* [PATCH 0/1] perf libdw: fix outer-frame name and spurious "(inlined)" tag
@ 2026-07-28 20:42 Michael Liang
2026-07-28 20:42 ` [PATCH 1/1] perf libdw: Fix outer-frame name resolution " Michael Liang
0 siblings, 1 reply; 2+ messages in thread
From: Michael Liang @ 2026-07-28 20:42 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo, Namhyung Kim, Peter Zijlstra,
Ingo Molnar
Cc: Mark Rutland, Alexander Shishkin, Jiri Olsa, Ian Rogers,
Adrian Hunter, James Clark, linux-perf-users, linux-kernel,
Michael Liang
When perf is built with libdw support, addr2line uses libdw and
cu_walk_functions_at() walks the containing DW_TAG_subprogram DIE
plus every DW_TAG_inlined_subroutine DIE at the sample address. The
libdw_a2l_cb() callback treated the outer subprogram DIE the same
way as inlined subroutines, causing two bugs on the outer frame:
1. C++ frames lost their namespace/class qualification, because
die_name() returns the unqualified DW_AT_name -- so
ns::Class::method rendered as method.
2. Any DWARF-vs-ELF name mismatch on the outer frame tripped
new_inline_sym()'s fallback path, which fabricates a fake
symbol tagged "(inlined)". This hit C++ (die_name()'s
unqualified string never matched the demangled ELF symbol)
*and* it hit C functions renamed by GCC IPA-clone (foo vs
foo.isra.0 / .constprop / .part / .cold), since
DW_AT_linkage_name doesn't reflect those renames either.
The patch does two things:
* Prefer die_get_linkage_name() (mangled, fully qualified),
falling back to die_name() when absent (C, extern "C").
new_inline_sym() already demangles via dso__demangle_sym().
* For the outer DW_TAG_subprogram DIE, use base_sym directly --
the DIE tag already tells us it is the outer function, so we
skip the name comparison entirely for both C++ qualification
and IPA-clone renames.
Testing
=======
Reproduced with a small C++ program that exercises both a
non-inline namespaced class method (which GCC also IPA-SRA-clones
into a .isra.0 symbol) and an always_inline helper:
namespace demo {
static volatile std::uint64_t sink;
class Worker {
public:
__attribute__((noinline))
void run_one_io_task(std::uint64_t seed) {
std::uint64_t x = seed;
for (int i = 0; i < 400000; ++i)
x = x * 2862933555777941757ULL + 3037000493ULL;
sink = x;
}
__attribute__((always_inline))
inline void spin(std::uint64_t seed) {
std::uint64_t x = seed;
for (int i = 0; i < 300000; ++i)
x = x * 3935559000370003845ULL + 2691343689449507681ULL;
sink = x;
}
};
} // namespace demo
int main() {
demo::Worker w;
for (int i = 0; i < 400; ++i) {
w.run_one_io_task(i);
w.spin(i ^ 0xa5a5a5a5a5a5a5a5ULL);
}
}
Build:
g++ -O2 -g -fno-omit-frame-pointer demo.cpp -o demo
Then:
perf record -g -F 999 -- ./demo
perf script | head
On unpatched perf, every C++ frame comes out unqualified and tagged
"(inlined)" -- including the outer IPA-cloned frame:
run_one_io_task+0x24 (inlined) [WRONG: unqualified, not inlined]
spin+0x40 (inlined) [WRONG: unqualified]
With this patch:
demo::Worker::run_one_io_task(unsigned long) [clone .isra.0]+0x24
demo::Worker::spin(unsigned long)+0x40 (inlined) [true inline]
The outer frame is fully qualified and no longer carries a spurious
"(inlined)" tag; the truly-inlined helper stays correctly tagged.
The same mis-tagging behavior is reproducible in pure C by taking
any function GCC IPA-clones (e.g. a static helper that gets .isra
/ .constprop applied) -- unpatched perf tags the outer frame
"(inlined)"; with the patch it renders as the base symbol.
Michael Liang (1):
perf libdw: Fix outer-frame name resolution and spurious "(inlined)"
tag
tools/perf/util/libdw.c | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
--
2.34.1
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 2+ messages in thread
* [PATCH 1/1] perf libdw: Fix outer-frame name resolution and spurious "(inlined)" tag
2026-07-28 20:42 [PATCH 0/1] perf libdw: fix outer-frame name and spurious "(inlined)" tag Michael Liang
@ 2026-07-28 20:42 ` Michael Liang
0 siblings, 0 replies; 2+ messages in thread
From: Michael Liang @ 2026-07-28 20:42 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo, Namhyung Kim, Peter Zijlstra,
Ingo Molnar
Cc: Mark Rutland, Alexander Shishkin, Jiri Olsa, Ian Rogers,
Adrian Hunter, James Clark, linux-perf-users, linux-kernel,
Michael Liang
cu_walk_functions_at() calls libdw_a2l_cb() with the containing
DW_TAG_subprogram DIE first, then each DW_TAG_inlined_subroutine
nested inside. The callback treated both the same way, causing two
bugs:
1) die_name() returns the unqualified DW_AT_name, so every C++
frame lost its namespace/class prefix (ns::Class::method
collapsed to method).
2) new_inline_sym() re-uses base_sym only when funcname matches
base_sym->name exactly; otherwise it fabricates a fake symbol
tagged "(inlined)". Any mismatch between the DWARF name and
the ELF symbol name mis-tags an outer, non-inline frame as
inlined. This hits C++ (die_name()'s unqualified output never
matches the demangled ELF symbol) and it also hits C functions
that GCC IPA-cloned (foo vs foo.isra.0 / .constprop / .part /
.cold), since DW_AT_linkage_name doesn't reflect those renames.
Fix both:
* Prefer die_get_linkage_name() (mangled, fully qualified),
falling back to die_name() when absent (C, extern "C").
new_inline_sym() already demangles via dso__demangle_sym().
* For DW_TAG_subprogram DIEs, use base_sym directly -- the DIE
tag already tells us it is the outer function, sidestepping
the name comparison entirely for both C++ qualification and
GCC IPA-clone renames.
Fixes: 88c51002d06f9a68 ("perf addr2line: Add a libdw implementation")
Signed-off-by: Michael Liang <mliang@purestorage.com>
---
tools/perf/util/libdw.c | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/libdw.c b/tools/perf/util/libdw.c
index d5d2958902c0..4ca7e7e4fbe9 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/libdw.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/libdw.c
@@ -82,13 +82,39 @@ struct libdw_a2l_cb_args {
static int libdw_a2l_cb(Dwarf_Die *die, void *_args)
{
struct libdw_a2l_cb_args *args = _args;
- struct symbol *inline_sym = new_inline_sym(args->dso, args->sym, die_name(die));
const char *call_fname = die_get_call_file(die);
int call_lineno = die_get_call_lineno(die);
char *call_srcline = srcline__unknown;
-
- if (!inline_sym)
- goto abort_enomem;
+ struct symbol *inline_sym;
+
+ if (dwarf_tag(die) == DW_TAG_subprogram && args->sym) {
+ /*
+ * cu_walk_functions_at() opens the walk with the
+ * containing DW_TAG_subprogram DIE (the non-inlined outer
+ * function). That's just the base symbol -- use it
+ * directly. Avoids a fragile name-vs-name compare in
+ * new_inline_sym() that misfires when GCC IPA passes
+ * (.isra/.constprop/.part/.cold) rename the ELF symbol
+ * while DWARF keeps the pre-clone linkage name, which
+ * left the outer frame spuriously tagged "(inlined)".
+ */
+ inline_sym = args->sym;
+ } else {
+ /*
+ * Prefer DW_AT_linkage_name so C++ inline frames keep
+ * their namespace/class qualification. new_inline_sym()
+ * runs the name through dso__demangle_sym(), so the
+ * mangled linkage name is turned back into
+ * "Namespace::Class::method". Fall back to DW_AT_name
+ * (unqualified) when no linkage name is present, e.g.
+ * for C code or extern "C" functions.
+ */
+ const char *funcname = die_get_linkage_name(die) ?: die_name(die);
+
+ inline_sym = new_inline_sym(args->dso, args->sym, funcname);
+ if (!inline_sym)
+ goto abort_enomem;
+ }
/* Assign caller information to the parent. */
if (call_fname)
--
2.34.1
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