Using the TechView UI to Capture Application Failure
Information
To configure the Core Dump Subsystem (CDS), Symbian platform provides a
TechView-based UI that runs H4 boards. The UI, in turn, uses the configuration
API to perform the following tasks based on your action.
-
Select a formatter and a writer plug-in from the list of available
plug-ins
-
Select a thread or process to be observed from the list of threads or
processes
-
Configure CDS and the plug-ins.
The TechView UI can be replaced by your own UI, which must use the
configuration API to perform the tasks. For more information on how to develop
a UI, refer to Developing a Configuration UI for the Core Dump Subsystem.
The following steps guide you through the process of configuring CDS
using the TechView-based UI:
-
Click Tools > Extras and select
coredumpui
application to start the Techview-based
configuration UI on the H4 board.
-
To select the processes or threads to be observed for failure click
Lists > Process or Lists > Thread to view a
list of processes or threads that are running.
-
Select the processes or threads you want to observe for failure and
click Observe.
-
To refresh the list of processes or threads, click
Refresh.
-
To load the plug-ins and change their configuration click Lists
> Plugin to view a list of plug-ins.
-
To load a plug-in, select a plug-in from the list and click
Load.
-
To view and change plug-in configuration, select a plug-in from the
list and click Configure.
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To configure core dump server, do the following:
-
Click Configure > Configure CDS to view the core
dump server parameters in the configuration window.
The core dump server configuration UI provides the following
options:
-
Crash trigger: Used to specify the trigger for the core dump
creation.
The trigger can be one of the following:
-
Hardware Exception Event - Use this option to trigger the
core dump creation when a hardware exception is reported.
-
Thread Kill Event - Use this option to trigger the core
dump creation when a thread terminate event is reported.
-
Both - Use this option to trigger the core dump creation
when either of the two events listed earlier are reported.
-
Action on crash: Used to specify the action to be taken when
a failure event is reported.
The action can be one of the following:
-
None - Use this option to do nothing.
-
Suspend Thread - Use this option to suspend the thread
and create the core dump.
-
Suspend Process - Use this option to suspend the process
and create the core dump.
-
Action after crash: Use this option to specify the action to
be taken after creating the core dump.
The actions can be one of the following:
-
None - Use this option to do nothing.
-
Resume Thread - Use this option to resume the thread.
-
Resume Process - Use this option to resume the process.
-
Kill Thread - Use this option to terminate the thread.
-
Make necessary changes to the parameter values and click
OK to save the changes, or click Cancel to discard
the changes.
-
To close the application, click Lists > Exit.
After you perform the steps outlined in the preceding list, CDS starts
observing the selected processes and threads for failure and creates the core
dump when a failure is reported. CDS queues the failure events as they occur
and processes them sequentially.
Notes
-
Only one formatter and writer plug-in combination can be loaded at
a time. When you try to load a formatter or writer plug-in you are prompted to
unload the formatter or writer plug-in that is already loaded.
-
Changes to core dump server and plug-in configuration are not
allowed while core dump creation is in progress.
-
If the core dump server triggers configuration results in two
failure events from the same thread ID, the second event is ignored and only
the first event leads to the core dump creation.
-
CDS can observe only those processes and threads that are not being
debugged by other debug agents.