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Trace Message Control File

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Note  Before Windows Vista, this type of file was generated by default by Tracepdb. Instead, the Tracepdb tool now generates a MOF (.mof) file that describes the provider information in the binary. Unless you are using TraceView, you should ignore references to these TMC files.

A trace message control (TMC) file is a text file that contains the control GUID for each trace provider represented in a PDB file. The name of the TMC file is the control GUID of the trace provider, followed by the .tmc file name extension.

Tracefmt and TraceView create a TMC file for each trace provider when they create a trace message format (.tmf) file from the formatting instructions in a PDB file. Tracepdb can also generate a TMC file when you use the -c option.

The TMC file also contains the following information:

  • The path and file name of the PDB file.

  • The date and time that the PDB file was created.

  • The control GUID for each trace provider.

  • The trace flags defined by the trace provider.

TraceView uses the TMC file to find the trace flags for each provider. You can use this file as a quick reference to the control GUID of a trace provider.