windows-xp/Source/XPSP1/NT/sdktools/debuggers/redist/docs/64/relnotes.txt

                  Microsoft(R) Debugging Tools for Windows(R)
                          64 Bit Beta Version Release Notes
                                 April 2001

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Contents

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

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Overview

Debugging Tools for Windows contains tools to analyze and debug OS and
application failures. This is a beta of the 64-bit release of Debugging Tools
for Windows(R). 

This Debugging Tools package is based on the 32-bit Debugging Tools package.
It is compiled as native IA64 binaries from the same source code as the 32-
bit tools.  It will have the same features and same limitations as the 32-bit
tools.


The kernel debugger is KD.exe.  It runs on the latest version of Windows
Windows Whistler for 64-bit.  KD.exe can be used to debug Windows NT 4.0,
Windows 2000 and Windows Whistler.


The user-mode debugger is CDB.exe.  It can be used to debug 32-bit X86
applications as well as native 64-bit applications.


WinDbg.exe is the GUI mode version of the debugger.  It supports both user-mode
and kernel-mode debugging.  WinDbg can debug Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and 
Windows Whistler.


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What's New

This Beta of Debugging Tools for Windows is based on the concurrently released
version of the 32-bit Debugging Tools package.

This release of Debugging Tools for Windows contains many bug fixes and new
enhancements. The debuggers are stable and more reliable than Version 2.0.23.0
and we recommend that you upgrade your debuggers to this new version.

It is also a requirement to use this latest drop if you wish to debug
POST BETA 2 versions of Windows XP; older versions (including 2.0.23) will
not work on the latest Windows XP build.

Here's a list of the enhancements to WinDBG 3.0:

    * Add ambiguous symbol detection (print a warning if a symbol name
      being evaluated is defined multiple times)
    * Better wildcard support in the 'x' command
    * Allow regsiters in the watch window (prefix with '@')
    * Many fixes for windows XP debugger extensions.
    * Modify WinDbg to save workspaces under HKEY_CURRENT_USER
    * Add context menus to the calls, CPU and watch/locals windows in WinDbg
    * Add a scratch pad window to WinDbg
    * Enhace !pool to print more infomration about a block (if it exists)
    * move extensions to winxp directory (instead of w2001)
    * Automatically expand .dmp files out of .cab
    * And lots of bug fixes!

    Windows XP specific enhacements (requires the new debugger AND windows XP)
    * Faster stepping
    * .kdfiles to transfer files over the debugger port



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Known Issues


None.


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. 

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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

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
    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 Whistler debugger extensions are in the
winxp subdirectory and include:

    exts.dll
    kdexts.dll

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.

For Whistler, Ntsdexts.dll ships with the operating system, in 
%systemroot%\system64, and is not included in this distribution.

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 winxp.

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

*** The NT 4 and Win2K debugger extensions were NOT ported and recompiled for
64 bit.  In order to use the NT4 and Win2K extensions, the 32 bit Debugging
Tools package should be installed.

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Software Development Samples


Header files, libs and samples for debugger extensions samples 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 Whistler 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.

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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 will do lots of fixes.

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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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