BugSplat Native Upgrade Guide

Upgrading from versions of BugSplatNative prior to 7.0.0

The BugSplat Windows/Xbox SDK underwent a significant upgrade in version 7.0.0. Customers upgrading from earlier versions can use this guide to assist their migration.

Architecture Changes

BsSndRpt.exe has been replaced by BugSplatMonitor.exe. When BugSplat is initialized, BugSplatMonitor.exe is launched and is responsible for generating minidump files from the primary application process. The monitor executable also displays a dialog prompting the user for additional information related to a crash, and sends the report to BugSplat.

BugSplat now integrates with the local WER service to capture crashes that cannot be caught by application code. Crashes that can only be handled via a WER callback include fast-fail errors and certain types of memory overwrites. A new module, BugSplatWer.dll, must be installed with your application and configured in the registry to enable WER integration. Note that when WER handles an exception, there is no opportunity for application code to participate in the crash report. As a result, code in the Global Exception Filter is not executed.

Code Changes

BugSplat Constructor

The BugSplat constructor initialization flags have been removed. Options can be configured after the BugSplat instance is initialized. Here are the new methods for configuring these options.

Flag	New Method or Behavior
MDSF_USEGUARDMEMORY	g_bugSplat->AllocGuardMemory(guardMemorySizeInBytes); A 3-MB guard buffer is allocated by default.
MDSF_NONINTERACTIVE	g_BugSplat->SetQuietMode(true);
MDSF_FORCEEXIT	BugSplat's global exception filter always exits. Provide your own global exception filter to override.
MDSF_PREVENTHIJACKING	BugSplat now always attempts to keep our exception filter in place.
MDSF_DETECTHANGS	g_bugsplat->SetHangDetectionTimeout(detectionSeconds); with detectionSeconds set to 0 to disable.
MDSF_SUSPENDALLTHREADS	No longer applicable since minidumps are now created by the external BugSplatMonitor process.
MDSF_LOGCONSOLE, MDSF_LOGFILE, MDSF_LOG_VERBOSE	BugSplat now always provides log files, and there is no longer a verbose option.

Function Name Changes

Several of the BugSplat method names have been changed:

Old Method Name	New Method Name
setDefaultUserName	SetUserName
setDefaultUserEmail	SetEmail
setDefaultUserDescription	SetUserDescription
setNotes	SetNotes
setAttribute	SetAttribute
createAsanReport	CreateAsanReport
createReport	CreateXmlReport
sendAdditionalFile	AddAttachment

Obsolete Functions

g_bugSplat->setCallback The callback function has been removed. If you wish to perform tasks at crash time, provide your own global exception filter function. An example of this can be found in the MyConsoleCrasher example program.

Build Changes

Add the /GS compiler flag to both Debug and Release configurations to enable checking stack overrun conditions.

Link with BugSplat.lib and BugSplatSharedMemory.lib.

Copy BugSplatMonitor.exe, BugSplatWer.dll, and BugSplatRc.dll to your executable folder

Installer Changes

Redistributable Files

Your installer must install BugSplatMonitor.exe, BugSplatWer.dll, and BugSplatRc.dll. There is no longer a BsSndRpt.exe to install. These files should all be located in the same directory as your primary executable.

Registry Changes

To enable BugSplat to register for WER callbacks, register the BugSplatWer.dll module as shown below. This registry entry should be a DWORD whose name is the path to the BugSplatWer.dll file installed in the same location as your executable. The value should be 0.

Create the WER registry key at the following location:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\RuntimeExceptionHelperModules

Here is that value shown highlighted in the registry editor for one of our sample applications:

By default, WER will stop creating crash dumps after it has seen a few of the same type. To disable this, create the following registry key:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\{Application Name}

Add the following values under the new key you created:

Registry Key Setting	Description	Value
DumpType	Sets the type of dump to create.	0
DumpCount	Sets the maximum number of dumps.	0

Here's an example of this shown in the registry editor:

For additional information, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/wer/wer-settings