Note
Access to this page requires authorization. You can try signing in or changing directories.
Access to this page requires authorization. You can try changing directories.
This topic describes how to use Visual Studio Team System Developer Edition Profiling Tools command-line tools to start a stand-alone (client) application and collect performance statistics by using the sampling method.
A profiling session has three parts:
Starting the application by using the profiler.
Controlling data collection.
Ending the profiling session.
Starting the Application with the Profiler
To launch a target application with the profiler, you use the VSPerfCmd /start and /launch options to initialize the profiler and start the application. You can specify /start and /launch and their respective options on a single command line.
You can also add the /globaloff option to pause data collection at the start of the target application. You then use /globalon to begin collecting data.
To start an application by using the Profiler
Open a command prompt window. If necessary, add the profiler tools directory to your PATH environment variable. The path is not added at installation.
32 bit computers
On 32 bit computers, the default profiler tools directory is
\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Team Tools\Performance Tools.
64 bit computers
On 64 bit computers, specify the path according to the target platform of the application to be profiled.
To profile 32 bit applications, the default profiler tools directory is
\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Team Tools\Performance Tools
To profile 64 bit applications, the default profiler tools directory is
\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Team Tools\Performance Tools\x64
For example, to add the profiler directory to PATH on a 32 bit computer, type
set path=%path%;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Team Tools\Performance Tools
Start the profiler. Type:**VSPerfCmd /start:sample /output:**OutputFile[Options]
The /start:sample option initializes the profiler.
The /output**:**OutputFile option is required with /start. OutputFile specifies the name and location of the profiling data (.vsp) file.
You can use any of the following options with the /start:sample option.
/wincounter**:**WinCounterPath
Specifies a Windows performance counter to be collected during profiling./automark**:**Interval
Use with /wincounter only. Specifies the number of milliseconds between Windows performance counter collection events. Default is 500 ms./events**:**Config
Specifies an Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) event to be collected during profiling. ETW events are collected in a separate (.etl) file.
Start the target application. Type:
**VSPerfCmd /launch:**appName [Options] [Sample Event]
You can use one or more of the following options with the /launch option.
/args**:**Arguments
Specifies a string that contains the command-line arguments to be passed to the target application./console
Starts the target command-line application in a separate window.
By default, performance data is sampled every 10,000,000 non-halted processor clock cycles. This is approximately once every 10 seconds on a 1GHz processor. You can specify one of the following options to change the clock cycle interval or to specify a different sampling event.
/timer**:**Interval
Changes the sampling interval to the number of non-halted clock cycles specified by Interval./pf[**:**Interval]
Changes the sampling event to page faults. If Interval is specified, sets the number of page faults between samples. Default is 10./sys[**:**Interval]
Changes the sampling event to system calls from the process to the operating system kernel (syscalls). If Interval is specified, sets the number of calls between samples. Default is 10./counter**:**Config
Changes the sampling event and interval to the processor performance counter and interval specified in Config.
Controlling Data Collection
While the target application is running, you can control data collection by starting and stopping the writing of data to the profiler data file by using VSPerfCmd.exe options. Controlling data collection enables you to collect data for a specific part of program execution, such as starting or shutting down the application.
To start and stop data collection
The following pairs of options start and stop data collection. Specify each option on a separate command line. You can turn data collection on and off multiple times.
/globalon /globaloff
Starts (/globalon) or stops (/globaloff) data collection for all processes./processon:PID processoff:PID
Starts (/processon) or stops (/processoff) data collection for the process specified by the process ID (PID)./attach:{PID|ProcName}/detach[:{PID|ProcName}]
/attach starts to collect data for the process specified by the process ID (PID) or process name (ProcName). /detach stops data collection for the specified process or for all processes if a specific process is not specified.
You can also use the VSPerfCmd.exe/mark option to insert a profiling mark into the data file. The /mark command adds an identifier, a timestamp, and an optional user-defined text string. Marks can be used to filter the data in profiler reports and data views.
Ending the Profiling Session
To end a profiling session, the profiler must not be attached to any profiled process and the profiler must be explicitly shut down . You can detach the from an application profiled with the sampling method by closing the application or by calling the VSPerfCmd /detach option. You then call the VSPerfCmd /shutdown option to turn the profiler off and close the profiling data file. The VSPerfClrEnv /off command clears the profiling environment variables.
To end a profiling session
Do one of the following to detach the profiler from the target application:
Close the target application.
-or-
Type VSPerfCmd /detach
Shut down the profiler. Type:VSPerfCmd /shutdown