STACK(9)						   BSD Kernel Developer's Manual						  STACK(9)

NAME

     stack -- kernel thread stack tracing routines

SYNOPSIS

     #include <sys/param.h>
     #include <sys/stack.h>
     In the kernel configuration file:
     options DDB
     options STACK

     struct stack *
     stack_create(void);

     void
     stack_destroy(struct stack *st);

     int
     stack_put(struct stack *st, vm_offset_t pc);

     void
     stack_copy(struct stack *src, struct stack dst);

     void
     stack_zero(struct stack *st);

     void
     stack_print(struct stack *st);

     void
     stack_print_ddb(struct stack *st);

     void
     stack_print_short(struct stack *st);

     void
     stack_print_short_ddb(struct stack *st);

     void
     stack_sbuf_print(struct sbuf sb*, struct stack *st);

     void
     stack_sbuf_print_ddb(struct sbuf sb*, struct stack *st);

     void
     stack_save(struct stack *st);

DESCRIPTION

     The stack KPI allows querying of kernel stack trace information and the automated generation of kernel stack trace strings for the purposes
     of debugging and tracing.	To use the KPI, at least one of options DDB and options STACK must be compiled into the kernel.

     Each stack trace is described by a struct stack.  Before a trace may be created or otherwise manipulated, storage for the trace must be allo-
     cated with stack_create(), which may sleep.  Memory associated with a trace is freed by calling stack_destroy().

     A trace of the current kernel thread's call stack may be captured using stack_save().

     stack_print() and stack_print_short() may be used to print a stack trace using the kernel printf(9), and may sleep as a result of acquiring
     sx(9) locks in the kernel linker while looking up symbol names.  In locking-sensitive environments, the unsynchronized stack_print_ddb() and
     stack_print_short_ddb() variants may be invoked.  This function bypasses kernel linker locking, making it usable in ddb(4), but not in a live
     system where linker data structures may change.

     stack_sbuf_print() may be used to construct a human-readable string, including conversion (where possible) from a simple kernel instruction
     pointer to a named symbol and offset.  The argument sb must be an initialized struct sbuf as described in sbuf(9).  This function may sleep
     if an auto-extending struct sbuf is used, or due to kernel linker locking.  In locking-sensitive environments, such as ddb(4), the unsynchro-
     nized stack_sbuf_print_ddb() variant may be invoked to avoid kernel linker locking; it should be used with a fixed-length sbuf.

     The utility functions stack_zero, stack_copy, and stack_put may be used to manipulate stack data structures directly.

SEE ALSO

     ddb(4), printf(9), sbuf(9), sx(9)

AUTHORS

     The stack(9) function suite was created by Antoine Brodin.  stack(9) was extended by Robert Watson for general-purpose use outside of ddb(4).

BSD
								   June 24, 2009							       BSD