Discussion:
SYMBOL_INFO TypeIndex
(too old to reply)
Scott
2008-12-26 03:42:01 UTC
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I am trying to find some back ground on this field and other dbghelp
functions. The description says for more information see the PDB
documentation.

Where can I find the "PDB Documentation"?
--
Scott Norberg
Jialiang Ge [MSFT]
2008-12-26 08:16:53 UTC
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Good morning Scott

First of all, as New Year is coming, I wish you good luck and great success
in the coming New Year! :-)

I agree that the term "PDB Documentation" is confusing. I gathered the
information that the PDB format is undocumented and strictly proprietary.
There was a Microsoft KB article "Q182043: Program Database File (PDB)
Format Information" that mentioned the point, but the article is not
available in the internet now. I personally feels that the term "PDB
Documentation" might be referring to some books out there that are not
endorsed by Microsoft but that attempt to document the format. For example,
http://undocumented.rawol.com/, or it might be a VSIP program that's for
analyzation of the PDB file.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vsx2008/products/bb964516.aspx. I have sent
an email to the product group to ask for their comments on this term. I
will be back as soon as possible.

Here are some additional materials that may be useful:

Improved Error Reporting with DBGHELP 5.1 APIs
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc301692.aspx
(In the section Drilling into the New Symbol and Type Information, it gives
more information about the fields in SYMBOL_INFO. For example, SYMBOL_INFO
has a TypeIndex field from which information about the symbol's type can be
learned. For instance, if a symbol represents a structure, it's possible to
enumerate the members of structure and classes, as well as get their types,
sizes, and offsets within the structure.")

Debug Interface Access SDK
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/x93ctkx8.aspx
(We have no documentation on PDB, and customers need to use the DIA SDK API
instead)

Regards,
Jialiang Ge (***@online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

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Jialiang Ge [MSFT]
2008-12-27 13:12:18 UTC
Permalink
Hello Scott

I get more information from the product group:

The DIA documentation would be the place to go for low-level symbol info.
The PDB format itself is undocumented by design. However, none of that
matters for the field TypeIndex. TypeIndex is just a number that
identifies a particular type and has no other meaning. It isn't persistent
and isn't necessarily related to anything in the PDB on-disk information.
You get it out of the API in response to queries and you can send it back
on for further queries in the same session. That's the use of TypeIndex.

Apart from the above information, I have logged the MSDN problem "PDB
documentation" in our product database for product group's future
improvement. I agree that they should make the meaning clearer.

If you have any other questions or concerns on this issue, please feel free
to tell me. I will do my best to be of assistance.

P.S.

As New Year is coming, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for
your choosing our Newsgroup support service, and for your consistent
supports and collaborations with our work. We are very happy to have a
customer like you. THANK YOU! Good luck and great success in the coming
New Year!

Happy Holiday!

Regards,
Jialiang Ge
Microsoft Online Community Support

=================================================
Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
***@microsoft.com.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
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Jialiang Ge [MSFT]
2009-01-08 07:33:34 UTC
Permalink
Hello Scott,

I am writing to check the status of the issue on your side. Would you mind
letting me know the result of the suggestions? If you need further
assistance, feel free to let me know. I will be more than happy to be of
assistance.

Have a great day!

Regards,
Jialiang Ge (***@online.microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

=================================================
Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we provide to you. Please
feel free to let my manager know what you think of the level of service
provided. You can send feedback directly to my manager at:
***@microsoft.com.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
=================================================

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