---
name: "pmSetDebug"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "pcp"
version: "7.2.2-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pmSetDebug"
---

# pmSetDebug(3)

manipulate PCP debugging control options

## NAME

**pmSetDebug**, **pmDebug**, **pmGetDebug**, **pmClearDebug** - manipulate PCP debugging control options

## C SYNOPSIS

**#include \<pcp/pmapi.h\>**

**int pmSetDebug(const char \****spec***);**\
 **int pmDebug(const char \****spec***);**\
 **char \*pmGetDebug(void);**\
 **int pmClearDebug(const char \****spec***);**

**cc ... -lpcp**

## DESCRIPTION

Within the libraries and applications of the Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) there is an extensive set of debugging options that may be enabled or disabled at run-time.

**pmSetDebug**, **pmDebug** and **pmClearDebug** all parse *spec* assuming it to be a comma separated list of PCP debug option names.

The names of the available options may be found using the **-l** argument to [**pmdbg**(1)](/pmdbg/1.md).

As a special case, the name \`\`all'' is treated as a synonym for identifying all option names.

**pmSetDebug** will set the corresponding options, while **pmClearDebug** will clear the corresponding options.

**pmDebug** is used to test if options have been set and returns 1 if at least one of the options in *spec* has been set, else it returns 0.

Consecutive calls to either **pmSetDebug** or **pmClearDebug** will be additive. For example the following code fragments are equivalent in terms of the final state of the debug options.

```
sts = pmClearDebug("all");
sts = pmSetDebug("appl0");
sts = pmSetDebug("pdu,fetch");
sts = pmSetDebug("fetch,profile,context");
sts = pmClearDebug("appl0");

sts = pmClearDebug("all");
sts = pmSetDebug("pdu,fetch,profile,context");
```

For applications that use [**pmGetOptions**(3)](/pmGetOptions/3.md) to process command line options and arguments, setting the environment variable **$PCP\_DEBUG** provides an alternative mechanism to set debug flags, as described in [**PCPIntro**(1)](/PCPIntro/1.md).

**pmGetDebug** returns the current set of enabled debug options as a a comma separated list. If no options are set then the result is an empty string. If every option is set then the result is \`\`all''. The result is allocated by [**malloc**(3)](/malloc/3.md) and the caller is responsible for calling [**free**(3)](/free/3.md) when the result is no longer needed.

## DIAGNOSTICS

If successful, the routines **pmSetDebug**, **pmDebug** and **pmClearDebug** return 0 or 1, otherwise the return is **PM\_ERR\_CONV** to indicate an error parsing *spec*.

For **pmGetDebug** a return value of NULL indicates a [**malloc**(3)](/malloc/3.md) failure.

## SEE ALSO

[**PCPIntro**(1)](/PCPIntro/1.md), [**pmdbg**(1)](/pmdbg/1.md), [**free**(3)](/free/3.md) and [**malloc**(3)](/malloc/3.md).