Debugging vst in mulab?

[Taron]

Hey Jo,

I know, this is a strange question, maybe even a rather private one (no, no, not that kind!)...
But I'm developing my first vst and it's going rather well, but I have some funky troubles with the interface hanging under one condition:
- if it's the first vst added to a project from the "instrument" list

I realized that it was only that situation, which somehow won't draw the interface.
At first I thought it was replacing the Basic Synth that way, which was the problem, but that's not it. It's being the first that is the problem.
If I load it from my drive (browse plugin) then there's no problem.
Also, if I add a new rack and just leave the Basic Synth, for example, and then pick my vst from the Instrument list, it works just fine.

So...on one hand I'd love to know what it does differently then?
On the other hand I would love to be able to debug it from within mulab, but I almost can't imagine that that works to begin with, or is there a way (via VisualStudio's debugging, you know)?!

Anyway...just curious.

[MuTools]

Hey Jo,

I know, this is a strange question, maybe even a rather private one (no, no, not that kind!)...
But I'm developing my first vst and it's going rather well, but I have some funky troubles with the interface hanging under one condition:
- if it's the first vst added to a project from the "instrument" list

I realized that it was only that situation, which somehow won't draw the interface.
At first I thought it was replacing the Basic Synth that way, which was the problem, but that's not it. It's being the first that is the problem.
If I load it from my drive (browse plugin) then there's no problem.
Also, if I add a new rack and just leave the Basic Synth, for example, and then pick my vst from the Instrument list, it works just fine.
So...on one hand I'd love to know what it does differently then?

I don't know, don't see any difference as far as i can see.
I don't know of any VST plugin not showing the UI in that case, but showing the UI in all other cases.

On the other hand I would love to be able to debug it from within mulab, but I almost can't imagine that that works to begin with, or is there a way (via VisualStudio's debugging, you know)?!

Yes in Visual Studio -> project properties -> debug you can set a command which is a path to the host you want. Cfr http://blog.wavosaur.com/debugging-vst- ... al-studio/

[Taron]

Yeah, I'm doing that with SaviHOST from the beginning already, but I can't get it to work for MuLab, most probably because it won't have the VST loaded by default...maybe I must/can set that for a default project? I don't know... thought you might know.
I'll have a closer look at what those guys are saying at your link.

As for my gui, well, I do draw the whole thing in real time, no resources. I don't think there are many vsts that do that...if any?!
Could be that there's something in the initialization that it needs but doesn't get under these circumstances in MuLab?! I really don't know.

If you were willing to, I could give you my plugin and you could have a look, if you can see where it would hang during a MuLab debug, you know...it's a bit around the corner, but it might give some clues?! It's asking a lot, though, I know. Just an idea.

I'm pretty sure it's not that often that a developer approaches you with his first go at a vst, asking for anything, haha... I feel a bit, hmmm, how shall I say...naughty?!

Nope, debugging with MuLab doesn't work here. It always goes "A serious error occured...".

[MuTools]

but I can't get it to work for MuLab, most probably because it won't have the VST loaded by default...

How do you mean?

If you were willing to, I could give you my plugin and you could have a look

The question rather is time. Still very focused on the M7 works and still a lot of work (eventhough things are progressing). And as you know i'm not in a comfortable position with plenty of free time/resources, at the contrary it are tough times surviving. I even don't find enough time to do all the todos/FRs for MuLab/Mux, if i would start r&d other plugs i even have less time. Anyway, i'll try to put you on the right track.

I could give you my plugin and you could have a look

If there is a prob in your plug you should trace its code via the debugger, step by step.

Nope, debugging with MuLab doesn't work here. It always goes "A serious error occured...".

I think this is issue nr 1 to be resolved so that you're able to properly trace your plugin code. I don't know why you can't get the debugger to work. What are the technical details of the "A serious error occured..." ie. what exception code and in which module and at what offset did the serious error occur?

[Taron]

Jo, I can imagine, please, don't worry!
Just to clarify, I can and do debug my plugins with SaviHost, but it won't have the same trouble (or any for that matter) as MuLab does.

As for technical details on MuLab's crash...no idea where you dump a crashlog to, if you do that?
Not even Visual Studio gives me back anything...
After MuLab's "serious error" it does its exit requester ('quit without save" and so on) and then it just closes. No other pop-ups, no exception requester...nothin'.

Sometimes a friendly crash log would really be helpful, I imagine.
But it's a weird situation, too.

Thanks for trying and, please, don't worry about it!
Maybe I magically figure it out at some point...if not I will make a little disclaimer for MuLab users.
This may sound wrong, because I don't mean to be silly, but to clarify: I tried it in Ableton and Bitwig and Cubase...works fine right away.

I KNOW I'm doing something wrong, but I just don't know what, where and why only MuLab shows that there's something off somehow?
It ain't easy...

[MuTools]

Just to clarify, I can and do debug my plugins with SaviHost, but it won't have the same trouble (or any for that matter) as MuLab does.

Strange. I did already the same with MUX Vst in MuLab.

As for technical details on MuLab's crash...no idea where you dump a crashlog to, if you do that?
Not even Visual Studio gives me back anything...
After MuLab's "serious error" it does its exit requester ('quit without save" and so on) and then it just closes. No other pop-ups, no exception requester...nothin'.

Oh so you were talking about a mu-specific red popup alert crash?

Sometimes a friendly crash log would really be helpful, I imagine.

Well the red popup is friendly as it allows you to save the project even while there was a crash. But i agree it would be good to have the crash details in that case. I would need to research that but am concentrated on something else now... Will see what i can do one of the days.

[Taron]

Very cool!
The great news are that at least I have all the time in the world, haha. So, again, no worries!
I wonder, when you did your MUX tests, if you did those with a debug compile of MuLab, you know...all relevant files for debug present and all, you know. It's something I could imagine.

Anyway, I can't wait to share my vst, but I still have to hook up all midi controller logic. Since most parameters are automatable, you can use MUX to hook them up already, hehehe, which is kinda nice, but well... so, yeah, other than that it's really exciting! I hope you'll like it.

[MuTools]

The great news are that at least I have all the time in the world, haha. So, again, no worries!
I wonder, when you did your MUX tests, if you did those with a debug compile of MuLab, you know...all relevant files for debug present and all, you know.

Both with the debug and release versions, doesn't matter too much for debugging the vst.

[Taron]

Well then, I don't understand the magic behind it, yet...but there's always hope!