C++ Build Insights SDK: event table

Article
10/29/2021

The C++ Build Insights SDK is compatible with Visual Studio 2017 and later. To see the documentation for these versions, set the Visual Studio Version selector control for this article to Visual Studio 2017 or later. It's found at the top of the table of contents on this page.

Compiler events

COMPILER
COMMAND_LINE
ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE
FILE_INPUT
OBJ_OUTPUT
FRONT_END_PASS
BACK_END_PASS

Compiler front-end events

C1_DLL
FRONT_END_FILE
TEMPLATE_INSTANTIATION
SYMBOL_NAME
MODULE
HEADER_UNIT
PRECOMPILED_HEADER

Compiler back-end events

C2_DLL
WHOLE_PROGRAM_ANALYSIS
TOP_DOWN
BOTTOM_UP
CODE_GENERATION
THREAD
FUNCTION
FORCE_INLINEE

Linker events

LINKER
COMMAND_LINE
ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE
FILE_INPUT
EXECUTABLE_IMAGE_OUTPUT
EXP_OUTPUT
IMP_LIB_OUTPUT
LIB_OUTPUT
PASS1
PRE_LTCG_OPT_REF
LTCG
OPT_REF
OPT_ICF
OPT_LBR
PASS2

Event table

Event	Property	Description
BACK_END_PASS	Type	Activity
	Parents	COMPILER
	Children	C2_DLL
	Properties	- Absolute path to input source file - Absolute path to output object file
	Capture classes	Activity CompilerPass BackEndPass
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the compiler back-end pass. This pass is responsible for optimizing parsed C/C++ source code and converting it into machine code.
BOTTOM_UP	Type	Activity
	Parents	WHOLE_PROGRAM_ANALYSIS
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity BottomUp
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the whole program analysis' bottom-up pass.
C1_DLL	Type	Activity
	Parents	FRONT_END_PASS
	Children	FRONT_END_FILE SYMBOL_NAME TEMPLATE_INSTANTIATION
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity C1DLL
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of a c1.dll or c1xx.dll invocation. These DLLs are the C and C++ front end of the compiler. They're invoked solely by the compiler driver (cl.exe).
C2_DLL	Type	Activity
	Parents	BACK_END_PASS LTCG
	Children	CODE_GENERATION WHOLE_PROGRAM_ANALYSIS
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity C2DLL
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of a c2.dll invocation. This DLL is the back end of the compiler. It's called by the compiler driver (cl.exe). It's also invoked by the linker (link.exe) when link-time code generation is used.
CODE_GENERATION	Type	Activity
	Parents	C2_DLL
	Children	FUNCTION THREAD
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity CodeGeneration
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the back end's code generation phase.
COMMAND_LINE	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	COMPILER LINKER
	Children	None
	Properties	- The command line that was used to invoke cl.exe or link.exe
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent CommandLine
	Description	Occurs when the compiler and linker are done evaluating the command line. The evaluated command line includes all cl.exe and link.exe parameters passed via a response file. It also includes parameters to cl.exe and link.exe passed via environment variables such as CL, _CL_, LINK, and _LINK_.
COMPILER	Type	Activity
	Parents	None
	Children	BACK_END_PASS COMMAND_LINE ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE FILE_INPUT OBJ_OUTPUT FRONT_END_PASS
	Properties	- Compiler version - Working directory - Absolute path to the invoked cl.exe
	Capture classes	Activity Invocation Compiler
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of a cl.exe invocation.
ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	COMPILER LINKER
	Children	None
	Properties	- The name of the environment variable - The value of the environment variable.
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent EnvironmentVariable
	Description	Occurs once for every existing environment variable at the time cl.exe or link.exe is invoked.
EXECUTABLE_IMAGE_OUTPUT	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	LINKER
	Children	None
	Properties	- The absolute path to a DLL or executable output file.
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent FileOutput ExecutableImageOutput
	Description	Occurs when one of the linker inputs is a DLL or an executable image file.
EXP_OUTPUT	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	LINKER
	Children	None
	Properties	- The absolute path to an .exp output file.
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent FileOutput ExpOutput
	Description	Occurs when one of the linker outputs is an .exp file.
FILE_INPUT	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	COMPILER LINKER
	Children	None
	Properties	- The absolute path to the input file - The type of input file
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent FileInput
	Description	Occurs to announce a cl.exe or link.exe input.
FORCE_INLINEE	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	FUNCTION
	Children	None
	Properties	- The name of the force-inlined function. - The size of the force-inlined function, represented as an intermediate instruction count.
	Capture classes	Activity ForceInlinee
	Description	Occurs when a function is being force-inlined into another function through the use of the `__forceinline` keyword.
FRONT_END_FILE	Type	Activity
	Parents	C1_DLL FRONT_END_FILE
	Children	FRONT_END_FILE TEMPLATE_INSTANTIATION
	Properties	- Absolute path to the file.
	Capture classes	Activity FrontEndFile
	Description	Occurs when the compiler front end starts and stops processing a file. This event is recursive. Recursion happens when the front end is parsing included files.
FRONT_END_PASS	Type	Activity
	Parents	COMPILER
	Children	C1_DLL MODULE HEADER_UNIT PRECOMPILED_HEADER
	Properties	- Absolute path to input source file - Absolute path to output object file
	Capture classes	Activity CompilerPass FrontEndPass
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the compiler front-end pass. This pass is responsible for parsing C/C++ source code and converting it into intermediate language.
FUNCTION	Type	Activity
	Parents	CODE_GENERATION THREAD TOP_DOWN
	Children	FORCE_INLINEE
	Properties	- Name of the function
	Capture classes	Activity Function
	Description	Occurs when starting and ending generating the code for a function.
HEADER_UNIT	Type	Activity
	Parents	FRONT_END_PASS
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent TranslationUnitType HeaderUnit
	Description	Occurs at the start of the front-end pass and represents that a header unit translation unit is being processed.
IMP_LIB_OUTPUT	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	LINKER
	Children	None
	Properties	- The absolute path to an import library output file.
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent FileOutput ImpLibOutput
	Description	Occurs when one of the linker's outputs is an import library.
LIB_OUTPUT	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	LINKER
	Children	None
	Properties	- The absolute path to a static library output file.
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent FileOutput LibOutput
	Description	Occurs when one of the linker's outputs is static library.
LINKER	Type	Activity
	Parents	None
	Children	COMMAND_LINE ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE EXECUTABLE_IMAGE_OUTPUT EXP_OUTPUT FILE_INPUT IMP_LIB_OUTPUT LIB_OUTPUT PASS1 PASS2
	Properties	- Linker version - Working directory - Absolute path to the invoked link.exe
	Capture classes	Activity Invocation Linker
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of a link.exe invocation.
LTCG	Type	Activity
	Parents	PASS1
	Children	C2_DLL
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity LTCG
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of link-time code generation.
MODULE	Type	Activity
	Parents	FRONT_END_PASS
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent TranslationUnitType Module
	Description	Occurs at the start of the front-end pass and represents that a module translation unit is being processed.
OBJ_OUTPUT	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	COMPILER
	Children	None
	Properties	- The absolute path to the .obj output file
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent FileOutput ObjOutput
	Description	Occurs once for every .obj output produced by cl.exe.
OPT_ICF	Type	Activity
	Parents	PASS1
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity OptICF
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the identical COMDAT folding (/OPT:ICF) linker optimization.
OPT_LBR	Type	Activity
	Parents	PASS1
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity OptLBR
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the long branch (/OPT:LBR) linker optimization.
OPT_REF	Type	Activity
	Parents	PASS1
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity OptRef
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the unreferenced functions and data elimination (/OPT:REF) linker optimization.
PASS1	Type	Activity
	Parents	LINKER
	Children	LTCG OPT_ICF OPT_LBR OPT_REF
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity Pass1
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the linker's pass 1.
PASS2	Type	Activity
	Parents	LINKER
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity Pass2
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the linker's pass 2.
PRECOMPILED_HEADER	Type	Activity
	Parents	FRONT_END_PASS
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent TranslationUnitType PrecompiledHeader
	Description	Occurs at the start of the front-end pass and represents that a precompiled header (PCH) translation unit is being processed.
PRE_LTCG_OPT_REF	Type	Activity
	Parents	PASS1
	Children	None
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity PreLTCGOptRef
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the linker optimization pass that eliminates unreferenced functions and data (/OPT:REF). It's done before link-time code generation.
SYMBOL_NAME	Type	Simple Event
	Parents	C1_DLL
	Children	None
	Properties	- A type key - The type's name
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent SymbolName
	Description	Occurs at the end of the front-end pass: once for every type involved in template instantiations. The key is a numerical identifier for the type, while the name is its text representation. Type keys are unique within the trace being analyzed. However, different keys coming from different compiler front-end passes may point to the same type. Comparing types between different compiler front-end passes requires using their names. SYMBOL_NAME events are emitted at the end of a compiler front-end pass, after all template instantiations have taken place.
TEMPLATE_INSTANTIATION	Type	Activity
	Parents	C1_DLL FRONT_END_FILE TEMPLATE_INSTANTIATION
	Children	TEMPLATE_INSTANTIATION
	Properties	- The key for the specialized type - The key for the primary template's type - The kind of template that was instantiated
	Capture classes	Activity TemplateInstantiation
	Description	Occurs at the beginning and end of a template instantiation. A primary template type (such as `vector`) is instantiated, resulting in a specialized type (such as `std::vector<int>`). A key is given for both types. Use the SYMBOL_NAME event to convert a key into the type's name. Type keys are unique within the trace being analyzed. However, different keys coming from different compiler front-end passes may point to the same type. Comparing types between different compiler front-end passes requires using symbol names. This event is recursive. Recursion happens in some cases when the front end is instantiating nested templates.
THREAD	Type	Activity
	Parents	CODE_GENERATION TOP_DOWN
	Children	FUNCTION
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity Thread
	Description	Occurs at the start and end of a compiler back-end thread execution. A thread being suspended is considered ended. A thread being woken up is considered started.
TOP_DOWN	Type	Activity
	Parents	WHOLE_PROGRAM_ANALYSIS
	Children	FUNCTION THREAD
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity TopDown
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the whole program analysis' top-down pass.
TRANSLATION_UNIT_TYPE	Type	Activity
	Parents	FRONT_END_PASS
	Children	MODULE HEADER_UNIT PRECOMPILED_HEADER
	Properties	- The type of translation unit.
	Capture classes	SimpleEvent TranslationUnitType
	Description	Occurs at the start of the front-end pass. The type identifies whether this pass is processing a module, header unit, or precompiled header.
WHOLE_PROGRAM_ANALYSIS	Type	Activity
	Parents	C2_DLL
	Children	BOTTOM_UP TOP_DOWN
	Properties	None
	Capture classes	Activity WholeProgramAnalysis
	Description	Occurs at the start and stop of the whole-program analysis phase of link-time code generation.

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