--- title: "Troubleshooting Using the Profiler" slug: "troubleshooting-using-the-profiler" description: "This document shows how to use the Profiler under the Decisions System Tools. Doing so will help Designers find problems within their Flows by writing out all step executions, along with the count of executions, and the time they took to complete." updated: 2026-02-24T15:03:24Z published: 2026-02-24T15:03:24Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.decisions.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Troubleshooting Using the Profiler ## Overview The Decisions **Profiler**is designed to help the Designer find problems in their Flows. The Profiler writes out and captures data on all step executions and the count of Executions/Objects and the Time they took to complete the action. This information can be used by Administrative accounts to see which parts of a system or process can be better optimized. An Admin can see which processes are running as expected, which are running slower, which ones are idle, etc. This document is an introduction to using the Profiler to determine such issues and how to access and use the Profiler from multiple points within Decisions. Users may access a Profiler Session in a few ways; via the System folder, by profiling a specific Flow, or through the Debugger on a Flow. Actions were changed in v9.5, older versions will be different from the screenshots below. --- ## System Tools To access the **Profiler,**navigate to the desired **Project****> Manage > Health****> Profiler**. Four tiles on the Profile View Dashboard: Flow Execution, Database Calls, Flow Steps, and Hotspots. - Flow Execution: Number of Flows executed. - Database Calls: Total number of calls made to a Database - Flow Steps: Total number of Steps executed. - Hotspots: Shows the number of items for which MilliSecondsWithoutChildren is greater than 1000. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2024-12-12_11h17_48.png) --- ## Start new Profiling Session 1. Select the **START NEW PROFILING SESSION** button from the top Action bar of the **Profiler**. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/Screenshot%202024-12-12%20113230.png) 2. The **Profile Data** window will appear with the following configurations; **Profile Name, Summarize Profile Events Less Than (ms), Only Profile Top Level Service Methods, and Save Current**. - **Profile Name**: The name given to identify this Profile Session for viewing later. - **Summarize Profile Events Less Than (ms)**: A parameter that summarizes Profile Events if they are recorded in less time than the defined number. For example, the details will be summarized if a Profile Event is recorded in less than 5 milliseconds. Summarized Profile Events are also viewable via the PROFILE VIEW (SUMMARIZED) tab. - **Only Profile Top Level Service Methods**: This setting excludes web service calls in child processes.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2024-12-12_13h54_02.png) 3. Upon clicking **OK**, the Profile Session resets and begins running. While the Profiler is running, clicking the **STOP PROFILING** button in the top Action Bar provides options to stop the Profile and either **Save Profile Data First** or stop **Without Saving.**Selecting the Without Saving option under STOP PROFILING will NOT record Profile Data. --- ## Profile Actions 1. Right-click a **Profile Session** and users gain access to actions. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2024-12-12_11h37_42.png) ### Open Text View **Open Text View** downloads a Text file that lists out all of the Profile Data. For this example text file, a Flow is called with a Rule that will run inside the Flow. It is important to note that these items are nested within each other; the nesting is indicated by indentation within the text file. Each nesting has an **Item, Type, Total Time, Total Time w/o Children, Count, Min time, Max Time**, and **Avg Time**. If the **Item** is **WaitForEvents**, these Items may be ignored as they are waiting for specific time frames. If the **Type** is **FlowStep,** this may also typically be ignored, as this Type rarely is the problem. Take note of **Total Time**, **Total Time w/o Children** and **Count**, as they likely pinpoint the problematic parts of a workflow. In this example Text file, the Flow that was called has a **Total Time** of **69480** ms, and the **Total Time w/o Children** is **277** ms; the gap in these two numbers is what needs to be evaluated. To find what is taking the longest, look for the **Item** that **Total Time** and **Total Time w/o Children** have close together or equal. The **Count** reflects how many times the **Item** ran. Skimming down further in this text file, notice a Rule has a **Total Time** that is **27933** ms, and the **Total Time w/o Children** is also **27933** ms. In this example, this Rule is why the Flow is running slow. ![2019-06-06_100313.PNG](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2019-06-06_100313.PNG) ### Profile Data **Profile Data**downloads a file (profile.xml) that can be loaded into the Decisions Profiler to be viewed. This is a good option for sharing Profile Data with Decisions support. This is the same data as the .txt file from the Open Text View, just in the .xml format. ### Use **Use**loads the **Profile Data** into the **Profile Report View** tab. This displays the same data in the text file, except it is loaded in the Decisions Portal. The report only shows the top-level items. To view the data for the children's items, click on a top-level item and select **Show Children** from the Action Menu. ### Show Children **Show Children** opens the **Children**in a simple text view box as shown below. When looking through the Profile Data, look for either unexpectedly large **Counts** or **Time******values, as they likely pinpoint the problematic parts of a workflow.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2024-12-12_11h35_00.png) ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/Screenshot%202024-03-07%20150020.png) ### Profile Flow In addition to profiling the whole system, users may utilize a special action to view Profiling details on a specific Flow. To Profile a Flow, stop the Profiler by selecting **STOP PROFILING** from the top Action bar, and then select either **Save Profile Data First** or **Without Saving**.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/2024-12-12_11h58_53.png) Then, navigate to and right-click on the Flow to be Profiled, and select **Run [Advanced] > Profile Flow**. This will pull up the**Profile Result** page for the Flow. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/Screenshot%202024-03-07%20150453(1).png) ## Debugger In addition to accessing the **Profiler**through **System Tools** and via the **Profile Flow** action, users may use the Profiler within the **Debugger**. 1. To initiate the Profiler from the Debugger, select **STOP PROFILING** within the Profiler via the top Action bar. 2. Then open a Flow in the **Flow****Designer**, click the arrow beside **Debug** and select **Debug****>****Profile****Flow**from the top Action bar.![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/image-1750779717988.png) Similar to how using **Profile****Flow**on a Flow acts, a **Profile Result** page for the Debugger's Profiler will appear, displaying Profile information pertaining to the Flow on which the action was enacted. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/6ef8bcc1-6489-4486-9ad1-83acff7e5df0/Images/Documentation/Screenshot%202024-03-07%20150453.png) --- ## Feature Changes | Description | Version | Release | Developer Task | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Removed the Download action and replaced it with Download Text View. Profiler downloads are now only in .txt format. | [9.5](https://documentation.decisions.com/v99/docs/version-95x-release-notes) | November 2024 | [DT-042518] | --- For further information on Administration, visit the [Decisions Forum](https://community.decisions.com/categories/Administration).