Troubleshooting: Obtaining a Trace in the Add-Ins

While you are using the IBM^® Database Add-Ins for Visual Studio, on occasion you might encounter an error message that directs you to "get a trace and call IBM Support." Also, if you report a problem to IBM Support, you might be asked to perform a trace to capture detailed information about your environment.

An add-ins trace is essentially a log of control flow information (functions and associated parameter values) that is captured while the trace facility is on. The add-ins provide the trace facility for all supported releases of the following data servers:

DB2^® for Linux^®, UNIX^®, and Windows^®
DB2 for z/OS^®
DB2 for i
Informix^® Dynamic Server (IDS)

Notes:

Starting in Version 9.7, Fix Pack 3, the add-ins implement the DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows trace facility through the db2trc command. However, the trace information is captured on the client side where the add-ins are installed, thereby making the trace facility available to all the stated data servers.
When a trace is running, there is added overhead, so enabling the trace facility might impact your system's performance.

To use the add-ins trace facility:

Start the add-ins trace facility.
1. Open a command prompt.
2. On the command line, enter:
  db2trc on
Clear out the trace buffer. On the command line, enter:
db2trc clr
All existing information in the trace buffer is removed.
In Visual Studio, perform the actions that reproduce the issue.
Dump the information in the trace buffer to a file. On the command line, enter:
db2trc dmp trace_file_name.dmp
where trace_file_name.dmp is the full path to the file in which you capture the trace information.
The file that is created by the dmp option is in binary format and is not readable.
Stop the add-ins trace facility. On the command line, enter:
db2trc off
Generate the flow information from the trace. On the command line, enter:
db2trc flw trace_file_name.dmp flow_file_name.flw
where flow_file_name.flw is the full path to the file in which you store the flow information.
The flow information is essentially a control flow diagram that indicates the flow in which the processes were invoked.
Generate a formatted trace file. On the command line, enter:
db2trc fmt trace_file_name.dmp formatted_file_name.fmt
where formatted_file_name.fmt is the full path to the file in which you store the formatted trace information.
The formatted trace records appear in chronological order. Each record represents a trace point with its own identifying number. Each trace record contains the trace record type, the product, the component, the function, and the function category.

See Also