Visual Studio Hacks

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Chapter 9, Server Explorer Hacks

#73 Access Performance Counters

HACK

HACK

#73

Access Performance Counters Hack #73

Windows’ performance counters can reveal all sorts of information about the

inner working of your machine. Use the Server Explorer to interact with these

performance counters.

The Server Explorer provides an excellent interface to access the perfor-

mance counters on your computer. Using the Server Explorer, you can drag

performance counters directly from the Server Explorer to your application.

In this hack, you will see how to build a simple application that reads from a

performance counter and reports its value to the user.

The Server Explorer includes a node called Performance Counters, which

can be seen in Figure 9-1.

Each of the nodes you see in Figure 9-1 is a category that includes a number

of performance counters listed beneath it. The contents of the Memory cate-

gory can be seen in Figure 9-2.

Figure 9-1. Server Explorer—Performance Counters node

Access Performance Counters #73

Chapter 9, Server Explorer Hacks

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From the Server Explorer, you can then drag the performance counter to

your Windows Forms, and you will see the counter show up in the compo-

nent section of your form, as seen in Figure 9-3.

Once the performance counter object has been added to your form, you ...