Features/XorgAppDevelTools

= Xorg Application Development Infrastructure =

Summary
Newer versions of Xorg include features to give more visibility into its inner workings for application and toolkit developers, as well as users seeking to diagnose misbehaviour.

Owner

 * Name: Adam Jackson
 * Email: ajax@redhat.com

Current status

 * Targeted release: Fedora 17
 * Last updated: 30 September 2011
 * Percentage of completion: 0%

Detailed Description
New versions of the X-Resource extension allow more detailed accounting of memory usage within the X server. The support for systemtap's dtrace emulation has been enabled in new X server builds. Other diagnostic extensions may be forthcoming as X gets reused in more and more environments.

This feature page is to track the integration of these features with the rest of the distribution.

Benefit to Fedora
With these changes, developers will be able to get better feedback about the interaction of their applications with the X server, improving Fedora's position as a development platform and enabling higher-quality applications and user experience.

Scope
X server, client library, and wire protocol changes all need to be integrated. Sample tools like xrestop and gnome-system-monitor should be extended. Example stap scripts should be provided and the trace points documented and explained.

How To Test
TBD.

User Experience
Little to none, although developers will have better tools.

Dependencies
Upstream completion and documentation effort will impact the completion of this feature.

Contingency Plan
None needed, purely additional features.

Documentation
TBD.

Release Notes

 * None yet.

Comments and Discussion

 * See Talk:Features/XorgAppDevelTools