dotTrace 2023.1 Help

Start Profiling Session from Visual Studio

The main usage scenario of dotTrace integrated in Visual Studio is profiling the currently developed application. For this purpose, in this mode, dotTrace offers some additional profiling capabilities. More specifically, it allows you to profile not just a particular project, but a particular 'run configuration'.

Run configurations give you an ability to create a number of predefined configurations with different run parameters for your startup project, an arbitrary executable, or even any static method (each particular static method is run under a special JetLauncher process). For example, you can create a number of configurations that will differ by CPU architecture and CLR version. These configurations can be used to quickly run or debug your project without the need to set up particular run parameters each time. As dotTrace shares the ReSharper platform, it is able to profile any run configuration.

By default, your solution has only one run configuration - the configuration for the startup project.

Start profiling of a startup project

  1. Do one of the following:

    • If you did not yet create any run configurations, in the Visual Studio menu, select ReSharper | Profile | Run Startup Configuration Performance Profiling....

    • If you have more than one (default) run configurations, the Visual Studio menu, select ReSharper | Tools | Run Configurations... and choose the [project_name] (VS Startup) configuration. Then select ReSharper | Profile | Run Startup Configuration Performance Profiling....

    This will open the Profile Startup Project window.

  2. In the Profile Startup Project window, configure profiling settings as described in Configure Profiling Session.

  3. Click Start.

Start profiling of a specific run configuration

  1. Create a run configuration for your project, executable, or particular static method. To do this, in the Visual Studio menu, select ReSharper | Tools | Run Configurations... | Add, select the corresponding item. This will open the window with run configuration options. For more details on them, refer to the ReSharper documentation.

  2. Select the created run configuration using the Visual Studio menu ReSharper | Tools | Run Configurations... | [run_config_name] | Configure | Select.

  3. In the Visual Studio menu, select ReSharper | Profile | Run Startup Configuration Performance Profiling.... This will open the Profile Startup Project window.

  4. In the Profile Startup Project window, configure profiling settings as described in Configure Profiling Session.

  5. Click Start.

Quickly start profiling of a specific run configuration

You can also use the Performance Profiler window to quickly start profiling of a particular run configuration.

  1. Create a run configuration for your project, executable, or particular static method. To do this, in the Visual Studio menu, select ReSharper | Tools | Run Configurations... | Add, select the corresponding item. This will open the window with run configuration options.

    For more details on them, refer to the ReSharper documentation.

  2. Open the Performance Profiler window using the Visual Studio menu ReSharper | Profile | Open Performance Profiler.

  3. In the Performance Profiler window, in the Themed icon run screen gray list, select profiling type.

  4. In the Performance Profiler window, in the run configurations list, select the created configuration.

  5. Click Themed icon run screen gray.

Quickly start profiling of a static method

Profiling of run configurations for static methods can be started using the action list of the particular static method.

  1. Open the action list for the method by placing cursor on the method and pressing Alt + Enter.

  2. In the list, select Debug method | Profile ([profiling_type]) method.

    Note that this session will use the profiling type that is currently selected in the Performance Profiler window.

  3. In the Profile Startup Project window, configure profiling settings as described in Configure Profiling Session.

  4. Click Start.

Start profiling of another application

You can also start profiling of an arbitrary application rather than a particular run configuration.

  1. In the Visual Studio menu, select ReSharper | Profile | Run Application Performance Profiling.... This will open the Profile Application window.

  2. Start a profiling session.

Last modified: 21 March 2023
Start Profiling Session Configure Profiling Session