Improve net-internals crash course.

net/docs/crash-course-in-net-internals.md

 # A Crash Course in Debugging with about:net-internals
 
 This document is intended to help get people started debugging network errors
 with about:net-internals, with some commonly useful tips and tricks.  This
 document is aimed more at how to get started using some of its features to
 investigate bug reports, rather than as a feature overview.
 
 It would probably be useful to read
 [life-of-a-url-request.md](life-of-a-url-request.md) before this document.
 
 # What Data Net-Internals Contains
 
 about:net-internals provides a view of browser activity from net/'s perspective.
 For this reason, it lacks knowledge of tabs, navigation, frames, resource types,
 etc.
 
 The top level network stack object is the URLRequestContext.  The Events View
 has information for all Chrome URLRequestContexts that are hooked up to the
-single, global, ChromeNetLog object.  This includes both incognito and non-
-incognito profiles, among other things.  The Events view only shows events for
-the period that net-internals was open and running, and is incrementally updated
-as events occur.  The code attempts to add a top level event for URLRequests
-that were active when the tab was opened, to help debug hung requests, but
-that's best-effort only, and only includes requests for the current profile and
-the system URLRequestContext.
+single, global, ChromeNetLog object.  This includes both incognito and
+non-incognito profiles, among other things.  The Events view only shows events
+for the period that net-internals was open and running, and is incrementally
+updated as events occur.  The code attempts to add a top level event for
+URLRequests that were active when the about:net-internals tab was opened, to
+help debug hung requests, but that's best-effort only, and only includes
+requests for the current profile and the system URLRequestContext.
 
 The other views are all snapshots of the current state of the main
 URLRequestContext's components, and are updated on a 5 second timer.  These will
 show objects that were created before about:net-internals was opened.  Most
-debugging is done with the Events view (which will be all this document
-covers), but it's good to be aware of this distinction.
+debugging is done with the Events view (which will be all this document covers),
+but it's good to be aware of this distinction.
 
 # Events vs Sources
 
 The Event View shows events logged by the NetLog.  The NetLog model is that
 long-lived network stack objects, called sources, emit events over their
-lifetime.  When looking at the code, a "NetLogWithSource" object contains a source
-ID, and a pointer to the NetLog the source emits events to.  Some events have a
-beginning and end point (during which other subevents may occur), and some only
-occur at a single point in time.  Generally only one event can be occuring for a
-source at a time.  If there can be multiple events doing completely independent
-thing, the code often uses new sources to represent the parallelism.
+lifetime.  When looking at the code, a NetLogWithSource object contains a source
+ID, a NetLogSourceType, and a pointer to the NetLog the source emits events to.
+
+Sources show up in the left column of the Event View.  Sources that include an
+event with a net_error parameter with negative value (that is, some kind of
+ERR_) are shown with red background.  Sources whose opening event has not ended
+yet are shown with white background.  Other events have green background.  The
+search queries corresponding to the first two kinds are `is:error` and
+`is:active`.  The legend for these and other search queries appears if one
+hovers over the (?) next to the filter box on top of the event list.
+
+Events corresponding to selected sources show up in the right column, organized
+by source, and by time within each source.  There are two time values: t is
+measured from some reference point common to all sources, and st is measured
+from the first event for each source.  Time is displayed in milliseconds.
+
+Since the network stack is asynchronous, events from different sources will
+often be interlaced in time, but Event View does not feature showing events from
+different sources ordered by time.  Large time gaps in the event list of a
+single source do not necessarily mean that all that time is spend on that
+source.

[Randy Smith (Not in Mondays), 2016/11/15 23:18:42]

Suggestion (if you agree): I might make a stronger statement, that large time
gaps usually means that the time is being spent in the context of another
source.

[Bence, 2016/11/16 14:12:51]

Done.

+
+Some events come in pair: a beginning and end event, between which other events
+may occur.  They are shown with + and - prefixes, respectively.  The begin event
+has a dt value which shows the duration, the time difference between the begin
+and end.  If there are no other events in between the begin and end, and the end
+event has no parameters, then they are collapsed in a single line.

[Randy Smith (Not in Mondays), 2016/11/15 23:18:42]

Is the dt not present if the end event hasn't yet occurred?

[Bence, 2016/11/16 14:12:51]

I am not sure there is any added value in spelling it out here, but I can add
the following two sentences if you think it is worthwhile:

If the end event is not present and net-log is still capturing, "dt=?" is
displayed.  If capturing was stopped before an end event was logged, a value
followed by a + sign is displayed, for example, "dt=120+", which means that
capturing was stopped 120 ms after the begin event.

Note that strictly speaking the statement "if the end event is present, then the
begin event has a dt value" is correct nonetheless.

[Randy Smith (Not in Mondays), 2016/11/16 14:17:25]

Certainly a fair point (whether or not the extra detail is worth including).  My
inclination is to say that explaining the "dt=n+" syntax is worthwhile but the
dt=? syntax is pretty obvious, but up to you.

[Bence, 2016/11/16 15:04:33]

I agree.  Not mentioning what happens in live view is also more robust against a
potential removal of the live view feature.  :)

+
+Some other events only occur at a single point in time.

[Randy Smith (Not in Mondays), 2016/11/15 23:18:41]

Suggestion: "... and will not have a sign prefix."

[Bence, 2016/11/16 14:12:51]

Done.

+
+Generally only one event can be occuring for a source at a time.  If there can
+be multiple events doing completely independent things, the code often uses new
+sources to represent the parallelism.

[Randy Smith (Not in Mondays), 2016/11/15 23:18:41]

FYI (not actionable): I've repeatedly wished for (and once tried to do as a 20%
project) a visualization where next to the source list would be effectively a
gaant chart showing how long each source was active in relationship to other
sources.   You could imagine extending that to include some graphical indication
of begin/end events within a source.

[Bence, 2016/11/16 14:12:51]

Acknowledged.

+
+Most, but not all events correspond to a source.  Exceptions are global events,
+which have no source, and show up as individual entries in the source list.
+Examples include NETWORK_CHANGED, DNS_CONFIG_CHANGED, and PROXY_CONFIG_CHANGED.
+
+# Common source types
 
 "Sources" correspond to certain net objects, however, multiple layers of net/
 will often log to a single source.  Here are the main source types and what they
-include (Excluding HTTP2 [SPDY]/QUIC):
+include (excluding HTTP2 [SPDY]/QUIC):
 
 * URL_REQUEST:  This corresponds to the URLRequest object.  It includes events
 from all the URLRequestJobs, HttpCache::Transactions, NetworkTransactions,
 HttpStreamFactoryImpl::Requests, HttpStream implementations, and
 HttpStreamParsers used to service a response.  If the URL_REQUEST follows HTTP
 redirects, it will include each redirect.  This is a lot of stuff, but generally
-only object is doing work at a time.  This event source includes the full URL
-and generally includes the request / response headers (Except when the cache
+only one object is doing work at a time.  This event source includes the full
+URL and generally includes the request / response headers (except when the cache
 handles the response).
 
-* HTTP_STREAM_JOB:  This corresponds to HttpStreamFactoryImpl::Job (Note that
+* HTTP_STREAM_JOB:  This corresponds to HttpStreamFactoryImpl::Job (note that
 one Request can have multiple Jobs).  It also includes its proxy and DNS
-lookups.  HTTP_STREAM_JOB log events are separate from URL_REQUEST because
-two stream jobs may be created and races against each other, in some cases -
-one for one for QUIC, and one for HTTP.  One of the final events of this source
-indicates how an HttpStream was created (Reusing an existing SOCKET /
-HTTP2_SESSION / QUIC_SESSION, or creating a new one).
+lookups.  HTTP_STREAM_JOB log events are separate from URL_REQUEST because two
+stream jobs may be created and races against each other, in some cases -- one
+for one for QUIC, and one for HTTP.  One of the final events of this source,

[Randy Smith (Not in Mondays), 2016/11/15 23:18:41]

duplicate "one for"

[Bence, 2016/11/16 14:12:51]

Done.

+before the HTTP_STREAM_JOB_BOUND_TO_REQUEST event, indicates how an HttpStream
+was created: A SOCKET_POOL_BOUND_TO_CONNECT_JOB event means that a new TCP
+socket was created, whereas a SOCKET_POOL_REUSED_AN_EXISTING_SOCKET event
+indicates that an existing TCP socket was reused for a non-HTTP/2 request.  An
+HTTP2_SESSION_POOL_IMPORTED_SESSION_FROM_SOCKET event indicates that a new
+HTTP/2 session was opened by this Job.  A
+HTTP2_SESSION_POOL_FOUND_EXISTING_SESSION event indicates that the request was
+served on a preexisting HTTP/2 session.  A
+HTTP2_SESSION_POOL_FOUND_EXISTING_SESSION_FROM_IP_POOL event means that the
+request was pooled to a preexisting HTTP/2 session which had a different
+SpdySessionKey, but DNS resolution resulted in the same IP, and the certificate
+matches.  There are currently no events logged for opening new QUIC sessions or
+reusing existing ones.

[Randy Smith (Not in Mondays), 2016/11/15 23:18:41]

I'd suggest reformatting this paragraph as a bulleted list.

[Bence, 2016/11/16 14:12:51]

Done.

 
 * CONNECT_JOB:  This corresponds to the ConnectJob subclasses that each socket
-pool uses.  A successful CONNECT_JOB return a SOCKET.  The events here vary a
+pool uses.  A successful CONNECT_JOB returns a SOCKET.  The events here vary a
 lot by job type.  Their main event is generally either to create a socket, or
-request a socket from another socket pool (Which creates another CONNECT_JOB)
-and then do some extra work on top of that - like establish an SSL connection on
+request a socket from another socket pool (which creates another CONNECT_JOB)
+and then do some extra work on top of that -- like establish an SSL connection on
 top of a TCP connection.
 
 * SOCKET:  These correspond to TCPSockets, but may also have other classes
-layered on top of them (Like an SSLClientSocket).  This is a bit different from
+layered on top of them (like an SSLClientSocket).  This is a bit different from
 the other classes, where the name corresponds to the topmost class, instead of
 the bottommost one.  This is largely an artifact of the fact the socket is
-created first, and then SSL (Or a proxy connection) is layered on top of it.
+created first, and then SSL (or a proxy connection) is layered on top of it.
 SOCKETs may be reused between multiple requests, and a request may end up
 getting a socket created for another request.
 
 * HOST_RESOLVER_IMPL_JOB:  These correspond to HostResolverImpl::Job.  The
 include information about how long the lookup was queued, each DNS request that
-was attempted (With the platform or built-in resolver) and all the other sources
+was attempted (with the platform or built-in resolver) and all the other sources
 that are waiting on the job.
 
 When one source depends on another, the code generally logs an event with
-"source_dependency" value to both sources, which lets you jump between the two
+`source_dependency` value to both sources, which lets you jump between the two
 related events.
 
 # Debugging
 
 When you receive a report from the user, the first thing you'll generally want
 to do find the URL_REQUEST[s] that are misbehaving.  If the user gives an ERR_*
 code or the exact URL of the resource that won't load, you can just search for
 it.  If it's an upload, you can search for "post", or if it's a redirect issue,
 you can search for "redirect".  However, you often won't have much information
 about the actual problem.  There are two filters in net-internals that can help
 in a lot of cases:
 
-* "type:URL_REQUEST is:error" will restrict the list to URL_REQUEST object with
-an error of some sort (red background).  Cache errors are often non-fatal, so
-you should generally ignore those, and look for a more interesting one.
+* "type:URL_REQUEST is:error" will restrict the source list to URL_REQUEST
+objects with an error of some sort.  Cache errors are often non-fatal, so you
+should generally ignore those, and look for a more interesting one.
 
 * "type:URL_REQUEST sort:duration" will show the longest-lived requests first.
 This is often useful in finding hung or slow requests.
 
-For a list of other filter commands, you can mouse over the question mark on
-about:net-internals.

[Randy Smith (Not in Mondays), 2016/11/15 23:18:41]

FWIW, I find this a more natural place to mention the "?" hover functionality
than in the event/source discussion.

[Bence, 2016/11/16 14:12:51]

Done.

-
 Once you locate the problematic request, the next is to figure out where the
-problem is - it's often one of the last events, though it could also be related
+problem is -- it's often one of the last events, though it could also be related
 to response or request headers.  You can use "source_dependency" links to drill
 down into other related sources, or up from layers below URL_REQUEST.
 
 You can use the name of an event to search for the code responsible for that
 event, and try to deduce what went wrong before/after a particular event.  Note
 that the event names used in net-internals are not the entire string names, so
 you should not do an entire string match.
 
 Some things to look for while debugging:
 
 * CANCELLED events almost always come from outside the network stack.
 
 * Changing networks and entering / exiting suspend mode can have all sorts of
 fun and exciting effects on underway network activity.  Network changes log a
-top level NETWORK_CHANGED event with no source - the event itself is treated as
-its own source.  Suspend events are currently not logged.
+top level NETWORK_CHANGED event.  Suspend events are currently not logged.
 
 * URL_REQUEST_DELEGATE / DELEGATE_INFO events mean a URL_REQUEST is blocked on a
 URLRequest::Delegate or the NetworkDelegate, which are implemented outside the
 network stack.  A request will sometimes be CANCELED here for reasons known only
 to the delegate.  Or the delegate may cause a hang.  In general, to debug issues
 related to delegates, one needs to figure out which method of which object is
 causing the problem.  The object may be the a NetworkDelegate, a
 ResourceThrottle, a ResourceHandler, the ResourceLoader itself, or the
 ResourceDispatcherHost.
 
 * Sockets are often reused between requests.  If a request is on a stale
 (reused) socket, what was the previous request that used the socket, how long
 ago was it made?
 
 * SSL negotation is a process fraught with peril, particularly with broken
 proxies.  These will generally stall or fail in the SSL_CONNECT phase at the
 SOCKET layer.
 
 * Range requests have magic to handle them at the cache layer, and are often
 issued by the media and PDF code.
 
 * Late binding:  HTTP_STREAM_JOBs are not associated with any CONNECT_JOB until
 a CONNECT_JOB actually connects.  This is so the highest priority pending job
-gets the first available socket (Which may be a new socket, or an old one that's
+gets the first available socket (which may be a new socket, or an old one that's
 freed up).  For this reason, it can be a little tricky to relate hung
 HTTP_STREAM_JOBs to CONNECT_JOBs.
 
 * Each CONNECT_JOB belongs to a "group", which has a limit of 6 connections.  If
-all CONNECT_JOBs beling to a group (The CONNECT_JOB's description field) are
+all CONNECT_JOBs belonging to a group (the CONNECT_JOB's description field) are
 stalled waiting on an available socket, the group probably has 6 sockets that
-that are hung - either hung trying to connect, or used by stalled requests and
+that are hung -- either hung trying to connect, or used by stalled requests and
 thus outside the socket pool's control.
 
 * There's a limit on number of DNS resolutions that can be started at once.  If
 everything is stalled while resolving DNS addresses, you've probably hit this
 limit, and the DNS lookups are also misbehaving in some fashion.
 
 # Miscellany
 
 These are just miscellaneous things you may notice when looking through the
 logs.
 
 * URLRequests that look to start twice for no obvious reason.  These are
 typically main frame requests, and the first request is AppCache.  Can just
 ignore it and move on with your life.
 
 * Some HTTP requests are not handled by URLRequestHttpJobs.  These include
 things like HSTS redirects (URLRequestRedirectJob), AppCache, ServiceWorker,
 etc.  These generally don't log as much information, so it can be tricky to
 figure out what's going on with these.
 
 * Non-HTTP requests also appear in the log, and also generally don't log much
 (blob URLs, chrome URLs, etc).
 
 * Preconnects create a "HTTP_STREAM_JOB" event that may create multiple
 CONNECT_JOBs (or none) and is then destroyed.  These can be identified by the
 "SOCKET_POOL_CONNECTING_N_SOCKETS" events.