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	TABLE OF CONTENTS Power Debugging Debugger Feature: Break Point Command Strings Automatic Break Points Debugger Feature: Custom Debug Extensions Poor Man's Performance Timing Debugger Feature: Symbol Search

Debugger Feature: Symbol Search

The Microsoft debuggers provide the functionality of searching symbols for function names using wild cards. This can be done on a per-module basis or on a wild card basis. The syntax for this is x <modulename>!<functionname> which can use a combination of letters and * to represent wild cards.

Poor Man's MSDN

This is a very useful feature for those who forget or want to find a function name. It's local, it's fast and it doesn't require you to know the name of the function. Just attach the debugger or start a process in the debugger that loads that DLL. You can then do a wildcard search for functions. I even do cdb rundll32 x.dll bogus in order to simply load a particular DLL and search for functions. I find this feature useful when I'm not even debugging anything!

Conclusion

The debugger is a powerful tool that can be used for a wide variety of purposes beyond just tracking down an access violation. The debugger is not a substitute for the appropriate tools, however it does provide functionality that just may be "good enough" for what you are attempting to accomplish.

Previous Page | 1 Power Debugging | 2 Debugger Feature: Break Point Command Strings | 3 Automatic Break Points | 4 Debugger Feature: Custom Debug Extensions | 5 Poor Man's Performance Timing | 6 Debugger Feature: Symbol Search

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