bug#17535: 24.3.91; Problems with profiling memory

[Eli Zaretskii]

1. Visit profiler.el and go to this function:

    (defun profiler-cpu-profile ()
      "Return CPU profile."
      (when (profiler-running-p 'cpu)
        (profiler-make-profile
         :type 'cpu
         :timestamp (current-time)
         :log (profiler-cpu-log))))

   Position cursor on "profiler-make-profile" and type "C-h f".  Emacs
   pops up a *Help* buffer saying:

     profiler-make-profile is a compiled Lisp function in `profiler.el'.

     (profiler-make-profile &key TAG VERSION TYPE LOG TIMESTAMP DIFF-P)

     This function has a compiler macro `profiler-make-profile--cmacro'.

     Not documented.

   Click on the "profiler.el" link in the *Help* buffer -- Emacs
   displays an error message saying "Unable to find location in file"

2. How to interpret the "memory profile"?  What does a line such as
   this in the profile mean:

  - execute-extended-command                                  973,272  20%

   How were the 973,272 bytes counted, and what are they 20% of?  The
   ELisp manual, where this facility is described, does not explain
   how to interpret the profiles, and neither can I find anything
   about that in the doc strings.

3. Displaying a memory profile after several minutes shows clear signs
   of overflow:

  - command-execute                                         151,652,741   0%
   - call-interactively                                     151,650,661   0%
    - dired-x-find-file                                      44,210,847   0%
     - find-file                                             44,210,847   0%
      - find-file-noselect                                   44,209,884   0%
  ...
        - normal-backup-enable-predicate                      7,091,148  -1%
         - file-truename                                      7,091,148  -1%
          - file-truename                                     5,910,436  -1%
           - file-truename                                    4,729,872   1%
            - file-truename                                   3,549,420   1%
             - file-truename                                  2,369,208   0%
                file-truename                                 1,179,936   0%

  etc.: I see no percentage numbers except 1%, 0%, and -1%.




In GNU Emacs 24.3.91.12 (i686-pc-mingw32)
 of 2014-05-20 on HOME-C4E4A596F7
Repository revision: 117130 rgm@gnu.org-20140520154621-om1kdtav37b73we5
Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600
Configured using:
 `configure --prefix=/d/usr --enable-checking=yes,glyphs 'CFLAGS=-O0
 -gdwarf-2 -g3''

Important settings:
  value of $LANG: ENU
  locale-coding-system: cp1255

Major mode: Lisp Interaction

Minor modes in effect:
  tooltip-mode: t
  electric-indent-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  tool-bar-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  blink-cursor-mode: t
  auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t

Recent input:
M-x r e p o r t - e m a <tab> <return>

Recent messages:
For information about GNU Emacs and the GNU system, type C-h C-a.

Load-path shadows:
None found.

Features:
(shadow sort gnus-util mail-extr emacsbug message format-spec rfc822 mml
easymenu mml-sec mm-decode mm-bodies mm-encode mail-parse rfc2231
mailabbrev gmm-utils mailheader sendmail rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums
mm-util help-fns mail-prsvr mail-utils time-date tooltip electric
uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type mwheel dos-w32 ls-lisp
w32-common-fns disp-table w32-win w32-vars tool-bar dnd fontset image
regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list newcomment lisp-mode prog-mode register
page menu-bar rfn-eshadow timer select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock
font-lock syntax facemenu font-core frame cham georgian utf-8-lang
misc-lang vietnamese tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese hebrew
greek romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese
case-table epa-hook jka-cmpr-hook help simple abbrev minibuffer nadvice
loaddefs button faces cus-face macroexp files text-properties overlay
sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget
hashtable-print-readable backquote make-network-process w32notify w32
multi-tty emacs)

Memory information:
((conses 8 74014 7322)
 (symbols 32 17470 0)
 (miscs 32 33 97)
 (strings 16 10775 4534)
 (string-bytes 1 269194)
 (vectors 8 9453)
 (vector-slots 4 372707 5780)
 (floats 8 57 68)
 (intervals 28 238 94)
 (buffers 508 11))