If called from an object namespace (e.g., cpu0.print-time), the time for that object is printed. The object can also be supplied using the cpu-name argument. Otherwise, the time for the current frontend processor is printed, or, if the -all flag is given, the time for all processors is printed.
The -c, -s, -t, or -pico-seconds flags can be used to limit the output to include only the cycle count for the processor, the step count, the time in seconds, or the number of picoseconds respectively. This may be especially useful when the command's return value is used, for example, like this: "$num_steps = (cpu-object.print-time -s)".
A step is a completed instruction or an exception. An instruction that fails to complete because of an exception will count as a single step, including the exception.