FAQs and Troubleshooting

In this section:

How can I get quick access to information about usage on the command line?

Use the -help command line switch:

cpptestcli.exe -help

Why do I get notified that Parasoft DTP Plugin is slowing Visual Studio 2017?

Visual Studio 2017 introduced new performance management options to monitor and manage extensions that can affect startup time. As a result, a pop-up alert may appear when Parasoft DTP Plugin is installed to indicate that Visual Studio startup time has increased. You can click the Manage Visual Studio Performance link in the pop-up window to review the startup times and disable displaying the alert.

Why does Visual Studio 2015 not display code markers?

If the Parasoft DTP Plugin for Visual Studio is reinstalled, Visual Studio 2015 may fail to display code markers that indicate analysis findings or code coverage in the editor. This is caused by a Visual Studio known issue (see MEFCache bug breaks text adorments in any package for details). 

To ensure that code markers are properly shown, clear the Visual Studio MEF cache each time you reinstall or updated the Parasoft DTP Plugin. Use one of the following options:

• Use the Clear MEF Component Cache extension that will automatically clear the MEF cache (download here).
• Manually delete the cache directory. Depending on your installation details, the cache directory may be available in the following locations:
  - If the Plugin has been installed with the default options: %localappdata%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0\ComponentModelCache
  - If the Visual Studio registry suffix has been specified with the <SUFFIX> parameter during installation: %localappdata%\Microsoft\VisualStudio\14.0<suffix_name>\ComponentModelCache

How can I prevent my machine ID from floating?

Changes in the network environment may affect the interface that is used to compute your machine ID and result in machine ID instability. You can use the PARASOFT_SUPPORT_NET_INTERFACES environment variable to specify a stable interface and prevent the machine ID from floating.

1. Set up the PARASOFT_SUPPORT_NET_INTERFACES environment variable.

2. Set the variable value to a stable Ethernet network interface. Do not use virtual, temporary or loopback interfaces. 
   - On Windows: Set the value to the MAC address of your network card. You can use the ipconfig -all command to obtain the address.  For example:

   SET PARASOFT_SUPPORT_NET_INTERFACES=00-10-D9-27-AC-85

   
   - On Linux: Set the value to one of the network interfaces from the "inet" or "inet6" family. You can use the ifconfig command to obtain the list of available interfaces. For example: 

   export PARASOFT_SUPPORT_NET_INTERFACES=eth1

If the problem persists, you can obtain diagnostic information by setting up the environment variable PARASOFT_DEBUG_NET_INTERFACES and setting its value to true. This will print to the standard output the checking procedure that can be shared with technical support, as well as the interface that is used to compute your machine ID. The interface will be marked with the [SELECTED] prefix.