Please include pdb with windows distribution

[lylefile]

BPO	1303434
Nosy	@malemburg, @loewis
Files	pdbzip-20100804-1.patch pdb.patch

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2012-05-01.17:41:09.160>
created_at = <Date 2005-09-24.19:30:29.000>
labels = ['type-feature', 'build']
title = 'Please include pdb with windows distribution'
updated_at = <Date 2012-05-01.17:41:09.159>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/lylefile'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2012-05-01.17:41:09.159>
actor = 'loewis'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2012-05-01.17:41:09.160>
closer = 'loewis'
components = ['Build']
creation = <Date 2005-09-24.19:30:29.000>
creator = 'lylefile'
dependencies = []
files = ['18359', '18741']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 1303434
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 17.0
messages = ['61207', '61208', '61209', '61210', '61211', '81671', '81673', '81686', '102494', '102503', '112390', '112393', '112402', '112714', '115507', '115574', '159760']
nosy_count = 6.0
nosy_names = ['lemburg', 'loewis', 'lylefile', 'stutzbach', 'cgrebeld', 'jbit']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'accepted'
stage = 'patch review'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'enhancement'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue1303434'
versions = ['Python 3.2']

[lylefile]

Checking out the source files and rebuilding is not
guaranteed to build a program database (pdb) file that
represents the distribution python DLL. This may be due
to a differences in the windows version or visual studio
service pack on my system vs the one used to build the
distribution, but tracking it down can be very time
consuming. Including the pdb in the distribution should
be trivial and avoid this problem entirely. Although I can
fix the problem for future releases of our product, I am
also supporting previous releases that included the
standard DLL included in the distribution.

[loewis]

Logged In: YES
user_id=21627

Including the PDB files in the MSI is probably not
acceptable to the majority of the users. python24.pdb is
3.5MiB in size, so the MSI file to download would grow
considerably.

Why do you need the PDB file in the first place?

[loewis]

Logged In: YES
user_id=21627

Update: distribution in a separate zipfile would be
possible, provided that a patch to the build process (in
Tools/msi/msi.py) would be contributed.

[lylefile]

Logged In: YES
user_id=1351115

A PDB file is required for debugging crash dumps from
complex pythonic programs. This ability is absolutely
critical for commercial programs using python. Technically,
the crashes only happen within pyds or dlls, but it is
often very vitally important to be able to find out what
python code was being interpreted at the time.
Unfortunately, I've even seen "pure" python crash in one of
the supplied pyd's. Of course, the pdb file should be in a
separate download, as few users require the ability to
reverse engineer crash dumps.

[loewis]

Logged In: YES
user_id=21627

Just in case I wasn't clear in my last message: patches in
that direction are appreciate; without a contributed patch,
nothing will happen.

[malemburg]

Hi Martin, wouldn't just uploading the pythonXX.pdb to the release page
be enough.

The distributed DLL already points to the source location on your system
:-) E.g. for Python 2.5, this was c:\loewis\25\python\PCbuild\python25.pdb

Or are you thinking of having a separate MSI installer with all the .pdb
files included ?

[loewis]

Hi Martin, wouldn't just uploading the pythonXX.pdb to the release page
be enough.

It's not clear to me what is being requested: just that single PDB file,
or also the PDB files for all of the extension modules? Also, shouldn't
the file be compressed somehow?

I also dislike the clutter this would add to the release page, which
already has a confusing number of files available for download.

[malemburg]

On 2009-02-11 22:20, Martin v. Löwis wrote:

Martin v. Löwis <martin@v.loewis.de> added the comment:

> Hi Martin, wouldn't just uploading the pythonXX.pdb to the release page
> be enough.

It's not clear to me what is being requested: just that single PDB file,
or also the PDB files for all of the extension modules? Also, shouldn't
the file be compressed somehow?

I also dislike the clutter this would add to the release page, which
already has a confusing number of files available for download.

I see these possibilities:

• add just the Python DLL PDF file to the page

• add a ZIP file with just the PDB files for all components

• add a second MSI file which includes and installs the PDB
  files alongside the .dll/.pyd/.exe files

• add the PDB files to the standard MSI files

We could put such files into a separate section on the release page.

Note that the PDB files are just around 1.6MB in compressed form
(probably less if integrated into the MSI file), so the last option
looks like the easiest solution.

FWIW: I don't think that the current release page layout looks
cluttered:

http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.1/

[cgrebeld]

Hi Martin,
As an aside to the request, is the pdb for the python dll currently available anywhere?

[loewis]

As an aside to the request, is the pdb for the python dll currently available anywhere?

Only on my hard disk, and then only for the very last release. The
status of the issue is the same as in 2006: without patches, nothing
will happen.

[jbit]

Right now if you have any moderately complex Python based application (or extension set) the only way to easily debug it on windows is by building Python yourself, which is a horrible solution since it means you may end up with a subtly different version to what your crash dump is against.
While including the PDB in the MSI distribution would require a patch (and might not be the best solution since 99% of people won't need it), copying the PDB to some place does not, so I'm not sure why this hasn't been done years ago.
Even if it's not in a super easy-to-find place (ie: not on the download page), placing the PDB somewhere will greatly help developers who need to debug Python internals in visual studio.