Which of the following methods works for measuring transformer performance?

• A. Running once with writers disabled, recording the total run time, then running with transformers also disabled, and then calculating the difference.
• B. Adding up the time elapsed for all transformer-related INFORM messages in the Translation Log.
• C. Disabling the writers and running the workspace.
• D. Using a stopwatch starting when features enter the first transformer and finishing when the translation ends.

Answer: (A)

Measuring transformer performance through differential timing isolates the exact time spent inside transformers. Running the workspace with writers disabled captures the total runtime, including all processing except writing. Then running with transformers also disabled removes the transformer work, leaving only the non-transformer work. Subtracting the second total from the first gives the time spent in transformers, while accounting for shared startup and overhead that appear in both runs.

To keep this accurate, use the same data and workspace configuration for both runs and only toggle writers and transformers as described. Other methods either rely on log message counts, which may not reflect actual execution time, or measure wall-clock time without isolating which components consumed it, leading to imprecise results.