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Configuring Visual Studio to use Safari for Windows Symbol Files

The Safari for Windows symbol files can be used in conjunction with Visual Studio to provide reliable backtraces when debugging WebKit.

To configure Visual Studio to use the Safari for Windows symbol files, perform the following steps:

  1. Open Visual Studio or Visual C++ Express.
  2. Click on the Tools menu in the menu bar and select the Options... item. This will open the Options dialog.
  3. In the tree on the left side of the Options window, expand the Debugging category and select the Symbols item.
  4. Click the folder button above the Symbol file (.pdb) locations: box. An editable area will appear in the box and an insertion caret will start blinking.
  5. Type http://developer.apple.com/internet/safari/windows_symbols and press the Enter key.
  6. To increase performance when loading symbols, enter the path to a directory of your choosing in the Cache symbols from symbol servers to this directory: field
  7. Make sure that the Search the above locations only when symbols are loaded manually checkbox is unchecked.

It is also recommended that you configure Visual Studio to use Microsoft's public symbol server. Instructions to do so may be found by http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b8ttk8zy.aspx.

Once you have completed these steps, the Options dialog should look like this:

Click the OK button to save your changes.

Visual Studio will now automatically load the appropriate symbol files when you debug WebKit.

 

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