Question

view console stdout of a windows service

Asked by: bowser17

I have a windows service written in C++.  I want to view its stdout, as there is output to stdout using printf.  Is there an easy way to do this?  I can write more debug code, but i am trying to avoid that wasted time.  Im using this service across W2K, XP, and W2K3.  My specific issue i need to see the ouput for is on W2K.

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Asked On
2008-02-19 at 07:37:32ID23174585
Tags

C++ Console Windows Service

Topics

Debugging Software for Development

,

Windows Programming

,

C++ Programming Language

Participating Experts
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Answers

 

by: evilrixPosted on 2008-02-19 at 07:42:19ID: 20929392

>> I want to view its stdout, as there is output to stdout using printf
It'd probably be simplest just to write a log file.

 

by: jkrPosted on 2008-02-19 at 09:04:01ID: 20930232

If you can set your service to SERVICE_INTERACTIVE_PROCESS, you can just call 'AllocConsole()' (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms681944.aspx) to open a console window to write to (code snippet from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/105305 follows). Alternatively you might want to consider writing debug output via 'OutputDebugString()' (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa363362.aspx) and watch that using e.g. 'DebugView' (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896647.aspx). I'll also add a code snippet that uses a 'printf()'-style infterface for that.

// opening a console
 
   int hCrt;
   FILE *hf;
 
   AllocConsole();
   hCrt = _open_osfhandle(
             (long) GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE),
             _O_TEXT
          );
   hf = _fdopen( hCrt, "w" );
   *stdout = *hf;
   i = setvbuf( stdout, NULL, _IONBF, 0 );
				
 
// using 'OutputDebugString()'
 
#include <stdio.h>
 
void __cdecl DbgLog ( char* pszFormat, ...) {
 
    static char s_acBuf [ 2048];
 
    va_list args;
 
    va_start (args, pszFormat);
 
    vsprintf (s_acBuf, pszFormat, args);
 
    OutputDebugStringA (s_acBuf);
 
    va_end (args);
}
 
// the above is to be used like
 
DbgLog("Problem encountered in %s, line %s, error code %d\n", __FILE__, __LINE__, 42);

                                              
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by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-19 at 10:43:19ID: 20931258

jkr - I like the first solution, what i am doing is makeing the debug version of the code use desktop interactive, and the release stays the same.  Now, as i am working on this, maybe you can help explain a bit - after AllocConsole, what is all that other stuff?  It appears that the critical line is setvbuf?  Once i call all this it should work?  Im working on it now, so i may get it before you respond, but i'd like to better understand the lasn couple lines.

 

by: jkrPosted on 2008-02-19 at 10:48:06ID: 20931301

The 'other stuff' is to assign a valid value for stdout by 'cloning' the console's STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE infot a CRT-style file handle. When that is set, 'printf()' and friends should work as usual. The funny part is that *I* would actually go for the 2nd solution ;o)

 

by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-19 at 11:09:39ID: 20931492

ok, well the allocConsole seems to be working (the _O_TEXT didn't compile for some reason, i guess im missing a header, but intellisense scoped it out for me so i just used the actual value)

Regarding the second approach, i was a little unsure where the text goes... i currently use OutputDebugString in parts of my code, but the only place i know to view it is in the VS IDE.  I would be interested in using this if you could use it with windbg, or some other method of seeing the ouput.

 

by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-19 at 11:11:19ID: 20931507

oh, one other question:  can you set the default buffer size of the console window after AllocConsole?  The windows default is too small for the amount of data i am capturing.

 

by: jkrPosted on 2008-02-19 at 11:22:23ID: 20931605

>>Regarding the second approach, i was a little unsure where the text goes...

The text goes to an internal trace buffer of Windows. Actually, when you debug an application, you may see test in the debugger's "Output Window", that's the same mechanism DebugView helps you see that without a debugger. That's a very convenient method IMO, we're using that a lot.

>>can you set the default buffer size of the console window after AllocConsole?

You can do that using 'SetConsoleScreenBufferSize()' (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms686044.aspx). See also http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms687089(vs.85).aspx ("Window and Screen Buffer Size")

 

by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-19 at 11:30:48ID: 20931669

jkr, you are the expert!  When discussing debugging things with me at least, you need to make no assumptions.  I am very unfamiliar with the available tools and mechanisms.  What is DebugView?

I was able to figure out that the problem is not what i originally thought it was, so this OutputDebugString may be the only way, because now i cannot modify the output or it will affect the application.

 

by: jkrPosted on 2008-02-19 at 11:37:34ID: 20931748

'DebugView' (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896647.aspx) is an app that was written by SysIntrenals a while ago to capture the debug output of applications and drivers and now is available by MS. Actually, there used to by an MS example that shows how to read the debug output (DbMon, see http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa242171.aspx), I'll attach the code for illustration purposes - you won't need it (DebugView is very good), just to show how Windows handles that.

/*++
 
Copyright (c) 1990  Microsoft Corporation
 
Module Name:
 
    dbmon.c
 
Abstract:
 
    A simple program to print strings passed to OutputDebugString when
    the app printing the strings is not being debugged.
 
Author:
 
    Kent Forschmiedt (kentf) 30-Sep-1994
 
Revision History:
 
--*/
 
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
 
int _cdecl
main(
    int argc,
    char ** argv
    )
/*++
 
Routine Description:
 
 
Arguments:
 
 
Return Value:
 
 
--*/
{
    HANDLE AckEvent;
    HANDLE ReadyEvent;
    HANDLE SharedFile;
    LPVOID SharedMem;
    LPSTR  String;
    DWORD  ret;
    DWORD  LastPid;
    LPDWORD pThisPid;
    BOOL    DidCR;
 
    SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES sa;
    SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR sd;
 
    sa.nLength = sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES);
    sa.bInheritHandle = TRUE;
    sa.lpSecurityDescriptor = &sd;
 
    if(!InitializeSecurityDescriptor(&sd, SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR_REVISION)) {
        fprintf(stderr,"unable to InitializeSecurityDescriptor, err == %d\n",
            GetLastError());
        exit(1);
    }
 
    if(!SetSecurityDescriptorDacl(&sd, TRUE, (PACL)NULL, FALSE)) {
        fprintf(stderr,"unable to SetSecurityDescriptorDacl, err == %d\n",
            GetLastError());
        exit(1);
    }
 
    AckEvent = CreateEvent(&sa, FALSE, FALSE, "DBWIN_BUFFER_READY");
 
    if (!AckEvent) {
        fprintf(stderr,
                "dbmon: Unable to create synchronization object, err == %d\n",
                GetLastError());
        exit(1);
    }
 
    if (GetLastError() == ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS) {
        fprintf(stderr, "dbmon: already running\n");
        exit(1);
    }
 
    ReadyEvent = CreateEvent(&sa, FALSE, FALSE, "DBWIN_DATA_READY");
 
    if (!ReadyEvent) {
        fprintf(stderr,
                "dbmon: Unable to create synchronization object, err == %d\n",
                GetLastError());
        exit(1);
    }
 
    SharedFile = CreateFileMapping(
                        (HANDLE)-1,
                        &sa,
                        PAGE_READWRITE,
                        0,
                        4096,
                        "DBWIN_BUFFER");
 
    if (!SharedFile) {
        fprintf(stderr,
                "dbmon: Unable to create file mapping object, err == %d\n",
                GetLastError());
        exit(1);
    }
 
    SharedMem = MapViewOfFile(
                        SharedFile,
                        FILE_MAP_READ,
                        0,
                        0,
                        512);
 
    if (!SharedMem) {
        fprintf(stderr,
                "dbmon: Unable to map shared memory, err == %d\n",
                GetLastError());
        exit(1);
    }
 
    String = (LPSTR)SharedMem + sizeof(DWORD);
    pThisPid = SharedMem;
 
    LastPid = 0xffffffff;
    DidCR = TRUE;
 
    SetEvent(AckEvent);
 
    for (;;) {
 
        ret = WaitForSingleObject(ReadyEvent, INFINITE);
 
        if (ret != WAIT_OBJECT_0) {
 
            fprintf(stderr, "dbmon: wait failed; err == %d\n", GetLastError());
            exit(1);
 
        } else {
 
            if (LastPid != *pThisPid) {
                LastPid = *pThisPid;
                if (!DidCR) {
                    putchar('\n');
                    DidCR = TRUE;
                }
            }
 
            if (DidCR) {
                printf("%3u: ", LastPid);
            }
 
            printf("%s", String);
            DidCR = (*String && (String[strlen(String) - 1] == '\n'));
            SetEvent(AckEvent);
 
        }
 
    }
 
    return 0;
}
                                              
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by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-19 at 12:25:50ID: 20932222

Dumb question, but does it have to be OutputDebugStringA?  Is there a benefit to using that over just the regular OutputDebugString?

 

by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-19 at 12:27:00ID: 20932232

Oh, reason i ask is beacuse DbgView is not showing anything for my app.  

 

by: jkrPosted on 2008-02-19 at 12:30:32ID: 20932269

Open the "Capture" menu and make sure that "Capture Win32" is set.

 

by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-20 at 11:41:36ID: 20941062

ok, that wasn't the problem but i figured out i need to now debug a process once it gets launched, so the process hasn't been created..  is there a way to do that?  If not, how do i code a break point into the code so i can attach a debugger?  My first thought is to make a loop that wont end until i change the value of a variable from the debugger, but i dont even know how to do that in windbg.  I can start a new question if you think that would be better.

 

by: jkrPosted on 2008-02-20 at 11:50:40ID: 20941172

Coding a breakpoint is quite simple, just add

DebugBreak();

or

__asm { int 3};

But, from Visual Studio, you ca nalways use "Debug|Attach to Process..." or right click in the Task Manager to debug any process of your choice. BTW, see also http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3b170738 ("Debugging a Windows NT Service")

 

by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-20 at 14:08:17ID: 20942528

im going to start a new question because this is really deviating from the console out.  thanks for that though.

 

by: bowser17Posted on 2008-02-20 at 14:09:09ID: 31432157

the answer for the speed of response is great.

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