FeatureScript Profiler discussion

kevin_o_toole_1 · March 2017

Hey FeatureScript authors,

We're happy this week to have released the FeatureScript profiler, Onshape's tool for viewing timing data for individual execution steps inside your custom features (you can check out a quick video here or the documentation here).

We're already eating our own dogfood and using this tool to help speed up features in our standard library, but fundamentally, this was created to be a tool for the whole FeatureScript community. We hope it provides rapid feedback for FeatureScript authors, and helps improve performance in the wide variety of custom features floating around the Onshape ecosystem.

@jon_hirschtick likes to say "Testing makes fools of all of us", and in my experience that absolutely applies to profiling.

So, I ask you all, when looking at your timings, what has surprised you? What parts run slow, and what runs fast? What code changes have you made to successfully improve performance?

Happy scripting!
Kevin

owen_sparks · March 2017

Hi @kevin_o_toole_1

Great feature and I'm sure I'll be using it soon.

You guys are probably way ahead of me but is it possible to use it with the native features too? I'd love to be able to see which features in my model take the longest time so that I could do my part to improve initial load and rebuild times.

Keep up the good work

Cheers, Owen S.

kevin_o_toole_1 · March 2017

@owen_sparks Unfortunately, no, not yet. If we do extend the tool for that it will probably be connected but a lot less FeatureScript-centric, showing you a higher-level view without requiring the existence of a Feature Studio.

emagdalenaC2i · April 2017

Actually you can run some tests to improve your rebuild times.

I have copied Onshape's FeatureScript code of Extrude and Thicken from the public document "std". You can merge this 2 FeatureScript into one, but I just have created 2 branchs in the document:

It is not a big difference, but Thicken is 3 ms faster.

owen_sparks · April 2017

Thanks guys, good stuff

leon_poot · April 2017

Very nice indeed, this well help me shave those milliseconds off my builds.

ilya_baran · April 2017

Before everyone starts using "thicken" instead of "extrude", please keep in mind that the timing variability (see #1 in https://cad.onshape.com/FsDoc/debugging-in-feature-studios.html#profiling-tips) is significantly greater than the difference between 36ms and 33ms. If it was 100ms vs 30ms, that's one thing, but for such small differences, you have to regenerate many times to be sure that you're seeing a real timing difference and not a fluke.
@emagdalenaC2C

emagdalenaC2i · April 2017

Of couse FeatureScrip profile should be used just to check the performance of different ways to do the same thing, but small differences should not be in consideration.

There is not much to win in 3 ms. Even in a FeatureScript without code like this, you get 30 ms:

FeatureScript 543;
import(path : "onshape/std/geometry.fs", version : "543.0");

annotation { "Feature Type Name" : "Extrude Light" }
export const extrudeLight = defineFeature(function(context is Context, id is Id, definition is map)
    precondition
    {
        // Define the parameters of the feature type

    }
    {
        // Define the function's action
    });

However, in the image below you can see the result of the FeatureScript profile for a very complete FeatureScript that creates 32 cut extrudes on several solids and also creates 35 parts and 28 mate connectors in a single feature in a Part Studio.

FeatureScript profile will be of great help to reduce that 7.82 seconds and improve user experience.

FeatureScript Profiler discussion

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