Clarification on TraceSource/Trace

Question

I've been going back forth through the documentation and web searches, and haven't found a concise description of this stuff and hope someone can help me sort out the knots I've developed in my brain.

From what I can tell, the tracesource class essentially replaces the traditional Trace class.  If I add a listener to the trace section of my config file, I receive all the trace information to that listener (ie, calls to trace.write, trace.traceerror, etc...).  If that same listener is moved into the sources section under a source definition, I don't receive any of the trace information sent via calls to trace.write, etc.  I have to make calls directly to that trace source via something like 
    TraceSource t = new TraceSource("Source Name");
     t.TraceInformation(....);
Is there not a way to receive calls to the normal Trace functions via a TraceSource object?  Or do you have to make explicit calls via instantiation of a TraceSource object?

My second question is about the filter setting.  What does the TraceSource compare with its filter?  In the only example I can find in the documentation, it looks like its related to the function name or either the name of the TraceSource object, neither of which really makes any sense.

I hope this makes sense to someone else...  I've got me head so wrapped around I'm not sure which way is up anymore.

Answer 1

As you said, TraceSource is an "upgraded" Trace system.  Mike Rousos wrote a great blog entry while .NET 2.0 was still beta, but it's an excellent explanation of the system (if a bit deep).

http://blogs.msdn.com/bclteam/archive/2005/03/15/396431.aspx

 

For a more brief explanation, see Robbins' Bugslayer article:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/05/07/Bugslayer/