michael@0:                  Gross Dynamic Footprint Reports
michael@0:              Chris Waterson <waterson@netscape.com>
michael@0:                       November 16, 2000
michael@0: 
michael@0: This is a short primer on how to run the ``gross dynamic footprint''
michael@0: reports.
michael@0: 
michael@0: Win32
michael@0: -----
michael@0: 
michael@0: I've tried this on Win2K. Should work on NT, probably not 98.
michael@0: 
michael@0: 1. Configure your machine with a ``standard'' mozilla build
michael@0: environment, as described at:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   http://www.mozilla.org/build/win32.html
michael@0: 
michael@0: Specifically, you'll need the Cygnus tools (GNU make, awk, sed), which
michael@0: can be downloaded from:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/download.html
michael@0: 
michael@0: 2. Install the Win32 version of GNUplot, avaialable from:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   ftp://ftp.dartmouth.edu/pub/gnuplot/gnuplot3.7cyg.zip
michael@0: 
michael@0: 3. Configure a web server with the ``buster.cgi'' CGI script contained
michael@0: in this directory.
michael@0: 
michael@0: 4. Pull and build a ``release'' build. Besides the normal Win32 flags
michael@0: described on the Win32 build instructions, be sure that you've set the
michael@0: following:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   set BUILD_OPT=1
michael@0:   set MOZ_DEBUG=
michael@0: 
michael@0: That is, MOZ_DEBUG should be unset.
michael@0: 
michael@0: 5. To collect data and build the dynamic footprint graph, type the
michael@0: following command from the mozilla/tools/footprint directory:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   make --unix -fwin32-gdf.mk \
michael@0:     BUSTER_URL="http://myserver/cgi-bin/buster.cgi?refresh=10"
michael@0: 
michael@0: (Replace ``myserver'' with the name of the webserver where you
michael@0: installed ``buster.cgi'' in step 3, above.)
michael@0: 
michael@0: This should:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   - Build ``wm.exe'', which will spy on memory usage.
michael@0:   - Run the winEmbed program over the top 100 URLs (from top100.txt)
michael@0:     to generate a file called ``winEmbed.dat''
michael@0:   - Run mozilla over the top 100 URLs to generate a file called
michael@0:     ``mozilla.dat''
michael@0:   - Use gnuplot to create a PNG image file called win32-gdf.png
michael@0: 
michael@0: Linux
michael@0: -----
michael@0: 
michael@0: 1. Configure your machine with a ``standard'' mozilla build
michael@0: environment, as described at:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   http://www.mozilla.org/build/unix.html
michael@0: 
michael@0: 2. Install GNUplot, which is available as an RPM on RedHat-6.2 CDs
michael@0: (probably others, as well).
michael@0: 
michael@0: 3. Configure a web server with the ``buster.cgi'' CGI script contained
michael@0: in this directory.
michael@0: 
michael@0: 4. Pull and build a ``release build''. Here are the settings you
michael@0: should use in your .mozconfig file:
michael@0: 
michael@0:    ac_add_options --enable-optimize
michael@0:    ac_add_options --disable-debug
michael@0:    ac_add_options --enable-strip-libs
michael@0: 
michael@0: 5. To collect data and build the dynamic footprint graph, type the
michael@0: following command from the mozilla/tools/footprint directory:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   make -flinux-gdf.mk \
michael@0:     BUSTER_URL="http://myserver/cgi-bin/buster.cgi?refresh=10"
michael@0: 
michael@0: (Replace ``myserver'' with the name of the webserver where you
michael@0: installed ``buster.cgi'' in step 3, above.)
michael@0: 
michael@0: Details, details, details
michael@0: -------------------------
michael@0: 
michael@0: 1. When running these tests, you'll probably want to use predictable
michael@0: cache settings. You can modify $(DIST)/bin/defaults/pref/all.js to
michael@0: tweak settings that will be used by [win|gtk]Embed (these programs
michael@0: ignore profile-specific settings AFAIK). For example, I've used these
michael@0: to try to cull out cache usage altogether:
michael@0: 
michael@0:   pref("browser.cache.disk_cache_size",       0);
michael@0:   pref("browser.cache.enable",                false);
michael@0:   pref("browser.cache.disk.enable",           false);
michael@0:   pref("browser.cache.memory_cache_size",     0);
michael@0:   pref("browser.cache.disk_cache_ssl",        false);
michael@0: 
michael@0: I think the image cache has a pref that you can use to shut it off as
michael@0: well. Haven't found it yet.
michael@0: 
michael@0: 2. If you collect data using Mozilla (as Win32 will do, by default), I
michael@0: recommend using a clean profile for consistency's sake. Otherwise,
michael@0: results will vary based on random stuff like how big your bookmarks
michael@0: are, how big your global history is, whether or not you've started
michael@0: mail, etc.
michael@0: 
michael@0: 3. I removed the ``plugin downloader plugin'' libnullplugin.so, as
michael@0: well as all other plugins, from $(DIST)/bin/plugins so that no plugins
michael@0: would be loaded.