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Comparing reference stack traces with the output of !process 0 ff command or just visually inspecting the long log and trying to spot anomalies is very difficult and largely based on personal experience with prior problem cases. A tool is needed and I’m currently writing the one. It will compare logs from problem memory dumps with reference stack traces and other information and automatically pinpoint any anomalies and highlight areas for more detailed manual inspection. This is similar to Kernel Memory Space Analyzer original intent but far more useful. Originally I thought about calling it WinDbg Log Analyzer but later decided to make it more general and extendable to other types of logs from different debuggers like GDB. Some people asked me the question: won’t a WinDbg debugger extension suffice? My answer was no - some companies cannot send complete, kernel and process memory dumps due to security considerations but they can send logs free from sensitive data as explained in my previous article:

Resolving security issues with crash dumps

Additionally I want it to be debugger independent at least in the second version and I want it to be web-based too and free from the choice of the hosting platform.  

Stay tuned because the working prototype will be soon as a command line tool first. I personally need it for my day-to-day job. The latter always was my primary motivation to create various tools to automate or semi-automate data gathering and improve customer problem analysis.

The next version will have front-end GUI and I still haven’t decided yet whether to employ embedded HTML control like IE, RichEdit or revive my old text processor project. I’m inclined to choose the former due to endless possibilities with HTML and its platform independence. The choice of command line tool written in C++/STL will help to port it to FreeBSD/Linux/Solaris and adapt to other debuggers like GDB/ADB. The latter is my “wild fantasy” at the moment but its good to think towards other platforms that slowly increase their presence in my professional life

Any suggestions are very welcome especially if you have dealt with large debugger logs including not only backtraces but also various synchronization objects, module information, timing and I/O packet distribution.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

           

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Announcements

Coming Soon:

Management Bits: An Anthology from Reductionist Manager

Crash Dump Analysis: Practical Foundations (Windows Edition, Systematic Software Fault Analysis Series)

Debugging Notebook: Essential Concepts, WinDbg Commands and Tools

Crash Dump Analysis for System Administrators and Support Engineers

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Debugged! MZ/PE: MagaZine for/from Practicing Engineers

New Books:

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology: Color Supplement for Volumes 1-3

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 3

First Fault Software Problem Solving: A Guide for Engineers, Managers and Users

x64 Windows Debugging: Practical Foundations

Also available:

Windows Debugging: Practical Foundations

DLL List Landscape: The Art from Computer Memory Space

Dumps, Bugs and Debugging Forensics: The Adventures of Dr. Debugalov

WinDbg: A Reference Poster and Learning Cards

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 2

Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 1

New Children's Book:

Baby Turing

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 10:51 am and is filed under Announcements, Crash Dump Analysis, Crash Dump Patterns, Debugging, Security, Software Technical Support, Stack Trace Collection, Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.