How to set conditional breakpoints in Visual Studio?

Question

Is there an easy way to set conditional breakpoints in Visual Studio?

If I want to hit a breakpoint only when the value of a variable becomes something, how can I do it?

Answer 1

Set a breakpoint as usual. Right click it. Click Condition.

Answer 2

When you are using Express edition you can try this:

#if DEBUG
    if( fooVariable == true )
        System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();
#endif

if statement makes sure that in release build breakepoint will not be present.

Answer 3

Visual Studio provides lots of options for conditional breakpoints:

To set any of these you

1. Set a break point
2. Right Click over the break point, and in the popup menu you select an option that suites you.

These options are as follows:

• You can set a condition, based off of a code expression that you supply (select Condition from the popup menu). For instance you can specify that foo == 8 or some other expression.
• You can make breakpoints trigger after they have been hit a certain number of times. (select Hit Count from the popup menu). This is a fun option to play with as you actually aren't limited to breaking on a certain hit count, but you have options for a few other scenario's as well. I'll leave it to you to explore the possibilities.
• You can Set filters on the Process ID, thread ID, and machine name (select Filter from the popup menu)

Answer 4

Just another way of doing it, (or if you are using express) add the condition in code:

if(yourCondition)
{
    System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();
}

Answer 5

1. Set breakpoint on the line
2. Right clik on RED ball
3. Chose conditioal breakpoint
4. Setup condition

Answer 6

Writing the actual condition can be the tricky part, so I tend to

1. Set a regular breakpoint
2. Run the code until the breakpoint is hit for the first time
3. Use the Immediate Window (Debug > Windows > Immediate) to test your expression.
4. Right-click the breakpoint, click Condition and paste in your expression.

Advantages of using the Immediate window

• It has intellisense
• You can be sure that the variables in the expression are in scope when the expression is evaluated
• You can be sure your expression returns true or false

This example breaks when the code is referring to a table with name "Setting"

table.GetTableName().Contains("Setting")

Answer 7

1. Set a breakpoint as usual.
2. Right-click on the breakpoint marker
3. Click "Condition..."
4. Write a condition, you may use variable names
5. Select either "Is True" or "Has Changed"

Answer 8

Create a breakpoint as you normally would, right click the red dot and select "condition".

Answer 9

1. Set a breakpoint as usual
2. Right click on the breakpoint and select Condition
3. You'll see a dialog that says "Breakpoint Condition"
4. Put a condition in the field e.g. "i==5"

The breakpoint will only get hit when i is 5.

Answer 10

On Visual Studio 6.0

Alt+F9!!!

Answer 11

Set the breakpoint as you do normally, right click the break point and select condion option and sets your condition.

Answer 12

Create a conditional function breakpoint

1)In the Breakpoints window, click New to create a new breakpoint.

2) On the Function tab, type Reverse for Function. Type 1 for Line, type 1 for Character, and then set Language to Basic.

3) Click Condition and make sure that the Condition check box is selected. Type instr.length > 0 for Condition, make sure that the is true option is selected, and then click OK.

4) In the New Breakpoint dialog box, click OK.

5)On the Debug menu, click Start.