Merge pull request #259 from prometheus/beorn7/guideline-compliance

Bring Gauges and Counters in line with client library guidelines

prometheus/counter.go

@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ type Counter interface {
 	Metric
 	Collector
 
-	// Inc increments the counter by 1.
+	// Inc increments the counter by 1. Use Add to increment it by arbitrary
+	// non-negative values.
 	Inc()
 	// Add adds the given value to the counter. It panics if the value is <
 	// 0.

prometheus/gauge.go

@@ -27,16 +27,21 @@ type Gauge interface {
 
 	// Set sets the Gauge to an arbitrary value.
 	Set(float64)
-	// Inc increments the Gauge by 1.
+	// Inc increments the Gauge by 1. Use Add to increment it by arbitrary
+	// values.
 	Inc()
-	// Dec decrements the Gauge by 1.
+	// Dec decrements the Gauge by 1. Use Sub to decrement it by arbitrary
+	// values.
 	Dec()
-	// Add adds the given value to the Gauge. (The value can be
+	// Add adds the given value to the Gauge. (The value can be negative,
-	// negative, resulting in a decrease of the Gauge.)
+	// resulting in a decrease of the Gauge.)
 	Add(float64)
 	// Sub subtracts the given value from the Gauge. (The value can be
 	// negative, resulting in an increase of the Gauge.)
 	Sub(float64)
+
+	// SetToCurrentTime sets the Gauge to the current Unix time in seconds.
+	SetToCurrentTime()
 }
 
 // GaugeOpts is an alias for Opts. See there for doc comments.

prometheus/gauge_test.go

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"testing/quick"
+	"time"
 
 	dto "github.com/prometheus/client_model/go"
 )
@@ -180,3 +181,22 @@ func TestGaugeFunc(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("expected %q, got %q", expected, got)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestGaugeSetCurrentTime(t *testing.T) {
+	g := NewGauge(GaugeOpts{
+		Name: "test_name",
+		Help: "test help",
+	})
+	g.SetToCurrentTime()
+	unixTime := float64(time.Now().Unix())
+
+	m := &dto.Metric{}
+	g.Write(m)
+
+	delta := unixTime - m.GetGauge().GetValue()
+	// This is just a smoke test to make sure SetToCurrentTime is not
+	// totally off. Tests with current time involved are hard...
+	if math.Abs(delta) > 5 {
+		t.Errorf("Gauge set to current time deviates from current time by more than 5s, delta is %f seconds", delta)
+	}
+}

prometheus/untyped.go

@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ package prometheus
 // no type information is implied.
 //
 // To create Untyped instances, use NewUntyped.
+//
+// Deprecated: The Untyped type is deprecated because it doesn't make sense in
+// direct instrumentation. If you need to mirror an external metric of unknown
+// type (usually while writing exporters), Use MustNewConstMetric to create an
+// untyped metric instance on the fly.
 type Untyped interface {
 	Metric
 	Collector

prometheus/value.go

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"math"
 	"sort"
 	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
 
 	dto "github.com/prometheus/client_model/go"
 
@@ -80,6 +81,10 @@ func (v *value) Set(val float64) {
 	atomic.StoreUint64(&v.valBits, math.Float64bits(val))
 }
 
+func (v *value) SetToCurrentTime() {
+	v.Set(float64(time.Now().UnixNano()) / 1e9)
+}
+
 func (v *value) Inc() {
 	v.Add(1)
 }