Enabling Process Dump

The process dump feature can be used to obtain information on the state of an application when an exception occurs, the application fails, or the application is hung. For a description of scenarios when you would use the process dump tool in COM+, see Process Dump Tool Concepts.

Note   Component Services does not perform any dump file management. Dump files are usually large, so it is recommended that users periodically delete or archive these files.

To dump an application on exception or failure

1. In the Component Services administrative tool, locate and right-click the COM+ application for which you want to enable process dumping, and then click Properties.
   
   
2. In the application properties dialog box, click the Dump tab.
   
   
3. In the Image Dump Directory text box, enter the complete path to the dump file. Do not include the filename. The default path is %SystemRoot%\system32\com\dmp.
   
   
4. In the Maximum Number of Dump Images list box, enter the maximum number of dump files to be generated before overwriting occurs. The valid range is 1 through 200 files; the default is 5.
   
   
5. Under Enable Process Image Dump, check the Enable Image Dump on Application Fault check box.
   
   
6. Click OK.

To dump an application when it hangs

1. In the Running Processes folder of the console tree of the Component Services administrative tool, right-click the COM+ application that is hanging and then click Dump.
   
   
2. A dump file is generated in the folder specified in the Image Dump Directory text box on the Dump tab of the application's property pages.

For information about how to disable process dump, see Disabling Process Dump.