strange problem during debugging "no executable code of the debugger's target code type is associated with this line"

Question

this program (i.e sum_remainder) computes the sum of remainders of each element of src[i]. this way:

sum += src[i] % divisor

this program doesn't have any error/warning based on the debugger (F5, using visual studio), but when I debug line by line by setting a breakpoint it starts automatically from "return 0" in the main. It's like the function doesn't exist in memory, in fact, I've checked in the disassembly, and function doesn't exist, when I try to set a breakpoint in the first line of sum_remainder function (i.e the function definition) I read this error message (note: this error message isn't listed in the error list):

the breakpoint will not currently be hit. no executable code of the debugger's target code type is associated with this line. possible causes include: "conditional compilation, or the target architecture of this line is not supported by the current debugger code type"

int sum_remainder(int* src, int length, int* dst, int divisor) {
      int sum = 0;
      for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {
          dst[i] = src[i] % divisor;
          sum += dst[i];
      }
      return sum;
  }

  int main(void) {
      int src[10] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };
      int dst[10] = { 0 };
      int ret = sum_remainder(src, 10, dst, -2);
      return 0;
  }

Which version of VS? How are you building it? (what configuration) How are you trying to debug it? — doctorlove, Mar 10 '23 at 14:37
The observable behavior of your program would be the same if the function call was completeley removed. The compiler might have optimized the code to just return immediately. You could force the compiler to call your function be adding some `printf` calls, e.g. print `ret` at least. — Gerhardh, Mar 10 '23 at 14:42
@GabrielBurzacchini default `release` settings are optimizing and removing debug information — 0___________, Mar 10 '23 at 14:48

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 10 '23 at 14:46

You probably build with the optimizations enabled. If you compile with -O2 or -O3 your whole program will be reduced to the return instruction as you do not use the calculated values. So you will not have code associated with this line in the executable file.

main:
        xor     eax, eax
        ret

But even if you use it the function will not be called as compiler most likely will inline it and vectorize.

  int main(void) {
      int src[10] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };
      int dst[10] = { 0 };
      int ret = sum_remainder(src, 10, dst, -2);
      printf("%d\n", ret);
      return 0;
  }

main:
        sub     rsp, 56
        movdqa  xmm0, XMMWORD PTR .LC0[rip]
        mov     rax, QWORD PTR .LC2[rip]
        pxor    xmm2, xmm2
        movq    xmm3, QWORD PTR .LC3[rip]
        movdqa  xmm4, xmm2
        movaps  XMMWORD PTR [rsp], xmm0
        movdqa  xmm0, XMMWORD PTR .LC1[rip]
        mov     QWORD PTR [rsp+32], rax
        xor     eax, eax
        movaps  XMMWORD PTR [rsp+16], xmm0
.L8:
        movq    xmm0, QWORD PTR [rsp+rax]
        movdqa  xmm1, xmm4
        add     rax, 8
        pcmpgtd xmm1, xmm0
        pand    xmm1, xmm3
        paddd   xmm0, xmm1
        pand    xmm0, xmm3
        psubd   xmm0, xmm1
        paddd   xmm2, xmm0
        cmp     rax, 40
        jne     .L8
        movd    esi, xmm2
        pshufd  xmm5, xmm2, 0xe5
        movd    eax, xmm5
        mov     edi, OFFSET FLAT:.LC4
        add     esi, eax
        xor     eax, eax
        call    printf
        xor     eax, eax
        add     rsp, 56
        ret

You need to use the value and compile using -O0 or -Og optimization options.

-Og output:

main:
        sub     rsp, 104
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+48], 1
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+52], 2
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+56], 3
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+60], 4
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+64], 5
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+68], 6
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+72], 7
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+76], 8
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+80], 9
        mov     DWORD PTR [rsp+84], 10
        pxor    xmm0, xmm0
        movaps  XMMWORD PTR [rsp], xmm0
        movaps  XMMWORD PTR [rsp+16], xmm0
        mov     QWORD PTR [rsp+32], 0
        mov     ecx, -2
        mov     rdx, rsp
        mov     esi, 10
        lea     rdi, [rsp+48]
        call    sum_remainder
        mov     esi, eax
        mov     edi, OFFSET FLAT:.LC0
        mov     eax, 0
        call    printf
        mov     eax, 0
        add     rsp, 104
        ret

strange problem during debugging "no executable code of the debugger's target code type is associated with this line"

1 Answers1