Launch debugger from VSIX and trigger method on project in current solution

Question

I am trying to build a VSIX extension which Starts debugger in currently selected project and runs a method within that project.

I am able, using reflection to instantiate and call the method. However I would like my extension to start the debugger so that I can use breakpoints etc.

I have been able to build the projects by accessing the dte object, but cant see how I launch the debugger and run code.

foreach (Project project in dte.Solution.Projects)
{
    dte.Solution.SolutionBuild.BuildProject("Debug", project.UniqueName);
}

Peter Macej · Answer 1 · 2022-02-28T22:27:05.807

I did something similar in the past. The code is in VB but it's very simple and you can easily convert it to C#.

Your code to build the project is OK. But if you have more Platforms available, such as "x86" and "Any CPU", the SolutionBuild.BuildProject takes a random platform. So it's better to explicitly specify it, like:

dte.Solution.SolutionBuild.BuildProject("Debug|Any CPU", project.UniqueName);

You can get the current configuration name and platform from:

Dim solutionConfiguration As SolutionConfiguration2 = CType(dte.Solution.SolutionBuild.ActiveConfiguration, SolutionConfiguration2)

Then you cannot start debugging particular method. DTE can only start to debug the startup object, e.g. Main. Exactly as if you press F5. If you want to start any particular method, it is more difficult.

You wrote, you can instantiate and call the method with reflection. This is OK. But remember, you cannot debug the process itself. This is how Windows works. It means, Visual Studio process can only debug ANOTHER process. So you cannot instantiate your compiled assembly in VSIX process (which is in fact a VS process).

You must create a new process and load your assembly in it. I don't have a code how to do it. Just for your information, the path of the compiled assembly can be retrieved like this:

Private Shared Function GetAssemblyPath(proj As EnvDTE.Project) As String
    Dim fullPath As String = proj.Properties.Item("FullPath").Value.ToString()
    Dim outputPath As String = proj.ConfigurationManager.ActiveConfiguration.Properties.Item("OutputPath").Value.ToString()
    Dim outputDir As String = Path.Combine(fullPath, outputPath)
    Dim outputFileName As String = proj.Properties.Item("OutputFileName").Value.ToString()
    Dim assemblyPath As String = Path.Combine(outputDir, outputFileName)

    Return assemblyPath
End Function

When you have the process and its ID, you must attach Visual Studio to this process:

Friend Sub AttachDebuggerToProcess(processId As Integer)
    Dim dte As DTE2 = TryCast(Package.GetGlobalService(GetType(SDTE)), DTE2)
    If dte Is Nothing Then
        Return
    End If

    Dim proc As Process2 = Nothing
    For Each process As Process In dte.Debugger.LocalProcesses
        If process.ProcessID = processId Then
            proc = process
            Exit For
        End If
    Next

    If proc Is Nothing Then
       ' report error
        Return
    End If

    Try
        If Not proc.IsBeingDebugged Then
            proc.Attach()
        End If
    Catch exx As Exception
    End Try
End Sub

And only now you can call your method with reflection. If there's a breakpoint set, it will be hit.

Launch debugger from VSIX and trigger method on project in current solution

1 Answers1