Using the sample application 'myCrasher'


Before you enable your application with BugSplat technology, you may want to take a moment to examine the defect reports created by our sample applications. You can find a set of sample crash reports in our demo dataset that is created for new accounts. All these crash reports are actual crashes created with our sample applications.


The instructions on this page discuss how to use the example C++ program myCrasher.exe to post additional crash reports to BugSplat. The process for our other sample programs is similar. You can find myCrasher.exe in the BugSplat unmanaged native library (available to registered users).

Launch the sample program without making any code changes. Follow the instructions in the myCrasher dialog to cause the program to crash. When a crash occurs, fill out the requested information and select 'Send'. You can verify that crash report was created by logging into the BugSplat website with user 'Fred' and password 'Flintstone' and selecting 'All Crash Reports'. Look for a recent crash post that has the crash description you created.


myCrasher Sample Application


Modifying the sample application 'myCrasher' to use your BugSplat account.


This section describes how to modify the sample application so that crash reports are sent to your BugSplat database rather than the default Fred account.
In the file myCrasherDlg.cpp search for the following line:
   MiniDmpSender sender("Fred", "FredsApp", "2.0", "English Version");

Make the following changes:

  • Change the database name string "Fred" to your BugSplat database name. The BugSplat database is created and selected on the Manage Databases page.
  • Change the application name "FredsApp" to a name of your choice (this is an arbitrary string, used to distinguish your applications across crash reports.
  • Change the version from "2.0" to a string of your choice. Again this is arbitrary, but would typically match the version and build string of your application.
  • Change the Application ID from "English Version"to a string of your choice. This is optional and arbitrary, and can be used to distinguish between different uses for a single compiled version of your application. For example, you could use it to indicate which set of localized resources are in use.


Compile and link the myCrasher project.
Make sure you switch to the Release configuration before building.

In order to get good debugging information, you should also create a zip file containing all PDB files and the myCrasher executable and upload the zip to your acccount as follows:

  1. Login to BugSplat with your user id.
  2. Upload the zip file from the previous step using Symbol Management.
    Make sure the application name and version string that you specify match the changes you made to myCrasherDlg.cpp earlier.

Next, Launch mycrasher.exe (not from the debugger!) and select a crash button.
Fill in the requested information in the crash dialog and select "Send Report"

   Crash Report



To verify that the report was sent, log into BugSplat and verify the defect was recorded.


Each BugSplat crash report is also recorded in the Windows Event viewer. Look for the Event Viewer under Control Panel, Administrative Tools and locate a recent BugSplat Application event.

Event Viewer