IIS 5.1/Xp/VS8 debugging ISAPIs

External Since: Nov 01, 2007 Posts: 9

Hi...

Haven't had to debug ISAPIs in a *long* time; this is the first time I've
had to do it with the new tools, and I'm seeing weird things, at least
compared to VS 2003.

I've got the ISAPIs installed on IIS 5.1.
I've attached the debugger to inetinfo.exe.
I've got my source loaded with breakpoints set (it let me set the
breakpoints, so it seems the symbols are loaded)
....
but the breakpoints are never hit.

Another weird thing - If I go to the Modules page, it doesn't show anything
on the list unless the module is loaded *while* the Modules page is up. If I
iisreset, bring up the modules page, then hit it with a request, a bunch of
modules show up. If I close the modules page and reopen it, there's nothing
in the list.

Is there any way to get to break points in unmanaged code in VS8?

Thanks
Mark

ps Intellisense doesn't seem to work very well for C++ in VS8 either. Kinda
surprised me.

External Since: Nov 01, 2007 Posts: 309

Hmm, interesting.

So, I go and install VS8 on XP Pro to see what's going on when
debugging global ISAPI Filters (standard C++). I followed all your
steps (other than the Modules page -- I know what you are talking
about, but I cannot find it on VS8, so I used TLIST.EXE to give me the
same information), and I actually hit my breakpoint with that request.

Can you clarify if you are loading global or site ISAPI Filters?

//David
http://w3-4u.blogspot.com
http://blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang
//

On Nov 1, 11:26 am, Mark <mmodr... DeleteThis @nospam.nospam> wrote:
> Hi David...
>
> Thank you for your reply. To answer your questions,
> 1. I have 2 ISAPI Filters, the pdbs for both live in the same dir as the
> .dlls.
>
> 2. I have the website in low isolation mode
>
> 3. Sorry for the confusion about the Modules page. I was referring to the
> window between IISRESET and the first request coming in and priming the pump
> with all the late-bound loads. If I
> a. IISRESET
> b. attach inetinfo.exe
> c. open the Modules page (which is empty)
> d. fire a request to the web server
> I will see modules appear on the Modules page as the request is being served
> and programs are being late-loaded.
>
> If I close the Modules page and reopen it, it's empty again.
>
> I've also gone to the Modules page and under Symbol Settings I've manually
> entered the paths to my ISAPI pdb files.
>
> I figure the pdbs must be in there, since it does allow me to set
> breakpoints; they just never get tripped. When the pdbs weren't loaded, it
> wouldn't let me set the breakpoints.
>
> It's a shame if VS8 isn't any good for cpp debugging anymore; VS 2003 was
> great. Using WinDbg just feels like driving a Yugo.
>
> Thanks
> Mark
>
>
>
> "David Wang" wrote:
> > First, let's verify some missing details in user configuration that
> > can affect debugging.
>
> > - Where is the PDB for the ISAPI DLL?
> > - Are you talking about ISAPI Extension or ISAPI Filter DLL
> > - What Application Isolation mode is the Default Website using
>
> > Caveat: I do not use any Visual Studio to debug native or managed
> > code, so there may be real oddities in VS8, but let's take care of the
> > user-configuration first. For the curious, I use the NTSD/WINDBG
> > debuggers from Microsoft's Debugging Toolkit for native-code and
> > managed-code interop, and then a private debugging tool for managed
> > code.
>
> > Details:
> > 1. Only ISAPI Filter is guaranteed to be in inetinfo.exe on IIS 5.1.
> > ISAPI Extension can be in inetinfo.exe if in Low Isolation Mode, and
> > in the Medium/High Isolation Mode, it's in some dllhost.exe. Use
> > TLIST.EXE from the Debugging Toolkit to find it. Obviously, you want
> > to attach the debugger to the right process executing the ISAPI or
> > else no breakpoints get hit. Furthermore, ISAPI Filter DLLs configured
> > at the site-level are loaded/unloaded on the fly as needed.
>
> > Thus, only global ISAPI Filters are guaranteed to be loaded in
> > inetinfo.exe by the time you attach debuggers to it from a UI (there
> > are ways to attach debuggers ASAP or trigger breakpoints as soon as a
> > DLL load, but you are not using those techniques here). Anything else
> > MAY be in inetinfo.exe by the time you attach debuggers, but they may
> > not be. Hence, I wanted details to confirm.
>
> > 2. IISRESET will restart all IIS-related processes, so I don't know
> > how you can see the Modules page work across IISRESET -- unless Visual
> > Studio started auto-re-attaching to processes (which is kinda scary
> > behavior, in my mind)
>
> > 3. Make sure to tell VS where the PDB for the ISAPI DLL is located, or
> > put the PDB alongside the DLL
>
> > //David
> >http://w3-4u.blogspot.com
> >http://blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang
> > //
>
> > On Nov 1, 10:17 am, Mark <mmodr... DeleteThis @nospam.nospam> wrote:
> > > Hi...
>
> > > Haven't had to debug ISAPIs in a *long* time; this is the first time I've
> > > had to do it with the new tools, and I'm seeing weird things, at least
> > > compared to VS 2003.
>
> > > I've got the ISAPIs installed on IIS 5.1.
> > > I've attached the debugger to inetinfo.exe.
> > > I've got my source loaded with breakpoints set (it let me set the
> > > breakpoints, so it seems the symbols are loaded)
> > > ...
> > > but the breakpoints are never hit.
>
> > > Another weird thing - If I go to the Modules page, it doesn't show anything
> > > on the list unless the module is loaded *while* the Modules page is up. If I
> > > iisreset, bring up the modules page, then hit it with a request, a bunch of
> > > modules show up. If I close the modules page and reopen it, there's nothing
> > > in the list.
>
> > > Is there any way to get to break points in unmanaged code in VS8?
>
> > > Thanks
> > > Mark
>
> > > ps Intellisense doesn't seem to work very well for C++ in VS8 either. Kinda
> > > surprised me.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -