Re: Windows: How to debug a gtk library function when app built with MSVC ?

[Bill Meier <wmeier newsguy com>]

Tor Lillqvist wrote:
> > Is it possible to use MinGW GDB when stepping into the
> > libgtk-win32 DLL (from an MSVC compiled app) ?
>
> Yes, it should be possible. Attaching to an already running process
> might be the easiest way, so that the mingw-built DLLs are already
> present. (Otherwise, you would have to set a so-called "pending"
> breakpoint in gdb before you start the program, and I am not entirely
> sure that actually works in gdb on Windows.)
>
> After attaching, you should be able to set breakpoints in the
> mingw-built bits. However, to be really useful you need them to be
> built with -g, of course. The prebuilt binarires on ftp.gnome.org are
> not.
>
> However, if you have a look at the cross-compiled stuff in the
> openSUSE Build Service
> (http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/windows:/mingw:/win32/openSUSE_11.0/noarch/
> ) you will find separate "debug" packages that contain the debugging
> information (i.e. the debug information sections from the executables
> split out into separate files with objcopy, with just a so-called
> "gbu-debuglink" section left behind pointing to the separate file with
> debugging information. Gdb supports this just fine.)
>
> (Those packages in the openSUSE Build Service are for now available
> only in RPM format; However for an experienced hacker it is farily
> trivial to use rpm2cpio etc to pick out the subtree with the Windows
> stuff from such "noarch" RPMs and copy it over to a Windows box. You
> can even install the corresponding src.rpm packages and unpack with
> rpmbuild -bp and then set up a Samba share so that you on the Windows
> box have a c:\usr\src\packages folder that is a symlink to the
> unpacked sources on a Linux box, or something like that. Then you will
> in gdb on the Windows box also see the sources from which the binaries
> were actually compiled.)
>
> > Do I need to build the GTK DLL with MSVC so I can use the MSVC debugger?
>
> Unfortunately, yes. It would be very nice if Microsoft would add some
> basic support for stabs and dwarf debugging information into the
> Visual Studio debugger. I am not asking for 100% functionality; just
> basic setting of breakpoints, single stepping and printing and
> assigning C variables would be nice. (I.e., I would not expect any
> complex C++ crack to even be attempted.) But I am not holding my
> breath.
>
> --tml

Thanks for the quick detailed reply ....

I'm running Linux in a VM on my Windows box; some directories shared 
from Windows are mounted in the Linux VM. It sounds like I ought to be 
able to do something like the above just by doing the unpacking to a 
shared directory on my Linux system.

There's aways something new to learn ....   :)

Bill Meier