In many msdn blogs I have noticed that people are trying to understand why certain dll’s or function/methods show up in their performance analyses contrary to their wish after profiling their application with VS.
Usually, one can use a dot.net sampling profiler to drill down to the problem of an application. Yet having done that, what if the sampling data does not provide the relevant data and sufficient information? Well, for every question there is, of course, always an answer: a trace profiler can offer more and important detailed information, especially if your application works in a multithread environment. On the other hand, every solution also has its drawbacks, and this is no exception. Therefore, when you profile a huge application, you may find that you’ll be flooded with information in a huge trace result, and your application’s performance is liable to be sensitively impaired by the procedure on top of it.
However, the SpeedTrace dot.net profiler, finally offers you a way out of this dilemma! Thanks to its three-level filtering approach (illustration below), you will be able to avoid (and reduce to a minimum) the unnecessary information that normally holds you back when tracking down the essential performance issue. Besides, by thus streamlining its tracing and profiling capabilities it also prevents the impacts that normally occur to your applications’ performance when you subject them to these kinds of procedures.
And this is how it works:
- The recording filter (only available in the Pro version) first collects all method calls and is apt to maximize trace speed, minimize resource usage (memory, time, power, etc.), and minimize the bulk of information
- The pre-processing filter (available in the Basic and Pro versions) then works on the traced calls and further minimizes resource usage and minimizes the information to what is relevant and sufficient
- The post-processing filter (available in the Basic and Pro versions) finally filters the pre-processed calls and minimizes the information to that which is quintessential, leaving you with a perfectly profiled and thoroughly useful account of your problem.
The bottom line of the story is:
The SpeedTrace filterering system is simply a tool you cannot do without when bug trapping your application!
Level of Filters
