3.5. Array Operations in SystemTap
This section enumerates some of the most commonly used array operations in SystemTap.
3.5.1. Assigning an Associated Value
Use
= to set an associated value to indexed unique pairs, as in:
array_name[index_expression] = value
Example 3.11, “Basic Array Statements” shows a very basic example of how to set an explicit associated value to a unique key. You can also use a handler function as both your
index_expression and value. For example, you can use arrays to set a timestamp as the associated value to a process name (which you wish to use as your unique key), as in:
Example 3.12. Associating Timestamps to Process Names
foo[tid()] = gettimeofday_s()
Whenever an event invokes the statement in Example 3.12, “Associating Timestamps to Process Names”, SystemTap returns the appropriate
tid() value (that is the ID of a thread, which is then used as the unique key). At the same time, SystemTap also uses the function gettimeofday_s() to set the corresponding timestamp as the associated value to the unique key defined by the function tid(). This creates an array composed of key pairs containing thread IDs and timestamps.
In this same example, if
tid() returns a value that is already defined in the array foo, the operator will discard the original associated value to it, and replace it with the current timestamp from gettimeofday_s().
