How to: Store and Use IntelliTrace Recordings
This topic applies to Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate only.
When IntelliTrace is enabled, an IntelliTrace recording is created automatically every time you debug an application. IntelliTrace recordings are written to a location that is specified in the Options dialog box. Visual Studio deletes IntelliTrace recordings from that location every time that it exits. Therefore, if you want to keep a recording for later use, you have to move it to a different location.
To store an IntelliTrace recording
Find the location where the debugger stores IntellliTrace recordings, if you do not already know it. You can recognize IntelliTrace recordings by the .iTrace extension.
On the Tools menu, click Options.
In the Options dialog box, expand the IntelliTrace node and select Advanced.
Look at the Location of IntelliTrace Recordings box to see where recordings are written.
Click OK.
In Windows, open a window to the location where the IntelliTrace recordings are written and find the appropriate .iTrace file for the recording you want. Copy or move the file to another location using any Windows method.
If you are currently debugging the recording, you will see an error message when you try to copy or move it. Stop debugging, then copy or move the file.
Opening a recording
The following procedure describes how to open an IntelliTrace recording that is stored on disk. For instructions about how to use an IntelliTrace recording that is attached to a work item, see Debugging Non-Reproducible Errors With IntelliTrace.
To open an IntelliTrace recording that is stored on disk
On the File menu, point to Open and then click Open File.
In the Open File dialog box, browse to the location where your IntelliTrace recording is located. You can recognize the recording by the .iTrace extension.
Select the .iTrace file and then click Open.
In the IntelliTrace Summary window, expand the Threads List or Exception Data item, then double-click a thread or exception to begin debugging at that point:
If you are debugging an application that threw an exception, double-click the exception name to begin debugging at the time that exception was thrown.
If you want to start debugging at the start of the application, double-click Main thread. This starts the IntelliTrace session at the start of the main application thread.
If the recording was created by Test Manager, you can expand the Test Step item and double-click a test step and begin debugging at the step where an error was reported.