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<h2>Open System Trace (OST)</h2>
<p>The Open System Trace (OST) trace format for data transfer is an open,
platform-independent solution that is easily integrated into the software
development process.</p>
<p>The OST Application Programming Interface (API) defines a set of macros
to instrument traces to the source code. The underlying OST Framework then
sends the instrumented traces out of the device. Before code compilation,
traces are compiled by the <i>trace compiler</i>. The trace compiler assigns
each trace a unique identifier, which is sent together with trace parameters.
The trace compiler also generates decode file for decoding traces
(the decoding process can be seen to translate identifier back to text).</p>
<p>The benefits of using OST include: </p>
<ul>
<li>Use of standard interfaces and file formats for, for example, instrumentation
macros, log file format, and trace format definition. </li>
<li>Data packages transferred are significantly smaller in size than with
other data formats. </li>
<li>Traces can be activated or deactivated in group during runtime: image
does not have to be recompiled or rebuilt after adding or removing traces.</li>
</ul>
<h5>Related concepts</h5>
<ul>
<li><a href="tracecompiler.htm">Trace Compiler</a></li>
</ul>
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