Suggestion for tool-tip when configuring analysis type in Inspector XE

[jansson]

When configuring the analysis type for Inspector XE there is nice tool-tips.
Even so after a few weeks of configuring i got a few suggestions for them in no specific order:
1) The inactive options do not show any tool-tip.
2) "Stack frame depth:" do not show any tool-tip ever, all settings should have one.
3) I think tool-tips should indicate both (runtime or) CPU gain/cost and Memory gain/cost.
4) How setting affect detection should be indicated even if there is no effect on detection. I do not like to doubt.
5) Consistency; Rephrase settings to increase accuracy of detection when selected. Now this is the case for most options only. e.g. consider "keep duplicates", "First Thread shadow memory allocation"

My reasoning for 3):
Depending on what I experience while Inspecting I might want to do some trade-offs i.e. gaining speed and consuming memory or the opposite. e.g. Today I noticed that if I select the "low cost" annotated "Defer memory check" I may run my full application with all other checks enabled without running out of memory and have a reasonable runtime. I previously did not understand it was such a important setting.

Is 3) & 4) info somewhere in the manual, I cant locate it?

Best Regards,
Magnus

[Rob5]

Magnus,

Thank you for the comments. I will look at each suggestion and update the thread as soon as possible.

Thanks
Rob

[Rob5]

Jansson,

My apologies for having taken so long to get back with you on observations. In the intervening time a new release of Intel Inspector XE 2011 has been released. Have you had a chance to try the latest version which is update 4? If not you may want to give it a try. Based on Update 4, I have examined the suggestions you have made. Can you confirm these observations are correct and in the case of #3 and #5 add additional information about the request before proceeding with enhancement requests to Development? Your feedback and comments are much appreciated.

#1 - The inactive options do not show any tool-tip.

On examination, what I found is that after an analysis has been run and when viewing analysis results, the Analysis tab displays grayed out checkbox options and the stack frame depth setting showing the settings used for the analysis run. These visuals do not display tooltips.

In addition, when configuring a Custom analysis type prior to running the analysis, checkbox options, etc., display as grayed out controls and no tooltips are displayed. However, if one clicks the Edit button, the options become active and the tool tips display as expected.

Are these the areas you would like to have tooltips display? Are there other areas with grayed out options I missed where you wish tooltips to display?

#2 - "Stack frame depth:" do not show any tool-tip ever, all settings should have one.

It was unable to replicate this behavior in update 4, except as noted in #1 above in the case of inactive analysis option controls. The one exception is in the Custom Analysis Type, if one clicks the edit button and the analysis controls become active, the Stack frame depth option does not have a tool tip. With this option active, at the least it should have a tooltip as this option does in predefined analysis types.

#3 - I think tool-tips should indicate both (runtime or) CPU gain/cost and Memory gain/cost.

In addition you mentioned, Depending on what I experience while Inspecting I might want to do some trade-offs i.e. gaining speed and consuming memory or the opposite. e.g. Today I noticed that if I select the "low cost" annotated "Defer memory check" I may run my full application with all other checks enabled without running out of memory and have a reasonable runtime. I previously did not understand it was such an important setting.

From my observations, it seems that the behavior can be somewhat specific to the application being analyzed. Typically the tooltip information relating to cost are general guidelines. Perhaps there is additional detail or general information about behavior that can be added to the written documentation. This is something I can generally bring up with Development and / or the documentation folks.

#4 - How setting affect detection should be indicated even if there is no effect on detection. I do not like to doubt.

After further investigation, what I found is that the Guard zone byte type: and Stack frame depth: for the Custom analysis type do not have cost information displayed in tool tip. Are these the items you are referring to or are there other analysis controls that contain no cost information in the tooltip that should?

#5 - Consistency; Rephrase settings to increase accuracy of detection when selected. Now this is the case for most options only. e.g. consider "keep duplicates", "First Thread shadow memory allocation"

After further investigation, I am not certain if I understand the full extent of the suggestion. Can you provide one or two specific examples? What would you like changed and what would you like it changed to. Any additional information about rational and usage model would be great.

Thanks
Rob