7.2  Debug Monitor
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7.2  Debug Monitor

Debug Monitor is a powerful graphical- and console-mode tool for monitoring all activities handled by the WinDriver kernel.
You can use this tool to monitor how each command sent to the kernel is executed.

In addition, WinDriver enables you to print your own debug messages to the Debug Monitor, using the WD_DebugAdd() function  [B.6.6] or the high-level PrintDbgMessage() function [B.7.14].

The Debug Monitor comes in two versions:

Both Debug Monitor versions are provided in the WinDriver/util directory.

7.2.1  The wddebug_gui Utility

wddebug_gui is a fully graphical (GUI) version of the Debug Monitor utility for Windows 7/Vista/Server 2008/Server 2003/XP/2000 and Linux.

  1. Run the Debug Monitor using either of the following methods:
    • Run WinDriver/util/wddebug_gui.
    • Run the Debug Monitor from DriverWizard's Tools menu.
    • On Windows, run Start | Programs | WinDriver | Debug Monitor.

    Figure 7.1  Start Debug Monitor

    Start Debug Monitor

  2. Set the Debug Monitor's status, trace level and debug sections information from the Debug Options dialogue, which is activated either from the Debug Monitor's View | Debug Options menu or the Debug Options toolbar button.

    Figure 7.2  Debug Options

    Debug Options

    • Status – Set trace on or off.
    • Section – Choose what part of the WinDriver API you would like to monitor.

      USB developers should select the USB section.

      [Tip]
      Choose carefully those sections that you would like to monitor. Checking more options than necessary could result in an overflow of information, making it harder for you to locate your problem.
    • Level – Choose the level of messages you want to see for the resources defined.
      • Error is the lowest trace level, resulting in minimum output to the screen.
      • Trace is the highest trace level, displaying every operation the WinDriver kernel performs.

    • Send debug messages to the operating system kernel debugger –

      Select this option to send the debug messages received from the WinDriver kernel module to an external kernel debugger, in addition to the Debug Monitor.

      [Note]
      On Windows 7 and Vista, the first time that you enable this option you will need to restart the PC.
      [Tip]
      A free Windows kernel debugger, WinDbg, is distributed with the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) and is part of the Debugging Tools for Windows package, distributed via the Microsoft web site.
  3. Once you have defined what you want to trace and on what level, click OK to close the Debug Options window.
  4. Activate your application (step-by-step or in one run).
  5. Watch the Debug Monitor log (or the kernel debugger log, if enabled) for errors or any unexpected messages.

7.2.1.1  Running wddebug_gui for a Renamed Driver

By default, wddebug_gui logs messages from the default WinDriver kernel module – windrvr6.sys/.o/.ko. However, you can also use wddebug_gui to log debug messages from a renamed version of this driver [12.2], by running wddebug_gui from the command line with the driver_name option: wddebug_gui <driver_name>.

[Note]
The driver name should be set to the name of the driver file without the file's extension; e.g., windrvr6, not windrvr6.sys (on Windows) or windrvr6.o (on Linux).

For example, if you have renamed the default windrvr6.sys driver on Windows to my_driver.sys, you can log messages from your driver by running the Debug Monitor using the following command: wddebug_gui my_driver

7.2.2  The wddebug Utility

7.2.2.1  Console-Mode wddebug Execution

The wddebug version of the Debug Monitor utility can be executed as a console-mode application on all supported operating systems: Windows, Windows CE, and Linux. To use the console-mode Debug Monitor version, run WinDriver/util/wddebug in the manner explained below.

[Note]
For console-mode execution on Windows CE, start a command window (CMD.EXE) on the Windows CE target, and then run the program WDDEBUG.EXE inside this shell.
You can also execute wddebug via the Windows CE GUI, as explained in section 7.2.2.2.

wddebug console-mode usage

wddebug [<driver_name>] [<command>] [<level>]
[<sections>]

[Note]
The wddebug arguments must be provided in the order in which they appear in the usage statement above.

  • <driver_name>: The name of the driver to which to apply the command.

    The driver name should be set to the name of the WinDriver kernel module – windrvr6, or a renamed version of this driver (refer to the explanation in section 12.2).

    [Note]
    The driver name should be set to the name of the driver file without the file's extension; for example, windrvr6, not windrvr6.sys (on Windows) or windrvr6.o (on Linux).
  • <command>: The Debug Monitor command to execute:
    • Activation commands:
      • on: Turn the Debug Monitor on.
      • off: Turn the Debug Monitor off.
      • dbg_on : Redirect the debug messages from the Debug Monitor to a kernel debugger and turn the Debug Monitor on (if it was not already turned on).
        [Note]
        On Windows 7 and Vista, the first time that you enable this option you will need to restart the PC.
      • dbg_off : Stop redirecting debug messages from the Debug Monitor to a kernel debugger.
      [Note]
      The on and dbg_on commands can be run together with the <level> and <sections> options, described below.
    • dump: Continuously display ('dump') debug information, until the user selects to stop.
    • status: Display information regarding the running <driver_name> driver, the current Debug Monitor status – including the active debug level and sections (when the Debug Monitor is on) – and the size of the debug messages buffer.
    • help : Display usage instructions.
    • None: You can run wddebug with no arguments, including no command. On platforms other than Windows CE, this is equivalent to running wddebug help. On Windows CE, running wddebug with no arguments activates the utility's Windows CE GUI version, as explained in section 7.2.2.2.

The following options are applicable only to the on and dbg_on commands:

  • <level>: The debug trace level to set. The level can be set to either of the following flags: ERROR, WARN, INFO or TRACE, where ERROR is the lowest trace level and TRACE is the highest level (displays all messages).
    The default debug trace level is ERROR.

  • <sections>: The debug sections to set. The debug sections determine what part of the WinDriver API you would like to monitor.

    For a full list of all supported debug sections, run wddebug help to view the utility's usage instructions.
    The default debug sections flag is ALL – sets all the supported debug sections.

Usage Sequence

To log messages using wddebug, use this sequence:

  • Turn on the Debug Monitor by running wddebug with either the on command, or the dbg_on command – which redirects the debug messages to a kernel debugger before turning on the Debug Monitor.

    You can use the level and/or sections flags to set the debug level and/or sections for the log. If these options are not explicitly set, the default values will be used.

    You can also log messages from a renamed WinDriver driver by preceding the command with the name of the driver (see the <driver_name> option above). The default driver name is windrvr6.

  • Run wddebug with the dump command to begin dumping debug messages to the command prompt. You can turn off the display of the debug messages, at any time, by following the instructions displayed in the command prompt.
  • Run applications that use the driver, and view the debug messages as they are being logged to the command prompt/the kernel debugger.
  • You can run wddebug with the status command, at any time while the Debug Monitor is on, to view the current debug level and sections, as well as information regarding the running <driver_name> kernel module.
  • You can use dbg_on and dbg_off to toggle the redirection of debug messages to a kernel debugger at any time while the Debug Monitor is on.
  • When you are ready, turn off the Debug Monitor by running wddebug with the off command.

[Note]
You can also run wddebug with the status command while the Debug Monitor is turned off, to view information regarding the running <driver_name> driver.

Example

The following is an example of a typical wddebug usage sequence. Since no <driver_name> is set, the commands are applied to the default driver – windrvr6.

  • Turn the Debug Monitor on with the highest trace level for all sections:
    wddebug on TRACE ALL

    Note: This is the same as running 'wddebug on TRACE', since ALL is the default debug sections option.

  • Dump the debug messages continuously, until the user selects to stop:
    wddebug dump
  • Use the driver and view the debug messages in the command prompt.
  • Turn the Debug Monitor off:
    wddebug off
  • Display usage instructions:
    wddebug help As explained above, on all platforms other than Windows CE, this is equivalent to running wddebug with no arguments.

7.2.2.2  Windows CE GUI wddebug Execution

On Windows CE, you can also log debug messages by running wddebug without any arguments. This method is designed to enable debug logging on Windows CE platforms that do not have a command-line prompt. On such platforms, you can activate debug logging by double-clicking the wddebug executable; this is equivalent to running the application with no arguments from a command-line prompt.

When executing wddebug without arguments, the user is informed, via a GUI message box, that log messages will be stored in a predetermined log file – wdlog.txt in the root Windows CE directory – and is given the option to cancel or continue.

Figure 7.3  wddebug Windows CE Start Log Message

wddebug Windows CE Start Log Message


If the user selects to continue, debug logging is turned on with a trace level of TRACE and debug sections ALL, and the Debug Monitor begins dumping debug messages to the wdlog.txt log file. The user can stop the logging and turn off debug logging, at any time, via a dedicated GUI message box.

Figure 7.4  wddebug Windows CE Stop Log Message

wddebug Windows CE Stop Log Message


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