Re: Visual C++ 6.0, Debug Symbols, XP SP2

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> If VC6 is to determine that a pdb file is not compatible with its dll,
> it must open the pdb file to make this determination.

No, it must not. In brief, the executable contains debug information record,
which describes what debug information format is used, and where to look
for the corresponding file (.PDB, .DBG, etc., depending on the format).
In case of debug information in CodeView/.PDB format, the format is
identified via a signature (e.g. "NB10" -> PDB 2.0, "RSDS" -> PDB 7.0)
which is placed at the beginning of the record.

When the debugger tries to load symbols for an executable, it first checks
the debug information record in the executable. If at the beginning of the record
it finds a signature that it does not understand, it refuses to load symbols
for the given executable (in our case, VC6 debugger knows how to parse
debug record with "NB10" signature, but knows nothing about "RSDS").
The decision is made at the time of analyzing the executable, and there is no need
to look into the .PDB file (actually, if the debugger does not understand
the signature, it has no way to parse the record and find the name of the debug info file,
be it .PDB or something else).

Also, you could find all this information and more if you would look
into the first article referenced in my first reply.

Oleg



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