Description

Our documentation says that DebugSymbols=false, when specified from the command line, means we won't output pdbs. That isn't currently true, and we don't know for how long that hasn't been true. This changes it such that that is now true: DebugSymbols=false suppresses pdb generation by changing DebugType to None.

Customers who currently have a script that includes -p:DebugSymbols=false may currently be expecting pdbs to be created because that is current behavior, and that will change with this.

Version

.NET 8 GA

Previous behavior

-p:DebugSymbols=false did not suppress pdb generation.

New behavior

-p:DebugSymbols=false now suppresses pdb generation.

Type of breaking change

• Binary incompatible: Existing binaries may encounter a breaking change in behavior, such as failure to load or execute, and if so, require recompilation.
• Source incompatible: When recompiled using the new SDK or component or to target the new runtime, existing source code may require source changes to compile successfully.
• Behavioral change: Existing binaries may behave differently at run time.

Reason for change

This aligns with our documentation and user expectations. It has led to confusion in the past.

Recommended action

If a user wants to generate pdbs, do not specify -p:DebugSymbols=false on the command line. Simply remove that property, and they will be generated again.

Feature area

SDK

Affected APIs

N/A

Associated WorkItem - 286584