Is there any way to remotely upload, run and debug an application on another computer?
I know you can attach the Visual Studio Remote Debugger to an application running on a remote computer, but I'm looking for a completely automated way of doing it.
I'm building a home automation system, and it would be AWESOME if I could get some kind of plugin to visual studio which would let me hit F5 in VS and then the application would just build as normal and be sent to my server PC and run there (with remote debugging attached).
The problem is that my laptop don't have all the hardware that my server PC has. I can connect it manually to my laptop but the be honest, that is gonna get boring after doing it 2 - 3 times... Also, the Serial port names and some of the other hardware related stuff is different between the two computers. So that means I have different configurations, for each system.
Last but not least, I would almost call it the most important thing haha:
I wan't to be able to lay down in my bed and code, or sit in the living room eating pizza, while debugging my home automation. Right now I'm tied to my desk by 3 USB cables, an audio cable and a HDMI cable going to my TV... That's kinda messed up.
The remote debugging exists... We have uploaded files for at least 10 years now... We have had programs run other programs before... Please tell me someone have invented this system!!!
Btw. I'm fine with interacting with the application over Teamviewer. I just don't want to have to go through the "F5 -> Teamviewer -> Do stuff on local pc -> Do stuff on remote pc -> Test software -> Find bugs -> Repeat" process.
It would be nice if I could just log in and the program was already up and running. Also If I could make the STOP button stop the software on the remote PC it would be fantastic, and I might even consider sending a six-pack full of beer to the guy who made it possible haha.
I'm not aware such a product exists however there are a number of things you can do to make the mundane tasks much easier.
1) Change your Start action from Start Project to Start External Program
In run_remote_process.bat you add scripts that
a) copy your binaries to your remote/server PC
b) use remcom to start your process on the remote machine
Now for the coding bit: add this to your Main entry method:
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
if(args.Any(arg=>arg=="debug"))
{
while (!Debugger.IsAttached)
{
Thread.Sleep(100);
}
Debugger.Break();
}
}
make sure you pass the debug argument when starting your process. This will hang your process until you attach to it.
So now all you are left to do is Attach to Process using Visual Studio. You can use keyboard shortcuts to do this quickly:
Alt-D, P (press enter) Then press the letter of your process to scroll to it (Enter)
and away you go!
Not ideal but much better than many manual steps.
Related
Visual Studio 2017 - I inherited code for a server. Sits on an IIS port 60480 and waits for a call to a controller. At least that is what it is supposed to do.
When I press the green arrow next to Server (on the right), it starts and runs one of the test controllers.
The test runs correctly, but then when I close the test browser window, it stops debugging. I don't want the test script to be called at all!
I'm afraid I don't know how this "script" is set up. So that I can change it.
What I want is for NO test function to be called at all; rather, it should just wait for a call to come in from the front end.
I appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.
Chuck ("Yogi")
If processor of emulator was set to X86 that cannot run your project in the emulator, but you set the processor to the armeabi-v7a, you can run your emulator normally, am I right?
If so, this issue was related to the Hardware acceleration for emulator performance.
Here are two ways to achieve that. Based on your description, you do not have Hyper-V, so you can choose the Intel's Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager (HAXM) to accelerate it.
Let check the following settings in your computer.
Disable the disable Device Guard.
Then Verifying HAXM support, You said your computer have enabled the Intel VT-x, could you double check it like this link ?
If your hardware supports HAXM, we can Open a command prompt window and enter the following command.
If the state is stop or not set to RUNNING, then HAXM is not installed. You can download it and install it.
I've been fighting this little problem for a while now, so I'm really hoping I can get some help. I've been looking for a solution to this, and I found this SO question: Debugging doesn't start.
My issue is somewhat similar to the issue discussed here, except that my issue is a two-parter.
Part 1: Similar to the issue discussed on the other question. (Debug Window Doesn't show up)
When I attempt to launch my Windows 32 console application project (The simple kind that opens in the windows CLI). The CLI (or CMD) window doesn't open, and windows idles giving me a spinning cursor wheel. Visual Studio IDE (I'm using VS 2013 Community) becomes unresponsive and I cannot access any menus, or use any hotkey to "Stop Debugging". One difference from the provided SO question though, is that when I try to launch "MyProject.exe" from my project's "Debug" folder I get the same result as attempting to debug in the IDE.
Part 2: Unkillable Process
When I try to close my debug application in the windows task manager, it is not listed as an ongoing process. However, whenever I try to manipulate, delete, or otherwise modify my Project.exe application (in my Project's "Debug" folder), windows informs me that the application is in use. Confused by this, I downloaded two applications. The first was Process explorer, which showed me that I did in fact have 2 instances of "MyProject.exe" running. The second was Process Hacker, which also showed me 2 instances of "MyProject.exe". However, neither of these programs were able to terminate either of the "MyProject.exe" processes.
I am capable of terminating the processes for visual studio and restarting the IDE, however, because the "MyProject.exe" processes are still running. Building always fails with the error
"Error 1 error LNK1168: cannot open C:\Users\Brandon\Desktop\MyProject\Debug\MyProject.exe for writing"
Whenever I restart my computer, the lock files (as expected) are removed, and the "MyProject.exe" processes disappear. I can restart VS and everything works, but if I try to Debug (pressing "Start Debugging" or F5) the same issue occurs.
A process of my program is started ("MyProject.exe"), but the CLI window where my program's text should appear doesn't show up. Visual studio locks up, and "MyProject.exe" persists until the next restart because "MyProcess.exe" cannot be terminated.
My solution configuration is set to "Debug", Solution Platforms = Win32.
I have tried creating a new blank console project in VS 2013 and I get the same result: code builds fine, but I have the same debugging issue. I get an identical result with a quickly assembled "Hello World" project.
Sorry for being a noob, but honestly. I really don't know what's going on, so any help is greatly appreciated.
(Note: Running Windows 10 with VS2013)
EDIT (UPDATE):
So, I'm having the same problem with several programs in Windows 10 (most notably Allegorithmic's Substance Painter). So it looks like this may actually be an OS problem. Several of my programs whenever I try to launch them do the same thing...the program acts like it's going to launch, but then no usable window appears. Looking at my processes I can see that the process has been started, but it is once again unkillable. For reference, I am using Windows 10 Version 1511 (OS Build 10586.17).
I believe your problem might be Avast, if you are running it. I had exactly the same issues until I uninstalled it. Had upgraded to Win10 and VS2013 just froze, same as you described.
Cheers.
I have a program that I run on multiple network PCs. When I compiled the most recent version, it runs extremely slowly on 2 PCs on the network, but runs fine for everyone else.
This used to happen with my old dev PC when I had an additional 2gb RAM installed. When I would remove the additional 2gb and recompile, it would then work fine for everyone.
Now, I am on a completely new machine and am having the same issue. I've tried to rebuild the project after rebooting, but still have the same issue.
For all other PCs, the program loads in about 3-5 seconds. On these 2 PCs, it takes anywhere from 45 seconds to 1.5 mins to load...
One of the PCs is an older Dell Dimension 8200, but the other is a newer OptiPlex that is identical to several other PCs on the network, so this is what is really making it so confusing.
For now, I've had to revert to the old version so it will run correctly for everyone.
Does anyone have any idea of anything to try?
Thanks in advance!!!
Edit:
Ok, it was an exhausting day yesterday trying various things to solve this issue. Here is what I tried and where the problem begins:
Using the new program
Went back to old versions of all updated components, but still had the same issue
Using the old program
I decided to go back to the drawing board and start from the old version of the application and incrementally add the new features a small piece at a time.
Recompiled the old version using the old components - program works fine
Updated to new DevExpress components - program works fine
Updated to new ESBPCS components - program works fine
Updated to new DeepSoftware components - program works fine
Ok, so now we know there is nothing with the component sets I've updated...
Added 1 image to each of 2 image lists - program works fine
Added new database table - program works fine
Added code to open and close the new table - program works fine
Added new action to action list and added a menu item and toolbar button to new action (action does nothing at this point) - program works fine
Added a new BLANK form to the application and added code to open the new form - BAM!!!
So, adding just one form to the application is what's causing the issue! I removed all the code for the opening of the form, commented out the uses clauses and removed the uses entry from the project source and everything is back to normal!
Anybody have any idea about this?
Thanks!
Edit 2:
For #Warren P - here is my .DPR source:
program Scheduler;
uses
ExceptionLog,
Forms,
SchedulerMainUnit in 'SchedulerMainUnit.pas' {FrmMain},
SchedulerDBInfoUnit in 'SchedulerDBInfoUnit.pas' {FrmDBInfo},
SchedulerHistoryUnit in 'SchedulerHistoryUnit.pas' {FrmHistory},
SchedulerOptionsUnit in 'SchedulerOptionsUnit.pas' {FrmOptions},
SchedulerExtVersionUnit in 'SchedulerExtVersionUnit.pas' {FrmExtVersion},
SchedulerSplashUnit in 'SchedulerSplashUnit.pas' {FrmSplash},
SchedulerInfoUnit in 'SchedulerInfoUnit.pas' {FrmInfo},
SchedulerShippedUnit in 'SchedulerShippedUnit.pas' {FrmShipped}; {<-- This is the new form with the issue}
{$R *.res}
begin
Application.Initialize;
Application.Title := 'SmartWool WIP Scheduling Assistant';
Application.CreateForm(TFrmMain, FrmMain);
Application.CreateForm(TFrmDBInfo, FrmDBInfo);
Application.CreateForm(TFrmHistory, FrmHistory);
Application.CreateForm(TFrmOptions, FrmOptions);
Application.CreateForm(TFrmExtVersion, FrmExtVersion);
Application.Run;
end.
And here is the intialization section of the main form to create the splash:
initialization
FrmSplash:=TFrmSplash.Create(Application);
FrmSplash.Show;
FrmSplash.Refresh;
Edit 3:
Anybody??? Please?
It could be that the program is waiting for timeouts when trying to access resources that are not available on that machine such as network drives or Internet hosts.
Try running Process Monitor when starting up your program and look for file open calls. Filter the output so it only shows your process.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645
Performance problems initially can seem very daunting at first.
I have been on many teams where people have tried to guess at a reason for performance problems. This sometimes works, but is far less effective than actually measuring the code.
When reproducible on a development machine, I would recommend a profiler.
There was a previous question that asked about
Delphi Profiling tools which has several possible tools you could use.
When you can't reproduce the problem on your development machine, then it becomes a bit more difficult, but not impossible. Typically I have found that problems are related to an application dependency that is different, and not performing well. Understanding the external influences on your application can help pinpoint the problem.
Specifically common external problems in some of my applications.
Network
Database
Application Servers
Installation or Data File Location (i.e. Disk Performance)
Virus and Malware Scanners
Other application interring with yours such as a virus.
To monitor for items related to the network (i.e. Database, web services, etc...)
I typically use Wireshark which allows me to see if resources are responding in expected times. My most common problem is poor performing DNS and can found using Wireshark.
You can use the AutoRuns program to determine everything that starts up when your computer does, it's useful in determine differences between machines.
But most of all I have logging that can be turned on in my applications and this allows me to isolate the problem to a specific area of code. This narrowing down to a specific section of code reduces the guessing, and allows you to focus on a few possible problems.
I created a log function for this that I call at specific places (in your case especially during startup). It adds a timestamp to each log text and stores them in a TMemo that is regularly saved. Not only very helpful when debugging, but may also shed some light on your problem.
Are you using code signing - ie Microsoft Authenticode? If so, then outdated certificate authorities on the computers can cause significant delays to startup.
First, I would try to defragment the hard disk. If still slow, I would check the power supply. Maybe your hard disk are getting insufficient energy.
Check if there is the same antivirus software on those 2 problematic computers. If so, then your Delphi application may match byte pattern used in some virus made in Delphi. Update virus definitions to solve it, or report false alarm to antivirus company, or change antivirus software.
Check if there isn't any printer installed on those 2 problematic computers. If it is so, then add any printer and try again.
Idea 1:
One reason I have seen for very slow application load time, is when printing or reporting system components like Developer Express Express Print, are in your application.
The problem I saw when using Developer Express Printing components, is that I had an offline or non-responsive network printer in my list of printers (check the control panel printer icon) that was not responding. Some of those Developer Express components seem to read some information from each printer you have installed, and the solution was to go to those clients, and delete old printers from their control panel, that were no longer being used. Each not-responding network printer added up to 60 seconds for a TCP Timeout, to the startup time of my application.
Update - Idea 2:
Download MS DebugView and install it on the machine that runs slowly. Now go back to your main development PC, open the IDE, open your main project file (right click on the project, view project source in project viewer), this will show you the contents of your main project source file (.dpr). go to the main begin....end. block. Now set a breakpoint on the main begin statement, and single step INTO (not OVER) and you will see all the module initialization sections. In each one add this: OutputDebugString('ModuleName').
Now when you run this inside the Delphi Ide you will see messages, and see how far apart they come in, and understand what is taking a long time to initialize. Instead of installing the delphi ide onto the machine that runs slowly, Debug View (which is less than 400kb single executable) will be run, and it will show you these debug messages, along with a nice time display (##.# seconds) for each message.
MS Debug view is here.
Are you allowing the forms to be constructed on initialization within the DPR source? If so, you may do well to consider whether or not you want those forms sucking up memory the entire time, more-over if you want those forms to be wasting the application's time on load.
A rule of thumb: If the form is used a LOT during the application's execution, allow it to be constructed when the application loads (this will work out faster over-all than constructing the instance "on-demand").
If the form is not used very often at all (for example, a Dialog or an About Box), delete the "Application.CreateForm" line from the DPR source, and instead construct your instance on request...
var
LForm: TfrmAbout;
begin
Application.CreateForm(LForm, TfrmAbout);
try
LForm.ShowModal;
finally
LForm.Free;
end;
end;
Now that form (which may not even be displayed during the program's execution) is not sucking up system resources, and will not slow down the application's load time.
It may not solve your problem 100%, but it should certainly help!
I have a console application (written in VB6 ) which is behaving strangely on my machine. I kick it off from the command line and what should be a two minute job drops straight back to the prompt - if I run this on another machine the executable will sit and wait until the job finishes before returning control back to the prompt. If I check process explorer I can see that the executable is running as a background process and other than this strange background-ness is running as expected.
Any thoughts on why this could be happening? (Running on 32-bit Windows XP Pro SP3.)
It's totally unclear whether this is an application you wrote and have the source code for. If that's the case, you need to get in and start debugging. At the least, use OutputDebugString to send information about what's going on to any number of potential viewers. Taking that a step further, consider rewiring the app using the Console module I wrote, along with vbAdvance to recompile. This combination will allow you the full power of the VB6 IDE to debug within. No more guessing about what's going on.
Then again, if it's not your app, I'm not sure what VB6 has to do with it and wish you the best of luck trying to figure out what's up.
It sounds to me as though the app isn't being recognised as a console app on one of your machines. Console apps weren't officially supported in VB6, although there are some well-known hacks for creating them (particularly the free add-in vbAdvance). Possibly your console app is a bit unreliable? If Windows thinks your app is a GUI rather than a console app, it won't wait for it to finish.
As a pragmatic workaround: try launching with start /wait rather than just using the exename. That forces the command prompt to wait for the program to finish, whether it's a GUI app or a console app.
Sounds like an error is occurring that is being 'swallowed' by the application. Do you have the source code?
Errors in VB6 apps are often due to some COM component not installed and/or registered.
Download SysInternals Process Monitor and this will show up accesses to ProgIDs that fail (uninstalled/unregistered COM components).
Check out: Process Monitor - Hands-On Labs and Examples.
Have you checked permissions? Is the application accessing any network based resources?
Does anyone know ways of partially or fully automating driver test installation?
I am new to driver development and am used to more of a test-driven approach in higher level languages, so moving to the kind of environment where I can't easily test as I go has been a step up for me. I am using Virtual PC for my test environment and currently have to reset it, open device manager, choose the device, click through a bunch of "Are you really sure you wouldn't rather install one of these system drivers" type dialogs, then finally reset the test environment while restarting WinDbg in the host machine just as the test environment is booting up... argh.
After repeating this process many, many times already, surely there has to be a be a better way of doing this? What tools/methods/tricks do commercial driver developers use to run up their driver in a test environment?
Note, this isn't about unit testing drivers, I haven't got to that stage yet or know if it is even possible. This is just about firing up a test environment with WinDbg attached to make sure that some small change I may have done is doing what I expect.
It seems to me that a virtualization software + a "mock objects" (layering) approach (as suggested by Aaron Digulla) + scripts (as suggested by Sergius) can simplify device driver development.
But if you use Visual Studio to develop user-level applications, you can use it for kernel device driver development too with VisualDDK (+ VirtualKD to debug over a named pipe, which is faster than over a virtual COM port), which addresses specifically the annoyances that you mention; from its home page:
... This project brings the simplicity and
convenience of Windows application
development to the driver development
world. No more manual creation of
build scripts, copying of driver
files, installing drivers from INFs,
switching between WinDbg and the
source editor or waiting for seconds
after each step due to the extra-slow
virtual COM port. Just create a driver
project using a convenient Driver
Wizard, select a virtual machine, and
enjoy debugging your driver directly
from Visual Studio. Want to test a
change? Just normally press Shift-F5,
modify your driver, rebuild it and
launch again. VisualDDK will unload
the old driver, install the new one
and load it automatically and quickly.
Bored with WinDbg loading symbol files
for minutes and looking up symbols for
seconds? Just let VisualDDK optimize
this for you using its own DIA-based
symbol engine. Using C++/STLPort in
your drivers? VisualDDK will natively
visualize all STL containers and
strings, as good as Visual Studio does
for user-mode applications. ...
You can write some shell scripts (using sc.exe and devcon.exe) to automate deployment tasks (no opening device manager, clicking on buttons, etc). And make snapshot of the system ready to debug (needn't wait for system boot).
Don't forget to check your driver with DriverVerifier!
Example of my own script :)
sc create FsFilter type= filesys binPath= c:\FSFilterDrv.sys
sc start FsFilter
pause
sc stop FsFilter
sc delete FsFilter
Follow the advice I gave here. Basically, test as little as possible with the real system.
In your case, I've got another tip: Virtual PC is using a virtual hard disk (that's probably a file on your real hard disk).
You don't need to install your driver, you can simply replace the new files in the virtual hard disk. This is often not possible in the running system but in a virtual system, you can open the virtual disk file and change it (since Windows isn't locking the files in it).
I'm not sure about Virtual PC but other emulators come with tools to work with virtual disk images. If VPC can't do it, check out VirtualBox.
It all depends a little on what kind of driver you are writing. But in many cases, writing an appropriate makefile (or something similar) that handles driver installation, start/stop, and launching of a test harness can already be good enough.
I also configure all of my test machines to automatically logon (AutoAdminLogon), map net drives, and launch an appropriate command prompt after startup. Running a specific test is then a matter of typing in a single command only.
One word concerning VirtualPC: VirtualPC is very handy for kernel mode development, but do not forget that it emulates a uniprocessor machine only -- so be sure to regularly test the code on a multiprocessor machine as well. That said, the VHD trick may seem handy, but it somewhat ties you to Virtual PC -- writing appropriate scripts that equally work on VirtualPC as on a real machine therefore seems a better approach to me.
Finally, consider it a shameless plug, but if you are looking for a unit testing framework for Windows kernel mode code, I have written one: cfix.
I think the DevCon utility (described in this OSR Online article) will help you. You should be able to setup batch files that do the job on one click.
It's free to sign up with osronline.com, and you'll probably have to sign up to get to that article. And if you are writing drivers, you WANT to sign up. These guys have been doing this for a long time, and there's a LOT of really good info on that web site.