Start Profiling a Project

To start profiling the project defined as the Startup Project in a solution, select Start Memory Profiler from the Profiler menu. To start profiling any project in the solution, use the right mouse button on the wanted project in the solution explorer and select Start Memory Profiler.

If a profiler project is set as active, the started profiling session will be associated with the active profiler project, and the settings from the profiler project will be used (except the Launch settings, which are overridden by the solution project settings).

The profiler will use the Debug Mode setting under Debugging Configuration Properties of the project to decide how to start the profiler:

• Project
  If the project is a Windows Application or Console Application project, this will start profiling the application. The Command Line Arguments and Working Directory properties are used to provide arguments and the initial directory for the application. If the project is an ASP.NET project, then ASP.NET profiling will be started and the Start Page will be requested. Note that class libraries cannot be profiled using this option.

• Program
  Indicates that a specific program should be used to start profiling. For example, you might run a pre-built client that consumes your Class Library project. You must use the Start Application property to define what program to start.

• URL
  Indicates that a particular URL (Start URL) should be accessed to initiate profiling. For example, you might access the URL to a web site that uses your Class Library project.

When the Start Memory Profiler command is selected, a new profiler session window will be created, and the process to profile is started directly.

If multiple start-up projects are selected in the solution the action performed depends on the edition of the profiler. In the Enterprise edition, all start-up projects will be started and memory usage information will be collected for all processes. In the Standard and Professional editions, only the first start-up project will be started, and memory usage information will only be collected from one process.