pdb2mdb(1)

📦 version 6.14.1, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, debian bookworm, debian trixie, epel 10, epel 9, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💅 pdb2mdb — the glow-up your debug symbols deserve 💅

okay bestie, so this is pdb2mdb, a General Commands Manual girlie, and she has ONE job: take your dusty Microsoft debug symbols and make them cute enough for Mono to actually read. no cap.

✨ NAME ✨

pdb2mdb — Program Database to Mono Debugging Symbol converter. that's it, that's the whole personality. 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

pdb2mdb pdb_file

one argument, one slay. we love a low-maintenance icon. 💖

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so like. this tool's whole thing is converting debugging symbols that Microsoft's compilers spit out into debugging symbols that Mono's runtime can actually consume. it's giving translator, it's giving bridge between two worlds, it's giving "i can fix him." ✨

Program Database files are the ones ending in .pdb — you know the ones — and they're associated with a library or an executable (so a .dll or an .exe file, iykyk). here's the tea tho: this format was, until recently, not documented. like at all. so Mono was out here doing its own thing, using its own file format for storing debugging information, creatively named the Mono debugging format. iconic honestly. 💅

and just like PDB files, Mono Debugging information lives in files that reside side-by-side with a program executable or a library. roommates. besties. inseparable fr fr.

so what do you actually DO with all this? you use the pdb2mdb tool to transform those PDB files into MDB files that Mono can then consume — whether that's to debug programs or to provide line-number information for stack traces or exceptions. basically: your crashes get receipts now. 🔥

👑 LICENSE 👑

okay legal moment, but make it fashion:

  • the pdb2mdb tool is released under the terms of the Microsoft Public License (MS-PL) 📜
  • JB Evain wrote the tool. king behavior. 👑
  • the PDB reading support came from Microsoft Common Compiler Infrastructure.

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

go read those too, bestie, they're part of the extended universe. 🌈

⭐ WEB SITE ⭐

http://www.mono-project.com

no warnings here babe, this page is genuinely drama-free 💀 just remember: PDB in, MDB out, and Mono eats it up. 🍓

and that's the whole page!! mwah 💖 this was the pdb2mdb(1) manual, dated 23 April 2009 — ancient, yes, but still serving looks. stay debugging, bestie, ily 🫶✨

📦 where this page comes from