CodeView

CodeView was originally a standalone debugger for early versions of Windows. The name "Code View" now refers to the system of type records, symbol records, and line records that have evolved from the original Code View debugger.

CodeView data structures may be stored in several places:

• Within PDB files that describe fully-linked executable images. These are produced by a linker.

• Within "compiler PDB" files, which describe a collection of OBJ files which have not yet been linked into an executable image. The MSVC /Zi compiler switch enables this.

• Within COFF OBJs in .debug$S sections. The MSVC /Z7 compiler switch enables this.

This directory contains documents that describe these parts of Code View:

• Primitive Types describes how primitive types, such as int, char, void are represented

• Types describes how composed (non-primitive) types are represented

• Items describes how "items" are represented. Items are metadata about programs, such as build environment info, compiler command-lines, etc.

• Symbols describes how procedures, global variables, and other program elements, collectively known as "symbols", are represented.

• Line Data describes how source code line mappings work.

• Number describes the Number type, which represents literal constant values in a variety of types.