The "Instrumentation" tab guides the user through the process of instrumenting their application. To begin instrumentation, the user must first select the executable they wish to instrument. They can then choose whether to create a new instrumentation setup or use an existing one. If the user chooses to create a new instrumentation setup, they must select how the application was built and adjust the build settings as necessary. They can then rebuild the application to instrument their application.

Browse Executable File Button
Select whether to use an existing instrumentation or to create a new one
Select the build system of the application
Browse Makefile Button
Open detected Makefile Button
Build Command Box
Build Application Button
Continue with Analysis Button

Browse Executable File Button

When the "Browse executable file" button is pressed, a file dialog box will appear for the user to select the executable file. Selecting an executable file is required to ensure that the user's application can be built without instrumentation. Once a file is selected, the program will check if the file is executable. If it is not executable, an error message will be displayed, and the user will not be able to proceed.

The program will also check if the selected file is already instrumented. If it is, the use former instrumentation option will be enabled. If the user selects a new executable file that is different from the previous selection, any further steps will be hidden, and any previously selected options will be unchecked.

Select Instrumentation Box

In the Select Instrumentation box, the user has the option to choose between using a former instrumentation or preparing a new instrumentation. If the user's application is already instrumented, the option to use the former instrumentation is enabled. This allows the user to continue with the existing instrumentation instead of preparing a new one. On the other hand, if the user wants to prepare a new instrumentation, they can select the option to do so. This will lead to further steps where the user can select how the application was built, adjust the build settings, and rebuild the application to perform the instrumentation.

Use Former Instrumentation

The "Use Former Instrumentation" option is only enabled if the selected executable is already instrumented with Score-P. In this case, the Continue with Analysis Button is enabled, and the user can skip the rest of the instrumentation step and directly continue with the Measurement step.

Prepare New Instrumentation

If "Prepare New Instrumentation" is selected, the user is displayed with the further step to select their build system in order to prepare a new instrumentation.

Adapt Build System

Select Build System Box

In the Select Build System Box, the user has the option to choose their build system for the executable they selected in browse executable step. For now, only makefile based build systems are supported.

Adjust Makefile

When the user selects to adjust their makefile they are shown the next step Open Makefile for Editing where they are asked to adjust their makefile.

Open Makefile for Editing

There are two options to open a makefile. The user can browse their directory for their makefile by clicking the Browse Makefile Button or the plugin is able to detect the makefile and it can be opened by clicking the Open detected Makefile Button. When a makefile is selected, a layout is displayed for editing.

The plugin displays the required changes which the user has to add to their makefile and opens the makefile for editing. Once the user has applied the required changes, they can press the "Save changes" button to save the adapted makefile or the "Discard changes" button to revert to the original makefile. In both cases, the user returns to the layout shown before. But only when the "Save changes" button is pressed, the next step to build the application is shown.

Browse Makefile Button

When the user selects to browse the makefile manually, a file dialog box will be displayed for the user to select the makefile.

Open detected Makefile Button

This option is only enabled when the plugin was able to locate a makefile. The plugin searches the executable file's directory for a file that is named "Makefile", "makefile", or "MAKEFILE". If the file is named differently or located elsewhere, the user has to browse for the makefile manually.

Rebuild Application

In order to instrument the program, it is required to rebuild it with the adapted build settings.

Build Command Box

In the Build Command Box, the user can adjust the build command for their application. The plugin displays a recommended build command for the user's application, but they can also edit it if needed.

Build Application Button

When the user has made the necessary changes to their build settings and command, they can press the "Build Application" button to rebuild the application to perform the Score-P instrumentation. If the build is successful, the Continue with Analysis Button will be enabled.

Continue with Analysis Button

When the user has successfully instrumented their application, the "Continue with Analysis" button becomes enabled. Clicking this button will move the user to the measurement tab, where they can configure the measurement settings for their instrumented application.

As next, see Measurement