Mark's Blog

Intellitrace in VS2010

2012-01-09T17:24:02-08:00:00

In this blog post I thought I would talk a little about one of my favorite features of VS2010, Intellitrace. Intellitrace is debugging on steroids. In regular debugging session you can see the values of variables at a certain time, but you can’t go backwards, and you cannot see the state of the entire system. This means that some bugs cannot be reproduced.

With Intellitrace a log file is created that allows you to debug the file. This is similar to a dump but has lots more information, and when run inside Visual Studio it allows you to recreate (or at least see) the bugs that occurred on the other computer. An example of this that you might read a value from an XML file when the application starts that is used much later, and only on a limited number of code paths. If this value is not read it may cause no problems most of the time. If after some work you narrow down that the problem is that the value is not there you would still have to then add a breakpoint where the read occurs and see why it was not read. If your computer has the file but the other computer does not, that can add even more complexity to the debugging process. With Intellitrace you can load the log file that was made on the QA machine and immediately go back to where the file was read and see what the problem is.

Intellitrace is available only in the Ultimate edition of Visual Studio 2010, but works on C# and VB .NET code written for .NET versions 2.0 and up. Intellitrace does not support debugging in XBOX, script and Silverlight applications. While Intellitrace does not support debugging applications running on another computer and attached, it does support opening a log file created in Visual Studio on another computer. Intellitrace can also be run from Test Manager as well as Visual Studio Ultimate 2010. Intellitrace also integrates with Team System allowing QA people to attach trace log files to work items that can then be assigned to other developers.

Intellitrace is always on be default but only collects minimal information, you can change the information Intellitrace collects by changing the settings in Visual Studio. The events that can be collected by Intellitrace include debugger events (events that occur while you are debugging your application including the STEP event and hitting breakpoints), exception events, and framework events (these can be initiating a method call, or file access).

As you can see Intellitrace is a great tool for speeding up the debugging process and if used correctly can even allow you to go backwards through your code. For more information, check out MSDN’s information at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd264915.aspx

Windows Phone 7 Event in San Diego

2010-11-20T12:23:09-08:00:00

Spending a saturday with a bunch of developers at my last Windows Phone 7 event in San Diego with Woody Pewitt and Jim Bears.

Windows Phone 7 Event in San Diego

2010-10-08T12:17:46-07:00:00

I have been asked a number of times, when will there be a Windows Phone 7 developer event in San Diego, well, now we have one scheduled!!! You can register here:

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032465944&Culture=en-US

Looking forward to seeing everyone in San Diego and remember the Windows Phone 7 Developer events appear here first.

Windows Phone 7 Event this Sunday 9/26

2010-09-23T14:25:17-07:00:00

There is now a registration page for this Sunday's Windows Phone 7 event: http://bit.ly/aSa2LH, don't miss your chance to attend this event

Windows Phone 7 Events

2010-09-22T16:22:03-07:00:00

I said to keep track of my blog for upcomming Windows Phone 7 events.

SPECIAL NOTE: There are still spaces available for an event at Quickstart's Offices this Sunday!! Please contact: Casey Horton <casey at tryda dot com> for information and to reserve your spot....

We also have an event coming up in San Diego (more information soon)

Here is the current list:

09/25/10	Denver	CO	https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032459059&Culture=en-US	Microsoft Denver Office	7595 Technology Way #400	Denver
09/25/10	LA	CA	http://wp7unleashedroberthalftech.eventbrite.com	Robert Half Technology	10877 Wilshire Boulevard, 4th Floor	Los Angeles, CA 90024
09/26/10	Irvine	CA	SEE ABOVE	QuickStart		Irvine, CA
9/29/2010	Lehi	UT	https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032460359&Culture=en-US	Microsoft Office	3400 N Ashton Blvd	Lehi, UT
9/30/2010	Portland	OR	http://wp7-portland.eventbrite.com/	Microsoft Office	10260 SW Greenburg Road	Tigard, OR
10/02/10	Fort Collins	CO	Coming Soon!	TBD		Fort Collins, CO
10/9/2010	Mission Viejo	CA	https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032462173&Culture=en-US	Microsoft Store	578 The Shops at Mission Viejo	Mission Viejo
10/9/2010	Los Altos Hills	CA	http://siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Register.aspx	Foothill College	12345 El Monte Road	Los Altos Hills, CA
10/10/2010	Los Altos Hills	CA	http://siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Register.aspx	Foothill College	12345 El Monte Road	Los Altos Hills, CA
10/12/2010	Colorado Springs	CO	https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032460356&Culture=en-US	Olympic Training Center - USA Swimming Building	1 Olympic Plaza	Colorado Springs, CO 80909
10/16/2010	Colorado Springs	CO	https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032460357&Culture=en-US	Olympic Training Center - USA Swimming Building	1 Olympic Plaza	Colorado Springs, CO 80909
10/23/2010	Mission Viejo	CA	https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032462174&Culture=en-US	Microsoft Store	578 The Shops at Mission Viejo	Mission Viejo

I will have new entries here as new events are confirmed...

.NET Rocks! Visual Studio 2010 Road Trip

2010-04-06T18:42:47-07:00:00

The .NET Rocks! Visual Studio 2010 Road Trip sold out in under 3 hours. If you read my blog, you got a one day head start over everyone else. If you have not registered yet we are taking names for a wait list.

Registration for Los Angeles stop now open

2010-04-05T16:06:58-07:00:00

We are now taking registrations for the .NET Rocks! Visual Studio 2010 Roadshow. Here is the link: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/641669250

.NET Rocks VS2010 Road Trip

2010-04-01T16:31:57-07:00:00

.NET Rocks!! is going on the road again in honor of the release of VS2010, and here are the details:

Carl and Richard are loading up the DotNetMobile (a 30 foot RV) and driving to your town again to show off the latest and greatest in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0!

And to make the night even more fun, we’re going to bring a mystery rock star from the Visual Studio world to the event and interview them for a special .NET Rocks Road Trip show series.

Along the way we’ll be giving away some great prizes, showing off some awesome technology and having a ton of laughs.

And one lucky person at the event will win “Ride Along with Carl and Richard” and get to board the RV and ride with the boys to the next town on the tour (don’t worry, we’ll get you home again!)

The details can be found here:

http://www.dotnetrocks.com/roadtrip.aspx

Windows Azure Event

2010-04-01T15:04:53-07:00:00

Get cloud ready with Windows Azure

The cloud is everywhere and here at Microsoft we’re flying high with our cloud computing release, Windows Azure. As most of you saw at the Professional Developers Conference, the reaction to Windows Azure has been nothing short of “wow” – and based on your feedback, we’ve organized this special, all-day Windows Azure Firestarter event to help you take full advantage of the cloud.

Maybe you've already watched a webcast, attended a recent MSDN Event on the topic, or done your own digging on Azure. Well, here's your chance to go even deeper. This one-of-a-kind event will focus on helping developers get ‘cloud ready’ with concrete details and hands-on tactics. We’ll start by revealing Microsoft’s strategic vision for the cloud, and then offer an end-to-end view of the Windows Azure platform from a developer’s perspective. We’ll also talk about migrating your data and existing applications (regardless of platform) onto the cloud. We’ll finish up with an open panel and lots of time to ask questions.

Following this event, please join us for an engaging conversation about any and all Cloud Computing topics. This FREE event is hosted by Northwest Cloud, the cloud agnostic community group, and sponsored by Microsoft. http://www.nwcloud.org/redmond/2010-04-06

PDC Underground

2009-11-05T10:58:54-08:00:00

For those that wish to attend the PDC Underground but do not live in the US, please use your local address during PDC (for example the address of your hotel). While the PDC Underground is designed for local developers, all are welcome. A chance for the local developer community to meet their counterparts around the world is a greeat opportunity.

Mark's Blog

Intellitrace in VS2010

Windows Phone 7 Event in San Diego

Windows Phone 7 Event in San Diego

Windows Phone 7 Event this Sunday 9/26

Windows Phone 7 Events

SEE ABOVE

.NET Rocks! Visual Studio 2010 Road Trip

Registration for Los Angeles stop now open

.NET Rocks VS2010 Road Trip

Windows Azure Event

PDC Underground