Probes</title>

  <para>
   New probes can be defined within the code wherever the developer
   desires, though this will require a recompilation. Below are the steps
   for inserting new probes:
  </para>

  <procedure>
   <step>
    <para>
     Decide on probe names and data to be made available through the probes
    </para>
   </step>

   <step>
    <para>
     Add the probe definitions to <filename>src/backend/utils/probes.d</filename>
    </para>
   </step>

   <step>
    <para>
     Include <filename>pg_trace.h</filename> if it is not already present in the
     module(s) containing the probe points, and insert
     <literal>TRACE_POSTGRESQL</literal> probe macros at the desired locations
     in the source code
    </para>
   </step>

   <step>
    <para>
     Recompile and verify that the new probes are available
    </para>
   </step>
  </procedure>

  <formalpara>
   <title>Example:</title>
   <para>
    Here is an example of how you would add a probe to trace all new
    transactions by transaction ID.
   </para>
  </formalpara>

  <procedure>
   <step>
    <para>
     Decide that the probe will be named <literal>transaction-start</literal> and
     requires a parameter of type <type>LocalTransactionId</type>
    </para>
   </step>

   <step>
    <para>
     Add the probe definition to <filename>src/backend/utils/probes.d</filename>:
<programlisting>
probe transaction__start(LocalTransactionId);
</programlisting>
     Note the use of the double underline in the probe name. In a DTrace
     script using the probe, the double underline needs to be replaced with a
     hyphen, so <literal>transaction-start</literal> is the name to document for
     users.
    </para>
   </step>

   <step>
    <para>
     At compile time, <literal>transaction__start</literal> is converted to a macro
     called <literal>TRACE_POSTGRESQL_TRANSACTION_START</literal> (notice the
     underscores are single here), which is available by including
     <filename>pg_trace.h</filename>.  Add the macro call to the appropriate location
     in the source code.  In this case, it looks like the following:

<programlisting>
TRACE_POSTGRESQL_TRANSACTION_START(vxid.localTransactionId);
</programlisting>
    </para>
   </step>

   <step>
    <para>
     After recompiling and running the new binary, check that your newly added
     probe is available by executing the following DTrace command.  You
     should see similar output:
<screen>
# dtrace -ln transaction-start
   ID    PROVIDER          MODULE           FUNCTION NAME
18705 postgresql49878     postgres     StartTransactionCommand transaction-start
18755 postgresql49877     postgres     StartTransactionCommand transaction-start
18805 postgresql49876     postgres     StartTransactionCommand transaction-start
18855 postgresql49875     postgres     StartTransactionCommand transaction-start
18986 postgresql49873     postgres     StartTransactionCommand transaction-start
</screen>
    </para>
   </step>
  </procedure>

  <para>
   There are a few things to be careful about when adding trace macros
   to the C code:

   <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      You should take care that the data types specified for a probe's
      parameters match the data types of the variables used in the macro.
      Otherwise, you will get compilation errors.
     </para>
    </listitem>


    <listitem>
     <para>
      On most platforms, if <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> is
      built with <option>--enable-dtrace</option>, the arguments to a trace
      macro will be evaluated whenever control passes through the
      macro, <emphasis>even if no tracing is being done</emphasis>.  This is
      usually not worth worrying about if you are just reporting the
      values of a few local variables.  But beware of putting expensive
      function calls into the arguments.  If you need to do that,
      consider protecting the macro with a check to see if the trace
      is actually enabled:

<programlisting>