Angry Richard's WebLog

People have been discovering that the VS Team System profiler can collect allocation data for an application. It isn't long after that they discover that it only works on managed code, not native. Sadly, the documentation is not clear on this. The...

It has long puzzled me why various Win32 functions take non-const string parameters, when clearly they have no business manipulating the string. Take, for instance, GetNamedSecurityInfo: DWORD GetNamedSecurityInfo( LPTSTR pObjectName , SE_OBJECT_TYPE...

If you are using the DataCollection API (either from native, by linking agains VSPerf.lib, or from managed, by importing Microsoft.VisualStudio.Profiler.dll), and wish to enable or disable collection at the global level, you must pass CurrentId for the...

On the forums, someone was using the /INCLUDE option in VsInstr.exe. It is possible to use multiple instances of this option to include different sets of functions. For a big chunk of functions, you might want to use dozens of function specifications...

I've just posted an article on the pitfalls of profiling services with the Visual Studio profiler. It includes a sample service with a quick walkthrough. Enjoy. Profiling Windows™ Services with the Visual Studio Profiler

Typically, one can use the sampling profiler to nail down the hot spot in an application. Having done that, what does one do when the sampling data doesn't provide enough information? The trace profiler can offer up more detail, particularly if the issue...

I've frequently heard the question asked, "Can I use the profiler on a Virtual PC?" It has even come up on the blog feedback a few times. My answer has always been, "Theoretically, yes." I didn't want to post this answer externally until I'd actually...

I had a nice long email chat with members of the Virtual PC team. The good news: The Virtual PC emulates the host processor well enough that our kernel-mode driver can detect what features are enabled. The bad news: The Virtual PC does not emulate...

I'm so pleased. Someone did something exciting and dangerous with the profiler. In case you're not reading the newsgroups, an intrepid customer tried to profile on a Virtual PC , and discovered that it only leads to pain and misery via the BSOD. So...

A bunch of the guys on the team I work for have been starting up blogs. I started feeling left out, which made me very angry. It appears all blogs start with "Hi, I'm a developer who does X and I'm going to talk about Y and maybe Z." It's all part...