My project has several new C# modules and one C module (not C++) compiled using win32 system calls. I'm using the PInvoke interop layer to call the C code from the C#. The C function is getting called.
All modules are writing to a single bin directory and all write pdb files.
On running, and then stopping at a breakpoint right before a call into the C.dll, I see the breakpoints in the C module are disabled. Looking at the Debug|Windows|Modules list I don't see the C.dll module loaded even after the call has been executed.
One more factoid: in Solution|Properties|Configuration Properties|Configuration is shows the C# modules using Platform = "Any CPU" and the C module using "Win32"
Why isn't the module loaded and why aren't its symbols loading?
Thanks,
Max
I've consolidated answers from several sources.
Are you running the debug configuration?
In the Solution check: SolnExplorer|Solution|Properties|ConfigurationProperties| Configuration = Debug
and: SolnExplorer|Solution|Properties|ConfigurationProperties| Configuration|ProjectConfig[]=Debug
-->Note:Although breakpoints will work with release configuration, sometimes the lines may be optimized out or rearranged.
Are you generating debug information?
In C# projects: SolnExplorer|Project|Properties|ConfigurationProperties|Linker|Debugging|Generate Debug Info=YES
In C++ projects: SolnExplorer|Project|Properties|ConfigurationProperties|C/C++|Debug Information Format = Program Database(/Zi)
-->Note: It pays to check the command line arguments.
Is everything is being rebuilt? If the PDB is out of sync, the debugger may not be able to load symbols:
In Solution: SolnExplorer|Solution|Properties|Configuration Properties|Build=TRUE(Checked) for all projects.
Can you debug unmanaged code?
In C# projects: SolnExplorer|Project|Properties|Debug|Enable unmanaged code debugging = TRUE(Checked)
In C/C++ projects: SolnExplorer|Properties|Configuration Properties|Debugging|Debugger Type = Mixed
Are files being put where you think they are? I use a single bin\debug directory for collecting all project DLL's and PDB's.
In the C# projects: SolnExplorer|Project|Properties|Build|Output Path = ..\bin\debug
In C/C++ projects: SolnExplorer|Project|Properties|ConfigProp|Linker|OutputFile = ..\bin\debug\$(TargetName)$(TargetExt)
Are old files getting in the way?
Check the timestamps on all the output files in the bin directory. Make sure they are as of the last rebuild.
Some people advise blowing away all the bin and obj directories. This may be worthwhile just to see that old files aren't laying about. Checking the time and date stamps should do just as well.
Has the DLL been loaded? If the Breakpoints are disabled, it may be because the DLL has not been loaded yet.
Check Menu|Debug|Windows|Modules.
Look for the dlls in the module name.
In the same Modules window make sure files are loading from the correct path.
If an assembly is shared among several programs, it can be loaded from the GAC.
-->Note: You can preload the C/C++ DLL before it is required. Use: IntPtr lpDLL = LoadLibrary(myLibraryName);
I have a Windows Service in C# with a C++ DLL. The problem I saw was what Max noted:
The DLL worked, but never showed up in the Modules window.
I have done a lot of searching and this is a nice list which matches with information from many other sources.
To make ikh's note explicit:
"Auto" did not work for me, but explicitly setting "Native" and
"Managed" code in the Attach dialog worked.
Here is my fifty cent. In my case it appeared that the pdb files of my c++/cli projects were not updated anymore, while the pdb files of my c# projects were.
This probably rendered them invalid and made the debugger fail to load them.
I remembered to have moved the source base of my project. After a little bit of grepping it occurred to me that some absolute path issue might be the problem. Running a git clean -dfx solved the problem for me.
Related
I have a WPF application whose output is a.exe. This application is dependent on an external b.dll (whose source code I have access to).
Requirements:
The output should only be a.exe which should contain the dll. I don't want to provide my users with a separate dll (if it can be avoided)
I should be able to obfuscate the code. (I don't want anyone to be able to modify it).
Approaches tried:
I embedded b.dll inside a.exe, it worked. But I was not able to obfuscate the exe as it gave an error that it was unable to find b.dll.
I obfuscated a.exe and b.dll but it did not work. It was unable to find b.dll.
Alternate approach :
Is there any way that I can perhaps add the spruce code of b.dll to my project and have the dll be compiled to the exe itself rather than a separate dll.
Is it possible to make this alternate approach work or are there any other ways ?
If nothing works, I know that I can compile a and b separately, obfuscate a and provide b as a separate file (what I'm trying to avoid).
Apologies for the formatting issues, if any, I'm using the android app. Let me know if you need any details.
I have had great success with Eazfuscator.Net in the past.
http://www.gapotchenko.com/eazfuscator.net
To run it from the command line enter the following command:
Eazfuscator.Net.exe -n a.exe b.dll
It will combine the two files into a single exe. The main program will be able to access the dll.
You can even set up Visual Studio so that the command line above runs as a post compile event.
Assembly embedding may seem quite confusing, so here is how it's usually done:
The dependencies are obfuscated if needed.
The target assembly is obfuscated. At this point, the obfuscator is also instructed to embed certain dependencies as a part of obfuscation process.
As a result, the embedded assemblies are stored as a resource of the target assembly.
In order to load dependencies at runtime, obfuscators usually install a handler for AppDomain.AssemblyResolve event that is raised by CLR when it fails to resolve an assembly automatically.
The handler extracts and loads an embedded assembly from the resource.
That's it. A good obfuscation tool allows achieving that quite easily. I don't see why it wouldn't work in the case with WPF application. If there are problems, I would recommend contacting product support.
Another option is assembly merging. Unlike embedded, the merged assemblies become an inseparable part of the target assembly code. For this reason, the assembly merging often helps to achieve a better obfuscation coverage and application startup time comparing to embedding. Although it may look a better option, merging may sometimes break the application functionality.
I am creating a plugin for a product that loads plugin DLLs using Assembly.Load(byte[]). This is all very well and good, but it means that I have no conventional means of loading the debugging symbols to step through my code.
The crazy thing is, several months ago I was having the exact same issue and solved it - and boy was I proud of myself! So I know it can be done, I've just forgotten how!
I have a few vague memories of things I might have tried, but I can't tease the details out of my head:
.NET Reflector
Probably wrong though because I distinctly remember stepping through the original .cs file
Using IIS Express rather than Cassini
But this strikes me as a weird solution - the assembly is loaded from a byte-array, so the framework knows nothing about where the DLL came from or what an appropriate PDB might look like if it saw one. This problem should exist in any environment.
Loading the symbols manually through the "Modules" window
Tried this; I get "The symbol file xxxxx.pdb does not match the module" - because, of course, we're loading from a byte-array, not the DLL itself.
If your assembly is strongly named, you can put the assembly in the GAC. Strongly named assemblies are always loaded from the GAC, even if it is loaded via Assembly.Load(byte[]). Then just put your in symbols in C:\Windows\symbols\dll or where ever is convenient. I do this all the time to debug our own product's plugin DLLs which are loaded by another application in a similar manner.
You can use gacutil to install it in the GAC. Remember to remove it when you're done debugging or you might end up running tests against an old version you GAC'd and forgot about.
I have two projects in my solution Bridge and BridgeInterface being used by my applications update process and it's throwing a FileLoadException when I try to run use the Initialize() method from the Bridge class.
The problem is I can't step into this method, and I have run out of ideas, I need to see where the fault lies in the code!
The Bridge projects where not originally originally part of the solution, so I added both the projects and have pointed to their PDB symbol files. (The .DLL's are showing as symbols loaded in the modules window.)
I also have "Just My Code" unchecked and all projects in the solution are targetting the .NET 4 Full Profile.
Checked to see if the implementer was using DebuggerStepperBoundary or DebuggerStepThroughAttribute no such luck.
Any ideas?
Change the assembly references in your main project to use project references.
This way VS can compile the debug versions of the bridge projects and properly keep track of what's going on so you can step into it.
I have a project that imports a DLL (written by me). Sometimes when an exception is raised within a method in the DLL, the host project opens a tab and let me see the code within the DLL. I can also put breakpoints within it.
But this behavior seems quite random, I cannot have it on purpose and not always works. Plus, I can't see the file name in the project explorer window.
Any help on debugging DLLs? Thanks
The enhanced debugging (for a dll not in the current solution) depends largely on whether you have the debugging symbols file (.pdb) in an obvious location - in particular, next to the dll itself. You can also load symbols manually from the modules window (when debugging, Debug -> Windows -> Module, right-click, Load Symbols From...)
What may be getting in your way here is a feature known as Just My Code (JMC). This is a debugger / CLR feature designed at limiting a users view of the world to just the code that they've written. The various ways in how a piece of code or DLL is determined to be yours or not can be confusing at times.
Next time you hit this problem, try disabling JMC and see if it fixes your problem
Navigate: Tools -> Options
Navigate: Debugger -> General
Uncheck the Just My Code option
On the managed C# program that calls the C++ dll,
right-click properties
debug tab
Tick Enable unmanaged code debugging
Hope this helps,
Tony.
To debug a dll it must have the pdb file with the debugging information that matches that dll.
Visual studio uses the .Pdb symbols generated by the compile process to enable you the dev to peek at the source when an exception occurs.
This information exists for two reasons. The first reason is for the compiler (i.e., a program that turns source code into an application, such as an .exe or .dll file) to use when it builds the application. The second reason is for people to use when debugging an application. The symbolic information is generated as part of the compilation of an application (if you set the compiler to generate symbolic information). This information can reside directly in the application files, or it can be written to separate symbol files. Where the symbols reside depends on your development application and the settings you choose. For example, Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) builds symbols right into the program files. Visual C++ (VC++) usually builds one or two separate files.
Symbol files have two file types—.dbg and .pdb. The .dbg files are in Common Object File Format (COFF), which is a generic symbol file description that doesn't include source line information; many debuggers can read these files. The .pdb files are a Microsoft format and contain a lot more information than the .dbg files. For example, source line information is available only in .pdb symbols. Symbol files that include source-code line information let you use the source code for debugging.
While it doesn't allow you to debug the code, Reflector is very useful when it comes to inspecting a DLL. The combination of a Stack Trace, the offending DLL and reflector will often get you to the nub of the problem.
I'm getting System.IO.FileNotFoundException: The specified module could not be found when running C# code that calls a C++/CLI assembly which in turn calls a pure C DLL. It happens as soon as an object is instantiated that calls the pure C DLL functions.
BackingStore is pure C.
CPPDemoViewModel is C++/CLI calling BackingStore it has a reference to BackingStore.
I tried the simplest possible case - add a new C# unit test project that just tries to create an object defined in CPPDemoViewModel . I added a reference from the C# project to CPPDemoViewModel .
A C++/CLI test project works fine with just the added ref to CPPDemoViewModel so it's something about going between the languages.
I'm using Visual Studio 2008 SP1 with .Net 3.5 SP1. I'm building on Vista x64 but have been careful to make sure my Platform target is set to x86.
This feels like something stupid and obvious I'm missing but it would be even more stupid of me to waste time trying to solve it in private so I'm out here embarrassing myself!
This is a test for a project porting a huge amount of legacy C code which I'm keeping in a DLL with a ViewModel implemented in C++/CLI.
edit
After checking directories, I can confirm that the BackingStore.dll has not been copied.
I have the standard unique project folders created with a typical multi-project solution.
WPFViewModelInCPP
BackingStore
CPPViewModel
CPPViewModelTestInCS
bin
Debug
Debug
The higher-level Debug appears to be a common folder used by the C and C++/CLI projects, to my surprise.
WPFViewModelInCPP\Debug contains BackingStore.dll, CPPDemoViewModel.dll, CPPViewModelTest.dll and their associated .ilk and .pdb files
WPFViewModelInCPP\CPPViewModelTestInCS\bin\Debug contains CPPDemoViewModel and CPPViewModelTestInCS .dll and .pdb files but not BackingStore. However, manually copying BackingStore into that directory did not fix the error.
CPPDemoViewModel has the property Copy Local set which I assume is responsible for copying its DLL when if is referenced. I can't add a reference from a C# project to a pure C DLL - it just says A Reference to Backing Store could not be added.
I'm not sure if I have just one problem or two.
I can use an old-fashioned copying build step to copy the BackingStore.dll into any given C# project's directories, although I'd hoped the new .net model didn't require that.
DependencyWalker is telling me that the missing file is GPSVC.dll which has been suggested indicates security setting issues. I suspect this is a red herring.
edit2
With a manual copy of BackingStore.dll to be adjacent to the executable, the GUI now works fine. The C# Test Project still has problems which I suspect is due to the runtime environment of a test project but I can live without that for now.
Are the C and C++ DLLs in the same directory as the C# assembly that's executing?
You may have to change your project output settings so that the C# assembly and the other DLLs all end up in the same folder.
I've often used the Dependency Walker in cases like this; it's a sanity check that shows that all the dependencies can actually be found.
Once your app is running, you may also want to try out Process Monitor on the code you are running, to see which DLLs are being referenced, and where they are located.
The answer for the GUI, other than changing output settings, was the addition of a Pre-Build Step
copy $(ProjectDir)..\Debug\BackingStore.* $(TargetDir)
The answer for the Test projects was to add the missing DLL to the Deployment tab of the testrunconfig. You can either do so by directly editing the default LocalTestRun.testrunconfig (appears in Solution under Solution Items) or right-click the Solution and Add a new test run config, which will then appear under the main Test menu.
Thanks for the answers on this SO question on test configurations for leading me to the answer.
The reason why this happens is because you either are loading DLLMAIN from managed code, before the CRT has an opportunity to be initialized. You may not have any managed code, be executed DIRECTLY or INDERECTLY from an effect of DllMain notifications. (See: Expert C++/CLI: .Net for Visual C++ Programmers, chapter 11++).
Or you have no native entrypoint defined wahtsoever, yet you have linked to MSVCRT. The CLR is automatically initialized for you with /clr, this detail causes a lot of confusion and must be taken into account. A mixed mode DLL actually delay loads the CLR through the use of hot-patching all of the managed entry point vtables in your classes.
A number of class initialization issues surround this topic, loader lock and delay loading CLR are a bit trickey sometimes. Try to declare global's static and do not use #pragma managed/unmanaged, isolate your code with /clr per-file.
If you can not isolate your code from the managed code, and are having trouble, (after taking some of these steps), you can also look towards hosting the CLR yourself and perhaps going through the effort of creating a domain manager, that would ensure your fully "in-the-loop" of runtime events and bootstrapping.
This is exactally why, it has nothting todo with your search path, or initialization. Unfortunately the Fusion log viewer does not help that much (which is the usual place to look for .NET CLR assembly binding issues not dependency walker).
Linking statically has nothing todo with this either. You can NOT statically link a C++/CLI application which is mixed mode.
Place your DLLMAIN function into a file by itself.
Ensure that this file does NOT have /CLR set in the build options (file build options)
Make sure your linking with /MD or /MDd, and all your dependencies which you LINK use the exact same CRT.
Evaluate your linker's settings for /DEFAULTLIB and /INCLUDE to identify any possiable reference issues, you can declare a prototype in your code and use /INCLUDE to override default library link resolution.
Good luck, also check that book it's very good.
Make sure the target system has the correct MS Visual C runtime, and that you are not accidentally building the C dll with a debug runtime.
This is an interesting dilemma. I've never heard of a problem loading native .DLLs from C++/CLI after a call into it from C# before. I can only assume the problem is as #Daniel L suggested, and that your .DLL simply isn't in a path the assembly loader can find.
If Daniel's suggestion doesn't work out, I suggest you try statically linking the native C code to the C++/CLI program, if you can. That would certainly solve the problem, as the .DLL would then be entirely absorbed into the C++/CLI .DLL.
Had the same problem switching to 64-bit Vista. Our application was calling Win32 DLLs which was confusing the target build for the application. To resolve it we did the following:
Go to project properties;
Select Build tab;
Change 'Platform target:' option to x86;
Rebuild the application.
When I re-ran the application it worked.