observer(3)

📦
version 29.0.6 · 2 versions
, in nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu stonking

✨ observer — the manual, but make it make sense ✨

okay bestie, welcome to observer(3), an Erlang module definition, and honestly? this one is a whole vibe. it's the GUI tool for observing an Erlang system, and it's genuinely iconic. 🦋

🎀 NAME 🎀

observer — a GUI tool for observing an Erlang system. periodt. 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Observer is a graphical tool for observing the characteristics of Erlang systems. that's the official sentence and it's literally true — it's giving "i can see everything and i'm not sorry".

So what does the tool actually show you? sit down, because the list ate:

  • system information 👑
  • application supervisor trees 🌳
  • process information 🔥
  • ETS tables 📊
  • Mnesia tables 💾

and on top of all that, it contains a front end for Erlang tracing with the module ttb. yes ma'am, tracing too. multitasking queen.

For details about how to get started, see the User's Guide. genuinely, go read it, it's right there and it will hold your hand. 🫶

💖 FUNCTIONS 💖

  • start() -> ok | {error, term()} — Starts the Observer GUI. To stop the tool, close the window or call stop/0. that's it, that's the whole bit, the window is your friend and also your exit door. 🚪✨
  • start(Node :: node() | [node()]) -> ok | {error, term()} — Starts the Observer GUI and tries to connect it to Node. note that Node can be a single node or a whole list of nodes, because why choose. 🌈
  • start_and_wait() -> ok — Starts the Observer GUI and only returns when it is either stopped or the window is closed. so like, yes it's blocking, it will sit there patiently until you close the window. no cap. 😭
  • start_and_wait(Node :: node() | [node()]) -> ok — Starts the Observer GUI and only returns when it is either stopped or the window is closed, and connects it directly to Node like start/1 does. same blocking energy, but with a target node attached. 🎯
  • stop() -> ok — Stops the Observer GUI. the graceful goodbye. 💜
heads up bestie: start/0 and start/1 can hand you back {error, term()} when something goes sideways, so don't just assume ok and walk away. the start_and_wait ones only ever give you ok. 💀

okay that's the whole page, you're officially an observer expert, main character energy fr fr 👑

brought to you by Ericsson AB, observer version 2.19 — mwah, love u, go observe something. 💋🎀🦋

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