Linux Test Project

lcov(1)                          User Manuals                          lcov(1)



NAME
       lcov - a graphical GCOV front-end

SYNOPSIS
       lcov [-h|--help] [-v|--version] [-q|--quiet]
            [-z|--zerocounters] [-c|--capture]
            [-a|--add-tracefile tracefile]
            [-e|--extract tracefile]
            [-r|--remove tracefile]
            [-l|--list tracefile]
            [--diff tracefile diff]
            [-i|--initial] [-t|--test-name testname]
            [-o|--output-file filename]
            [-d|--directory directory]
            [-f|--follow]
            [-k|--kernel-directory directory]
            [-b|--base-directory directory]
            [--convert-filenames] [--strip depth] [--path path]
            [--checksum] [--no-checksum]
            [--compat-libtool] [--no-compat-libtool]
            [--gcov-tool tool] [--ignore-errors errors]
            [--no-recursion]

DESCRIPTION
       lcov  is a graphical front-end for GCC's coverage testing tool gcov. It
       collects gcov data for multiple source files  and  creates  HTML  pages
       containing the source code annotated with coverage information. It also
       adds overview pages for easy navigation within the file structure.

       Use lcov to collect coverage data and genhtml  to  create  HTML  pages.
       Coverage  data can either be collected from the currently running Linux
       kernel or from a user space application. To do this, you have  to  com-
       plete the following preparation steps:

       For Linux kernel coverage:
              Follow  the installation instructions for the gcov-kernel patch:
              http://ltp.sourceforge.net/coverage/gcov.php

       For user space application coverage:
              Compile the application  with  GCC  using  the  options  "-fpro-
              file-arcs" and "-ftest-coverage".

       Please  note  that this man page refers to the output format of lcov as
       ".info file" or "tracefile" and that the output of GCOV is called  ".da
       file".

OPTIONS
       -a tracefile
       --add-tracefile tracefile
              Add contents of tracefile.

              Specify  several  tracefiles  using the -a switch to combine the
              coverage data contained in these files by  adding  up  execution
              counts for matching test and filename combinations.

              The result of the add operation will be written to stdout or the
              tracefile specified with -o.

              Only one of -z, -c, -a, -e, -r, -l and --diff may  be  specified
              at a time.


       -b directory
       --base-directory directory
              Use directory as base directory for relative paths.

              Use  this  option to specify the base directory of a build-envi-
              ronment when lcov produces error messages like:

                     ERROR: could not read source file /home/user/project/sub-
                     dir1/subdir2/subdir1/subdir2/file.c

              In this example, use /home/user/project as base directory.

              This  option  is required when using lcov on projects built with
              libtool or similar build environments  that  work  with  a  base
              directory,  i.e.  environments, where the current working direc-
              tory when invoking the compiler is not  the  same  directory  in
              which the source code file is located.

              Note that this option will not work in environments where multi-
              ple base directories are used. In that case repeat the lcov call
              for  each  base directory while using the --ignore-errors option
              to prevent lcov from exiting when the  first  source  code  file
              could not be found. This way you can get partial coverage infor-
              mation for each base directory which can then be combined  using
              the -a option.

       -c
       --capture
              Capture coverage data.

              By  default  captures  the  current  kernel execution counts and
              writes the resulting coverage data to the standard  output.  Use
              the  --directory  option to capture counts for a user space pro-
              gram.

              The result of the capture operation will be written to stdout or
              the tracefile specified with -o.

              Only  one  of -z, -c, -a, -e, -r, -l and --diff may be specified
              at a time.

       --checksum
       --no-checksum
              Specify whether to generate checksum data  when  writing  trace-
              files.

              Use --checksum to enable checksum generation or --no-checksum to
              disable it. Checksum generation is disabled by default.

              When checksum generation is enabled, a checksum will  be  gener-
              ated  for each source code line and stored along with the cover-
              age data. This checksum will be used to prevent attempts to com-
              bine coverage data from different source code versions.

              If  you  don't work with different source code versions, disable
              this option to speed up coverage data processing and  to  reduce
              the size of tracefiles.

       --compat-libtool
       --no-compat-libtool
              Specify whether to enable libtool compatibility mode.

              Use  --compat-libtool  to  enable  libtool compatibility mode or
              --no-compat-libtool to disable  it.  The  libtool  compatibility
              mode is enabled by default.

              When  libtool  compatibility  mode  is enabled, lcov will assume
              that the source code relating to a .da file located in a  direc-
              tory named ".libs" can be found in its parent directory.

              If  you have directories named ".libs" in your build environment
              but don't use libtool, disable this option to  prevent  problems
              when capturing coverage data.

       --convert-filenames
              Convert filenames when applying diff.

              Use this option together with --diff to rename the file names of
              processed data sets according to the data provided by the  diff.

       --diff tracefile difffile
              Convert  coverage  data in tracefile using source code diff file
              difffile.

              Use this option if you want to merge coverage data from  differ-
              ent  source  code  levels  of a program, e.g. when you have data
              taken from an older version and want to  combine  it  with  data
              from  a  more current version.  lcov will try to map source code
              lines between  those  versions  and  adjust  the  coverage  data
              respectively.   difffile  needs to be in unified format, i.e. it
              has to be created using the "-u" option of the diff tool.

              Note that lines which are not present in the  old  version  will
              not  be  counted as instrumented, therefore tracefiles resulting
              from this operation should not be interpreted  individually  but
              together  with  other  tracefiles  taken from the newer version.
              Also keep in mind that converted coverage data  should  only  be
              used  for  overview  purposes as the process itself introduces a
              loss of accuracy.

              The result of the diff operation will be written  to  stdout  or
              the tracefile specified with -o.

              Only  one  of -z, -c, -a, -e, -r, -l and --diff may be specified
              at a time.

       -d directory
       --directory directory
              Use .da files in directory instead of kernel.

              If you want to work on coverage data for a user  space  program,
              use  this  option  to specify the location where the program was
              compiled (that's where the counter files ending with .da will be
              stored).

              Note that you may specify this option more than once.

       -e tracefile pattern
       --extract tracefile pattern
              Extract data from tracefile.

              Use  this switch if you want to extract coverage data for only a
              particular set of files from  a  tracefile.  Additional  command
              line  parameters  will be interpreted as shell wildcard patterns
              (note that they may need to be escaped  accordingly  to  prevent
              the  shell  from  expanding  them  first).   Every file entry in
              tracefile which matches at least one of those patterns  will  be
              extracted.

              The result of the extract operation will be written to stdout or
              the tracefile specified with -o.

              Only one of -z, -c, -a, -e, -r, -l and --diff may  be  specified
              at a time.

       -f
       --follow
              Follow links when searching for .da files.

       --gcov-tool tool
              Specify the location of the gcov tool.

       -h
       --help
              Print a short help text, then exit.

       --ignore-errors errors
              Specify a list of errors after which to continue processing.

              Use  this  option  to  specify  a list of one or more classes of
              errors after which lcov should continue  processing  instead  of
              aborting.

              errors can be a comma-separated list of the following keywords:

              gcov: the gcov tool returned with a non-zero return code.

              source:  the source code file for a data set could not be found.

       -i
       --initial
              Capture initial zero coverage data.

              Run lcov with -c and this option on the  directories  containing
              .bb,  .bbg  or  .gcno  files  before  running any test case. The
              result is a "baseline" coverage data  file  that  contains  zero
              coverage  for  every  instrumented line.  Combine this data file
              (using lcov -a) with coverage data files captured after  a  test
              run to ensure that the percentage of total lines covered is cor-
              rect even when not all source code files were loaded during  the
              test.

              Recommended procedure when capturing data for a test case:

              1. create baseline coverage data file
                     # lcov -c -i -d appdir -o app_base.info

              2. perform test
                     # appdir/test

              3. create test coverage data file
                     # lcov -c -d appdir -o app_test.info

              4. combine baseline and test coverage data
                     #    lcov    -a   app_base.info   -a   app_test.info   -o
                     app_total.info


       -k subdirectory
       --kernel-directory subdirectory
              Capture kernel coverage data only from subdirectory.

              Use this option if you don't want to get coverage data  for  all
              of the kernel, but only for specific subdirectories.

              Note that you may specify this option more than once.

       -l tracefile
       --list tracefile
              List the contents of the tracefile.

              Only  one of  -z, -c, -a, -e, -r, -l and --diff may be specified
              at a time.

       --no-recursion
              Use this option if you want to get coverage data for the  speci-
              fied directory only without processing subdirectories.

       -o tracefile
       --output-file tracefile
              Write data to tracefile instead of stdout.

              Specify "-" as a filename to use the standard output.

              By  convention,  lcov-generated  coverage  data files are called
              "tracefiles" and should have the filename extension ".info".

       --path path
              Strip path from filenames when applying diff.

              Use this option together with --diff to tell lcov  to  disregard
              the  specified  initial  path  component  when  matching between
              tracefile and diff filenames.

       -q
       --quiet
              Do not print progress messages.

              This option is implied when no output filename is  specified  to
              prevent  progress  messages  to mess with coverage data which is
              also printed to the standard output.

       -r tracefile pattern
       --remove tracefile pattern
              Remove data from tracefile.

              Use this switch if you want to remove coverage data for  a  par-
              ticular  set  of files from a tracefile. Additional command line
              parameters will be interpreted as shell wildcard patterns  (note
              that  they  may  need  to  be escaped accordingly to prevent the
              shell from expanding them first).  Every file entry in tracefile
              which matches at least one of those patterns will be removed.

              The  result of the remove operation will be written to stdout or
              the tracefile specified with -o.

              Only one of -z, -c, -a, -e, -r, -l and --diff may  be  specified
              at a time.

       --strip depth
              Strip path components when applying diff.

              Use  this  option together with --diff to tell lcov to disregard
              the specified number of initial directories when matching trace-
              file and diff filenames.

       -t testname
       --test-name testname
              Specify test name to be stored in the tracefile.

              This name identifies a coverage data set when more than one data
              set is merged into a combined tracefile (see option -a).

              Valid test names can consist of letters, decimal digits and  the
              underscore character ("_").

       -v
       --version
              Print version number, then exit.

       -z
       --zerocounters
              Reset all execution counts to zero.

              By  default  tries  to  reset  kernel  execution counts. Use the
              --directory option to reset all counters of a  user  space  pro-
              gram.

              Only  one  of -z, -c, -a, -e, -r, -l and --diff may be specified
              at a time.


FILES
       /etc/lcovrc
              The system-wide configuration file.

       ~/.lcovrc
              The per-user configuration file.


AUTHOR
       Peter Oberparleiter <Peter.Oberparleiter@de.ibm.com>


SEE ALSO
       lcovrc(5), genhtml(1), geninfo(1), genpng(1), gendesc(1), gcov(1)



2008-11-17                         LCOV 1.7                            lcov(1)

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