Profiler API documentation

Functions for getting profiling data in runtime. More detailed profiling and debugging information available in the manuals.

FUNCTION
profiler.enable_ui()	enables or disables the on-screen profiler ui
profiler.get_cpu_usage()	get current CPU usage for app reported by OS
profiler.get_memory_usage()	get current memory usage for app reported by OS
profiler.recorded_frame_count()	get the number of recorded frames in the on-screen profiler ui
profiler.set_ui_mode()	sets the the on-screen profiler ui mode
profiler.set_ui_view_mode()	sets the the on-screen profiler ui view mode
profiler.set_ui_vsync_wait_visible()	Shows or hides the vsync wait time in the on-screen profiler ui
profiler.view_recorded_frame()	displays a previously recorded frame in the on-screen profiler ui

CONSTANT
profiler.MODE_PAUSE	pause on current frame
profiler.MODE_RECORD	start recording
profiler.MODE_RUN	continously show latest frame
profiler.MODE_SHOW_PEAK_FRAME	pause at peak frame
profiler.VIEW_MODE_FULL	show full profiler ui
profiler.VIEW_MODE_MINIMIZED	show mimimal profiler ui

Functions

profiler.enable_ui()

profiler.enable_ui(enabled)

Creates and shows or hides and destroys the on-sceen profiler ui

The profiler is a real-time tool that shows the numbers of milliseconds spent in each scope per frame as well as counters. The profiler is very useful for tracking down performance and resource problems.

PARAMETERS

enabled

boolean true to enable, false to disable

EXAMPLES

-- Show the profiler UI
profiler.enable_ui(true)

profiler.get_cpu_usage()

profiler.get_cpu_usage()

Get the percent of CPU usage by the application, as reported by the OS.

This function is not available on HTML5.

For some platforms ( Android, Linux and Windows), this information is only available by default in the debug version of the engine. It can be enabled in release version as well by checking track_cpu under profiler in the game.project file. (This means that the engine will sample the CPU usage in intervalls during execution even in release mode.)

PARAMETERS

RETURNS

percent

number of CPU used by the application

profiler.get_memory_usage()

profiler.get_memory_usage()

Get the amount of memory used (resident/working set) by the application in bytes, as reported by the OS.

This function is not available on HTML5.

The values are gathered from internal OS functions which correspond to the following;

OS	Value
iOS MacOS Androd Linux	Resident memory
Windows	Working set
HTML5	Not available

PARAMETERS

RETURNS

bytes

number used by the application

EXAMPLES

Get memory usage before and after loading a collection:

print(profiler.get_memory_usage())
msg.post("#collectionproxy", "load")
...
print(profiler.get_memory_usage()) -- will report a higher number than the initial call

profiler.recorded_frame_count()

profiler.recorded_frame_count()

Get the number of recorded frames in the on-screen profiler ui recording buffer

PARAMETERS

RETURNS

frame_count

number the number of recorded frames, zero if on-screen profiler is disabled

EXAMPLES

-- Show the last recorded frame
local recorded_frame_count = profiler.recorded_frame_count()
profiler.view_recorded_frame(recorded_frame_count)

profiler.set_ui_mode()

profiler.set_ui_mode(mode)

Set the on-screen profile mode - run, pause, record or show peak frame

PARAMETERS

mode

constant the mode to set the ui profiler in

profiler.MODE_RUN This is default mode that continously shows the last frame
profiler.MODE_PAUSE Pauses on the currently displayed frame
profiler.MODE_SHOW_PEAK_FRAME Pauses on the currently displayed frame but shows a new frame if that frame is slower
profiler.MODE_RECORD Records all incoming frames to the recording buffer

To stop recording, switch to a different mode such as MODE_PAUSE or MODE_RUN. You can also use the view_recorded_frame function to display a recorded frame. Doing so stops the recording as well.

Every time you switch to recording mode the recording buffer is cleared. The recording buffer is also cleared when setting the MODE_SHOW_PEAK_FRAME mode.

EXAMPLES

function start_recording()
     profiler.set_ui_mode(profiler.MODE_RECORD)
end

function stop_recording()
     profiler.set_ui_mode(profiler.MODE_PAUSE)
end

profiler.set_ui_view_mode()

profiler.set_ui_view_mode(mode)

Set the on-screen profile view mode - minimized or expanded

PARAMETERS

mode

constant the view mode to set the ui profiler in

profiler.VIEW_MODE_FULL The default mode which displays all the ui profiler details
profiler.VIEW_MODE_MINIMIZED Minimized mode which only shows the top header (fps counters and ui profiler mode)

EXAMPLES

-- Minimize the profiler view
profiler.set_ui_view_mode(profiler.VIEW_MODE_MINIMIZED)

profiler.set_ui_vsync_wait_visible()

profiler.set_ui_vsync_wait_visible(visible)

Shows or hides the time the engine waits for vsync in the on-screen profiler

Each frame the engine waits for vsync and depending on your vsync settings and how much time your game logic takes this time can dwarf the time in the game logic making it hard to see details in the on-screen profiler graph and lists.

Also, by hiding this the FPS times in the header show the time spent each time excuding the time spent waiting for vsync. This shows you how long time your game is spending actively working each frame.

This setting also effects the display of recorded frames but does not affect the actual recorded frames so it is possible to toggle this on and off when viewing recorded frames.

By default the vsync wait times is displayed in the profiler.

PARAMETERS

visible

boolean true to include it in the display, false to hide it.

EXAMPLES

-- Exclude frame wait time form the profiler ui
profiler.set_ui_vsync_wait_visible(false)

profiler.view_recorded_frame()

profiler.view_recorded_frame(frame_index)

Pauses and displays a frame from the recording buffer in the on-screen profiler ui

The frame to show can either be an absolute frame or a relative frame to the current frame.

PARAMETERS

frame_index

table a table where you specify one of the following parameters:

distance The offset from the currently displayed frame (this is truncated between zero and the number of recorded frames)
frame The frame index in the recording buffer (1 is first recorded frame)

EXAMPLES

-- Go back one frame
profiler.view_recorded_frame({distance = -1})

Profiler API documentation

Functions

Constants