NAME Devel::Trace::Subs - Generate, track, store and print code flow and stack traces. SYNOPSIS use Devel::Trace::Subs qw(trace trace_dump install_trace remove_trace); Add a trace() call to the top of all your subs trace(); # or even better: $trace() if $ENV{DTS_ENABLE}; Enable the module anywhere in the stack (preferably the calling script) $ENV{DTS_ENABLE} = 1; From anywhere (typically near the end of the calling script) dump the output trace_dump(); Automate the installation into a file (or all files in a directory) install_trace(file => 'filename'); # or directory, or 'Module::Name' Remove the effects of install_trace() remove_trace(file => 'filename') See EXAMPLES for further details. DESCRIPTION This module facilitates keeping track of a project's code flow and stack trace information in calls between subroutines. Optionally, you can use this module to automatically inject the appropriate trace() calls into all subs in individual files, all Perl files within a directory structure, or even in production files by specifying its Module::Name. It also has the facility to undo what was done by the automatic installation mentioned above. EXPORT None by default. See EXPORT_OK. EXPORT_OK trace, trace_dump, install_trace, remove_trace FUNCTIONS trace Parameters: None In order to enable tracing, you must set $ENV{DTS_ENABLE} to a true value somewhere in the call stack (preferably in the calling script). Simply set to a false value (or remove it) to disable this module. Puts the call onto the stack trace. Call it in scalar context to retrieve the data structure as it currently sits. Note: It is best to write the call to this function within an if statement, eg: trace() if $ENV{DTS_ENABLE};. That way, if you decide to disable tracing, you'll short circuit the process of having the module's trace() function being loaded and doing this for you. If you set $ENV{DTS_FLUSH_FLOW} to a true value, we'll print to STDOUT a single line of code flow during each trace() call. This helps in figuring out where a program is having trouble, but the program itself isn't outputting anything useful. trace_dump Dumps the output of the collected data. All of the following parameters are optional. want => 'string', type => 'html', file => 'file.ext' want: Takes either 'flow' or 'stack', and will output the respective data collection. If this parameter is omitted, both code flow and stack trace information is dumped. type: Has only a single value, 'html'. This will dump the output in HTML format. file: Takes the name of a file as a parameter. The dump will write output to the file specified. The program will die if the file can not be opened for writing. install_trace Automatically injects the necessary code into Perl files to facilitate stack tracing. Parameters: file => 'filename' - Mandatory: 'filename' can be the name of a single file, a directory, or even a 'Module::Name'. If the filename is a directory, we'll iterate recursively through the directory, and make the changes to all .pl and .pm files underneath of it (by default). If filename is a 'Module::Name', we'll load the file for that module dynamically, and modify it. CAUTION: this will edit live production files. extensions => ['*.pl', '*.pm'] - Optional: By default, we change all *.pm and *.pl files. Specify only the extensions you want by adding them into this array reference. Anything that File::Find::Rule::name() accepts can be passed in here. inject => ['your code here;', 'more code;'] - The lines of code supplied here will override the default. Note that remove_trace() will not remove these lines, and for uninstall, you'll have to manually delete them. remove_trace Automatically remove all remnants of this module from a file or files, that were added by this module's install_trace() function. Parameters: file => 'filename' Where 'filename' can be the name of a file, a directory or a 'Module::Name'. EXAMPLES One-liner to install into a live module: sudo perl -MDevel::Trace::Subs=install_trace -e 'install_trace(file => "Data::Dump");' One-liner to test that it worked: perl -MData::Dump -MDevel::Trace::Subs=trace_dump -e '$ENV{DTS_TRACE}=1; dd {a=>1}; trace_dump();' One-liner to uninstall: sudo perl -MDevel::Trace::Subs=remove_trace -e 'remove_trace(file => "Data::Dump");' Install into all *.pm files in a directory structure: use warnings; use strict; use Devel::Trace::Subs qw(install_trace); install_trace( file => '/path/to/files/', extensions => ['*.pm'], ); AUTHOR Steve Bertrand, <steveb at cpan.org> BUGS Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-devel-trace-flow at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Devel-Trace-Subs. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes. REPOSITORY https://github.com/stevieb9/devel-trace-subs BUILD REPORTS CPAN Testers: http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=Devel-Trace-Subs SUPPORT You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command. perldoc Devel::Trace::Subs You can also look for information at: * RT: CPAN's request tracker (report bugs here) http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Devel-Trace-Subs * Search CPAN http://search.cpan.org/dist/Devel-Trace-Subs/ LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT Copyright 2016 Steve Bertrand. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either: the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; or the Artistic License. See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information.