Feature request: Allow embedding source code in PDB for C++ projects using SourceLink.

[silnith]

The documentation says that SourceLink is supported for C++ projects (not SDK-style, not PackageReference). It says that only embedding URLs for downloading the source code is supported.

https://github.com/dotnet/sourcelink#using-source-link-in-c-projects

It would solve a long list of headaches if it were possible to simply embed the source code directly in the generated PDB instead of dealing with network traffic. I will not go into details, suffice to say that external network traffic can be very problematic in certain debugging situations.

Please, please consider supporting this feature!

[AraHaan]

Better Idea, create a new pdb format which is simply a zip file that contains an inner pdb that the debugger loads, an that "new native pdb format" then also contains the entire folder structure of the source code relative to $(ProjectDir), then when something goes wrong the inner pdb then links to the file stored in the outer pdb and the VS IDE easily then finds that file and opens it and shows where a problem is occurring at for easier debugging.

Honestly I think I like this idea best for native code due to debugging would be a hell of a lot easier (and could pair with the recent C++ Dynamic Deoptimization feature aka /dynamicdeopt)

[silnith]

While the "new pdb format" sounds pretty nice, it has an insurmountable flaw. Many of us are tied to existing versions of Visual Studio, so a new format will not help us in any way. We need existing solutions that work with existing debugging tools, not entirely new tools that need to be vetted and installed (because some environments do not allow "new tools" easily).

[AraHaan]

While the "new pdb format" sounds pretty nice, it has an insurmountable flaw. Many of us are tied to existing versions of Visual Studio, so a new format will not help us in any way. We need existing solutions that work with existing debugging tools, not entirely new tools that need to be vetted and installed (because some environments do not allow "new tools" easily).

The solution to that would be to do what the .NET SDK does for the debugging implementation for VS as well just like what they plan to do with the C++ build tools soon just so they could plug into just about any version of VS automatically for free 💀.

[silnith]

plan to do with the C++ build tools soon

How, exactly, would that help with existing installations?

This may be a request for a new feature for SourceLink, but ultimately it is about backwards compatibility with existing debugging tools. Modifying the tools that load the PDBs is prohibited, the only thing that we can modify is the PDBs themselves.