Source code is different from original version

Question

We are working on a .NET application and recently started using Git for version control.

Our latest release was tagged in Git, and now i am trying to debug some issue.

Here's what i did:

1. Installed the app (from the release) on my Pc.
2. Checked out the tagged release version.
3. Started VS and attached to the process.
4. Placed breakpoints over some part of the code.

I am getting the message: "Source code is different from original version", however this is the actual code that was compiled to release this installed version.

What am i doing wrong here?

using VS2008 if that matters.

BTW: What is the mechanism that is used to compare if the binaries are different from source code?

When cloning the repo from Git, for example, it will change all files/folders date to the current date. Is this value (datetime) used to determine source code vs. binary?

Answer 1

The problem was i didnt use (or store) the original symbols for this release.

I previously thought symbols only contained source code line information and were not needed to actually debug the program under VS. apparently i was wrong.

A good resource on symbols for anyone who's looking into problems with them: http://www.wintellect.com/CS/blogs/jrobbins/archive/2009/05/11/pdb-files-what-every-developer-must-know.aspx

This post also contains a few other links to MSDN Magazine with more valuable information.