We are running a build in CI on this image: https://github.com/actions/runner-images/blob/win22/20230730.1/images/win/Windows2022-Readme.md

And get the following error.
vcperf /analyze raw_primary_build.etl /timetrace primary_build.json
Microsoft (R) Visual C++ (R) Performance Analyzer 2.2.22080401
Analyzing...
##[error]Cmd.exe exited with code '57005'.

'57005' Is hex for dead, maybe pointer related?

The unprocessed etl artifact was able to downloaded and analyzed locally on using vcperf at f5c2a0c. The unprocessed etl was able to be /analyzed with the etl output succesfully in CI.

I do not see a github tag for 2.2.22080401 to try and reproduce locally.

This is a large build and had to take the advice from #15 (comment) about setting the temp directories to get this far. The unprocessed ETL was 5_270 mb, and when done locally the processed etl ~1000 mb and the timetrace ~300 mb.

I'd like to change the UI layout of the Files Explorer by adding a few columns that represent some domain specific information about my application. Then I'd like to change vcperf to emit those columns. As it stands, this appears impossible. There is no code in this repository that defines the layout of the views in WPA, and there's no way to influence the mapping of parameters in PayloadBuilder::Build() to columns in the UI. So I suspect all of this code lives in perf_msvcbuildinsights.dll.

Can this be open sourced?

Tracing a build with CL-Server mode enabled:

    <UseMultiToolTask>true</UseMultiToolTask>
    <EnforceProcessCountAcrossBuilds>true</EnforceProcessCountAcrossBuilds>
    <EnableCLServerMode>true</EnableCLServerMode>
    <BuildPassReferences>true</BuildPassReferences>
    <AllowParallelCompileInReferencedProjects>true</AllowParallelCompileInReferencedProjects>

results in many unknown invocations:

Each blue bar in the timeline is unknown. Curiously some invocations are displayed properly (other colors). Setting EnableCLServerMode to false works fine. Not sure if this is an issue with how vcperf analyzes the trace or how the compiler emits events.

Many of the headers have using-directives in them. If people would like to integrate vcperf into another codebase, or reuse components of it, this will force namespace pollution on them. Recommend fully qualifying names in headers and removing the using-directives.

I'm using the latest version of VS and WPT and for some reason I cannot stop traces started with /noadmin. I am able to start traces with /noadmin I just can't stop them. I get the error message:

You are using a version of the MSVC toolset that does not support the `/noadmin` option. Please try updating your MSVC toolset to at least 16.11.

Microsoft (R) Visual C++ (R) Performance Analyzer 2.2.22080401
Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 (64-bit) Version 17.5.1

I'm using the perf_msvcbuildinsights.dll from C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.29.30133. I copied it to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit because the dll that came with the kit didn't work. When opening a trace I could see file names but no timing information.

Hello

I am trying to optimize the compile time of a home made library.
Until now, I was using clang -ftime-trace option that gives us a nice json to read, with the time of each template instantiation.

I saw that we can do the same with vcperf. However, when we compile simple code, vc perf does not output anything useful.... We get the time to parse includes, but nothing relevant about template instantiation.
However, on "heavy" templates, we do obtain information on the heavy one, and sometimes about the little also. (It is funny because vcperf does not catch them when there is only small ones)

Here a code sample :

template <int... is> struct seq {};

template <int Size, int... Is>
struct make_seqImpl : make_seqImpl<Size - 1, Size - 1, Is...> {};

template <int... Is> struct make_seqImpl<0, Is...> { using type = seq<Is...>; };

template <int generate> using make_seq = typename make_seqImpl<generate>::type;

int main() {
  constexpr auto seq = make_seq<5>{};
  return 0;
}

Here the command lines

vcperf.exe /start /level3 a
compilation from QtCreator or visual studio using MSVC
vcperf.exe /stop /templates a output.etl

What can I do?

Thanks :)

Hi,
vcperf show following log after start. perf_msvcbuildinsights.dll cannot be loaded:

Windows Performance Analyzer 10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800)
Loaded preferences from C:\Users\roebst2\AppData\Local\Windows Performance Analyzer\WindowPreferences.xml
Using default color table
Loaded Local Preferences from C:\Users\roebst2\AppData\Local\Windows Performance Analyzer\FileHistory.xml
Loaded Local Preferences from C:\Users\roebst2\AppData\Local\Windows Performance Analyzer\Preferences.xml
Loaded Local Preferences from C:\Users\roebst2\AppData\Local\Windows Performance Analyzer\Preferences.xml
Error: Could not load add-in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\perf_msvcbuildinsights.dll. Exception: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x80004005): Beim Aufruf einer COM-Komponente wurde ein HRESULT E_FAIL-Fehler zur??ckgegeben.
bei Microsoft.Performance.PerfCore4.IAddInManager.LoadAddIn(String fileName)
bei Microsoft.Performance.Shell.AddIns.WpaAddInManager.TryLoadNativeAddIn(String nativeAddInDll)

There are some formatting issues, such as here. Recommend picking a Clang Format style.

Just to let you know that the build fails if the project is built from a path which contains spaces.

1>mc : error : errno 13 trying to open file <C:\Users\anna\OneDrive>.
1>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v170\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(150,5): error MSB3073: The command "mc C:\Users\anna\OneDrive - CompanyName\Projects\Tools\vcperf\\src\CppBuildInsightsEtw.xml -h C:\Users\anna\OneDrive - CompanyName\Projects\Tools\vcperf\src\x64\Release\ -r C:\Users\anna\OneDrive - CompanyName\Projects\Tools\vcperf\src\x64\Release\
1>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v170\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(150,5): error MSB3073: :VCEnd" exited with code 1.
1>Done building project "vcperf.vcxproj" -- FAILED.

I think the timings the .json output from /timetrace might be incorrect As an example, I used this program:

#include <vector>
int main()
{
   return 0;
}

I ran vcperf and created both .etl and .json outputs. The json, when viewed in chrome, looks like this:

That's already a bit odd. the main.cpp file has seemingly two entries. One under the proper CL invocation, FrontEndPass etc - and one to the side. This looks much different in WPA:

In larger projects, this doesn't always happen. I couldn't quite nail the problem down but I think it has to do with the different "ph" properties of the entries. Sometimes there are double "B" entries where it almost seems as if the second should be an "E". But I'm not too familiar with the trace format.

First of all, thank you very much for C++ Build Insights!
I had to analyze build times in the past, but usually had to estimate template issues using object files (with SymbolSort).

I have a project, where Eigen template library was added recently. I'm trying to understand how much build time its template code takes. The same question can be asked for std::* code, boost::* or any other template library.

Parsing library headers is easy to take into account: open "Files" view, filter table data by "Included Path" containing "Eigen" as substring, then look at "Exclusive Duration" of root node "Parsing". Unfortunately, it is not easy to do the same for template instantiations.

First of all, vcperf removes some template instantiations, as noticed in #16. As far as I understand, the raw trace contains all template instantiations, but the analysis removes small ones to make analyzed trace smaller and more responsive when opened in WPA. I worked around this problem by hacking ExpensiveTemplateInstantiationCache::DetermineTopPrimaryTemplates.

Second, only "Duration" is displayed for template instantiations in WPA. It is inclusive, so it cannot be aggregated. I can workaround it by replacing td.WallClockTimeResponsibility with td.ExclusiveDuration in TemplateInstantiationsView::OnTemplateInstantiationStart. Perhaps ExclusiveCPUTime makes even more sense here.

The last inconvenience is that I don't know how to compute sum of column value over all selected/filtered entries in WPA table (except for copying everything to csv and writing simple script). The "Files" view allows summation by having "Activity Name" = "Parsing" key column, but there is no such column in "Template Instantiations" view. Perhaps the most useful additional key column would be "root namespace" (prefix of "Primary Template Name" before ::) like "Eigen", "std" or "boost".

Is it possible to configure the columns displayed in WPA views?
I see that I can add more fields in vcperf code, but WPA does not display them. I tried editing CppBuildInsightsEtw.xml, but it did not help.

P.S. I guess the best approach would be to write a custom analyzer which will aggregate data on-the-fly, without creating massive traces with all template instantiations.

In ExpensiveTemplateInstantiationCache::primaryTemplateStats_, a const char* is used as the key for an unordered_map, which would not consider two copies of a strings equal. It may be the case that all strings are known to be unique, but if so it would be good to have at least a comment as a warning to those modifying the code.

It seems that calling vcperf /start overrides usage of older toolset. Project has been generated through CMake with
-G"Visual Studio 16 2019" -Tv142,version=14.26,host=x64
Generated vcxproj has <Import Project="C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/VC/Auxiliary/Build/14.26/Microsoft.VCToolsVersion.14.26.props" />

There was no problem until I've updated VS2019 from 16.6.* to 16.8.3. Normal build works as usual but if I call "vcperf /start mysessionname" build starts using 14.28 instead. I've noticed it because project tries to link with static libraries (with /GL) that are built with 14.26
"LINK : fatal error C1047: The object or library file 'C:\3d\Boost-1.74.0-msvc16u6-x64\lib\Release\libboost_filesystem.lib' was created by a different version of the compiler than other objects like '....obj'; rebuild all objects and libraries with the same compiler"

I can try reproducing on simple project if description isn't enough and it's not intended behavior.

The command line interface says that /start "Tells vcperf.exe to start a trace under the given session name.", but it does not say how to provide a session name.

Please add at least one or two examples of a complete command line.

Also, I think the solution will not build using VS 2017, so the instructions should say to open it in VS 2019.

Thanks

The declarations in the vcperf headers are not namespaced. If people would like to integrate vcperf into another codebase, or reuse components of it, this will force namespace pollution on them.

hi,

how to force stop session?

e:\test>D:\prod\structures\MSBuild..\Packages\vcperf.1.0.0\build\vcperf.exe /stop VPERFMSBUILDTASK asasda.etl
Microsoft (R) Visual C++ (R) Performance Analyzer DEVELOPER VERSION
Stopping tracing session VPERFMSBUILDTASK...
Dropped MSVC events: 0
Dropped MSVC buffers: 0
Dropped system events: 0
Dropped system buffers: 0
Failed to stop trace.
ERROR CODE: FAILURE_SESSION_DIRECTORY_RESOLUTION

tried /stop /stopnoanalyse

Logger Name: MSVC_BUILD_INSIGHTS_SESSION_VPERFMSBUILDTASK
Logger Id: 0x1d
Logger Thread Id: 0000B070
Guid: f6918e25-9dae-11ea-af58-54bf6479e167
Session Security: D:(A;;0x1800;;;WD)(A;;0x120fff;;;SY)(A;;0x120fff;;;LS)(A;;0x120fff;;;NS)(A;;0x120fff;;;BA)(A;;0xee5;;;LU)(A;;LC;;;MU)(A;;0x1800;;;AC)(A;;0x1800;;;S-1-15-3-1024-3153509613-960666767-3724611135-2725662640-12138253-543910227-1950414635-4190290187)
Buffer Size: 256 Kb
Maximum Buffers: 320
Minimum Buffers: 64
Number of Buffers: 64
Free Buffers: 48
Buffers Written: 37
Events Lost: 0
Log Buffers Lost: 0
Real Time Buffers Lost: 0
Real Time Consumers: 0
ClockType: PerfCounter
Log Mode: Sequential
Hybrid Shutdown: Stop
Maximum File Size: not set
Buffer Flush Timer: not set
Log Filename: C:\Users\jocs\AppData\Local\Temp\CppBuildInsights{104BA2FC-DF47-4DCF-BDF1-EC440C8B0565}\msvc.etl

I am trying to diagnose very slow build times in a large C# project (VBCSCompiler.exe pegging the CPU for ~90s after a one-liner change, every time). I would love to use WPA to diagnose what can cause this extreme CPU usage on every build when so little code has changed. Is there an equivalent of this but for C# projects instead of C++?

There are a few places where C-style casts are used instead of named casts (e.g. here), which are preferable for both comprehensibility and safety, see Core Guideline ES.49.

When trying to analyze a project of our solution with vcperf /level3 it's not possible to successfully stop the tracing session. I've also tried to use /nocpusampling together with /stopnoanalyze but the error still occurs. The Sprout example from the blog works fine.

vcperf /start /level3 MySessionName

Microsoft (R) Visual C++ (R) Performance Analyzer 1.3.20031402
Starting tracing session MySessionName...
Tracing session started successfully!

vcperf /stop /templates MySessionName outputFile.etl

Microsoft (R) Visual C++ (R) Performance Analyzer 1.3.20031402
Stopping and analyzing tracing session MySessionName...
Dropped MSVC events: 0
Dropped MSVC buffers: 0
Dropped system events: 0
Dropped system buffers: 0
Failed to stop trace.
ERROR CODE: FAILURE_MERGE_TRACES