I read through this article: Setting up a Symbol Server, which goes into details on how to set up a shared symbol server for my team.
The thing I'm wondering about is adding my own symbols into the store.
My question is this: What exactly is it that I gain from this?
Let's assume that I have the following build process:
- I commit changes into my Subversion repository
- A TeamCity CI tool picks up those changes and does a build + unit testing
- The binaries are committed to a different Subversion repository (for referencing by applications I make)
If I add to the third point above, the ability to add the built files into the symbol store, what does that give me?
If I create a program, and reference the binaries committed to the repository, I get both .dll's, .pdb's and .xml's (intellisense support), so my stack traces already seem to contain everything I need.
Is this a replacement for distributing .pdb's?
Or is it just for when I need to open a .DMP file into WINDBG and analyze its stacks, where I presumably don't have the executable files at all, only the .DMP file provided by someone else? (that is, the exectuables are perhaps from an older version, and I was only given the .DMP file)