Naming threads in Win32 And .Net

re: Naming threads in Win32 And .Net

Len Holgate — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 23:14:22 GMT

Steve,

If someone were writing a debugging tool and wanted to provide users of the tool with functionality similar to the thread naming shown above (i.e. provide a way for their source code to communicate with the debug tool when it is present) what would be the best way to select a value for the exception code? I'm currently assuming that there isn't really a great deal to do except pick a value that an application programmer who decided to define their own exception code (and I expect they're few and far between) is unlikely to pick...

re: Naming threads in Win32 And .Net

SteveJS — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 02:50:33 GMT

Len,

Yes, basically a random exception code is what you want. If you do have a collision with one picked by an application programmer I believe there are only two concerns:

1. If the app programmer uses a Vectored Exception handler that tries to handle that exception code. Then use of your diagnostic function will change the app behavior. However, installing a vectored exception handler is not typical and anyone who does had better make sure they know what they are doing. They should take into account diagnostic functions compiled into the code.

2. Your debugging tool could get confused by the applications use of the exception code.
Basically the fact that no one will pick the same random exception code is probably good enough for most purposes.
However, strictly speaking the exception code is only used to give you the opportunity to look in the target's address space. You should fail gracefully when the data you want is not there. Since your debugger is looking at a buggy process there is always the possiblity that a errant thread trashed the memory you need.

re: Naming threads in Win32 And .Net

Len Holgate — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 14:28:40 GMT

Steve

Thanks.

Why don't the managed Debugging APIs expose the Finalizer thread?

Mike Stall's .NET Debugging Blog — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 19:49:24 GMT

That's a fair question. Part of the answer is we don't believe people could use it properly.&nbsp; The...

Win64 Thread Naming

andypennell — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 02:26:49 GMT

Hey Steve, you should update this with the Win64-compatible version, which I recall has some weird packing for back-compatibility.

Naming threads « Tweaker

Naming threads « Tweaker — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:45:37 GMT

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Visual Studio Debugging Resources

Canadian Developer Connection — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:44:21 GMT

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