Recommended way to get seed context for asynchronous DoStackSnapshot

Question

What is the recommended way to get a seed context for asynchronous DoStackSnapshot calls (32-bit and 64-bit)? According to this thread (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/netfxtoolsdev/thread/fd66add5-2a0f-4291-bcc1-83f90b6b49b8) StackWalk64 should not be used because of possible deadlocks.

Answer 1

Will this help? http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/netfxtoolsdev/thread/c1c37c3d-d059-4328-82fd-bef1758e2c94

Answer 2

Ok, I will use RtlVirtualUnwind / RtlLookupFunctionEntry  instead of DoStackSnapshot on 64 bit Windows. But on 32 bit windows?

Answer 3

The same.

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Ghost,
Call me ghost for short, Thanks
To get the better answer, it should be a better question.

Answer 4

I think RtlVirtualUnwind is only available on x64. Am I wrong?

Answer 5

Hi ICorthomas,

You can try the general definition and check the result.

Have a nice day.

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Ghost,
Call me ghost for short, Thanks
To get the better answer, it should be a better question.

Answer 6

Hi, Thomas.  I believe you're correct that the Rtl* functions for unwinding are unavailable on x86.  It's probably best to write your own lightweight native stackwalker on x86.  Typically, you'll get fine results by doing a simple ebp-walk (this is how ETW stack events work), and can test each frame to see if it's managed via GetFunctionFromIP.

More info about mixed-mode stackwalking here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/davbr/archive/2005/10/06/profiler-stack-walking-basics-and-beyond.aspx

Thanks,
Dave