Limiting Call Stack Depth

The call stack depth can be limited by using the Max stack depth option in the Call Stacks session settings page. If a call stack is deeper than the defined max depth, the stack will be truncated at the defined depth and a [Truncated] entry will be appended.

Limiting the call stack depth is an efficient way of limiting the memory usage of the call stacks information. However, truncating call stacks will obviously also cause some information to be lost. This is particularly evident when investigating allocations performed by a method and all its child allocations. If the method has been truncated from any call stack, the child allocation information is no longer accurate. This is indicated in the methods view by colouring the allocation data gray, and providing information about  the truncation in the tool tip (as can be seen in the screenshot below).

Despite the drawback of limiting the call stack depth, the default setting in .NET Memory Profiler is to limit the stack depth to 25 frames, since it will significantly reduce the memory usage and improve performance. If more accurate call stack information is needed, the limitation can be increased or removed (press Ctrl-0 (zero) to set to (unlimited)).