Is the .pdb file enough to debug and step into the code of a dll? Or do you actually have to reference the corresponding project source code?
I tried referencing a dll with the .pdb file in the same directory, and was unable to step into the code of the dll. So I was wondering what the rules around dlls and .pdb files where.
Thanks in advance.
The .pdb file will allow you to debug, but it will not provide any sources. Check out this blog post for an excellent description of PDB files and their purpose.
http://www.wintellect.com/CS/blogs/jrobbins/archive/2009/05/11/pdb-files-what-every-developer-must-know.aspx
The PDB file is how visual studio knows how the executing code in the assembly corresponds to the lines in the source code. The answer to your question is yes, Visual studio needs the source code that the corresponding pdb was built from.
The pdb does not contain the source code packaged inside of it (well it can, but it is a bit of a hack and not many people do it), however the symbol server should automatically download it if it has the source available. However the pdb must match the exact version as the dll you are working with for it to download the source.
I have a small suspicion that you are trying to do the .NET framework source stepping and it is not stepping in to it. Microsoft has not updated the symbol servers with the current versions of the pdb files so source stepping is broken if you are running a up to date version of .net (at least until they release the new versions of the source files).
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I have an external dll and a pdb file from C# code. I have the source code downloaded on my computer. In Visual Studio, under modules, Symbol status is: Symbol loaded for that specific dll. But User code is: N/A.
And I can't step into the functions in that dll. How do I know where to put the source code so the pdb finds it? Is the pdb looking the C# source file in a specific directory and is there a way to find out where?
There is a tool called SrcTool.exe that is installed with the WinSDK. Srctool.exe utility lists all files indexed within the .pdb file.
SrcTool.exe -r filename.pdb will print the source file paths.
We are developing a small framework within the company and there is a small weird issue with pdb files.
While developing framework, we also commit pdb&dll outputs and related projects are referenced directly to these dlls.
But when i build and commit these dlls, my companions cannot navigate to sources of framework. When someone else builds, i cannot navigate to source.
Only thing i can do is to use resharper's navigation via "navigate to -> decompiled sources".
There is something wrong i think. They are the same files so that i should be able to navigate to their files directly.
Btw, we do not version framework. All dlls use same 1.0 version.
Anyone having an idea?
I found the answer. Using DUMPBIN I examined all pdb files and there were full paths of last build, which is different in my computer.
For ex: my collegue build framework project in d:\projects path however, working directory in my computer was c:\projects so that pdb files somehow not found (which is veird. The paths should be relative imo)
When one of us changed framework project path and if we both use the same path; no matter who built that project last, it just worked. I can navigate source codes directly in Visual Studio.
It can be that you need to disable Optimize Code on release build to make it work. Try that..
What is the best/correct way of attaching an external project source code so I can debug it?
I´ve already downloaded the source code of it from CodePlex, so I have all the .cs classes.
I´ve managed to import from a pdb file, but unfortunately, there´s no such file in this project codeplex (SimpleInjector).
After importing the SimpleInjector solution on VS, I could build it and generate the .pdb files, but I wonder whether it is the right way.
If your goal is to step-through debug the binary, then you will need the PDB files. In general, the compiled assembly just doesn't contain the information needed to associate source-code lines with individual IL commands.
The PDB file is a "program database file" which contains lots of useful debugging information; one of those things is the mappings between each compiled IL instruction and the source-code line that generate it. It also keeps a symbol table that lists the names of things that otherwise get compiled out (like local variable names, etc.) The PDB embeds the full path name of each source file, so if your source code is in the same place when you debug as it was when you compiled, the debugger will automatically find it.
If the .pdb file is present but the source code has moved, VS will give you the option to browse to the .cs file. But, if the .pdb file isn't present at all, your options will be rather limited.
The only risk you have is that you are debugging a program that doesn't match your PDB files. Therefore, if you are doing to try to debug the project, you should rebuild, from scratch, in Visual Studio and run that version of the binary.
(Debugging without symbols and source loaded into Studio is, of course, possible, but it's a much harder skill to master.)
I have a .net 4.0 web project which is running in debug mode. This was running perfectly until recently. Now it errors saying it can't fine various PDB files. The PDB files it is looking for are all present. However looking at the trace .NET is trying to find them with either a .pdb.exe or .pdb.dll extension.
Why is it looking for the extra part of the extension rather than just .pdb?
No application, web or otherwise will ever complain about finding PDB files.
I suspect you accidentally changed your assembly names instead of the debug output filename.
I have built a Library project (DLL) in .NET. And sometimes I use the DLL along with its PDB file as a reference in some other projects.
Now in the new project, I cant browse through the code of the DLL to debug. I can only see the definitions of class/methods/variables. That's by using "show definition" by browsing through the "class view"
However, only in case of an exception I the contents of the DLL opens and I could see the entire code of the DLL from the new project.
How could I see the contents (code) of the DLL before an exception occur?
If you just need to browse the code, load the dll up in Reflector -- you don't even need the PDB file: http://www.red-gate.com/products/reflector/
If an app loads the DLL while running under the Visual Studio debugger, it should load the symbols automatically. If all you have is a DLL, you may need to write a "driver" app that does nothing but load and exercise the DLL entry points.
If you want to debug your application programmaticaly, take a look at Mdbg (managed dbg).
You can also take a look at pdb2xml source, which give you good example of ISymbolReader interface, and how to use it to read pdb files.
Use JustDecompile, it's free.