ndk-stack

The ndk-stack tool allows you to filter stack traces as they appear in the output of adb logcat. It also replaces any address inside a shared library with the corresponding <source-file>:<line-number> values from your source code, making issues easier to pinpoint.

For example, it translates something like:

I/DEBUG   (   31): *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
I/DEBUG   (   31): Build fingerprint: 'generic/google_sdk/generic/:2.2/FRF91/43546:eng/test-keys'
I/DEBUG   (   31): pid: 351, tid: 351  %gt;%gt;%gt; /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher <<<
I/DEBUG   (   31): signal 11 (SIGSEGV), fault addr 0d9f00d8
I/DEBUG   (   31):  r0 0000af88  r1 0000a008  r2 baadf00d  r3 0d9f00d8
I/DEBUG   (   31):  r4 00000004  r5 0000a008  r6 0000af88  r7 00013c44
I/DEBUG   (   31):  r8 00000000  r9 00000000  10 00000000  fp 00000000
I/DEBUG   (   31):  ip 0000959c  sp be956cc8  lr 00008403  pc 0000841e  cpsr 60000030
I/DEBUG   (   31):          #00  pc 0000841e  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher
I/DEBUG   (   31):          #01  pc 000083fe  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher
I/DEBUG   (   31):          #02  pc 000083f6  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher
I/DEBUG   (   31):          #03  pc 000191ac  /system/lib/libc.so
I/DEBUG   (   31):          #04  pc 000083ea  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher
I/DEBUG   (   31):          #05  pc 00008458  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher
I/DEBUG   (   31):          #06  pc 0000d362  /system/lib/libc.so
I/DEBUG   (   31):

into the more readable output:

********** Crash dump: **********
Build fingerprint: 'generic/google_sdk/generic/:2.2/FRF91/43546:eng/test-keys'
pid: 351, tid: 351  >>> /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher <<<
signal 11 (SIGSEGV), fault addr 0d9f00d8
Stack frame #00  pc 0000841e  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher : Routine zoo in /tmp/foo/crasher/jni/zoo.c:13
Stack frame #01  pc 000083fe  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher : Routine bar in /tmp/foo/crasher/jni/bar.c:5
Stack frame #02  pc 000083f6  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher : Routine my_comparison in /tmp/foo/crasher/jni/foo.c:9
Stack frame #03  pc 000191ac  /system/lib/libc.so
Stack frame #04  pc 000083ea  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher : Routine foo in /tmp/foo/crasher/jni/foo.c:14
Stack frame #05  pc 00008458  /data/local/ndk-tests/crasher : Routine main in /tmp/foo/crasher/jni/main.c:19
Stack frame #06  pc 0000d362  /system/lib/libc.so

Usage

To use ndk-stack, you first need a directory containing symbolic versions of your app's shared libraries. If you use the NDK build system (ndk-build), these shared-library files reside under $PROJECT_PATH/obj/local/<abi>, where <abi> represents your device's ABI. By default, the system uses the armeabi ABI.

There are two ways to use the tool. You can feed the logcat text as direct input to the program. For example:

adb logcat | $NDK/ndk-stack -sym $PROJECT_PATH/obj/local/armeabi

You can also use the -dump option to specify the logcat as an input file. For example:

adb logcat > /tmp/foo.txt
$NDK/ndk-stack -sym $PROJECT_PATH/obj/local/armeabi -dump foo.txt

When it begins parsing the logcat output, the tool looks for an initial line of asterisks. For example:

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Note: When copy/pasting traces, don't forget this line, or ndk-stack won't work correctly.