Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Utilities – Trace Parser

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Trace Parser – Trace Parser ships with Microsoft Dynamics AX. Trace Parser consolidates information from multiple sources, such as remote procedure calls (RPCs) and Microsoft SQL Server, to provide an integrated view of application performance at run time.

Following are the details to installation and usage of trace parser:

Installation procedure of the Trace Parser:

• Start Microsoft Dynamics AX Setup.
• At the time of installing the components
• Select Trace Parser.

How to use Trace Parser:

The first time you start Trace Parser, you will be prompted to set up Trace Parser database. You need to let Trace Parser create a new database for you.

Note: The status bar of trace parser displays the registered database name at right bottom

Import trace

Following screen shots to illustrate the import trace process:

Start trace parser

Go to file and select import trace

Select file location

It will show the following screen

Exclusive duration include only the time spent by the code that executed on that line.

Inclusive duration include the time spent at the current level plus all time accumulated by code called from this level

Client Trace (copy the Server Next line, Ctrl+c)

Server Trace (paste anywhere in the call tree, Ctrl+v)

X++/RPC tab:

It will show you which classes/methods are consuming the most time in the trace.

SQL tab:

• The SQL tab will only have data if you’re reviewing a server trace. This is because the AX client always uses an AOS as a proxy for executing database calls.
• It will show you which SQL statements are consuming the most time in the trace.

you can see these tabs on following screen:

Tips and Tricks:

• It is recommend choosing “small” scenarios to produce small but relevant trace files.
• It is recommend “warming up” your system before collecting the trace. This will generate less noise such as metadata reads.
• If possible, collect traces on a machine that runs AOS because traces collected on such machine contain tracing events from both server and client sessions.