Can I use the mvc mini profiler in a console application?

Question

How can I use the mvc-mini-profiler in a C# console application?

Also curious, does the mvc mini profiler put the actual profiled statistics in the left side of each web page or is that just custom javascript code done manually?

I downloaded and ran the mvc sample, and can't find that code that puts the results in that javascript popup.

Answer 1

yes you can! And I have created a NuGet package to make it even easier to get it running.

Check out MiniProfiler.Windows: http://nootn.github.com/MiniProfiler.Windows/

Also for a detailed article on how to design a good console app for profiling: http://healthedev.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/performance-profiling-console-or-winwpf.html

Answer 2

The core timing object (MiniProfiler) should work OK, as should the profiled-connection hooks etc; however you would need to;

• add your own UI to show the results
• define your own scope / lifetime (for web it is easy - just the http-request)
• provide your own storage hooks (there is an extension API for this, that uses http-context by default IIRC)
• either pass the profiler around manually, or define a sensible way to look up the current profiler instance

I know some people have used portions of it for WPF etc, so it can be used - but IMO it might make sense to pick just the bits that make sense, and use those to write a custom library that adds some awesome.

Answer 3

MiniProfiler V4 (currently prerelease) has method RenderPlainText(). You can use it directly in console or multithreaded asynchronous server application without any additional setup:

public void Foo()
{
    MiniProfiler.Start("Interesting subroutine");
    using (MiniProfiler.Current.Step("Step1"))
    {
        using (MiniProfiler.Current.Step(nameof(AccessDb)))
        {
            AccessDb();
        }
        Thread.Sleep(100);
    }
    using (MiniProfiler.Current.Step("Step2"))
    {
        Thread.Sleep(100);
    }
    MiniProfiler.Stop();
    Console.WriteLine(MiniProfiler.Current.RenderPlainText());
}

This code snippet produces following output:

PCName at 8/2/2017 8:44:36 AM
  Interesting subroutine = 309.2ms
> Step1 = 204.8ms
>> AccessDb = 103.8ms (sql = 56.2ms in 2 cmds)
> Step2 = 100.9ms

As you can see output includes short summary of custom timings (sql in this case). You can easily alter this behavior (for example, to include command text) by providing your own version of RenderPlainText().

For more information check:

• Make it available for .NET console applications MiniProfiler issue
• Which implementation of IAsyncProfilerProvider should I use in multithreaded console or service application? MiniProfiler issue
• How-To Upgrade From MiniProfiler V3 documentation page