Question

We are thinking about obfuscating some code before releasing it to customers. We are wondering about the impact it will that have on tech support. Can customers provide us with meaningful stack traces or will they be obfuscated too?

I look forward to hearing about your experience. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

you will get obfuscated stack traces. but obfuscators can generate mapping files that map obfuscated names to real names.. you have to keep these mapping files in a safe place and you can use them to “deobfuscate” the stack traces again when required.

in the case of tech support – you could create a simple web interface where tech support people can paste stack traces. that way only the web server needs access to the mapping files so it can restore the original stack traces.

here are two links explaining the process with the dotfuscator obfuscator:

http://www.preemptive.com/images/stories/dotfuscator_documentation/Dotfuscator/The_Map_File.html

http://www.preemptive.com/images/stories/dotfuscator_documentation/Dotfuscator/Decoding_Obfuscated_Stack_Traces.html