Introduction

The Save function can be used to save a Section instance (and all of its contained sections) to an XML file. Saving a Section can be helpful in a number of situations:

• To save a snapshot of performance before making changes so that the effectiveness of the changes can be measured

• To send a file to another developer for assistance in improving performance

• To save a file from a device (such as Android or iOS) for viewing on a PC

Saving on Android

The following code can be used to save on Android:

string path;
path = Android.OS.Environment.ExternalStorageDirectory.AbsolutePath;
string fileName = System.IO.Path.Combine(path, "Sections.xml");
mSection.Save(fileName);

This will save to the following folder:

/storage/emulated/0/Sections.xml

This file can be accessed using the FS File Explorer app on Android.

Introduction

The GetAndStartContextAndTime method can be used to create a new Section instance for timing. If called multiple times, then the newly-created section will be added as a child of the section created on the previous GetAndStartContextAndTime call.

Code Example

The following code shows how to create multiple sections. This code intentionally sleeps the thread to keep the sample as simple as possible.

using FlatRedBall.Performance.Measurement;

void CustomInitialize()
{
    var section = Section.GetAndStartContextAndTime("Top Level");
    SlowFunction1();
    SlowFunction2();
    Section.EndContextAndTime();

    var result = section.ToStringVerbose();
}

private void SlowFunction1()
{
    Section.GetAndStartContextAndTime("Function 1");
    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
    Section.EndContextAndTime();
}
private void SlowFunction2()
{
    Section.GetAndStartContextAndTime("Function 2");
    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(2000);
    Section.EndContextAndTime();
}

This code produces the following string in the result variable:

<Name: Top Level Time: 3.009174
  <Name: Function 1 Time: 1.002565>
  <Name: Function 2 Time: 2.000252>
>

Notice that GetAndStartContextAndTime is a static method. This method, along with EndTimeAndContext, can be called from the static Section class, so your code does not have to keep track of the created sections. However, the top-level section is used to report the timing information using ToStringVerbose, so the code above preserves a reference to the return value for the first GetAndStartContextAndTime call.

Section and TimeManager

Section internally uses the TimeManager's Stopwatch class to perform timing. Therefore, to use GetAndStartContextAndTime, you must either:

• Call this method after FlatRedBallServices.InitializeFlatRedBall

• Manually call TimeManager.InitializeStopwatch

Introduction

Section is a class which can be used to measure and report performance in FlatRedBall. It has the following features/benefits:

• Supports a tree structure so that sections can be sub-divided.

• Supports a context system so different sections of code can create sections without requiring managing and passing around references

• Can be serialized to a compact XML file.

• Supports being loaded in the FlatRedBall Profiler.

Code Example

The following shows the simplest way to time a section and print the result. Add the following using statement:

using FlatRedBall.Performance.Measurement;

If you add this code to an Update or Activity function it will be called every frame, so you will want to add it to your game's Initialize or a Screen's CustomInitialize:

// This starts the timing of the section
Section.GetAndStartContextAndTime("Demo Section");

System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);

// This ends the timing of the section.
// We store off the reference to the created
// section so we can...
Section result = Section.EndContextAndTime();

// ...print it out here:
FlatRedBall.Debugging.Debugger.CommandLineWrite(result);

Introduction

ToStringVerbose will return information about the Section that the function is being called on. This can be used to get information about the Section in a human-readable format similar to XML.

depth parameter

You can use the depth parameter to limit how much information is being displayed. The following shows how this works: