Auto Scheduling and Thread Synchronization Operations

When you use an Auto Schedule step, you also create sub-blocks of steps by using the Use Auto Scheduled Resource steps. Each Use Auto Scheduled Resource step specifies the resources, or locks, it must acquire to run the steps within the sub-block of the step. Before a thread can acquire the resources a Use Auto Scheduled Resource step specifies, the thread must first acquire exclusive access to the step itself.

The Execution Profiler shows an item that represents the Use Auto Scheduled Resource step so you can view the time that threads spend waiting to acces the step. Select View»Show Synchronization»Show Auto Schedulingin the Execution Profiler window to remove the checkmark that appears to the left of the menu item to hide items that represent Use Auto Scheduled Resource steps.

You can also select View»Show Synchronization»Show<Synchronization Type>in the profiler window to selectively show or hide the following other types of TestStand thread synchronization operations:

  • Locks
  • Rendezvous
  • Queue
  • Notification
  • Batch Synchronization
  • Semaphore
  • Wait Operations

The profiler shows thread synchronization operations for only the current operating system process. In a typical system, most or all TestStand locks and synchronization operations are local to the current process. You can create cross-process synchronization operations by prefixing the resource name with an asterisk character. You can also create cross-machine operations by prefixing the resource name with a computer name. However, these non-local operations do not appear in the profiler.