x11perf

NAME

x11perf - X11 server performance test program

SYNOPSIS

x11perf [-option ... ]

DESCRIPTION

The x11perf(1) program runs one or more performance tests and reports how quickly an X server can execute the tests.

Many graphics benchmarks assume that the graphics device is used to display the output of a single fancy graphics application, and that the user actually works on some other device, like a terminal. Such benchmarks usually measure drawing speed for lines, polygons, text, and so on.

Because workstations are used not as standalone graphics engines, but as super-terminals, x11perf(1) measures window management performance as well as traditional graphics performance. The x11perf(1) utility includes benchmarks for the time it takes to create and map windows (as when you start up an application); to map a preexisting set of windows onto the screen (as when you deiconify an application or pop up a menu); and to rearrange windows (as when you slosh windows to and fro trying to find the one you want).

The x11perf(1) utility also measures graphics performance for operations not normally used in standalone graphics displays, but are nonetheless used frequently by X applications. Such operations include CopyPlane (used to map bitmaps into pixels), scrolling (used in text windows), and various stipples and tiles (used for computer-aided design (CAD) and color half-toning, respectively).

The x11perf(1) utility should be used to analyze particular strengths and weaknesses of servers, and is most useful to a server writer who wants to analyze and improve a server. The x11perf(1) utility is meant to comprehensively exercise just about every X11 operation you can perform; it does not purport to be a representative sample of the operations that X11 applications actually use. Although it can be used as a benchmark, it was written and is intended as a performance-testing tool.

As such, x11perf(1) does not whittle down measurements to a single "HeXStones" or "MeXops" number. We consider such numbers to be uninformative at best and misleading at worst. Some servers that are very fast for certain applications can be very slow for others. No single number or small set of numbers is sufficient to characterize how an X implementation will perform on all applications. Knowing your favorite application, however, will improve your ability to use the numbers x11perf(1) reports to predict its performance on a given X implementation.

That said, you might also want to look at x11perfcomp(1), a program to compare the outputs of different x11perf(1) runs. You provide a list of files containing results from x11perf,(1) and it presents them out in a useful, tabular format.

For repeatable results, x11perf(1) should be run using a local connection on a freshly started server. The default configuration runs each test five times to determine whether each trial takes approximately the same amount of time. Strange glitches should be examined; if they are non-repeatable, you might chalk them up to daemons and network traffic. Each trial is run for five seconds to reduce random time differences. The number of objects processed per second is displayed to three significant digits, but you'll be lucky on most systems if the numbers are actually consistent to two digits. The x11perf(1) utility moves the cursor out of the test window; be careful not to bump the mouse and move it back into the window. (A prize to people who correctly explain why!!).

Before running a test, x11perf(1) determines what the round-trip time to the server is, and factors this out of the final timing reported. It ensures that the server has actually performed the work requested by fetching a pixel back from the test window, which means that servers talking to graphics accelerators cannot claim that they are done, while, in the meantime, the accelerator is painting madly.

By default, x11perf(1) automatically calibrates the number of repetitions of each test, so that each should take approximately the same length of time to run across servers of widely differing speeds. Because each test must be run to completion at least once, however, some slow servers might take a very long time, particularly on the window moving and resizing tests, and on the arc drawing tests.

All timing reports are for the smallest object involved. For example, the line tests use a PolyLine request to paint several lines at once, but report how many lines per second the server can paint, not how many PolyLine requests per second. Text tests paint a line of characters, but report on the number of characters per second. Some window tests map, unmap, or move a single parent window, but report on how many children windows per second the server can map, unmap, or move.

The current program is mostly the responsibility of Joel McCormack. It is based upon the x11perf developed by Phil Karlton, Susan Angebranndt, and Chris Kent, who wanted to assess performance differences between various servers. Mary Walker, Todd Newman, and several tests were added in order to write and tune the PMAX (DECStation 3100) servers. For a general release to the world, x11perf(1) was rewritten to ease making comparisons between widely varying computers, to cover most important (and unimportant) X functionality, and to exercise graphics operations in as many different orientations and alignments as possible.

OPTIONS

The x11perf(1) utility is solely Xlib based, and accepts the following options:

-display host:dpy
Specifies which display to use.
-sync
Runs the tests in synchronous mode. Normally only useful for debugging x11perf(1).
-pack
Runs rectangle tests so that they pack rectangles right next to each other. This makes it easy to debug server code for stipples and tiles; if the pattern looks ugly, you have alignment problems.
-repeat <n>
Repeats each test n times (by default each test is run five times).
-time <s>
Specifies how long in seconds each test should be run (default five seconds).
-all
Runs all tests. This might take a while.
-range <test1>[,<test2>]
Runs all the tests starting from the specified name test1 until the name test2, including both the specified tests. The test names should be one of the options starting from -dot. (eg) -range line100 will perform the tests from the 100 pixel line test, and go on till the last test, -range line100,dline10 will do the tests from line100 to dline10.
-labels
Generates just the descriptive labels for each test specified. See x11perfcomp(1) for more details.
-fg color
Specifies the foreground color to use.
-bg color
Specifies the background color to use.
-rop <rop0 rop1 ...>
Use specified raster ops (default is GXcopy). This option only affects graphics benchmarks in which the graphics function is actually used.
-pm <pm0 pm1 ...>
Use specified planemasks (default is ~0). This option only affects graphics benchmarks in which the planemask is actually used.
-depth <depth>
Use a visual with <depth> planes per pixel (default is the default visual).
-reps <n>
Fix the rep count. (default = auto scale).
-subs <s0 s1 ...>
A list of the number of sub-windows to use.
-v1.2 <s0 s1 ...>
Perform only v1.2 tests using old semantics.
-dot
Dot.
-rect1
1x1 solid-filled rectangle.
-rect10
10x10 solid-filled rectangle.
-rect100
100x100 solid-filled rectangle.
-rect500
500x500 solid-filled rectangle.
-srect1
1x1 transparent stippled rectangle, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-srect10
10x10 transparent stippled rectangle, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-srect100
100x100 transparent stippled rectangle, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-srect500
500x500 transparent stippled rectangle, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-osrect1
1x1 opaque stippled rectangle, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-osrect10
10x10 opaque stippled rectangle, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-osrect100
100x100 opaque stippled rectangle, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-osrect500
500x500 opaque stippled rectangle, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-tilerect1
1x1 tiled rectangle, 4x4 tile pattern.
-tilerect10
10x10 tiled rectangle, 4x4 tile pattern.
-tilerect100
100x100 tiled rectangle, 4x4 tile pattern.
-tilerect500
500x500 tiled rectangle, 4x4 tile pattern.
-bigsrect1
1x1 stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigsrect10
10x10 stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigsrect100
100x100 stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigsrect500
500x500 stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigosrect1
1x1 opaque stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigosrect10
10x10 opaque stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigosrect100
100x100 opaque stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigosrect500
500x500 opaque stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigtilerect1
1x1 tiled rectangle, 161x145 tile pattern.
-bigtilerect10
10x10 tiled rectangle, 161x145 tile pattern.
-bigtilerect100
100x100 tiled rectangle, 161x145 tile pattern.
-bigtilerect500
500x500 tiled rectangle, 161x145 tile pattern.
-eschertilerect1
1x1 tiled rectangle, 215x208 tile pattern.
-eschertilerect10
10x10 tiled rectangle, 215x208 tile pattern.
-eschertilerect100
100x100 tiled rectangle, 215x208 tile pattern.
-eschertilerect500
500x500 tiled rectangle, 215x208 tile pattern.
-seg1
1-pixel thin line segment.
-seg10
10-pixel thin line segment.
-seg100
100-pixel thin line segment.
-seg500
500-pixel thin line segment.
-seg100c1
100-pixel thin line segment (1 obscuring rectangle).
-seg100c2
100-pixel thin line segment (2 obscuring rectangles).
-seg100c3
100-pixel thin line segment (3 obscuring rectangles).
-dseg10
10-pixel thin dashed segment (3 on, 2 off).
-dseg100
100-pixel thin dashed segment (3 on, 2 off).
-ddseg100
100-pixel thin double-dashed segment (3 fg, 2 bg).
-hseg10
10-pixel thin horizontal line segment.
-hseg100
100-pixel thin horizontal line segment.
-hseg500
500-pixel thin horizontal line segment.
-vseg10
10-pixel thin vertical line segment.
-vseg100
100-pixel thin vertical line segment.
-vseg500
500-pixel thin vertical line segment.
-whseg10
10-pixel wide horizontal line segment.
-whseg100
100-pixel wide horizontal line segment.
-whseg500
500-pixel wide horizontal line segment.
-wvseg10
10-pixel wide vertical line segment.
-wvseg100
100-pixel wide vertical line segment.
-wvseg500
500-pixel wide vertical line segment.
-line1
1-pixel thin (width 0) line.
-line10
10-pixel thin line.
-line100
100-pixel thin line.
-line500
500-pixel thin line.
-dline10
10-pixel thin dashed line (3 on, 2 off).
-dline100
100-pixel thin dashed line (3 on, 2 off).
-ddline100
100-pixel thin double-dashed line (3 fg, 2 bg).
-wline10
10-pixel line, line width 1.
-wline100
100-pixel line, line width 10.
-wline500
500-pixel line, line width 50.
-wdline100
100-pixel dashed line, line width 10 (30 on, 20 off).
-wddline100
100-pixel double-dashed line, line width 10 (30 fg, 20 bg).
-orect10
10x10 thin rectangle outline.
-orect100
100-pixel thin vertical line segment.
-orect500
500-pixel thin vertical line segment.
-worect10
10x10 wide rectangle outline.
-worect100
100-pixel wide vertical line segment.
-worect500
500-pixel wide vertical line segment.
-circle1
1-pixel diameter thin (line width 0) circle.
-circle10
10-pixel diameter thin circle.
-circle100
100-pixel diameter thin circle.
-circle500
500-pixel diameter thin circle.
-dcircle100
100-pixel diameter thin dashed circle (3 on, 2 off).
-ddcircle100
100-pixel diameter thin double-dashed circle (3 fg, 2 bg).
-wcircle10
10-pixel diameter circle, line width 1.
-wcircle100
100-pixel diameter circle, line width 10.
-wcircle500
500-pixel diameter circle, line width 50.
-wdcircle100
100-pixel diameter dashed circle, line width 10 (30 on, 20 off).
-wddcircle100
100-pixel diameter double-dashed circle, line width 10 (30 fg, 20 bg).
-pcircle10
10-pixel diameter thin partial circle, orientation and arc angle evenly distributed.
-pcircle100
100-pixel diameter thin partial circle.
-wpcircle10
10-pixel diameter wide partial circle.
-wpcircle100
100-pixel diameter wide partial circle.
-fcircle1
1-pixel diameter filled circle.
-fcircle10
10-pixel diameter filled circle.
-fcircle100
100-pixel diameter filled circle.
-fcircle500
500-pixel diameter filled circle.
-fcpcircle10
10-pixel diameter partial filled circle, chord fill, orientation and arc angle evenly distributed.
-fcpcircle100
100-pixel diameter partial filled circle, chord fill.
-fspcircle10
10-pixel diameter partial filled circle, pie-slice fill, orientation and arc angle evenly distributed.
-fspcircle100
100-pixel diameter partial filled circle, pie-slice fill.
-ellipse10
10-pixel diameter thin (line width 0) ellipse, major and minor axis sizes evenly distributed.
-ellipse100
100-pixel diameter thin ellipse.
-ellipse500
500-pixel diameter thin ellipse.
-dellipse100
100-pixel diameter thin dashed ellipse (3 on, 2 off).
-ddellipse100
100-pixel diameter thin double-dashed ellipse (3 fg, 2 bg).
-wellipse10
10-pixel diameter ellipse, line width 1.
-wellipse100
100-pixel diameter ellipse, line width 10.
-wellipse500
500-pixel diameter ellipse, line width 50.
-wdellipse100
100-pixel diameter dashed ellipse, line width 10 (30 on, 20 off).
-wddellipse100
100-pixel diameter double-dashed ellipse, line width 10 (30 fg, 20 bg).
-pellipse10
10-pixel diameter thin partial ellipse.
-pellipse100
100-pixel diameter thin partial ellipse.
-wpellipse10
10-pixel diameter wide partial ellipse.
-wpellipse100
100-pixel diameter wide partial ellipse.
-fellipse10
10-pixel diameter filled ellipse.
-fellipse100
100-pixel diameter filled ellipse.
-fellipse500
500-pixel diameter filled ellipse.
-fcpellipse10
10-pixel diameter partial filled ellipse, chord fill.
-fcpellipse100
100-pixel diameter partial filled ellipse, chord fill.
-fspellipse10
10-pixel diameter partial filled ellipse, pie-slice fill.
-fspellipse100
100-pixel diameter partial filled ellipse, pie-slice fill.
-triangle1
Fill 1-pixel/side triangle.
-triangle10
Fill 10-pixel/side triangle.
-triangle100
Fill 100-pixel/side triangle.
-trap10
Fill 10x10 trapezoid.
-trap100
Fill 100x100 trapezoid.
-strap10
Fill 10x10 transparent stippled trapezoid, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-strap100
Fill 100x100 transparent stippled trapezoid, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-ostrap10
Fill 10x10 opaque stippled trapezoid, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-ostrap100
Fill 100x100 opaque stippled trapezoid, 8x8 stipple pattern.
-tiletrap10
Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 4x4 tile pattern.
-tiletrap100
Fill 100x100 tiled trapezoid, 4x4 tile pattern.
-bigstrap10
Fill 10x10 transparent stippled trapezoid, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigstrap100
Fill 100x100 transparent stippled trapezoid, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigostrap10
Fill 10x10 opaque stippled trapezoid, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigostrap100
Fill 100x100 opaque stippled trapezoid, 161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigtiletrap10
Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 161x145 tile pattern.
-bigtiletrap100
Fill 100x100 tiled trapezoid, 161x145 tile pattern.
-eschertiletrap10
Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 216x208 tile pattern.
-eschertiletrap100
Fill 100x100 tiled trapezoid, 216x208 tile pattern.
-complex10
Fill 10-pixel/side complex polygon.
-complex100
Fill 100-pixel/side complex polygon.
-ftext
Character in 80-char line (6x13).
-f8text
Character in 70-char line (8x13).
-f9text
Character in 60-char line (9x15).
-f14text16
2-byte character in 40-char line (k14).
-tr10text
Character in 80-char line (Times-Roman 10).
-tr24text
Character in 30-char line (Times-Roman 24).
-polytext
Character in 20/40/20 line (6x13, Times-Roman 10, 6x13).
-fitext
Character in 80-char image line (6x13).
-f8itext
Character in 70-char image line (8x13).
-f9itext
Character in 60-char image line (9x15).
-f14itext16
2-byte character in 40-char image line (k14).
-tr10itext
Character in 80-char image line (Times-Roman 10).
-tr24itext
Character in 30-char image line (Times-Roman 24).
-scroll10
Scroll 10x10 pixels vertically.
-scroll100
Scroll 100x100 pixels vertically.
-scroll500
Scroll 500x500 pixels vertically.
-copywinwin10
Copy 10x10 square from window to window.
-copywinwin100
Copy 100x100 square from window to window.
-copywinwin500
Copy 500x500 square from window to window.
-copypixwin10
Copy 10x10 square from pixmap to window.
-copypixwin100
Copy 100x100 square from pixmap to window.
-copypixwin500
Copy 500x500 square from pixmap to window.
-copywinpix10
Copy 10x10 square from window to pixmap.
-copywinpix100
Copy 100x100 square from window to pixmap.
-copywinpix500
Copy 500x500 square from window to pixmap.
-copypixpix10
Copy 10x10 square from pixmap to pixmap.
-copypixpix100
Copy 100x100 square from pixmap to pixmap.
-copypixpix500
Copy 500x500 square from pixmap to pixmap.
-copyplane10
Copy 10x10 1-bit deep plane.
-copyplane100
Copy 100x100 1-bit deep plane.
-copyplane500
Copy 500x500 1-bit deep plane.
-putimage10
PutImage 10x10 square.
-putimage100
PutImage 100x100 square.
-putimage500
PutImage 500x500 square.
-shmput10
PutImage 10x10 square, MIT shared memory extension.
-shmput100
PutImage 100x100 square, MIT shared memory extension.
-shmput500
PutImage 500x500 square, MIT shared memory extension.
-getimage10
GetImage 10x10 square.
-getimage100
GetImage 100x100 square.
-getimage500
GetImage 500x500 square.
-noop
X protocol NoOperation.
-atom
GetAtomName.
-prop
GetProperty.
-gc
Change graphics context.
-create
Create child window and map using MapSubwindows.
-ucreate
Create unmapped window.
-map
Map child window through MapWindow on parent.
-unmap
Unmap child window through UnmapWindow on parent.
-destroy
Destroy child window through DestroyWindow parent.
-popup
Hide/expose window through Map/Unmap popup window.
-move
Move window.
-umove
Moved unmapped window.
-movetree
Move window by using MoveWindow on parent.
-resize
Resize window.
-uresize
Resize unmapped window.
-circulate
Circulate lowest window to top.
-ucirculate
Circulate unmapped window to top.

X DEFAULTS

There are no X defaults used by this program.

SEE ALSO

X(5)

x11perfcomp(1)