General, Debugging, Options Dialog Box

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To access the General page, click the Tools menu and select Options. In the Options dialog box, expand the Debugging node and select General. This page enables you to set the following general debugging options.

  • Ask before deleting all breakpoints
    Requires confirmation before completing the Delete All Breakpoints command.

  • Break all processes when one process breaks
    Simultaneously breaks all processes to which the debugger is attached, when a break occurs.

  • Break when exceptions cross AppDomain or managed/native boundaries
    In managed or mixed-mode debugging, the common language runtime can catch exceptions that cross application domain boundaries or managed/native boundaries when the following conditions are true:

    1) When native code calls managed code by using COM Interop and the managed code throws an exception. For more information about COM Interop, see Introduction to COM Interop (Visual Basic).

    2) When managed code running in application domain A calls managed code in application domain B and the code in application domain B throws an exception. For more information about application domains, see Programming with Application Domains.

    3) When code calls a function by using reflection, and the function throws an exception. For more information about reflection, see Reflection in the .NET Framework.

    In 2) and 3), the exception is sometimes caught by managed code in mscorlib instead of the common language runtime. This option does not affect breaking on exceptions caught by mscorlib.

  • Enable address-level debugging
    Enables advanced features for debugging at the address level (the Disassembly window, the Registers window, and address breakpoints).

  • Show disassembly if source is not available
    Automatically shows the Disassembly window when you try to debug code for which source is unavailable.

  • Enable breakpoint filters
    Enables you to set filters on breakpoints so that they will affect only specific processes, threads, or computers.

  • Enable the Exception Assistant
    For managed code only. When this option is checked, managed exceptions open the new Exception Assistant dialog box instead of the old Exception dialog box. Exception Assistant is more verbose and provides better help on exceptions. For more information, see Exception Assistant.

  • Unwind the call stack on unhandled exceptions
    Causes the Call Stack window to roll back the call stack to the point before the unhandled exception occurred.

  • Enable Just My Code (managed only)
    When this feature is enabled, the debugger displays and steps into user code ("My Code") only, ignoring system code and other code that is optimized or that does not have debugging symbols. For more information, see How to: Step Into Just My Code.

  • Show all members for non-user objects in variables windows (Visual Basic only)
    Turns on display of non-public members in objects that are in non-user code (not "My Code").

  • Warn if no user code on launch
    When debugging starts with Just My Code enabled, this option warns you if there is no user code ("My Code").

  • Enable .NET Framework source stepping
    Allows the debugger to step into .NET Framework source. Enabling this option automatically disables Just My Code..NET Framework symbols will be downloaded to a cache location. You can change the cache location in the Options dialog box, Debugging category, Symbols page.

  • Step over properties and operators (managed only)
    Prevents the debugger from stepping into properties and operators in managed code.

  • Enable property evaluation and other implicit function calls
    Turns on automatic evaluation of properties and implicit function calls in variables windows and the QuickWatch dialog box.

  • Call string conversion function on objects in variables windows (C# and JavaScript only)
    Executes an implicit string conversion call when evaluating objects in variables windows. Therefore, that result is displayed as a string instead of the type name. Only applies while debugging in C# code. This setting may be overridden by the DebuggerDisplay attribute (see Using DebuggerDisplay Attribute).

  • Enable source server support
    Tells the Visual Studio debugger to get code from the SrcSrv source server (srcsrv.dll), which is part of Debugging Tools for Windows. For more information about SrcSrv setup, see the Debugging Tools for Windows documentation. For more information, see How to: Get Source Code Using Source Server.

  • Print source server diagnostic messages to the Output window
    When source server support is enabled, this setting turns on diagnostic display.

  • Highlight entire line for breakpoints and current statement
    When the debugger highlights a breakpoint or current statement, it highlights the entire line.

  • Require source files to exactly match the original version
    Tells the debugger to verify that a source file matches the version of the source code used to build the executable you are debugging. If the version does not match, you will be prompted to find a matching source. If a matching source is not found, the source code will not be displayed during debugging.

  • Redirect all Output window text to the Immediate window
    Sends all debugger messages that would ordinarily appear in the Output window to the Immediate window instead.

  • Show raw structure of objects in variables windows
    Turns off all object structure view customizations. For more information about view customizations, see Displaying Custom Data Types.

  • Suppress JIT optimization on module load (managed only)
    Disables the JIT optimization of managed code when a module is loaded and JIT is compiled while the debugger is attached. Disabling optimization may make it easier to debug some problems, although at the expense of performance. If you are using Just My Code, suppressing JIT optimization can cause non-user code to appear as user code ("My Code").

  • Warn if no symbols on launch (native only)
    When selected, displays a warning dialog box when you try to debug a program for which the debugger has no symbolic information. For more information, see No Symbolic Information Dialog Box.

  • Warn if script debugging is disabled on launch
    When selected, displays a warning dialog box when the debugger is launched with script debugging disabled.

  • Enable function evaluations when minidump debugging through IL interpretation (Managed only)
    Enables the debugger to interpret IL opcodes to simulate function evaluations when debugging a managed dump.

  • Show parallel stacks diagram bottom-up
    Controls the direction in which stacks are displayed in the Parallel Stacks window.