.fmtrace files
What a recording contains, and what to keep in mind before sharing one.
A recording is a single file with the extension .fmtrace. It is self-contained:
everything the viewer draws comes out of that one file, and it stays readable
after the database it came from has moved on.
What is in one
- Every script run, with its start time and duration.
- Every step execution, with its timing and its position in the source script.
- The source text of the scripts that ran, so the viewer can show you the step listing without needing the database.
- Captured values — variables and field contents that steps produced.
- Errors, as the non-zero
Get(LastError)results attached to their steps.
Opening one
Double-click it, or open fmTrace.app and choose it. Recordings open
automatically when you stop a recording.
Sharing one
Recordings are ordinary files: mail them, drop them in a shared folder, keep them next to a bug report.
A recording contains real data.
Captured values are the actual contents of variables and fields at the moment the step ran, and the file contains the source text of your scripts. Before sending a recording to anyone, consider what was in the records you touched while it was running.Keeping them
There is no library to maintain and nothing to clean up. Delete the files you do not want. A recording from an old build still opens in a newer viewer.