I am trying to debug some issues occurring within an external library (ClosedXML). If I can work out exactly what's going wrong, I should be able to apply workarounds to the code that calls it.
I have added ClosedXML and manage it via NuGet.
Unfortunately, the debugger states that ClosedXML.PDB cannot be loaded. The checkboxes for 'Microsoft Symbol Servers' and 'NuGet.org Symbol Server' are both checked.
A suggestion was to generate my own pdb file. So, I cloned the ClosedXML repo, checked out the 0.95.4 commit (the version of the NuGet package I'm using) and built the project in Debug mode. I then directly referenced the pdbs produced in the ClosedXML binaries folder in the 'No Symbols Loaded' page in Visual Studio. Unfortunately, none of them work. They each have the same error message:
...\source\repos\ClosedXML\ClosedXML\bin\Debug\net46\ClosedXML.pdb: PDB does not match image.
...\source\repos\ClosedXML\ClosedXML\bin\Debug\net40\ClosedXML.pdb: PDB does not match image.
...\source\repos\ClosedXML\ClosedXML\bin\Debug\netstandard2.0\ClosedXML.pdb: PDB does not match image.
This isn't surprising as the DLL and the PDB weren't built on the same machine, but it is unfortunate.
So, my current workaround is to dereference the NuGet package and instead reference the DLL I've built locally. This works, but it is far from ideal.
To confirm, 'Just My Code' is disabled.
Is there any way I can debug the external code without resorting to changing references each time?
You can use my Runtime Flow tool to investigate called methods and parameters in ClosedXML without .pdb.
Related
I´m trying to debug a System.Net.Http.Formating.dll, by clicking at the stack trace:
System.Net.Http.Formatting.dll!System.Net.Http.Formatting.JsonMediaTypeFormatter.WriteToStreamAsync.AnonymousMethod__c()
I´ve the "Just my code disabled" and I have the following symbols servers:
https://nuget.smbsrc.net
http://localhost:33417/ (dot peek)
Microsoft Symbol Server
I do have the pdb available, however I get the following error/image.
How to properly overcome it?
Why is it such a hassle to debug third party source code at Visual Studio?
After following the link pointed by #Jack Zhai-MSFT I was finally able to understaand the reasons why the .net framework couldn´t be debugged.
It turned out that the symbols were being downloaded without their respective source, because I was pointing to Microsoft Symbol Server instead of http://referencesource.microsoft.com/symbols
Then, my following attempt was to uncheck the "Microsoft Symbols Server" or to change the order at the Symbols menu. To my surprise, I couldn´t delete it, nor change the order, and, even after it was disabled the symbols were still fetched from there.
Perhaps this is a VS2017 community bug.
What I did next, that actually solved it:
Deleted my symbol cache that had misleading pdbs without source
Enabled just my code flag, disabling “Enable .NET Framework source stepping” and started the app, on debug mode
Paused at a breakpoint in which, at the stack, I had access to the code I wanted to debug
Double clicked such stack, and then hit Load Symbols.
This time around, for some reason, the Microsoft Symbol Server was skipped, and the right pdbs were downloaded
Note that, still, I couldn´t download some "optimized symbols" like system.net.http, but I´ll try to figure that out next
Also, I setup the symbols servers using that as a reference, which helped me to promptly get any third party symbols (Except .net)
https://www.symbolsource.org/Public/Wiki/Using
EDIT:
With the help of dotPeeker I was able to get all the missing pdb files by:
Loading these dlls into dotpeeker (ex: System.Net.Http)
Load one of the source files from that DLL
Hit Generate PDB and store it into the same cache folder as VS2017 uses
PHEW!! What a hassle for something that should have been trivial!
To debug third party source code, you could use the .NET Reflector or dotPeek with VS.
Reference:
Is it possible to actually debug 3rd party code using the source decompiled with dotPeek?
Update:
If you just want to debug the .NET source code, see: How do I debug .NET 4.6 framework source code in Visual Studio 2017?
I have 2 solutions, Source.sln and Client.sln both containing multiple projects.
After compiling Source I will copy all the dll and pdb to a Lib folder so that the projects in Client can use it. I added dll reference to this Lib folder for required projects in Client.
While debugging I couldn't step into the code of projects in source. I have referred so many SO and MSDN questions and did many changes. Apart from the steps performed below , could someone help me out to resolve this.
Clean and Build solution in Source. Copied new dll and pdb to Lib folder.
Enable Just my code is unchecked in debugger settings
Target framework matches in all projects
Symbol cache cleared
Debug info is set to full in Build-> Advanced Tab. Configuration is Debug
Deleted suo file from solution
Also tried to map the pdb at runtime from Debug-> Windows->Modules and for the specific dll. Getting an error like 'a matching symbol file was not found in this folder'
Please note that I am running a Unit Test
I've included a NuGet package (Edge.js) that I would like to debug by stepping into the source code. When I "step in" it "steps over". I'm guessing this is because there are no symbol file to step in to. Possibly the EdgeJS package was published without sources and this could be the reason. However I don't know how to verify if a NuGet package contains the pdb symbols.
It might also be that I failed configuration of Visual Studio but because I don't know if the NuGet package contains symbols I don't know which way to look.
Thanks for any help
Nuget supports creating packages that contain PDB and source files with the nuget pack -Symbols command. Usually, these packages are uploaded to symbolsource.org for open source projects. Visual Studio can be configured to use symbolsource.org during debugging, see this guide.
However, not every open source project uploads symbol packages to symbolsource.org, so you have to check whether Edge.js does (I don't know that library).
If Edge.js does not provide symbol packages, your options are as follows:
Download the edge.js sources and build locally with debug symbols. Copy the DLL and the PDB to the output folder of your application and start debugging.
Use a decompiler. You don't get as much information as with the debug symbols and source files, but it may suffice for your case. The decompiler that ships with Resharper (commercial tool) is pretty useful for debugging DLLs in this manner.
You can't "step-into" anything if you don't have the source code. Debug symbols won't help in this case.
You can step-into the decompiled code only by using third-party tools like RedGate's Reflector or Telerik's JustCode that decompile the IL on the fly and generate C# code for viewing purposes. These tools don't need the debug symbols to work, although they can use them to make the decompiled code more presentable.
Breakpoints don't hit and Cannot find or open the PDB
My breakpoints aren't hitting in a known good class. I know the class is working becuase the data is flowing through. They worked yesterday. I also tried a class that I haven't touched in weeks (another known good) and the breakpoints wouldn't work there either.
I have:
- Verified I am building in debug mode
- In my solution > Properties Configuration Properties > Configuration I verified each project is set to Debug and Build
- Went to Tools > Options > Debugging and disabled "Enable Just My Code"
- Cleaned and rebuilt the solution
- Restarted Visual Studio
- Rebooted my computer
I have the Modules window open in Debug. Many of my modules show "Cannot find or open the PDB file." Many show "Symbols loaded" (that is good.)
For the files that do not have matching PDBs I right-click and go to Load Symbols From > Symbol Path. Of course there is no PDB in the symbol path. When I right-click and go to Load Symbols From > Microsoft Symbol Servers I get nothing. I have searched the root of my drive looking for these specific PDBs.
Here is an example of the affected DLLs:
Microsoft.CSharp.dll
System.EnterpriseServices.dll
System.Runtime.Serialization.dll
System.Web.WebPages.Deployment.dll
System.Web.ApplicationServices.dll
Based on what I found online the PDB issue is realated, but if I can hit my breakpoints withouth PDBs then I'm happy.
I checked out: Visual Studio 2010 "Cannot find or open the PDB file" with no joy.
I would really like to hit my breakpoints.
Thanks!
PDB files should be in the bin directory along with your other files. They are created when you compile your project. If they are not there, you may have turned them off even while in debug mode. For Vb, look under MyProject->Compile->Advanced Compiler Options and make sure Generate debug info is set to Full. Not sure what the analog in C# is though.
Also for a web project, I had this problem when I had a release version running in the same app-pool as my debug version. Try using a dedicated app pool for your debugging if that's the case.
OK, this is totally embarrassing... I wanted to step through my web services, but to do so I needed to send information from my client application. I had my client app pointing at the wrong server. Bummer.
.Net Reflector can generate the PDB files for most assemblies referenced in your project. I have found it to be extremely helpful.
http://www.red-gate.com/products/dotnet-development/reflector/
Once installed, in Visual Studio: View > .NET Reflector Object Browser > Right click assembly and 'Enable Debugging'
I'm trying to debug some of the examples provided in the Maya API SDK.
Building the DLL with Visual Studio 2010 in debug mode worked fine, and the plugin, once loaded into Maya, worked fine.
However after attaching, Visual Studio complains about cannot find or open the PDB file.
I ignored those warning and set some break points, but clearly VS does not break.
Regarding building plugins and debugging by attaching them to Maya, I've read:
https://alliance.seas.upenn.edu/~cis660/wiki/index.php?title=Debug_CPP_Plugin
http://devmaster.net/forums/topic/6965-how-to-debug-a-plugin/
http://www.creativecrash.com/forums/api/topics/help-33-how-do-i-debug-my-plugin
On SE, I have read the following suggestions:
Why is Visual Studio 2010 not able to find/open PDB files?
PDB does not match image Error
Visual Studio 2010 "Cannot find or open the PDB file"
In particular, I tried:
making sure that the plugin that I am loading into Maya is the one that I just built;
verifying that the PDB has the same name, is in the same folder, has been created at
the same time than the DLL;
loading manually the PDB ("A matching symbol was not found");
activating the Symbol Server in VS (fine, but I got only the Microsoft ones obviously)
Usually, putting the pdb in the same folder will always work - however, the times where this doesn't is usually because your dll is being loaded from elsewhere in the path and its not actually running the dll you think it is (at least, that's what happens to me).
Once your app is running, try and delete the dll - if you can, its not loaded. Or you can look at the path in the modules window in VS. That will also give a clue to why its not loaded and give you the option to manually load symbols from anywhere on disk.