Profiling an Application in Microsoft Windows

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Source Profiler for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.2, and 1.3

The information in this article is included in the documentation starting with Visual C++ 5.0. Look there for future revisions.

SUMMARY

Version 1.2 of the Microsoft Source Profiles includes two executable files: PROFILE.EXE and PROFILEW.EXE. PROFILEW.EXE is a Microsoft Windows-hosted source profile utility that can run from the command line or from an icon in the Microsoft Windows operating system. The names of batch files used to profile a Windows-based application end with the letter "W." Run these batch files from the MS-DOS prompt because each one starts Windows. You also can profile a Windows-based application in Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

The text below provides the steps to profile function timing in the GENERIC sample application provided with the Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK). The explanation assumes that the GENERIC sample is installed in the C:\WINDEV\GUIDE\GENERIC directory and that the Source Profiler is installed in the C:\PROFILER\BIN directory. The procedure has three main steps, as follows:

1. Create the PCF file and run PREP.

Create the PCF and Run PREP

The PCF (Profiler Command File) provides greater control to select the parts of the executable program to profile. The PCF is optional and is not necessary to collect statistics about all functions of the application.

With the following PCF, the profiler collects statistics only for the main window procedure and for the About dialog box procedure in GENERIC. For more information on PCFs, see chapter 4 of the Source Profiler "User's Guide." Place the following text into the GENERIC.PCF file:

   FPROFILE TIME
   PROGRAM  GENERIC.EXE DELETE
   OBJECT   GENERIC.OBJ
   FUNCTION MainWndProc ADD  # Note: function names are case sensitive
   FUNCTION About ADD

1. Place the GENERIC.PCF file into the same directory as the source code for the GENERIC sample.

2. Build the GENERIC sample with debugging information (specify the /Zi compiler option switch and the /CO linker option switch).

3. Use the following command line to run the PREP utility:

         PREP /P GENERIC.EXE /OT GENERIC.PBT /OI GENERIC.PBI GENERIC.PCF
   

You can place the PREP command into the makefile that builds profiling versions of your application. Run the PREP utility after building the executable file.

Create an Icon for Profiling and Profile the Application

Perform the following seven steps:

1. In the Microsoft Windows Program Manager, activate a program group.

2. Choose New from the File menu.

3. Choose OK to create a new program item.

4. In the Properties dialog box, enter the following text in the Command Line field:

         PROFILEW C:\WINDEV\GUIDE\GENERIC\GENERIC.EXE
   

   Note: This command line assumes that the PBI and PBO files are named GENERIC.PBI and GENERIC.PBO, respectively, and that each resides in the C:\WINDEV\GUIDE\GENERIC directory.

5. In the Working Directory field, enter the path to the PROFILEW.EXE file. In this example, the correct directory is C:\PROFILEW\BIN.

6. Choose OK to create the program icon.

7. To run and profile GENERIC, either double-click the icon or select the icon and choose Run from the File menu. Close GENERIC to complete profiling.

Create an output File with PREP and PLIST

Perform the following two steps:

1. At the MS-DOS prompt, enter the following command to update the PBT file:

         PREP /IT GENERIC.PBT /IO GENERIC.PBO /OT GENERIC.PBT
   

2. At the MS-DOS prompt, enter the following command to create an output text file:

         PLIST GENERIC.PBT > GENERIC.TXT
   

Even though GENERIC.TXT lists all the functions in the GENERIC application, it contains timing and hit statistics for only the About() and MainWndProc() functions.