Walkthrough: Command-Line Profiling Using Instrumentation

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This walkthrough takes you through profiling a .NET Framework stand-alone application to collect detailed timing and call count data by using the instrumentation method of the Profiling Tools. In this walkthrough, you will accomplish the following tasks:

  • Use the VSInstr command line tool to generate instrumented binaries.

  • Use the VSPerfCLREnv tool to set the environment variables to collect .NET profiling data.

  • Use the VSPerfCmd tool to collect profiling data.

  • Use the VSPerfReport tool to generate file-based reports of the profiling data.

Prerequisites

Command Line Profiling Using the Instrumentation Method

Instrumentation is a profiling method by which specially built versions of the profiled binaries contain probe functions that collect timing information at the entry and exit to functions in an instrumented module. Because this method of profiling is more invasive than sampling, it incurs a greater amount of overhead. Instrumented binaries are also larger than debug or release binaries and are not intended for deployment.

Note

Do not send instrumented binaries to your customers. Instrumented binaries can contain several risks. The binaries include information that makes your application easier to reverse engineer, as well as security risks.

To profile the PeopleTrax application by using the instrumentation method

  1. Install the PeopleTrax sample application and build the Release version.

  2. Open a command prompt window and add the Profiling Tools directory to the local Path environment variable.

  3. Change the working directory to the directory containing the PeopleTrax binaries.

  4. Create a directory to contain the file based reports. Type the following command:

    md Reports

  5. Use the VSInstr command-line tool to instrument the binaries in the application. Type the following commands on separate command lines:

    VSInstr PeopleTrax.exe
VSInstr PeopleTrax.exe
VSInstr People.dll
VSInstr Person.dll
VSInstr Operation.dll

    Note   By default, VSInstr saves a non-instrumented backup of the original file. The backup file name has the extension .orig. For example, the original version of "MyApp.exe" would be saved as "MyApp.exe.orig."

  6. Type the following command to set the appropriate environment variables:

    VsPerfCLREnv /traceon

  7. To start the profiler, type the following command:

    VsPerfCmd /start:trace /output:Reports\Report.vsp

  8. After you start the profiler in trace mode, run the instrumented version of the PeopleTrax.exe process to collect data.

    The PeopleTrax application window appears.

  9. Click Get People.

    The PeopleTrax data grid populates with data.

  10. Click Export Data.

    Notepad starts and displays a new file that contains a list of people from the PeopleTrax application.

  11. Close Notepad, and then close the PeopleTrax application.

  12. Shut down the profiler. Type the following command:

    VSPerfCmd /shutdown

  13. Type the following command to reset the environmental variables:

    VSPerfCLREnv /off

  14. Use the VSPerfReport tool to generate or comma-separated value (.csv) report files. Type:

    VSPerfReport Reports\Report.vsp /output:Reports /summary:all

    You can analyze the generated reports in a spreadsheet program, or you can use the Visual Studio IDE to analyze the profiling data in the Report.vsp file. For more information, see Analyzing Profiling Tools Data.

See Also

Reference

VSPerfCmd

Concepts

Profiling Tools Performance Session Overview

Using the Profiling Tools From the Command-Line

Understanding Sampling Data Values in Profiling Tools

Other Resources

Profiling Tools Report Views