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What is a trace file?

A trace file is a file containing a trace of certain events that happen (or will happen) during some process. In the context of dinero simulations, the trace file contains a trace of all the addresses used in memory references by the program from which the trace is generated. This means that every instruction fetch produces an instruction address trace record, and every load or store produces a data address trace record. In a .din file these records are encoded as ASCII text, with each record containing a hexadecimal address and an integer tag to indicate the type of reference from which the address originated. The address traces you use have been obtained by annotating an application so that it emits a trace of its own behaviour as it executes. This trace is then stored and compressed, and can subsequently be used to test the behaviour of that program under a variety of simulated conditions.



Nigel Topham
6/25/1998