Debugging SDL Tridion 2011 Custom Resolvers and the GetListPublishItems() method

Question

In one of my C# Template Building Blocks I have the following line of code

publication.GetListPublishItems(uriTarget, false, false,
         TDSDefinesInterop.ListColumnFilter.XMLListDefault, listRowFilter);

Before implementing a Custom Resolver, this code executed very quickly. Now that my resolver is implemented for the Publication ItemType the code executes really slowly. From this I conclude that the new Resolver is being called behind the scenes by the GetListPublishItems() method (which makes sense). I assume I need to modify the resolver somehow. However I can't seem to hit a break point in my resolver when the method is called.

I normally attach to the 'TcmTemplateDebugHost' when debugging a template or directly to the publisher process when debugging the resolver. My Resolver only seems to get hit when I first press Publish and not when the GetListPublishItems() method is called.

So this question is twofold:

Do Resolvers get called when the GetListPublishItems() method is used?
Assuming they are called, which process should I attach to when I need to debug it in this scenario?

Have you tried looking into the code with dotPeek (jetbrains.com/decompiler)? — Rob Stevenson-Leggett
Since the "Show items to publish" is a button in the GUI, I expect that it is called from the Service Host process. — Frank van Puffelen
Do they get called? Yes, since 2011. I suspect the service host, but since you're calling it with a COM method, you may want to check the dllhost process. — Nuno Linhares

Dominic Cronin Dominic Cronin · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-25T06:55:02

I don't know for certain, but I can't imagine a sane scenario where a custom resolver wouldn't be involved in GetListPublishItems(). Your evidence seems to back this up, but of course, if we can answer the second part of your question, we'll know it for certain.

I imagine that any normal assumptions you've made about the hosting process are probably correct, so for example, if you are invoking your template during a publish, then the TcmPublisher will be the process. Alternatively, if you were to open up the publish dialog for the publication in the GUI and hit "Show Items To Publish", then it would probably be the COM Surrogate process (dllhost.exe)... and so on. One way to find out for sure, though, is to use Sysinternals Process Explorer, which has a very handy feature that will allow you to search for which processes have a given dll loaded. (Look in the Find menu)

One likely cause for a breakpoint failing to bite is that Visual Studio isn't able to load the symbols correctly. When you're debugging a template building block, Tridion explicitly loads the symbols from a known location, which you can configure (tridion.templating/debugging/@pdbdirectory in the CM config), which is where the template uploader places the PDBs. When the publisher process loads the custom resolver, I doubt if there's any such special mechanism to locate the symbols, so you'll have to fall back to standard .NET methods. The first thing I'd try is to ensure your symbols for the custom resolver class are located in the same place as the assembly (i.e. your bin directory). Failing that you could perhaps configure a symbols path in Visual studio.

The first thing to do is to watch the debug output in Visual Studio. If you start the process and then attach to it, you will see the various assemblies being loaded. If Visual Studio can find the symbols, you will see that the output says "Symbols Loaded".

Debugging SDL Tridion 2011 Custom Resolvers and the GetListPublishItems() method

1 Answers