windows-server-2003/sdktools/debuggers/redist/docs/32/relnotes.txt

                   Microsoft(R) Debugging Toolsfor Windows(R)
                           Version 6.0 Release Notes
                                   June 2002

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Contents

    Overview
    What's New
    Known Issues
    Programs
    Debugger Extensions
    Software Development Samples
    Documentation
    Redistributables
    More Information
    Feedback

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Overview

Debugging Tools for Windows(R) contains tools to analyze and debug OS and
application failures. 

The kernel debugger is KD.exe.  It can be installed and run on all the platforms
listed below. It can debug all the platforms listed below.

The user-mode debugger is CDB.exe.  It can be installed and used on all the
platforms listed below.

WinDbg.exe is the GUI version of the debugger.  It supports both user-mode
and kernel-mode debugging.  It can be installed and run on all the platforms
listed below. It can debug all the platforms listed below.

Supported platforms:

Windows NT 4.0 (x86)
Windows 2000 (x86)
Windows XP  (All CPU architectures)
Windows Server 2003 (All CPU architectures)


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What's New

This release of Debugging Tools for Windows contains many bug fixes and new
enhancements. The debuggers are stable and more reliable than previous releases
and we recommend that you upgrade to this version.

It is also a requirement to use this latest version if you wish to do kernel
debugging of Windows Server 2003.  Older versions (including 3.0.20.0) will
not work with the latest Windows Server 2003 build.

Here's a list of some of the changes in WinDbg 6.0:

    * Numerous improvements to !analyze
    * Don't lock PDB files when opened by the debugger (use SHARE_FILE_DELETE)
    * New symchk.exe utility which can be used to download symbols from
      the symbol server prior to a debugging session
    * New SYMOPT_SECURE debugger option to secure the host machine when remote
      debugging is enabled
    * New stepping commands pc and tc, and new tracing options with wt
    * Multiple dump files can now be loaded in the same debug session
      simultaneously
    * Many new search options added to the 's' command
    * Many new options for user mode minidump file creation
    * Better Ctrl-C support for long symbol operations
    * Allow lmv to show resource strings of kernel drivers
    * Other new and improved commands include
        .writemem, bm, kl, knf, .symfix+, .reload -w, !exchain, .closehandle,
        !apc, !analyze -f, .process -r, .thread -r, .cls, .logopen /t,
        .remote_exit, .enable_long_status, !slist, !evlog
    * Improved documentation
    * And lots of bug fixes, including:
        * Fixes for numerous Windows XP debugger extension issues
        * Fixes for various WinDbg crashes that people have reported using the
          Windows Error Reporting feature in Windows XP.


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Known Issues


VC4 \ NT 4 DDK support:
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The NT 4 DKK shipped with VC4 compatible tools.

This version of the debuggers does not support local variables generated by 
this default build-environment.  The debuggers only support local variables 
if a .pdb file is generated by the compiler and linker.

To enable .pdb files in the NT 4 DDK, set the following environment variable.

    set USE_PDB=1
    set NTDEBUGTYPE=windbg



Other issues:
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If you need to find source that was compiled at a different location than
the current location to the source, use the ".srcpath" command. 

If you are using Windows NT 4.0, you need to have Microsoft Internet Explorer
5.0 or later installed for all of the features to work correctly.


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Programs

This distribution includes the following debuggers:

    KD        - Command-line kernel debugger
    NTSD      - Command-line user-mode debugger
    CDB       - Command-line user-mode debugger (variant of NTSD)
    WinDbg    - GUI kernel debugger

I386KD is also provided in the package to support backwards compatibility. 
It has the same code-base as KD.

There are several debugger-related tools included with the package.  They
are identified as a subcategory under Tools in the custom menu during install.
This subcategory is called "Helpful Tools" and it is installed by default.

The Helpful Tools option is installed by default and includes these
debugger-related tools:

    gflags    - Global Flags Editor
    breakin   - Utility to force a breakin in another process being debugged
    remote    - Remote Command Line
    kill      - Task Killing Utility
    list      - File List Utility
    logviewer - Display API logs created with the .logext extension from
                the debugger
    symchk    - utility to check validity of symbol files, or download symbols
                from a symbol server prior to a debugging session
    symstore  - Creates a symbol server for automatic symbol lookup
    tlist     - Task List Viewer
    umdh      - Heap Analysis Tool

The following tools have been incorporated into KD.exe and WinDbg.exe.  They
are also provided with Helpful Tools as small stubs that point you to use the 
debugger.

    dumpchk   - Dump Checking Utility
    dumpexam  - Dump Examining Utility

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Debugger Extensions

Debugger Extensions are DLLs which WinDbg, CDB, NTSD, and KD can use to provide
additional debugger commands.  The Windows XP debugger extensions are in the
winxp subdirectory and include:

    exts.dll
    kdexts.dll

The extensions that work for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP are in
a winext subdirectory and include:

    uext.dll
    kext.dll
    ext.dll
    logexts.dll

The debugger extension DLLs for Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 are operating 
system version, debug/retail specific.  However, these extensions should
properly support all service packs based on that build.  Multiple versions of
each DLL are included, to provide the necessary files for each variant. All DLLs
are provided in both debug and retail versions.  The debug and retail versions 
of these DLLs for Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 are installed 
into four subdirectories, under the target subdirectory:

    nt4chk
    nt4fre
    w2kchk
    w2kfre
    
The debugger has awareness of these subdirectories, and will not be able
to find them if these subdirectories are renamed or moved.

If a custom extension DLL is to be used, it should be placed in its own
directory.  The user can then set the debugger extension path variable so the
debugger can find the extension.  Debugger extension can also be loaded in
the debugger using fully qualified path names.

All of the debuggers search for debugger extension DLLs in the 
following places:

    %NT_DEBUGGER_EXTENSION_PATH%;
    %DIRECTORY_FROM_WHICH_KDNTSD_IS_LAUNCHED%\WINEXT;
    %DIRECTORY_FROM_WHICH_KDNTSD_IS_LAUNCHED%\%TARGET_PLATFORM%;
    %DIRECTORY_FROM_WHICH_KDNTSD_IS_LAUNCHED%;
    %Path% 
       
where TARGET_PLATFORM is [nt4fre| nt4chk| w2kfre| w2kchk| winxp].

Use the "version" command in KD/NTSD to see the extension search path, and
to note where extension DLLs are loaded from.


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Software Development Samples


Header files, libs and samples for debugger extensions are provided in this
package.  They are not installed by default.  The "SDK" component of the package
must be selected during the install to get the samples installed.

The samples will compile by using the latest Windows XP DDK or SDK.
The header files and libs in this package should replace any existing version
of the header files or libs that are shipped with the DDK or SDK.

Using the samples and headers with the Windows 2000 SDK or DDK will cause
compilation errors.


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Documentation

For documentation on how to use these debuggers and related tools, see the
help file debugger.chm that is included with the tools. This documentation
has been improved and expanded since the last release.

You need to have Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater installed in order to use
the documentation properly.

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Redistributables

Please read the license agreement during setup for legal information regarding
redistributable files.  If this is a retail release, the license agreement 
mentions that redist.txt gives a list of the files that are redistributable.  

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More Information

For more information on debugging, see the Debugging Tools for Windows
web page, <http://www.microsoft.com/ddk/debugging/>.

We encourage people to get the new debugger off the web "often", as
we do many updates, while keeping compatibility with Windows NT 4.0, 
Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

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Feedback

We are interested in your feedback on the tools.  Please mail suggestions or 
bug reports to [email protected].  This is not a support alias, but your 
feedback will help us to plan future changes for these tools and will make 
them more useful to you in the future.

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