Miniprofiler SQL logging in web application + wcf services

[vpujarla]

I am using MiniProfiler.3.2.0.157 (which current production ready version??)

Here is my scenario: Our project is designed in two layers,

1. presentation layer (ASP.NET Web Forms)
2. service layer (WCF).

Here we have added miniprofiler in presentation and wcf service layers and it works perfectly fine, we are able see profiling statistics in browser with tree level statistics (parent request and child request)

After that, we have added logging same to SQL server, then miniprofiler started giving issues and it was not logging WCF service profile timings/steps. We are getting exceptions at stop() method.
Looks like there is an issue with SqlServerStorage.Save() method.

I think, this code is some thing like given below:
if (profiler.Root != null)
{
profiler.Root.MiniProfilerId = profiler.Id;
this.FlattenTimings(profiler.Root, timings);
}

Can you please help me to find a way to get out of this issue and log my both layers of profiling statistics into SQL?

[NickCraver]

After that, we have added logging same to SQL server

Can you elaborate here on what you mean? What exactly did you add? Which one is started first in the request?

[vpujarla]

Thanks for your response NickCraver,

As I mentioned in my first comment like, My application is ASP.NET application and it interacts with WCF services. and I want to add profiling and log into sql server.

1. ASP.NET Global.asax has below code

protected void Application_BeginRequest(object sender, EventArgs e) 
{
this.Response.AddHeader("X-Profiler", "true");
MiniProfiler.Settings.IgnoredPaths = new[]
    {
    ".axd",
    ".ashx",
    ".xml",
    ".js",
    ".css",
    ".png",
    "/images/",
    ".ico",
    "/sitecore/service/"
};                
string con = "user id=****;pwd=*****;data source=*********;initial catalog=*****;persist security info=False;Pooling=true;";
MiniProfiler.Settings.Storage = new SqlServerStorage(con);
MiniProfiler.Settings.StackMaxLength = 400;
MiniProfiler.Settings.MaxJsonResponseSize = 2147483647;
MiniProfiler.Start();
}

protected void Application_EndRequest(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
            MiniProfiler.Stop();         
}

2. ASP.NET Web.config file has below code
   behaviorConfiguration="wcfMiniProfilerBehavior" to endpoint
   And also added below behaviorExtensions

<extensions>
      <behaviorExtensions>
        <add name="wcfMiniProfilerBehavior" type="StackExchange.Profiling.Wcf.WcfMiniProfilerBehavior, Miniprofiler.Wcf, Version=3.0.11.0, Culture=neutral" />
      </behaviorExtensions>
    </extensions>
    <behaviors>
      <endpointBehaviors>
        <behavior name="wcfMiniProfilerBehavior">
          <wcfMiniProfilerBehavior />
        </behavior>
      </endpointBehaviors>
    </behaviors>

3. In the WCF service web.config file has below config changes:

<extensions>
      <behaviorExtensions>
        <add name="wcfMiniProfilerBehavior" type="StackExchange.Profiling.Wcf.WcfMiniProfilerBehavior, Miniprofiler.Wcf, Version=3.0.11.0, Culture=neutral" />
      </behaviorExtensions>
    </extensions>
<services>
      <service behaviorConfiguration="" name="UtilityServices">
        <endpoint address="" behaviorConfiguration="miniProfilerBehavior" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="http" contract="IUtilityServices"/>
      </service>
    </services>

<behaviors>
      <endpointBehaviors>
        <behavior name="miniProfilerBehavior">
          <wcfMiniProfilerBehavior />
        </behavior>
      </endpointBehaviors>
      <serviceBehaviors>
        <behavior name="">
          <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true"/>
          <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="true"/>
        </behavior>
      </serviceBehaviors>
    </behaviors>

4. Added Step to log profiling in asp.net and wcf services like given below

using (var profile = MiniProfiler.Current.Step("ServiceName.GetRecordPerPage"))
{
-----------------------Code
-----------------------Code
}

5. Created required tables in sql server as per documentation.

Here is my problem, MiniProfiler is throwing an exception at MiniProfiler.Stop(); call.

If I remove database logging (below code) from asp.net global.asax file, then it is working perfectly fine.

string con = "user id=****;pwd=*****;data source=*********;initial catalog=*****;persist security info=False;Pooling=true;";
MiniProfiler.Settings.Storage = new SqlServerStorage(con);

Please help me to figure out the issue.

[NickCraver]

A few things here, first you'll want to move the .Settings code into Application_Start, as it only needs to run once and not every request.

The actual .Stop(); exception is almost certainly resolved in v4 (currently in alpha on NuGet, going to beta soon), but likely won't be fixed in v3. It's simply not worth the effort to back-port, setup builds, etc. Is there any chance you can upgrade? Info is here: https://miniprofiler.com/dotnet/

[vpujarla]

Sure I can move to V4. But, I am having trouble to get wcf profiling.

I am getting an exception and below are the details.

{"The type initializer for 'StackExchange.Profiling.Wcf.WcfMiniProfilerClientInspector' threw an exception."}
Could not load type 'StackExchange.Profiling.MiniProfiler' from assembly 'MiniProfiler, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b44f9351044011a3'.

Since I am using "MiniProfiler.WCF.3.0.11", its not able to load v4 miniprofiler.dll.

Do you have updated MiniProfiler.WCF which supports to v4? Can you please suggest me how to get wcf profiling to asp.net application?

Thanks,

[NickCraver]

There's no WCF provider for 4.0, but if someone wants to port it up I'm game to take a look. It's non-trivial since we have spit stacks and an entirely new pipeline now...so my recommendation is to probably stay on MiniProfiler 3.x for the life of that application.

While the null ref to the timing can be worked around in terms of not throwing, it still wouldn't save as the root on the thread is missing. This is possibly due to an async/thread change before then. In any case, it's a whole pipeline shift to make it work which necessitates a lot of changes to entire libraries (v4 was largely rewritten). I can look into the exceptions when time allows (which is scarce), but the honest answer is this will likely never work correctly unless someone wants to put significant effort into supporting WCF.

[NickCraver]

I'm going to close this out since there's no activity/change. If someone wants to contribute a WCF handler upgrade and re-introduce it in v4 I'd be happy to look, but by no means am I an expert. There's an open issue tracking that at #252.