Improve child handling

[rokroskar]

This pull request is an extension to #118 and #134 and tries to improve the ability to analyze child process memory consumption.

Changes/additions:

• track child processes by pid instead of sequentially -- this is to ensure that we can properly track children of processes where the parent might continuously spawn many short-lived children
• add a convert_mem_usage_to_df function which produces a pandas.DataFrame from a list returned by memory_usage for easier plotting and slicing
• add the ability of mprof to monitor an existing process by providing a pid

Side-effects:

• move the read_mprofile_file function to memory_profiler so that it can be used programatically
• add a read_mprofile_file_multiprocess function that reads a mprofile file and returns a list of timings identical to what you expect from memory_usage
• fixbug in memory_usage #139
• fix bug in plot_file where plotting would fail when number of children > 6
• add a timeout flag to mprof

[fabianp]

Thanks for the pull request!. This looks good, but give me a couple of days to look into it as I'm currently travelling

[fabianp]

Why is pandas needed? Does this change the quality of the plots? I would like to maintain dependencies to the strict minimum ...

[fabianp]

(numpy is fine since its required by matplotlib anyway)

[rokroskar]

Right, pandas is not strictly needed and I also hesitate making another dependency. IMO the usability of the results is improved by putting them into a DataFrame. The user can then select only the PIDs they want, they can get averages, etc. It's a simple way to allow for a bit more customization.

On the other hand, it's not really a dependency, since the only function that needs pandas is convert_mem_usage_to_df and one could add a try/except there and alert the user that pandas is needed for that function. Another option would be to just return the numpy matrix that I generate along with the mapping of x and y coordinates to times and pids, but that's not as user-friendly.

[rokroskar]

oh oops, I guess I already added the try/except in my last commit...

[fabianp]

I've seen the try block. However I would like to be able to plot without pandas. Also, add your name and contribution to the Readme if you want. Cheers

…

On Apr 12, 2017 9:59 AM, "Rok Roškar" ***@***.***> wrote: oh oops, I guess I already added the try/except in my last commit... — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/fabianp/memory_profiler/pull/140#issuecomment-293503093>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAQ8h3hgdhSAr4RuOoCEmW8r2xCPIfARks5rvIRtgaJpZM4M1qBd> .

[eamars]

Hello Guys
Thanks for your contribution! I find categorizing child process is extremely helpful. However the last change were committed in 2017. Is this issue going to be closed or should have been merged? Thanks!