Visual Studio Profiler: Found A Bug? Have A Suggestion?

The profiler is not flawless.  We work hard every day to improve it, however, and we’re always listening to and considering your feedback.  The profiler exists to help you, so if you feel it has shortcomings or if it fails to fully address your scenario, please let us know.  The more we hear from you, the more we know what’s important, what’s lacking, and what we should tweak.  Your feedback informs our daily decisions and sets the tone for future development.

Luckily, using Microsoft Connect, you can easily file a bug or give us suggestions for improvement.  After you’ve signed into Connect (Live ID required), you can go through the Visual Studio Feedback Center to submit a bug or a suggestion.  The higher quality bug or suggestion you file, the more likely we’ll be able to help you.  There’s a lot to be said about how to file an actionable bug, but please try to include the following:

• If applicable, the smallest project possible with which you can reproduce the issue
• A concise but complete set of steps to reproduce the issue
• If you’re profiling from the command-line, include the commands verbatim
• Is your OS 32- or 64-bit?  Is your target application 32- or 64-bit?
• What anti-virus/-spyware/-malware applications do you have installed?
• If it’s an instrumentation issue, include the binary (.exe, .dll) that you’re trying to instrument along with the matching symbols (.pdb) for that binary
• Include as much CPU information as possible including the number of sockets and cores as well as details for each CPU
• Do you have any custom build steps, build scripts, pre-/post-build events, or custom output locations?
• Do you have any special deployment for your binaries?  GAC?  NGEN?
• What Visual Studio edition are you using?  If any, what other Visual Studio editions do you have installed?
• What language is your application written in?  C#?  C++?  Managed C++?  Any assembly?
• Include any error strings, error codes, or screenshots of errors

Alternatively, if Connect feels too heavyweight or impersonal, you can contact us directly or post a question or suggestion in the profiler forums.