Way to determine whether executing in IDE or not?

Question

In C#/VB in Visual Studio 2010, is there way in the code to determine whether the program is currently running in the IDE or not?

eg. If ProgramRunningInIDE Then MessageBox.Show exc.Message

Or just look at the Related list on the right side of this page — Steve, Mar 08 '13 at 11:21
@IAbstract, not so if you're running in release configuration. — Morrison Cole, Mar 08 '13 at 11:24
@Morrison: once I followed the string of dupe questions I learned something new. — IAbstract, Mar 08 '13 at 11:27

score 34 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 08 '13 at 11:22

34

You could check if the debugger is attached with:

System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached

This essentially does the same thing.

answered Mar 08 '13 at 11:22

Morrison Cole

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Does this return true if in the IDE but in release mode? – Steve Smith Nov 07 '19 at 15:41
1

@SteveSmith technically it can return false even in debug mode, so long as a debugger is not attached. The debugger can be attached to release builds too, in which case this will return true. – Morrison Cole Nov 09 '19 at 07:44

score -2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 08 '13 at 11:35

-2

There is an IsInDesignMode property you can use. In some circumstances it isn't accurate, though, so you additionally may want to check the UsageMode.

public static bool IsRunningInIdeContext
{
    get {
        if (DesignerProperties.IsInDesignMode)
            return true;
        return LicenseManager.UsageMode == LicenseUsageMode.Designtime;
    }
}

answered Mar 08 '13 at 11:35

fjdumont

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IsInDesignMode can be used by a control (in a library) to understand if it's hosted in the designer(visual studio) or in a running application, but it have nothing to do about detecting if the application have been launghed by the IDE or not. IsInDesignMode will return true only for a control that have been istantiated BY the IDE, not if the app is launched by the IDE – Max Mar 08 '13 at 11:47
Then please clarify that in your question. This is pretty much what I understand by 'the program is currently running in the IDE'. – fjdumont Mar 08 '13 at 11:57
1

@fjdumont During design-time your program isn't actually running, is it? – mg30rg Feb 02 '16 at 13:21

Way to determine whether executing in IDE or not?

2 Answers2