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Use tracing on the client (SharePoint Server 2010)

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Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010

Summary: Trace logging in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 enables clients to collect diagnostic information that Microsoft Business Connectivity Services generate.

For solutions that are based on Microsoft Business Connectivity Services, diagnostic logging occurs on clients that are running Microsoft Office 2010. There are two logs: the event log and the trace log. They both record diagnostic information that Microsoft Business Connectivity Services generates. Event logs record error messages. Trace logs contain more in-depth information, such as stack traces and informational messages. In general, trace logs provide more details than event logs.

Note

Diagnostic logging also occurs on servers that are running SharePoint Server 2010. For more information, see Monitoring and Diagnostic logging in Business Connectivity Services overview (SharePoint Server 2010).

By default, trace logging is disabled on client computers to help improve performance. You should only enable trace logging on client computers if you are encountering problems that you want to diagnose. For example, if an event log entry indicates an error might be caused by an activity that is related to Microsoft Business Connectivity Services, then enable trace logging to gather additional data the next time that the event occurs.

This article describes how to use the Performance Monitor utility on client computers that are running Windows 7 or Windows Vista to enable tracing that captures Microsoft Business Connectivity Services events.

Note

On computers that are running Windows XP and earlier, you enable tracing by running a script that uses the logman command. For a sample script, see Monitoring and Diagnostic logging in Business Connectivity Services overview (SharePoint Server 2010).

Tip

By default Event logging for Microsoft Business Connectivity Services is enabled on clients. However, to protect performance, only critical errors are logged and this setting cannot be changed. Windows client computers include an Event Viewer that you can use to view event logs. For information about how to view event logs for a specific version of Windows, consult the product documentation.

In this article:

  • Enable Business Connectivity Services tracing

  • Run a Business Connectivity Services trace

  • View the results of a Business Connectivity Services trace

Enable Business Connectivity Services tracing

To enable Microsoft Business Connectivity Services tracing you create a custom data collector set, specify the trace providers that are related to Microsoft Business Connectivity Services, and provide the location for saving the trace logs.

Note

This procedure is for use on Windows Vista and Windows 7 client computers.

To enable Business Connectivity Services tracing

  1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials:

    • To enable Microsoft Business Connectivity Services tracing on a client computer, you must be an Administrator or a member of the Administrators group on that computer.

  2. On the Start menu, click Run, type perfmon, and then click OK.

    This starts the Performance Monitor utility.

  3. In the left pane, expand Data Collector Sets, right-click User Defined, point to New, and then click Data Collector Set.

  4. In the New Data Collector Set wizard, in the Name box, type a name for the data collector set, select Create manually (Advanced), and then click Next.

  5. On the What type of data do you want to include? page, select the Event trace data check box, and then click Next.

  6. On the Which event trace providers would you like to enable? page, click Add.

  7. In the Event Trace Providers list, click Microsoft-Office-Business Connectivity Services, and then click OK.

  8. In the Property dialog box, in the Automatic section, select all the categories, click OK, and then click Next.

  9. On the Where would you like the data to be saved? page, add a path where you want the data saved or select the default and click Finish.

Run a Business Connectivity Services trace

After enabling Microsoft Business Connectivity Services tracing, you can run a trace that will capture Microsoft Business Connectivity Services events. We recommend that you only run tracing when there is a suspected issue, either during solution development or when a solution is deployed to end users. To run a Microsoft Business Connectivity Services trace on a client computer, you must be an administrator on that computer.

Tip

The intent of running a trace is to capture events during a reproducible problem. Before performing this procedure, first ensure that you have set the right conditions on the client computer to reproduce the behavior for which you want trace log data.

To run a Business Connectivity Services trace

  1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials:

    • To run a Microsoft Business Connectivity Services trace on a client computer, you must be an Administrator or a member of the Administrators group on that computer.

  2. On the Start menu, click Run, type perfmon, and then click OK.

    This starts the Performance Monitor utility.

  3. In the left pane, expand Data Collector Sets, and then expand User Defined to locate your user defined data collector set.

    For the steps to create a data collector set, see Enable Business Connectivity Services tracing.

  4. Right-click your data collector set, and then click Start.

  5. While the trace is running, on the client computer perform activities related to Microsoft Business Connectivity Services for which you want to capture trace data.

  6. To stop the trace, locate your user defined data collector set again, right-click it, and then click Stop.

View the results of a Business Connectivity Services trace

You use the Event Viewer utility on Windows 7 and Windows Vista client computers to view the results of a Microsoft Business Connectivity Services trace on a client computer.

To view the results of a Business Connectivity Services trace

  1. Verify that you have the following administrative credentials:

    • To view the results of a Microsoft Business Connectivity Services trace on a client computer, you must be an Administrator or a member of the Administrators group on that computer.

  2. In the Windows Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools.

  3. Double-click Event Viewer.

  4. On the Action menu, click Open Saved Log.

  5. Find the folder that contains the trace logs.

    You supplied this destination in the Enable Business Connectivity Services tracing procedure.

  6. Find the recent trace file, which has the “.etl” file name extension, and then open it.

    On the server and on the Office client, a unique Activity ID value is generated for each Create, Update, or Delete operation on external data in a solution based on Microsoft Business Connectivity Services. Anything that is related to the operation that is logged in the trace log includes its Activity ID value. Depending on how the view is configured, the Event Viewer may not initially display activity IDs for your Microsoft Business Connectivity Services logs.

    To display Activity IDs for each item:

    1. In the Event Viewer View menu, click Add/Remove Columns.

    2. In the Add/Remove Columns dialog box, if “Activity ID” is not listed in the Displayed Columns section, click “Activity ID” in the Available Columns section, click Add, and then click OK.

See Also

Other Resources

Resource Center: Operations and Manageability for SharePoint Server 2010