Instrument a native stand-alone component and collect timing data with the profiler from the command line
This article describes how to use Visual Studio command-line profiling tools to instrument a native component, such as a C++ .exe or .dll file, to collect detailed timing data.
To collect detailed timing data from a native component by using the instrumentation method, use the VSInstr.exe tool to generate an instrumented version of the component. Next, start the profiler in the same way as the other command line scenarios using the PerfInstrumentation.json agent configuration. When the instrumented component is executed, timing data is automatically collected to a .diagsession file.
The path to the profiling tools is Microsoft Visual Studio\version\Enterprise\Team Tools\DiagnosticsHub\Collector.
Note
To use the profiler command-line tools, you must either use the Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt or add the tools path to the PATH environment variable of the Command Prompt window.
Instrument with VSInstr
To instrument a native component such as a C++ .exe or .dll file run:
VSInstr /d:new ModuleToProfile.dll
You can optionally pass /EXCLUDESMALLFUNCS to exclude small functions from instrumentation reducing the overhead of the tool and giving more accurate results.
Note
Starting with Visual Studio 17.11 Preview 3 the /d:new flag isn't needed because it's set by default.