x11perf.1x
NAME
x11perf - X11 server performance test program
SYNTAX
x11perf [ -option ... ]
DESCRIPTION
The x11perf program runs one or more performance tests and
reports how fast 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 appli-
cation, and that the user gets his work done on some other
device, like a terminal. Such benchmarks usually measure
drawing speed for lines, polygons, text, etc.
Since workstations are not used as standalone graphics
engines, but as super-terminals, x11perf measures window
management performance as well as traditional graphics per-
formance. x11perf includes benchmarks for the time it takes
to create and map windows (as when you start up an applica-
tion); to map a pre-existing 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).
x11perf also measures graphics performance for operations
not normally used in standalone graphics displays, but are
nonetheless used frequently by X applications. Such opera-
tions include CopyPlane (used to map bitmaps into pixels),
scrolling (used in text windows), and various stipples and
tiles (used for CAD and color half-toning, respectively).
x11perf 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. x11perf 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.
While it can be used as a benchmark, it was written and is
intended as a performance testing tool.
As such, x11perf 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 which are very fast for certain applications
can be very slow for others. No single number or small set
of numbers are sufficient to characterize how an X implemen-
tation will perform on all applications. However, by
knowledge of your favorite application, you may be able to
use the numbers x11perf 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 runs.
You provide a list of files containing results from x11perf,
and it lays them out in a nice tabular format.
For repeatable results, x11perf should be run using a local
connection on a freshly-started server. The default confi-
guration runs each test 5 times, in order to see if each
trial takes approximately the same amount of time. Strange
glitches should be examined; if non-repeatable one might
chalk them up to daemons and network traffic. Each trial is
run for 5 seconds, in order to reduce random time differ-
ences. The number of objects processed per second is
displayed to 3 significant digits, but you'll be lucky on
most UNIX system if the numbers are actually consistent to 2
digits. x11perf moves the cursor out of the test window;
you should 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 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 actu-
ally performed the work requested by fetching a pixel back
from the test window, which means that servers talking to
graphics accelerators can't claim that they are done, while
in the meantime the accelerator is painting madly.
By default x11perf automatically calibrates the number of
repetitions of each test, so that each should take approxi-
mately the same length of time to run across servers of
widely differing speeds. However, since each test must be
run to completion at least once, some slow servers may 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, Chris Kent, Mary Walker, and
Todd Newman, who wanted to assess performance differences
between various servers. Several tests were added in order
to write and tune the PMAX (DECStation 3100) servers. For a
general release to the world, x11perf was rewritten to ease
making comparisons between widely varying machines, to cover
most important (and unimportant) X functionality, and to
exercise graphics operations in as many different orienta-
tions and alignments as possible.
OPTIONS
x11perf is solely Xlib based, and accepts the options listed
below:
-display host:dpy
Specifies which display to use.
-sync Runs the tests in synchronous mode. Normally
only useful for debugging x11perf .
-pack Runs rectangle tests so that they pack rectan-
gles right next to each other. This makes it
easy to debug server code for stipples and
tiles...if the pattern looks ugly, you've got
alignment problems.
-repeat <n> Repeats each test n times (by default each
test is run 5 times).
-time <s> Specifies how long in seconds each test should
be run (default 5 seconds).
-all Runs all tests. This may 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 testnames should
be one of the options starting from -dot. (eg)
-range line100 will peform 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 for more
details.
-fg color-or-pixel
Specifies the foreground color or pixel value
to use.
-bg color-or-pixel
Specifies the background color or pixel value
to use.
-clips default
Default number of clip windows.
-ddbg color-or-pixel
Specifies the color or pixel value to use for
drawing the odd segments of a DoubleDashed
line or arc. This will default to the bg
color.
-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).
-vclass <vclass>
Use a visual with of class <vclass>. <vclass>
can be StaticGray, GrayScale, StaticColor,
PseudoColor, TrueColor, or DirectColor.
(default is the default visual).
-reps <n> Specify the repetition count (Default is
number that takes aprox. 5 seconds)
-subs <s0 s1 ...>
Specify the number of sub windows to use in
the Window tests. Default is 4, 16, 25, 50,
75, 100 and 200.
-v1.2 Perform only x11perf Version 1.2 tests using
Version 1.2 semantics.
-v1.3 Perform only x11perf Version 1.3 tests using
Version 1.3 semantics.
-su Set the save_under window attribute to True on
all windows created by x11perf. Default is
False.
-bs <backing_store_hint>
Set the backing_store window attribute to the
given value on all windows created by x11perf.
<backing_store_hint> can be WhenMapped or
Always. Default is NotUseful.
-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 stip-
ple 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.
-oddsrect1 1x1 transparent stippled rectangle, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddsrect10 10x10 transparent stippled rectangle, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddsrect100 100x100 transparent stippled rectangle, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddsrect500 500x500 transparent stippled rectangle, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddosrect1 1x1 opaque stippled rectangle, 17x15 stipple
pattern.
-oddosrect10 10x10 opaque stippled rectangle, 17x15 stipple
pattern.
-oddosrect100 100x100 opaque stippled rectangle, 17x15 stip-
ple pattern.
-oddosrect500 500x500 opaque stippled rectangle, 17x15 stip-
ple pattern.
-oddtilerect1 1x1 tiled rectangle, 17x15 tile pattern.
-oddtilerect10
10x10 tiled rectangle, 17x15 tile pattern.
-oddtilerect100
100x100 tiled rectangle, 17x15 tile pattern.
-oddtilerect500
500x500 tiled rectangle, 17x15 tile pattern.
-bigsrect1 1x1 stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pat-
tern.
-bigsrect10 10x10 stippled rectangle, 161x145 stipple pat-
tern.
-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 stip-
ple 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 rec-
tangle).
-seg100c2 100-pixel thin line segment (2 obscuring rec-
tangles).
-seg100c3 100-pixel thin line segment (3 obscuring rec-
tangles).
-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, orien-
tation 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 distri-
buted.
-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.
-trap1 Fill 1x1 trapezoid.
-trap10 Fill 10x10 trapezoid.
-trap100 Fill 100x100 trapezoid.
-trap300 Fill 300x300 trapezoid.
-strap1 Fill 1x1 transparent stippled trapezoid, 8x8
stipple pattern.
-strap10 Fill 10x10 transparent stippled trapezoid, 8x8
stipple pattern.
-strap100 Fill 100x100 transparent stippled trapezoid,
8x8 stipple pattern.
-strap300 Fill 300x300 transparent stippled trapezoid,
8x8 stipple pattern.
-ostrap1 Fill 10x10 opaque stippled trapezoid, 8x8
stipple pattern.
-ostrap10 Fill 10x10 opaque stippled trapezoid, 8x8
stipple pattern.
-ostrap100 Fill 100x100 opaque stippled trapezoid, 8x8
stipple pattern.
-ostrap300 Fill 300x300 opaque stippled trapezoid, 8x8
stipple pattern.
-tiletrap1 Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 4x4 tile pattern.
-tiletrap10 Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 4x4 tile pattern.
-tiletrap100 Fill 100x100 tiled trapezoid, 4x4 tile
pattern.
-tiletrap300 Fill 300x300 tiled trapezoid, 4x4 tile pat-
tern.
-oddstrap1 Fill 1x1 transparent stippled trapezoid, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddstrap10 Fill 10x10 transparent stippled trapezoid,
17x15 stipple pattern.
-oddstrap100 Fill 100x100 transparent stippled trapezoid,
17x15 stipple pattern.
-oddstrap300 Fill 300x300 transparent stippled trapezoid,
17x15 stipple pattern.
-oddostrap1 Fill 10x10 opaque stippled trapezoid, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddostrap10 Fill 10x10 opaque stippled trapezoid, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddostrap100 Fill 100x100 opaque stippled trapezoid, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddostrap300 Fill 300x300 opaque stippled trapezoid, 17x15
stipple pattern.
-oddtiletrap1 Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 17x15 tile pat-
tern.
-oddtiletrap10
Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 17x15 tile pat-
tern.
-oddtiletrap100
Fill 100x100 tiled trapezoid, 17x15 tile pat-
tern.
-oddtiletrap300
Fill 300x300 tiled trapezoid, 17x15 tile pat-
tern.
-bigstrap1 Fill 1x1 transparent stippled trapezoid,
161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigstrap10 Fill 10x10 transparent stippled trapezoid,
161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigstrap100 Fill 100x100 transparent stippled trapezoid,
161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigstrap300 Fill 300x300 transparent stippled trapezoid,
161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigostrap1 Fill 10x10 opaque stippled trapezoid, 161x145
stipple pattern.
-bigostrap10 Fill 10x10 opaque stippled trapezoid, 161x145
stipple pattern.
-bigostrap100 Fill 100x100 opaque stippled trapezoid,
161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigostrap300 Fill 300x300 opaque stippled trapezoid,
161x145 stipple pattern.
-bigtiletrap1 Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 161x145 tile pat-
tern.
-bigtiletrap10
Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 161x145 tile pat-
tern.
-bigtiletrap100
Fill 100x100 tiled trapezoid, 161x145 tile
pattern.
-bigtiletrap300
Fill 300x300 tiled trapezoid, 161x145 tile
pattern.
-eschertiletrap1
Fill 1x1 tiled trapezoid, 216x208 tile pat-
tern.
-eschertiletrap10
Fill 10x10 tiled trapezoid, 216x208 tile pat-
tern.
-eschertiletrap100
Fill 100x100 tiled trapezoid, 216x208 tile
pattern.
-eschertiletrap300
Fill 300x300 tiled trapezoid, 216x208 tile
pattern.
-complex10 Fill 10-pixel/side complex polygon.
-complex100 Fill 100-pixel/side complex polygon.
-64poly10convex
Fill 10x10 convex 64-gon.
-64poly100convex
Fill 100x100 convex 64-gon.
-64poly10complex
Fill 10x10 complex 64-gon.
-64poly100complex
Fill 100x100 complex 64-gon.
-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).
-polytext16 2-byte character in 7/14/7 line (k14, k24).
-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).
-f24itext16 2-byte character in 23-char image line (k24).
-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.
-putimagexy10 PutImage XY format 10x10 square.
-putimagexy100
PutImage XY format 100x100 square.
-putimagexy500
PutImage XY format 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.
-shmputxy10 PutImage XY format 10x10 square, MIT shared
memory extension.
-shmputxy100 PutImage XY format 100x100 square, MIT shared
memory extension.
-shmputxy500 PutImage XY format 500x500 square, MIT shared
memory extension.
-getimage10 GetImage 10x10 square.
-getimage100 GetImage 100x100 square.
-getimage500 GetImage 500x500 square.
-getimagexy10 GetImage XY format 10x10 square.
-getimagexy100
GetImage XY format 100x100 square.
-getimagexy500
GetImage XY format 500x500 square.
-noop X protocol NoOperation.
-atom GetAtomName.
-pointer QueryPointer.
-prop GetProperty.
-gc Change graphics context.
-create Create child window and map using MapSubwin-
dows.
-ucreate Create unmapped window.
-map Map child window via MapWindow on parent.
-unmap Unmap child window via UnmapWindow on parent.
-destroy Destroy child window via DestroyWindow parent.
-popup Hide/expose window via Map/Unmap popup window.
-move Move window.
-umove Moved unmapped window.
-movetree Move window via 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), xbench(1), x11perfcomp(1)
AUTHORS
Joel McCormack
Phil Karlton
Susan Angebranndt
Chris Kent
Keith Packard
Graeme Gill
Sun WorkShop 6 Man Pages