C++ display stack trace on exception

Question

I want to have a way to report the stack trace to the user if an exception is thrown. What is the best way to do this? Does it take huge amounts of extra code?

To answer questions:

I'd like it to be portable if possible. I want information to pop up, so the user can copy the stack trace and email it to me if an error comes up.

Answer 1

The following code stops the execution right after an exception is thrown. You need to set a windows_exception_handler along with a termination handler. I tested this in MinGW 32bits.

void beforeCrash(void);

static const bool SET_TERMINATE = std::set_terminate(beforeCrash);

void beforeCrash() {
    __asm("int3");
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
SetUnhandledExceptionFilter(windows_exception_handler);
...
}

Check the following code for the windows_exception_handler function: http://www.codedisqus.com/0ziVPgVPUk/exception-handling-and-stacktrace-under-windows-mingwgcc.html

Answer 2

Since the stack is already unwound when entering the catch block, the solution in my case was to not catch certain exceptions which then lead to a SIGABRT. In the signal handler for SIGABRT I then fork() and execl() either gdb (in debug builds) or Google breakpads stackwalk (in release builds). Also I try to only use signal handler safe functions.

GDB:

static const char BACKTRACE_START[] = "<2>--- backtrace of entire stack ---\n";
static const char BACKTRACE_STOP[] = "<2>--- backtrace finished ---\n";

static char *ltrim(char *s)
{
    while (' ' == *s) {
        s++;
    }
    return s;
}

void Backtracer::print()
{
    int child_pid = ::fork();
    if (child_pid == 0) {
        // redirect stdout to stderr
        ::dup2(2, 1);

        // create buffer for parent pid (2+16+1 spaces to allow up to a 64 bit hex parent pid)
        char pid_buf[32];
        const char* stem = "                   ";
        const char* s = stem;
        char* d = &pid_buf[0];
        while (static_cast<bool>(*s))
        {
            *d++ = *s++;
        }
        *d-- = '\0';
        char* hexppid = d;

        // write parent pid to buffer and prefix with 0x
        int ppid = getppid();
        while (ppid != 0) {
            *hexppid = ((ppid & 0xF) + '0');
            if(*hexppid > '9') {
                *hexppid += 'a' - '0' - 10;
            }
            --hexppid;
            ppid >>= 4;
        }
        *hexppid-- = 'x';
        *hexppid = '0';

        // invoke GDB
        char name_buf[512];
        name_buf[::readlink("/proc/self/exe", &name_buf[0], 511)] = 0;
        ssize_t r = ::write(STDERR_FILENO, &BACKTRACE_START[0], sizeof(BACKTRACE_START));
        (void)r;
        ::execl("/usr/bin/gdb",
                "/usr/bin/gdb", "--batch", "-n", "-ex", "thread apply all bt full", "-ex", "quit",
                &name_buf[0], ltrim(&pid_buf[0]), nullptr);
        ::exit(1); // if GDB failed to start
    } else if (child_pid == -1) {
        ::exit(1); // if forking failed
    } else {
        // make it work for non root users
        if (0 != getuid()) {
            ::prctl(PR_SET_PTRACER, PR_SET_PTRACER_ANY, 0, 0, 0);
        }
        ::waitpid(child_pid, nullptr, 0);
        ssize_t r = ::write(STDERR_FILENO, &BACKTRACE_STOP[0], sizeof(BACKTRACE_STOP));
        (void)r;
    }
}

minidump_stackwalk:

static bool dumpCallback(const google_breakpad::MinidumpDescriptor& descriptor, void* context, bool succeeded)
{
    int child_pid = ::fork();
    if (child_pid == 0) {
        ::dup2(open("/dev/null", O_WRONLY), 2); // ignore verbose output on stderr
        ssize_t r = ::write(STDOUT_FILENO, &MINIDUMP_STACKWALK_START[0], sizeof(MINIDUMP_STACKWALK_START));
        (void)r;
        ::execl("/usr/bin/minidump_stackwalk", "/usr/bin/minidump_stackwalk", descriptor.path(), "/usr/share/breakpad-syms", nullptr);
        ::exit(1); // if minidump_stackwalk failed to start
    } else if (child_pid == -1) {
        ::exit(1); // if forking failed
    } else {
        ::waitpid(child_pid, nullptr, 0);
        ssize_t r = ::write(STDOUT_FILENO, &MINIDUMP_STACKWALK_STOP[0], sizeof(MINIDUMP_STACKWALK_STOP));
        (void)r;
    }
    ::remove(descriptor.path()); // this is not signal safe anymore but should still work
    return succeeded;
}

Edit: To make it work for breakpad I also had to add this:

std::set_terminate([]()
{
    ssize_t r = ::write(STDERR_FILENO, EXCEPTION, sizeof(EXCEPTION));
    (void)r;
    google_breakpad::ExceptionHandler::WriteMinidump(std::string("/tmp"), dumpCallback, NULL);
    exit(1); // avoid creating a second dump by not calling std::abort
});

Source: How to get a stack trace for C++ using gcc with line number information? and Is it possible to attach gdb to a crashed process (a.k.a "just-in-time" debugging)