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<h3 class="section">4.5 Symspecs</h3>
<p>Many of the output options allow functions to be included or excluded
using <dfn>symspecs</dfn> (symbol specifications), which observe the
following syntax:
<pre class="example"> filename_containing_a_dot
| funcname_not_containing_a_dot
| linenumber
| ( [ any_filename ] `:' ( any_funcname | linenumber ) )
</pre>
<p>Here are some sample symspecs:
<dl>
<dt>‘<samp><span class="samp">main.c</span></samp>’<dd>Selects everything in file <samp><span class="file">main.c</span></samp>—the
dot in the string tells <code>gprof</code> to interpret
the string as a filename, rather than as
a function name. To select a file whose
name does not contain a dot, a trailing colon
should be specified. For example, ‘<samp><span class="samp">odd:</span></samp>’ is
interpreted as the file named <samp><span class="file">odd</span></samp>.
<br><dt>‘<samp><span class="samp">main</span></samp>’<dd>Selects all functions named ‘<samp><span class="samp">main</span></samp>’.
<p>Note that there may be multiple instances of the same function name
because some of the definitions may be local (i.e., static). Unless a
function name is unique in a program, you must use the colon notation
explained below to specify a function from a specific source file.
<p>Sometimes, function names contain dots. In such cases, it is necessary
to add a leading colon to the name. For example, ‘<samp><span class="samp">:.mul</span></samp>’ selects
function ‘<samp><span class="samp">.mul</span></samp>’.
<p>In some object file formats, symbols have a leading underscore.
<code>gprof</code> will normally not print these underscores. When you name a
symbol in a symspec, you should type it exactly as <code>gprof</code> prints
it in its output. For example, if the compiler produces a symbol
‘<samp><span class="samp">_main</span></samp>’ from your <code>main</code> function, <code>gprof</code> still prints
it as ‘<samp><span class="samp">main</span></samp>’ in its output, so you should use ‘<samp><span class="samp">main</span></samp>’ in
symspecs.
<br><dt>‘<samp><span class="samp">main.c:main</span></samp>’<dd>Selects function ‘<samp><span class="samp">main</span></samp>’ in file <samp><span class="file">main.c</span></samp>.
<br><dt>‘<samp><span class="samp">main.c:134</span></samp>’<dd>Selects line 134 in file <samp><span class="file">main.c</span></samp>.
</dl>
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