Method and system for maintaining thread-relative metrics for trace data adjusted for thread switches

A method and system for maintaining a thread-relative metric for trace data using device driver support is provided. A profiling process may detect a current event, and in response to the current event, may request an elapsed metric since a preceding event. The profiling process then receives a thread-relative elapsed metric and may output a trace record for the current event in which is stored a metric equal to the received thread-relative elapsed metric. In response to a notification of an occurrence of the current event, a device driver computes the thread-relative elapsed metric by: determining a current thread; retrieving a stored metric for the preceding event of the current thread; obtaining a current metric; and computing the thread-relative elapsed metric as a difference between the current metric and the stored metric.