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Here's how the managed symbol API fits into the overall symbol-store / PDB picture, courtesy of Steve Steiner and Curtis Man.
There's a basic uniform low level storage for both managed and native symbols. The low-level API is private, and then there are public higher level APIs that build on top of that.
Here's everything in table form:
| public API | dll | What it does: | Dependencies | Used by: |
| low-level API, non-public | MsPdb80 | Read + write general symbols | used by VS native-debugger | |
| DIA interaces, a COM-classic (unmanaged) API. | MsDia80 | read-only general symbols. | static link to mspdb80 | VS managed-debugger, Windbg |
| DbgHelp, C-style (unmanaged) API. | Dbghelp.dll | read native symbols | uses DIA api, static link msdia, mspdb | public tools to manipulate native symbols. |
| CorSym.idl, a COM-classic (unmanaged) API | DiaSymReader.dll | reader + writer for managed symbols | reader statically links msdia80. writer statically links mspdb80. | Managed-tools including: CLR, StackTrace class, .NET compilers, MDbg, ILasm/ILdasm, Reflection-emit |
System.Diagnostics.SymbolStore interfaces in mscorlib.managed wrappers for CorSym.idl |
Get from mscorlib, lives in ISymWrapper.dll | wrapper for reader for managed symbols. | dynamically links diasymreader.dll | Similar users as CorSym.idl. The ISymWrapper is used by Reflection-Emit to let users emit sequence points in their newly generated code. These are MC++ wrappers and are mostly incomplete, especially on the writer.FWIW, we would like to deprecate these . |
| MDbg wrappers for System.Diagnostics.SymbolStore interfaces in managed wrappers for CorSym.idl | MDbg wrappers. See MDbg source. | wrapper for reader for managed symbols. | CoCreatesdiasymreader.dll | Similar same users as CorSym.idl. MDbg wrappers are used by MDbg. These are COM-interop based wrappers. I personally would encourage folks to use these wrappers instead of the ISymWrapper ones for their own private tools. They're more complete than ISymWrapper.dll. Since Mdbg source ships as a public sample, the source is also available. |
- Anonymous
October 24, 2005
Mike: I guess I don't understand the last table row. Aren't Mdbg wrappers a replacement for those in System.Diagnostics.SymbolStore? I thought these two were competing approaches, but after reading this entry I get to think that Mdbg actually uses System.Diagnostics.SymbolStore. Is that so? - Anonymous
October 25, 2005
System.Diagnostics.SymbolStore defines a set of interfaces that are the managed equivalent to CorSym.idl.
There are 2 competing implementations of those interfaces:
- ISymWrapper has a MC++ impl. This implementation also lives in the S.D.SS namespace, even though it's implemented in a different dll than where the interfaces are defined.
- MDbg has a COM-interop based impl.