Mac OS X in a Nutshell

Name

top

Synopsis

top [options] [number]

Full screen, dynamic display of global and per process resource usage by descending PID order.

Options

number

top limits the total processes displayed to number.

-a

Cumulative event counting mode. Counts are cumulative from top start time. -w and -k are superceded and ignored while -a is in effect

-d

Delta event counting mode. Counts are deltas relative to a previous sample. -w and -k are superceded and ignored while -d is in effect.

-e

Absolute event counting mode. Counts are absolute values from process start times. -w and -k are superceded and ignored while -e is in effect.

-k

Report kernal_task memory map parameters: #MREGS, RPRVT, and RSHRD (and VPRVT with -w). Normally unreported and displayed as -.

-l samples

Logging mode. Changes display mode from periodic full screen updating to a sequential line mode output suitable for output redirection. The number of sequential snapshots is specified as samples.

-s interval

Sampling interval. Default one second sample interval is replaced by interval.

-u

Sort processes by decreasing cpu usage instead of by descending PID order.

-w

Changes the memory map and memory size parameters for all processes from counts to deltas, and adds a VPRVT column.