When a dynamic probe is created without explicitly requested arguments
via perf probe --add, the Ftrace subsystem automatically appends
"__probe_ip" to the tracepoint format to record the instruction pointer.
Currently, perf trace prints this implicit field by default.
Furthermore, because the formatting logic defaults to a standard signed
integer representation, the kernel space memory address is erroneously
displayed as a meaningless negative integer.
❯ sudo ./perf trace --event probe:proc_sys_open --max-events 1
0.000 ps/
1316543 probe:proc_sys_open(__probe_ip: -
1406056956)
This patch addresses the user experience by combining two refinements:
1. "__probe_ip" is now hidden from the standard output, as its
presence adds no contextual value for a bare probe.
2. If the user explicitly requests verbose output (--verbose),
"__probe_ip" is intercepted and properly formatted as a hexadecimal
kernel address, restoring its utility for debugging inline
function hits.
❯ sudo ./perf trace --event probe:proc_sys_open --max-events 1
0.000 ps/
1314074 probe:proc_sys_open()
❯ sudo ./perf trace --verbose --event probe:proc_sys_open --max-events 1
Using CPUID GenuineIntel-6-8E-C
mmap size
528384B
0.000 ps/
1314366 probe:proc_sys_open(__probe_ip: 0xffffffffac314604)
Reviewed-by: James Clark <james.clark@linaro.org>
Signed-off-by: Aaron Tomlin <atomlin@atomlin.com>
Cc: Adrian Hunter <adrian.hunter@intel.com>
Cc: Alexander Shishkin <alexander.shishkin@linux.intel.com>
Cc: Daniel Vacek <neelx@suse.com>
Cc: Howard Chu <howardchu95@gmail.com>
Cc: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>
Cc: Jiri Olsa <jolsa@kernel.org>
Cc: Mark Rutland <mark.rutland@arm.com>
Cc: Namhyung Kim <namhyung@kernel.org>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: Sean Ashe <sean@ashe.io>
Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
if (val == 0 && !trace->show_zeros && !arg->show_zero && arg->strtoul != STUL_BTF_TYPE)
continue;
+ /*
+ * __probe_ip is implicitly added to bare dynamic probes.
+ * Suppress it by default to avoid cluttering the output.
+ * If verbose mode is enabled, ensure it is formatted as a
+ * hexadecimal memory address rather than a signed integer.
+ */
+ if (!strcmp(field->name, "__probe_ip")) {
+ if (!verbose)
+ continue;
+
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed,
+ "%s", printed ? ", " : "");
+ if (trace->show_arg_names)
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed,
+ "%s: ", field->name);
+
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed, "%#016llx",
+ (unsigned long long)val);
+ continue;
+ }
+
printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed, "%s", printed ? ", " : "");
if (trace->show_arg_names)