R-dyntrace is a dynamic tracing framework for R. It is a modified GNU R Virtual Machine that exposes the interpreter internals through probes. Callbacks attached to these probes are called with the relevant interpreter state when the corresponding probes get triggered.

Getting Started

It is recommended to build this project locally and not install it system-wide. To download and compile version 3.5.0:

git clone --branch r-3.5.0 https://github.com/PRL-PRG/R-dyntrace.git
cd R-dyntrace
./configure --enable-R-shlib --with-blas --with-lapack --with-included-gettext --disable-byte-compiled-packages
make -j

Supported Versions

Version	Source	Status
R-3.5.0	R-3.5.0
R-3.5.1	R-3.5.1
R-3.5.2	R-3.5.2
R-3.5.3	R-3.5.3
R-3.6.0	R-3.6.0
R-3.6.1	R-3.6.1

Details

The framework supports the following probes.

1. Setup/Cleanup Probes

Event	Probe
Tracing entry	dyntrace_entry(expression, environment)
Tracing exit	dyntrace_exit(expression, environment, result, error)

2. Function Probes

Event	Probe
Closure entry	closure_entry(call, op, rho)
Closure exit	closure_exit(call, op, rho, retval)
Builtin entry	builtin_entry(call, op, rho)
Builtin exit	builtin_exit(call, op, rho, retval)
Special entry	special_entry(call, op, rho)
Special exit	special_exit(call, op, rho, retval)

3. Promise Probes

Event	Probe
Promise force entry	promise_force_entry(promise)
Promise force exit	promise_force_exit(promise)
Promise value lookup	promise_value_lookup(promise)
Promise value assign	promise_value_assign(promise, value)
Promise expression lookup	promise_expression_lookup(promise)
Promise expression assign	promise_expression_assign(promise, expression)
Promise environment lookup	promise_environment_lookup(promise)
Promise environment assign	promise_environment_assign(promise, environment)

4. Eval Probes

Event	Probe
Eval entry	eval_entry(expression, rho)
Eval exit	eval_exit(expression, rho, return_value)

5. GC Probes

Event	Probe
GC entry	gc_entry(size_needed)
GC exit	gc_exit(gc_count)
GC unmark	gc_unmark(object)
GC allocate	gc_allocate(object)

6. Context Probes

Event	Probe
Context entry	context_entry(context)
Context exit	context_exit(context)
Context jump	context_jump(context, return_value, restart)

7. S3 Probes

Event	Probe
S3 entry	S3_generic_entry(generic, object)
S3 exit	S3_generic_exit(generic, object, retval)
S3 dispatch entry	S3_dispatch_entry(generic, cls, method, object)
S3 dispatch exit	S3_dispatch_exit(generic, cls, method, object, retval)

8. Environment Probes

Event	Probe
Variable definition	environment_variable_define(symbol, value, rho)
Variable assignment	environment_variable_assign(symbol, value, rho)
Variable removal	environment_variable_remove(symbol, rho)
Variable lookup	environment_variable_lookup(symbol, value, rho)
Variable existence	environment_variable_exists(symbol, rho)

Talks

1. RDT: A Dynamic Tracing Framework for R
   Aviral Goel • Filip Krikava • Jan Vitek
   @ RIOT 2019 @ useR! 2019

Writeups

1. RDT: A Dynamic Tracing Framework for R
   Aviral Goel • Filip Krikava • Jan Vitek
   @ RIOT 2019 @ useR! 2019

Publications

1. On the Design, Implementation and Use of Laziness in R
   Aviral Goel • Jan Vitek
   @ OOPSLA 2019 (conditionally accepted)