Dynamic binary weaving using mdbg works!

I took one of the C# samples (see attached typefinder.cs) from the Microsoft SSCLI 2.0 package and built it using the regular C# compiler. I then launched it using Wicca and wove a Logging aspect at runtime:

mdbg.exe -verbosity 0 -nologo !load wicca.dll !wtype binary !wrun typefinder.exe html !weave LogAspect.dll !wgo !quit

Here's an explanation of the command-line:

        mdbg.exe                The Microsoft Managed Debugger.

        -verbosity 0            Keep debugger messages to a minimum.

        -nologo                 Don't display the Managed Debugger logo.

        !load wicca.dll         Load our plugin.

        !wtype binary           Use binary weaving. We also support breakpoint
                                weaving using the Debugger's Breakpoint API.

        !wrun typefinder.exe html       Launch the typefinder.exe
                                client program in suspended mode.  Typefinder
                                is a sample program that searches for classes
                                and interfaces that include the string specified
                                on the command-line (we just specify "html").

        !weave LogAspect.dll    Weave in the Logging aspect (see attached
                                LogAspect.cs).  The aspect causes all Reflection
                                calls made by typefinder.exe to be logged.  We
                                use Phx.Morph to weave in the aspect.  Our
                                AssemblyDiff component diffs the original and
                                woven executables and creates the delta files
                                (.dil and .dmeta).  Wicca then calls the
                                Debugger's Edit-and-Continue API to patch the
                                running program using the delta files.

        !wgo                    Resume execution of the newly woven Typefinder.
                                The output is attached (dotest.txt).

        !quit                   Exit the Managed Debugger when Typefinder exits.

This is our first successful nontrivial test, but there are still numerous issues to work out. The goal is for dynamic (binary and breakpoint) weaving to be at parity with static weaving (using Phx.Morph). The only difference is that dynamic weaving is currently much slower.

Tricking ildasm Into Dumping a Metadata Delta File

I found a way to trick ildasm into dumping the metadata delta file. Just add .obj to the filename and constrain the output:

> ildasm HelloWorld.exe.1.dmeta.obj /text /metadata=raw /metadata=heaps