Debugging assertion errors.

This is weird. I use MSVC++ on two systems, and they behave very differently with respect to debugging. Basically one doesn't do anything, and the other one is pretty useful. The difference is the OS. W98 vs XP. Its my XP box that can't seem to do anything with debugging: when I get an assertion error, all I get is a message box informing me of the error. "Debugging" then opens another message box:

"The exceptin Breakpoint
A breakpoint has been reached.
(0xSomeNumber) occurred in the application at location 0xSomeothernumber.

Click OK to terminate the program."

All I can view from MSVC++ are the registers, and the disassembly, which, frankly mean squat to me. Clicking the ok button shuts everything down, and I'm back to staring at my code. How in the world am I supposed to get any meaningful information from this?

On the W98 box I use, I can enter debug mode, and it will track down the exact ASSERT() statement that was causing the problem. At least occasionally, I could figure that out by examining where the code is, and if it was well commented, but now...who knows what could be going wrong?

I may be wrong, but I believe you have to load the nt debugging symbols for this to work correctly on your xp machine. It is based off of nt architecture, so these symbols are required.

i am using delphi and during installation, it asks me if i want to replace dr.watson by their debugger.

did ms ask you the same?

maybe this is neccessary for debugging in NT...

did you have a look at www.microsoft.com for this problem? (maybe your msvc version is not compatible to XP, you know, they want to sell their .NET to you! )

Good possibilities, both of you. I'll look into it, and thanks for the advice. I can't remember about the install though, that was a while ago...

Regarding .NET. I've been thinking of buying it. Due to the incredible educational discount (total price $99 for VS.NET), it doesn't make sense to put off buying it until after I finish grad school. Are workspaces made with .NET compatible with VS6?

No, you can import vs6 stuff to .not, er .net, but you can go backwards from .net to vs6.

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I'm just curious if Onslaught was correct?

I think he was...unfortunately, I can't remember .

I remember solving the problem, and doing a full re-install, but I don't remember if that was what solved the problem. I also migrated to VS.NET about two weeks after posting this...

It's hard to remember specifically, but I think when you install MSVC++ on Windows XP it asks you to install some NT settings or something?

Anyone know this?

That sounds familiar. I think the problem arose because my WinXP install was an upgrade, so the original install of VS was probably back from W98, and so the symbols wouldn't have been installed.

If I recall correctly, the re-install asked me if I wanted to install the symbols, and after doing so, everything worked fine.