IntelliTrace

IntelliTrace is a Visual Studio Enterprise feature that records and traces your code's execution history, allowing you to debug errors that are hard to reproduce or that occur in deployment by examining past events and application states. 

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Purpose:

  IntelliTrace helps developers find bugs and debug errors that are difficult to reproduce or occur in deployment by providing a historical view of the application's execution. 
• How it Works:

  IntelliTrace collects data automatically and invisibly, recording events like debugger events, exceptions, .NET Framework events, and other system events. 
• Benefits:

  • Debugging Difficult Issues: It can help debug errors that are hard to reproduce or that occur in deployment by allowing you to examine the application's state at different points in time. 
  • Step-Back Debugging: IntelliTrace step-back allows you to go back to previous breakpoints or steps and view the state of the application as it was in the past. 
  • Enhanced Debugging Experience: It provides a more comprehensive view of the application's execution compared to traditional debuggers, allowing you to see events that occurred in the past and the context in which they occurred. 
• Features:

  • Event Recording: IntelliTrace records various events, including debugger events, exceptions, .NET Framework events, and more. 
  • Call Stack Information: It captures call stack information, allowing you to see the sequence of function calls that led to a particular event. 
  • Local Variable Values: IntelliTrace records the values of local variables at different points in the execution, enabling you to examine the application's state. 
  • Snapshot of Application State: IntelliTrace takes snapshots of the application's state at every breakpoint and debugger step event, allowing you to view the application's state as it was in the past. 
• Availability:

  IntelliTrace is available in Visual Studio Enterprise edition, but not in the Visual Studio Professional or Community editions. 
• Using IntelliTrace:

  1. Start debugging as usual, with IntelliTrace enabled by default. 
  2. Open the Diagnostic Tools window and navigate to the Events tab to view the recorded events. 
  3. Select an event and click "Activate Historical Debugging" to see the call stack and locals recorded for that event. 
• IntelliTrace Standalone Collector:

  You can also use the IntelliTrace standalone collector to collect data for applications running outside of Visual Studio, such as web apps or SharePoint applications.