Breakpoint on an exception in visual studio

Question

How do I set a breakpoint on an exception? Ideally I want to be able to see the call stack and local variables from the code that threw the exception.

Solution 1

I haven't used Visual Studio for 2 years, but from memory:

Ctrl + Alt + E

Will bring exception management screen, make sure to check break on all exceptions, a must have imho :)

EDIT : My memory not that bad :) Just check Thrown on Common Language Runtime Exceptions if your are using .NET (CLR = .NET)

EDIT 2 : By the way, since exceptions are generally a bad coding practice and should be avoided as possible, i suggest to let that option enabled all the time. If some exceptions just can't be avoided (because of someone else, of course :D) just uncheck its type or ancestor in the exception type tree.

Solution 2

The exact visual studio command name is Debug.Exceptions

Main Menu > Debug > Exceptions (when solution is open)

Solution 3

Also, make sure you're running in debug mode and that debugging is enabled in the project properties or else all the breakpoints in the world will count for nothing.

(Depending on your environment you can also click on the margin outside the code source to insert a breakpoint via mouse action)

Comments

[abatishchev]

Exceptions ARE NOT bad coding practice

[Vincent Guerci]

@abatishchev Added generally to my answer, seriously, I've seen enough atrocities implicating bad exception use. :)

[kevinthompson]

In Visual Studio 2015 it's Main Menu > Debug > Windows > Exception Settings.