Is it possible to debug into a DLL with only a PDB and no source code?

Question

I'm trying to debug an exe that calls a dll, in Visual Studio. I made sure I had the corresponding pdb in the same path as the dll.

But I cannot get into the functions that the dll is offering. I get a message that says "xyz.c was not found"

Why am I getting this message?

Does this mean that I can't get into the source code just from a DLL + .PDB? What about a static library (.lib) built using the /Z7 option?

Answer 1

No, you need to have source code to be able to see the source code.

pdb (or /Z7) contains debug information which is like mapping between executable code and your source code. With pdb VS debugger knows where in source files each instruction is located, but it still needs to have source files to show you the code.

Usually pdb file stores location of source files and VS debugger knows where to find them. If you move src files somewhere else then AFAIK VS will show a popup dialog to browse for .c/.cpp file that it cannot find.

Answer 2

Yes, you need the source code to source debug. The .PDB only contains symbols so you will be able, for example, to view a stack trace or determine the source file name and line number of a crash. Otherwise, you need the source code.