Can't set breakpoints on an auto-property setter ? Why?

Question

Apparently VS 2008 does not allow setting a breakpoint just on the setter of an auto-property.

I.e. if I define an auto-property like this:

    public int CurrentFramesize
    {
        get; 
        protected set;
    }

and then try to set a breakpoint on the setter line, the whole auto-property turns breakpoint-red.

This works just fine for normal properties, so any idea why auto-properties get this special (restrictive) treatment? Are they more than just syntactic sugar to normal properties with a hidden backing field?

Microsoft's response http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/408762/unable-to-set-breakpoint-to-c-automatic-property — John K, Apr 21 '10 at 13:10
I was desparately hoping ths feature would make it into VS2010 :( — bitbonk, Jul 29 '10 at 09:34
You are assuming correctly. It still doesn't work in VS 2010. — bitbonk, Aug 06 '10 at 11:42
possible duplicate of [Debugging automatic properties](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4408110/debugging-automatic-properties) — Eugene Maksimov, Nov 24 '14 at 13:11

score 33 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

33

Using Visual Studio 2008, 2010, 2012:

Go to the Breakpoint window
New->Break at Function…
For the get, type: ClassName.get_CurrentFramesize()

For the set, type: ClassName.set_CurrentFramesize(int)

You'll get a "No Source Available" when the breakpoint is hit, but you'll get the calling location in the call stack.

I found this solution here: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/vsdebug/thread/b1dd0dc3-e9c1-402a-9c79-a5abf7f7286a

See also: Debugging automatic properties

edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

Community

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answered Jul 15 '11 at 22:41

Matt Smith

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Somehow I missed your answer for two and a half years. +1 and accepted! :) – Cristian Diaconescu Nov 27 '13 at 15:41
1

Works in Visual Studio 2019, (the point 2. being New-> Function Breakpoint... – jarmanso7 May 12 '20 at 09:08

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 29 '10 at 21:55

2

The short answer is: this ~~bug~~ feature ended up on the cutting room floor for VS2008.

(Longer answer - hat tip @jdk)

All we've got is a vague promise that it's being considered for vNext.

answered Apr 29 '10 at 21:55

Cristian Diaconescu

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 25 '15 at 07:58

1

This feature is implemented in Visual Studio 2015

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudioalm/archive/2014/11/14/set-breakpoints-on-auto-implemented-properties-with-visual-studio-2015.aspx

answered May 25 '15 at 07:58

Mohamed Emad

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score -3 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 21 '10 at 12:04

-3

No you can't set a break point on them, but then what would you check? The variable for storage of the auto-property is only assigned at runtime and as such there isn't a variable for the debugger to show/access.

answered Apr 21 '10 at 12:04

ChrisBD

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You might want to check *when* it's assigned, if it seems to get a wrong value from "somewhere". – Hans Keﬆing Apr 21 '10 at 12:11
@Hans Kesting: Spot on. The CLR debugger doesn't have *data* breakpoints, so if this would be supported, it would be the next best thing. – Cristian Diaconescu Apr 21 '10 at 12:50

Can't set breakpoints on an auto-property setter ? Why?

4 Answers4

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