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      1 page.title=Tracer for OpenGL ES
      2 @jd:body
      3 
      4 <div id="qv-wrapper">
      5 <div id="qv">
      6   <h2>In this document</h2>
      7   <ol>
      8     <li><a href="#running">Running Tracer</a></li>
      9     <li><a href="#generating">Generating a Trace</a></li>
     10     <li><a href="#analyzing">Analyzing a Trace</a></li>
     11   </ol>
     12   <h2>See also</h2>
     13   <ol>
     14     <li><a href="{@docRoot}tools/index.html">Tools</a></li>
     15   </ol>
     16 </div>
     17 </div>
     18 
     19 <p>Tracer is a tool for analyzing OpenGL for Embedded Systems (ES) code in your Android application.
     20 The tool allows you to capture OpenGL ES commands and frame by frame images to help you understand
     21 how your graphics commands are being executed.</p>
     22 
     23 <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> The Tracer tool requires a device running Android 4.1 (API
     24 Level 16) or higher.</p>
     25 
     26 
     27 <h2 id="running">Running Tracer</h2>
     28 
     29 <p>Tracer can be run as part of the Eclipse Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin or as part of the
     30 Device Monitor tool.</p>
     31 
     32 <p>To run Tracer in Eclipse:</p>
     33 
     34 <ol>
     35   <li>Start Eclipse and open a workspace that contains an Android project.</li>
     36   <li>Activate the perspective for Tracer by choosing <strong>Window > Open Perspective >
     37 Other...</strong></li>
     38   <li>Select <strong>Tracer for OpenGL ES</strong> and click <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
     39 </ol>
     40 
     41 <p>To run Tracer in Device Monitor:</p>
     42 
     43 <ol>
     44   <li>Start the <a href="monitor.html">Device Monitor</a> tool.</li>
     45   <li>Activate the perspective for Tracer by choosing <strong>Window > Open
     46 Perspective...</strong></li>
     47   <li>Select <strong>Tracer for OpenGL ES</strong> and click <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
     48 </ol>
     49 
     50 <h2 id="generating">Generating a Trace</h2>
     51 
     52 <p>Tracer captures OpenGL ES command execution logs and can also capture progressive images of the
     53 frames generated by those commands to enable you to perform logical and visual analysis of your
     54 OpenGL ES code. The Tracer tool operates by connecting to a device running Android 4.1 (API Level
     55 16) or higher that is running the application you want to analyze. The Tracer tool captures trace
     56 information while the application is running and saves it to a {@code .gltrace} file for
     57 analysis.</p>
     58 
     59 <img src="{@docRoot}images/gltracer/dialog-trace.png">
     60 <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 1.</strong> Trace capture dialog box.</p>
     61 
     62 <p>To capture an OpenGL ES trace for an Android application:</p>
     63 
     64 <ol>
     65   <li>Connect the Android device using a USB cable and make sure it is enabled for debugging. For
     66 more information, see <a href="{@docRoot}tools/device.html">Using Hardware Devices</a>.</li>
     67   <li>In Eclipse or Device Monitor, activate the <strong>Tracer for OpenGL ES</strong>
     68 perspective.</li>
     69   <li>On the toolbar, click the trace capture button (<img
     70 src="{@docRoot}images/gltracer/icon-capture.png">).</li>
     71   <li>In the dialog box, select the <strong>Device</strong> to use for the trace.</li>
     72   <li>In the <strong>Application Package</strong> field, enter the full application package name
     73 containing the activity you want to trace, for example: {@code com.example.android.opengl}</li>
     74   <li>In the <strong>Activity to launch</strong> field, enter the class name of the activity you
     75 want to trace, for example: {@code OpenGLES20Complete}
     76   <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> If you are tracing the default activity for the
     77 application, you can leave this field blank.</p>
     78   </li>
     79   <li>Select the desired <strong>Data Collection Options</strong>.
     80     <p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> If you want to capture progressive frame images for each
     81 drawing call, enable the <strong>Read back currently bound framebuffer on glDraw*()</strong> option.
     82 Be aware that using this option can result in large trace files.</p>
     83   </li>
     84   <li>Enter a <strong>Destination File</strong> for the trace output.</li>
     85   <li>Click <strong>Trace</strong> to start the trace capture.</li>
     86   <li>On the connected device, exercise the functions of your application you want to trace.</li>
     87   <li>In the dialog box, <strong>Stop Tracing</strong> to complete the tracing run.</li>
     88 </ol>
     89 
     90 <h2 id="analyzing">Analyzing a Trace</h2>
     91 
     92 <p>After you have generated a trace, you can load it for review and analysis.</p>
     93 
     94 <p>To review a captured trace:</p>
     95 
     96 <ol>
     97   <li>In Eclipse or Device Monitor, activate the <strong>Tracer for OpenGL ES</strong>
     98 perspective.</li>
     99   <li>On the toolbar, click the trace load button (<img
    100 src="{@docRoot}images/gltracer/icon-load-trace.png">).</li>
    101   <li>After loading a trace, select a frame and review the OpenGL ES calls. Drawing commands are
    102 highlighted in blue.</li>
    103 </ol>