Controlling Processes and Threads

TotalView offers a full range of methods for controlling processes and threads. Using TotalView, you can:

• Automatically attach to processes

  When your program creates processes and threads on your current computer or another, TotalView automatically attaches to them, making their symbol tables available to you and allowing you to manipulate them in the same way as you manipulate the process originally started under TotalView's control.

• Automatically create groups

  When processes and threads are created, TotalView automatically adds them to groups. TotalView places every process and every thread into two or more groups that can be manipulated using group, process, and thread commands. Using the CLI (which is TotalView's Command Line Interface), you can create groups that can be manipulated from the TotalView Process Window. For example, you can step all threads in a group without stepping other threads in their processes.

• Start and stop processes and threads

  You can start, stop, resume, delete, restart, and even reload recompiled versions of your program.

• Attach to existing processes

  TotalView lets you examine processes that are not yet running under its control. Attaching to one of these processes is as easy as double-clicking on the process's name in the Root Window.

• Examine core files

  You can load a core file and examine it in the same way as any other executable. Or, you can load a core file at anytime.

• Single-step your program

  You can single step through your program or step over function calls. You can tell your program to execute to a selected source line or instruction, or continue executing until a function completes its execution. TotalView supports process-level, process group-level, and, on some systems, thread-level single stepping.

• Change the way TotalView handles signals

  You can indicate how TotalView handles signals. For example, it can stop the process and place it in a stopped or error state, sending the signal on to the process, or discarding the signal.