Vs2017 Source Not Available - debugging

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?

Related

Visual Studio setting to prompt loading symbols when not found

Let us assume the following code:
OuterMethod(InnerMethod())
InnerMethod is located in the current assembly that I am debugging so I can step into that. OuterMethod is located in another assembly that has been installed as a nuget package without symbols. I would also like to step into that. When I used to try that in VS2017 I would be met with a page asking me to load the symbols for that assembly, however in VS2022 this no longer happens and the debugger just steps over OuterMethod. How do I get VS to prompt me to locate the symbols for that assembly? Is there a setting somewhere? I am certainly not interested in disabling "Enable Just My Code" - this is not what I want and I remember being able to do this without disabling this setting.

How can I debug external code in Visual Studio 2019 when there is no PDB available?

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.

Breakpoints don't hit and/or Cannot find or open the PDB

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'

Break point not working and modules not loading dll files in VS 2010

I am using VS 2010 professional [64bit - Windows 7] and in my solutions, i have 3 class library project and 1 wcf service projects are there. All these dll's are refereneced in my WPF applications. For the last 1 year, it was working fine and i was able to debug the all the referenced projects. But from yesterday itself, debug is not working all of a sudden.
When I put a break point on a class in the wcf project, it says breakpoints cannot hit as the source file is different from....etc.
When I checked in the Debug --> Windows ---> Modules window, all those projects dlls are not seen there and says no pdb files are available ???
But in the WPF bin\Debug folder, i have all the referenced dlls and their pdb are ther.
What could be the problem ?
Even I am not able to debugg the wpf project as well. For getting break point or debug, each time i have to clean the solution or project then rebuild it again. Then i will be able to debug the WPF project.
In the case of referenced dlls, I removed the dlls and added the new compiled dll again and copied that pdb files to the wpf project exe folder. Still no use !!!!
I have changed the options in the Debug and Options [disabling and enabling the Just my code options etc]. But still it is not working.
This is not only my problem. One of my colleague also have this problem we took the whole latest solution code from TFS. SO I changed the Local code path to a new folder and took the latest code from TFS again. Still the problem exists !!
I am able to run the application. But debug is not working. In the WPF project, all those dlls are referenced properly.
Can anyone help us ???
I guess I don't have enough points to comment to ask specifics, so this may or may not solve your problem but I'll take a crack at it. Also, there appear to be other questions about this. So I would check those out first to see if they will help.
This question was solved by adding configuration to tell the program which version of the framework to use during debugging.
Why doesn't VS2010 debugger stop at my breakpoints?
Why does Visual Studio 2008 skip over my break points?
If those don't help, I'll give it a go.
When I put a break point on a class in the wcf project, it says breakpoints cannot hit as the source file is different from....etc.
This sounds like it could be one of the following issues:
Remote debugging and Visual Studio does not know where to load the symbols from or they are out-of-date
Need to clean and rebuild (which you seem to be doing)
The server you are running your WCF service on is not getting the updated DLLs and PDB files. If it's IIS Express, try killing the process between builds.
Also, make sure you are building in Debug mode and not Release mode. While building Release mode will generate the PDB files if it's set to do so which will allow you to debug an application, the code may be optimized as well which can cause breakpoints to be missed.

Configuring Visual Studio Source Server / Symbol Store against unsupported Vault SCM app

I am trying to configure our in house development code as a symbol server, with source control file access when debugging in Visual Studio 2008. We can use this on other projects that reference our core set of libraries.
Sadly, we use SourceGear Vault for our SCM system, which is currently unsupported when it comes to indexing our .PDB files with their source control references.
I wouldn't really need direct source control access, I'd be happy with just a network share access but I can't see how to update the references in the PDB files.
I have the symbol server configured and have added what would seem the right references to the original build source code, however, when I debug in Visual Studio and try and step into the code referenced, it does not load the PDBs from the source server and consequently no source code is available.
Also, where Visual Studio can download the core .NET PDB files via the Load Symbols command, I do not have that option when I click the module.
Does anyone have any personal experience of setting this sort of thing up?
Many thanks if anyone can help.
This issue has kind of been resolved at this other related question.
Source indexing was missing from the overall process so the PDB symbol server should work properly now.

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