1172161 - Remove profiler_time in favor of an API that makes it clearer that we're getting the time since process creation

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Core :: Gecko Profiler, defect)

Description

[Shu-yu Guo [:shu]]

Once bug 1159486 lands.

Comment 1

[Tom Tromey :tromey]

Two notes here.

First, I think it's better not to promise any particular epoch, but just
say that it is stable over the process lifetime and that it is synchronized
with the timeline.

Second, I don't find "profiler_time" so bad.  To me it doesn't carry any
connotations of a particular starting point.

So my inclination would be to just close this bug.

But if you have a name you'd prefer, I will make the change.
"profiler_elapsed_time"?  "profiler_current_time"?


nsIProfiler has this instead, so maybe "elapsed" is preferable?

  /**
   * Returns the elapsed time, in milliseconds, since the profiler's epoch.
   * The epoch is guaranteed to be constant for the duration of the
   * process, but is otherwise arbitrary.
   */
  double getElapsedTime();

Comment 2

[Shu-yu Guo [:shu]]

I agree on not promising a particular epoch. I think there is value in making it explicit that the profiler and the timeline have synced timestamps, i.e., by calling the same functions.

Is that too bothersome a thing? It's not a big deal, just a small nice-to-have IMO. Feel free to WONTFIX this bug otherwise!

As an aside, I named getElapsedTime that way because at the time, it was the elapsed time from the time when the profiler was started. Now it's less clear what "elapsed" refers to.

Comment 3

[Tom Tromey :tromey]

I never got to this, and it's been several years; I think WONTFIX is the way to go.