We have a .NET 2.0 application running (Globalization: Eng / German) running on some PC's.
Past few days, the application is throwing un-handled exceptions and the application crashes. I don't have the source code to debug. Application log as well as Event viewer is of no use. The exception does not say a lot.
Any way to debug and find the cause of exception without the source code?
thanks in advance
Karthik
you could use http://wiki.sharpdevelop.net/ILSpy.ashx to decompile the code and get the code. But really there should be proper error logging in the application. Which details the inner exception in valid places as well which would give you better idea what is failing.
Try getting the source using a .NET decompiler like http://www.reflector.net/ or the brilliant Graywolf from http://digitalbodyguard.com/ (Graywolf is limited by its license to non-commercial use, so it might not be an option for you)
I would start with memory dumps. ProcessExplorer can take memory dumps of the process.
You may use Mdbg or Windbg to debug your process. To obtain more information, you should use the PDB files. That's the kind of situation where there are usefull.
You may find the source code as indicated in other answers. Note that ILSpy and Reflector are capable of debugging and decompiling at the same time ...
You can use WinDbg to either process the crash dump or to attach to the process when it crashes. There is enough type information in managed code to allow you debug effectively.
WinDbg.exe -I will register it as the crash handler on the system.Once WinDbg is attached, the following commands should help:
.loadby sos clr to load the CLR debugging extensions!pe to dump the exception details.~#s to switch to the thread with the exception!clrstack to dump the stack of the thread