the <literal>contrib/stack-collapse.py</literal> script
+      distributed with the Nix source code to convert the trace logs
+      in to a format suitable for <command>flamegraph.pl</command>.</para>
+
+    </listitem>
+
+  </varlistentry>
+
   <varlistentry xml:id="conf-trusted-public-keys"><term><literal>trusted-public-keys</literal></term>
 
     <listitem><para>A whitespace-separated list of public keys. When

src/libexpr/eval.cc

@@ -9,14 +9,14 @@
 #include "json.hh"
 
 #include <algorithm>
+#include <chrono>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include <sys/resource.h>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <fstream>
 
-#include <sys/time.h>
 #include <sys/resource.h>
 
 #if HAVE_BOEHMGC
@@ -1094,9 +1094,13 @@ void EvalState::callPrimOp(Value & fun, Value & arg, Value & v, const Pos & pos)
     }
 }
 
-
 void EvalState::callFunction(Value & fun, Value & arg, Value & v, const Pos & pos)
 {
+    std::optional<FunctionCallTrace> trace;
+    if (evalSettings.traceFunctionCalls) {
+        trace.emplace(pos);
+    }
+
     forceValue(fun, pos);
 
     if (fun.type == tPrimOp || fun.type == tPrimOpApp) {

src/libexpr/eval.hh

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "symbol-table.hh"
 #include "hash.hh"
 #include "config.hh"
+#include "function-trace.hh"
 
 #include <map>
 #include <unordered_map>
@@ -349,6 +350,9 @@ struct EvalSettings : Config
 
     Setting<Strings> allowedUris{this, {}, "allowed-uris",
         "Prefixes of URIs that builtin functions such as fetchurl and fetchGit are allowed to fetch."};
+
+    Setting<bool> traceFunctionCalls{this, false, "trace-function-calls",
+        "Emit log messages for each function entry and exit at the 'vomit' log level (-vvvv)"};
 };
 
 extern EvalSettings evalSettings;

src/libexpr/function-trace.hh

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include "eval.hh"
+#include <sys/time.h>
+
+namespace nix {
+
+struct FunctionCallTrace
+{
+    const Pos & pos;
+
+    FunctionCallTrace(const Pos & pos) : pos(pos) {
+        auto duration = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now().time_since_epoch();
+        auto ns = std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::nanoseconds>(duration);
+        vomit("function-trace entered %1% at %2%", pos, ns.count());
+    }
+
+    ~FunctionCallTrace() {
+        auto duration = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now().time_since_epoch();
+        auto ns = std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::nanoseconds>(duration);
+        vomit("function-trace exited %1% at %2%", pos, ns.count());
+    }
+};
+}

tests/function-trace.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+source common.sh
+
+set +x
+
+expect_trace() {
+    expr="$1"
+    expect="$2"
+    actual=$(
+        nix-instantiate \
+            --trace-function-calls \
+            -vvvv \
+            --expr "$expr" 2>&1 \
+            | grep "function-trace" \
+            | sed -e 's/ [0-9]*$//'
+    );
+
+    echo -n "Tracing expression '$expr'"
+    set +e
+    msg=$(diff -swB \
+               <(echo "$expect") \
+               <(echo "$actual")
+    );
+    result=$?
+    set -e
+    if [ $result -eq 0 ]; then
+        echo " ok."
+    else
+        echo " failed. difference:"
+        echo "$msg"
+        return $result
+    fi
+}
+
+# failure inside a tryEval
+expect_trace 'builtins.tryEval (throw "example")' "
+function-trace entered undefined position at
+function-trace exited undefined position at
+function-trace entered (string):1:1 at
+function-trace entered (string):1:19 at
+function-trace exited (string):1:19 at
+function-trace exited (string):1:1 at
+"
+
+# Missing argument to a formal function
+expect_trace '({ x }: x) { }' "
+function-trace entered undefined position at
+function-trace exited undefined position at
+function-trace entered (string):1:1 at
+function-trace exited (string):1:1 at
+"
+
+# Too many arguments to a formal function
+expect_trace '({ x }: x) { x = "x"; y = "y"; }' "
+function-trace entered undefined position at
+function-trace exited undefined position at
+function-trace entered (string):1:1 at
+function-trace exited (string):1:1 at
+"
+
+# Not enough arguments to a lambda
+expect_trace '(x: y: x + y) 1' "
+function-trace entered undefined position at
+function-trace exited undefined position at
+function-trace entered (string):1:1 at
+function-trace exited (string):1:1 at
+"
+
+# Too many arguments to a lambda
+expect_trace '(x: x) 1 2' "
+function-trace entered undefined position at
+function-trace exited undefined position at
+function-trace entered (string):1:1 at
+function-trace exited (string):1:1 at
+function-trace entered (string):1:1 at
+function-trace exited (string):1:1 at
+"
+
+# Not a function
+expect_trace '1 2' "
+function-trace entered undefined position at
+function-trace exited undefined position at
+function-trace entered (string):1:1 at
+function-trace exited (string):1:1 at
+"
+
+set -e

tests/local.mk

@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ nix_tests = \
   plugins.sh \
   search.sh \
   nix-copy-ssh.sh \
-  post-hook.sh
+  post-hook.sh \
+  function-trace.sh
   # parallel.sh
 
 install-tests += $(foreach x, $(nix_tests), tests/$(x))