Events are processed in a producer/consumer fashion:

Pre-filtering refers to modifying Performance Schema configuration so that only certain types of events are collected or collected events are used to update only certain tables. This type of filtering is done by Performance Schema and has a global effect that applies to all users.

Pre-filtering can be applied to either the producer or consumer stage of event processing by modifying the SETUP_INSTRUMENTS or SETUP_CONSUMERS table. An instrument or consumer can be enabled or disabled by by setting its ENABLED value to YES or NO. An instrument can be configured whether to collect timing information by setting its TIMED value to YES or NO.

Post-filtering refers to the use of WHERE clauses when selecting information from Performance Schema tables, to specify which of the available events you want to see. This type of filtering is performed on a per-user basis because individual users select which of the available events are of interest.

Reasons to use pre-filtering include the following:

Example pre-filtering operations:

Disable all instruments:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS SET ENABLED = 'NO';

Now no events will be collected. This change, like other pre-filtering operations, affects other users as well, even if they want to see event information.

Disable all file instruments, adding them to the current set of disabled instruments:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS SET ENABLED = 'NO'
    -> WHERE NAME LIKE 'wait/io/file/%';

Disable only file instruments, enable all other instruments:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS
    -> SET ENABLED = IF(NAME LIKE 'wait/io/file/%', 'NO', 'YES');

The preceding queries use the LIKE operator and the pattern 'wait/io/file/%' to match all instrument names that begin with 'wait/io/file/. Additional information about specifying patterns to select instruments is given later in this section.

Enable all but those instruments in the mysys library:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS
    -> SET ENABLED = CASE WHEN NAME LIKE '%/mysys/%' THEN 'YES' ELSE 'NO' END;

Disable a specific instrument:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS SET ENABLED = 'NO'
    -> WHERE NAME = 'wait/synch/mutex/mysys/TMPDIR_mutex';

To toggle the state of an instrument, “flip” its ENABLED value:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS
    -> SET ENABLED = IF(ENABLED = 'YES', 'NO', 'YES')
    -> WHERE NAME = 'wait/synch/mutex/mysys/TMPDIR_mutex';

Changing which instruments are enabled does not flush the history tables. Events already collected remain in the current-events, history, and summary tables until displaced by newer events. If you disable instruments, you might need to wait a while before events for them are displaced by newer events of interest. Alternatively, use TRUNCATE TABLE to empty the history tables. You might want to truncate the summary tables as well to discard aggregate information for previously collected events.

Disable timing for all events:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS SET TIMED = 'NO';

Setting the TIMED column for instruments to NO affects Performance Schema table contents as described in Section 4, “Performance Schema Event Timing”.

If you disable a consumer, the server does not spend time maintaining it. For example, you can disable the summary table consumers if you do not care about aggregated event information:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_CONSUMERS
    -> SET ENABLED = 'NO' WHERE NAME LIKE '%summary%';

Pre-filtering limits which event information is collected and is independent of any particular user. By contrast, post-filtering is performed by individual users and is performed by use of appropriate WHERE clauses that restrict what event information to select from the information available after pre-filtering has been applied.

Reasons to use post-filtering include the following:

An example earlier in this section showed how to pre-filter for file instruments. If the event tables contain both file and nonfile information, post-filtering is another way to see information only for file events. Add a WHERE clause to queries to restrict event selection appropriately:

mysql> SELECT THREAD_ID, NUMBER_OF_BYTES
    -> FROM EVENTS_WAITS_HISTORY
    -> WHERE EVENT_NAME LIKE 'wait/io/file/%'
    -> AND NUMBER_OF_BYTES IS NOT NULL;
+-----------+-----------------+
| THREAD_ID | NUMBER_OF_BYTES |
+-----------+-----------------+
|        11 |              66 |
|        11 |              47 |
|        11 |             139 |
|         5 |              24 |
|         5 |             834 |
+-----------+-----------------+

Names given for filtering operations can be as specific or general as required. To indicate a single instrument or consumer, specify its name in full:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS
    -> SET ENABLED = 'NO'
    -> WHERE NAME = 'wait/synch/mutex/myisammrg/MYRG_INFO::mutex';

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_CONSUMERS
    -> SET ENABLED = 'NO' WHERE NAME = 'file_summary_by_instance';

To specify a group of instruments or consumers, use a pattern that matches the group members:

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_INSTRUMENTS
    -> SET ENABLED = 'NO'
    -> WHERE NAME LIKE 'wait/synch/mutex/%';

mysql> UPDATE SETUP_CONSUMERS
    -> SET ENABLED = 'NO' WHERE NAME LIKE '%summary%';

If you use a pattern, it should be chosen so that it matches all the items of interest and no others. For example, to select all file I/O instruments, it is better to use a pattern that includes the entire instrument name prefix:

... WHERE NAME LIKE 'wait/io/file/%';

If you use a pattern of '%/file/%', it will match other instruments that have a component of '/file/' anywhere in the name. Even less suitable is the pattern '%file%' because it will match instruments with 'file' anywhere in the name, such as wait/synch/mutex/sql/LOCK_des_key_file.

To check which instrument or consumer names a pattern matches, perform a simple test:

mysql> SELECT NAME FROM SETUP_INSTRUMENTS WHERE NAME LIKE 'pattern';

mysql> SELECT NAME FROM SETUP_CONSUMERS WHERE NAME LIKE 'pattern';