[Mono-dev] Compiling Mono with debug symbols to diagnose an issue with embedded Mono 4.0.2.5

Wed Aug 5 17:19:29 UTC 2015

You can build the MDK with https://github.com/mono/bockbuild#the-mono-mac-distribution, but I'm not sure if that includes debug symbols (I think it does).
-- Alex

> From: jonathan at mugginsoft.com
> Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2015 18:06:37 +0100
> To: Mono-devel-list at lists.ximian.com
> Subject: Re: [Mono-dev] Compiling Mono with debug symbols to diagnose an	issue with embedded Mono 4.0.2.5
> 
> 
> > On 5 Aug 2015, at 02:12, Jean-Michel.Perraud at csiro.au wrote:
> > 
> > I am trying to debug C code, mostly to step through the mono runtime itself.
> I too would like to debug the Mono runtime itself and so would really, really, really like to able to build an MDK with debug symbols and source code references.
> 
> Why do I need to debug the runtime?
> I have written an Obj-C > C# bridge utilising the runtime and in some situations I cannot figure out what the correct embedded API function signatures are for more complex generic managed methods. Being able to debug the runtime would give me some insight into what is going on in the method signature search process.
> 
> >  That said, I would not at all refuse a howto guide for mixed mode (C and C#) debugging on Linux (not possible so far as I know). I may try to give a try on Windows with Visual Studio, but as a fallback option as this issue may not be reproducible on it anyway.
> 
> Here is my take on debugging Mono based on working on OS X.
> 
> C
> ==
> 
> On the Obj-C side (Obj-C is a strict superset of C) I should be able to step into the Mono runtime code via the Xcode side if my Mono runtime build supported debug symbols and their source code references. I reckon that most C IDEs should be fit to do the same.
> 
> 
> C#
> ==
> 
> I don’t know of a way to seamlessly debug both C and C# via the same IDE on OS X (perhaps VS can so this on windows).
> To debug the managed code in my OS X app I do roughly the following (more detail follows in the notes below).
> 
> 1. Configure the OS X app embedded Mono code to use the Mono soft debugger (this is a remote capable software debugger that runs over TCP-IP see http://www.mono-project.com/docs/advanced/runtime/docs/soft-debugger/).
> 2. Run my OS X outside of my Xcode IDE. If I don’t do this then the signals generated by the debugee tend to get caught by the IDE debugger rather than the Mono soft debugger.
> 3. Fire up Xamarin Studio (XS) on a Windows machine (in my case a Windows VM on the same physical machine but a networked base PC should work just fine too).
> 4. In XS connect to the remote debugger, set breakpoints etc.
> 5. Exercise the OS X app and trigger breakpoints in XS.
> 
> Getting the soft debugger/Xamarin setup correctly can be fiddly but it does work.
> It may be possible to debug the managed code by Using Xamarin Studio on OS X or Linux but in my case (as I was building the Managed code assemblies on the Windows VM anyway) it was easiest to run XS on Windows.
> 
> Debugging Mono Embedded API
> ===========================
> 
> The embedded managed code can be debugged (including breakpoints and single stepping) using Xamarin Studio.
> 
> 1. Config OS X app to attach to Mono soft Debugger.
> 
> Xamarin Studio must be running on machine with IP 192.168.1.72 (in this case my windows VM)
>  [DBManagedEnvironment setRuntimeOptions:@{@"address" : @"192.168.1.72", @"port" : @"10000", @"loglevel" : @"0"}];
> 
> 2. Call DBManagedEnvironment +setRuntimeOptions: with IP address and port of Windows VM running the Xamarin Studio debugger.
> 
> + (void)setRuntimeOptions:(NSDictionary *)options
> {
>     // NOTE: be sure to call this before -initWithDomainName
>     
>     // for info on these options see man mono
>     // the debugger can be configured either as a client or a server
>     NSString *address = options[@"address"]?:@"127.0.0.1";
>     NSString *port = options[@"port"]?:@"10000";
>     NSString *server = options[@"server"]?:@"n";
>     NSString *suspend = options[@"suspend"]?:@"y";
>     NSString *loglevel = options[@"loglevel"]?:@"1";
>     NSString *timeout = options[@"timeout"]?:@"10";
>     
>     NSString *agent = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"--debugger-agent=transport=dt_socket,address=%@:%@,server=%@,suspend=%@,loglevel=%@,timeout=%@", address, port, server, suspend, loglevel,timeout];
>     const char* jit_options[] = {
>         "--soft-breakpoints",
>         [agent UTF8String]
>     };
>     
>     mono_jit_parse_options(2, (char**)jit_options);
>     
>     mono_debug_init(MONO_DEBUG_FORMAT_MONO);
> }
> 
> see https://github.com/ThesaurusSoftware/Dubrovnik/blob/master/Framework/XCode/DBManagedEnvironment.m#L167
> 
> 
> 3. Run app outside of Xcode. The app will pause if the remote debugger is not responding.
> 4. Run Xamarin Studio (preconfigure env var to enable the soft debug menu if it is not visible) on the VM and load the solution being debugged on OS X.
> 5. Set start up project as appropriate (May be better to have a dummy exe project rather than rebuild this all the time).
> 6. Select Run - Run with - Custom command Mono soft debugger.
> 7. Enter IP address and port.
> 8. Click Listen.
> 9. Set breakpoints as normal.
> 
> Notes on Use of the Mono Soft Debugger
> ======================================
> 
> See http://www.jeffongames.com/2012/03/debugging-embedded-mono/
> http://mono.1490590.n4.nabble.com/remote-debugging-a-hello-world-application-td4591791.html
> 
> The debugee should connect to the debugger on the configured listener IP and port.
> The Windows firewall will need to allow the incoming connection.
> To check if the connection is up and running;
> 
> // manual check if connection to debugger listener can be established
> teqlnet 192.168.1.72 10000
> 
> // check state of established network connections 
> netstat -n -f inet
> 
> For the soft debugger signal handler to work correctly the app must be executed outside of Xcode.
> Other signal handlers, such as those installed by HockeyApp, must be disabled while the soft debugger is in use.
> Remember to use a debug build of the managed code!
> 
> http://www.mono-project.com/docs/advanced/runtime/docs/soft-debugger/
> 
> HTH
> 
> Jonathan
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