How to prevent break on specific exception if it's handled - c#

Normally I want the debugger to break on ArgumentOutOfRangeException.
But within my try catch(ArgumentOutOfRangeException) that exception is already handled and so I want the debugger to not break.
I tried the DebuggerStepThrough attribute, but it still breaks.

You can do this by setting the debugger to break on user unhandled exceptions.
Go to Debug -> Exceptions, Common Language Runtime Exceptions, de-tick (uncheck) the Thrown box. Of course you can get very precise with what you want to break on by drilling down into that list. Be aware that this setting takes effect across the whole solution, you can't set it per class or method. If you do want to be more selective per method, then consider using compile directives to not include that bit of code during debug time.
As for the DebuggerStepThrough attribute, that is to prevent breaking on break points, nothing to do with breaking on exceptions.

You should check your visual studio isn't set to break on all exceptions
On the Debug menu, click Exceptions.
In the Exceptions dialog box, select Thrown for an entire category of exceptions,
for example, Common Language Runtime Exceptions.
Microsoft Visual Studio Help

There is a way. First disable debugging code that is not yours. Go to Tools > Options > Debugging > General > select "Enable Just My Code (Managed only)". Now tell the debugger that this one function is not part of your code with DebuggerNonUserCodeAttribute:
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCode()]
private void FunctionThatCatchesThrownException()
{
try
{
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException();
}
catch (ArgumentOutOfRangeException ex)
{
//...
}
}
If an exception (some other than ArgumentOutOfRangeException) gets out of the function debugger will catch it as usual, but the location of interception will be where the function is called.

Related

How to correctly ignore exceptions when debugging?

I set my Visual Studio Exception Settings to Break When 'Common Language Runtime Exceptions' are thrown.
I have numerous routines where I catch exceptions, handle them and continue. When I'm debugging my program, I trust that these exceptions have been correctly handled and do not want the debugger to stop on them.
How can I prevent the debugger from stopping on handled exceptions?
(Note, I want to break on all other CLR exceptions)
I thought DebuggerStepThrough would do the trick. However it doesn't. The following code stops on 'Method1();'
using System;
namespace ConsoleApp8
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Method1();
}
[System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough]
static void Method1()
{
try
{
throw new InvalidOperationException();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex);
}
}
}
}
-- Edit --
Kirk - I only throw exceptions in exceptional situations. I work with Visual Studio Tools for Office. This MS library often throws exceptions that can be handled and ignored.
I would like to handle certain exceptions thrown by another library but prevent the VS2017 debugger from stopping when these errors occur.
To be clear, these exceptions are usually COM Exceptions. I don't want the debugger to ignore ALL COM Exceptions. I only want the debugger to ignore COM Exceptions that I have caught and handled.
Is this possible?
The debugger can break execution at the point where an exception is thrown, so you may examine the exception before a handler is invoked. In the Exception Settings window (Debug > Windows > Exception Settings), expand the node for a category of exceptions, such as Common Language Runtime Exceptions. There you can change the behaviour.

How to disable breaking on exceptions in try/chatch block

I have code in try block which is throwing out of memory exception.. depending on size of input. Problem is that VS is breaking on that line even tough i have it in try/catch block.. so it should be handled.
try
{
Array arrayND = Array.CreateInstance(typeof(ushort), sqs.Select(n => n.Count).ToArray());
}
catch (Exception e)
{
MessageBox.Show("Input is too big. Please limit number of sequences or there length.");
}
Is it possible to set visual studio so it would not break on code in try block when exception is thrown? thanks.
In the menu, goto Debug --> Windows --> Exception Settings.
From the opened window, notice the Common Language Runtime Exceptions category. You can uncheck the whole category, or, if you expand the category, you can uncheck only the exception types you don't want VS to break on.
Little side note: beware about trying to handle OOM exceptions like any other exception. See here for more information: When is it OK to catch an OutOfMemoryException and how to handle it?

Selectively ignore thrown exceptions in C# code

I have a function in C# code where a NullReferenceException is thrown periodically (expected behavior), but caught. Is there a way I can tell the Visual Studio debugger to not break on this exception for this particular section of my code?
EDIT I need to break on this exception elsewhere in my code, but not in the same function.
If I understand correctly and what you're trying to do is debug some NullReferenceException(s) but want to temporarily ignore others while debugging, you might be able to do this by marking functions that you want the debugger to ignore with the DebuggerNonUserCode attribute.
[DebuggerNonUserCode]
private void MyMethod()
{
// NullReferenceException exceptions caught in this method will
// not cause the Debugger to stop here..
}
NOTE that this will only work if the exceptions are caught in said methods. It's just that they won't cause the debugger to break if you have the debugger set to always break on NullReferenceException exceptions. And that this only works on methods, and not arbitrary sections of code inside of a method..
Assuming the exception does not bubble up to the caller, this can be achieved with DebuggerHiddenAttribute.
From the remarks
the Visual Studio 2005 debugger does not stop in a method marked with
this attribute and does not allow a breakpoint to be set in the
method.
[DebuggerHidden]
private static void M()
{
try
{
throw new NullReferenceException();
}
catch (Exception)
{
//log or do something useful so as not to swallow.
}
}
You can do this, but it does effect all exceptions in the solution.
Debug -> Exceptions -> Find... "Null Ref", de-tick Thrown.

Debugging Nunit tests in Visual Studio C# Express 2010

I've followed this advice to get debugging working for NUnit tests.
http://www.blackwasp.co.uk/NUnitCSharpExpress.aspx
However, i have several tests that do Assert.Throws<...>, which causes the debugger to break when the exception i'm testing for occurs, when really i want it to break if an exception occurs outside of those calls.
How can i get the debugger to ignore exceptions caused from within these kinds of methods?
EDIT: I've event tried the below, which doesn't work!
[Test]
public void InstanciatingWithNullParameterThrowsException()
{
try
{
Assert.Throws<ArgumentNullException>(() => new CachedStreamingEnumerable<int>(null));
// This still throws and stops be being able to debug tests called after this one
}
catch
{
}
}
Here is what worked for me (although in Visual Studio Professional, not Express, but I guess that should not matter).
Bring up the "Exceptions" Dialog as suggested by Ninjapig.
Click on the Add... Button, to open the "New Exception" dialog.
Select "Common Language Runtime Exceptions" in the drop down box
In the Edit box enter "NUnit.Framework.AssertionException".
Click OK to close the "New Exception" dialog.
Back in the "Exceptions" dialog make sure that both checkboxes (Thrown and User-unhandled) are unchecked.
Now, the debugger should completely ignore a NUnit assertion failure (i.e. a thrown, caught or not, NUnit.Framework.AssertionException).
UPDATE: This will only prevent from breaking into the debugger, it cannot ignore the exception itself; i.e. it will not alter the actual program flow. Appart from changing or replacing or encapsulating the Assert-calls in try-catch blocks, I don't think there is anything that can achieve that (at least not automatically).
I'm uncertain if VS2010 Express has this option, but you can choose the exceptions to break on .
Go to the 'Debug' menu, then select 'Exceptions'
and from here you can select what exceptions to break on
I've ended up referencing nunit-gui-runner.dll and invoking it like
NUnit.Gui.AppEntry.Main(new string[] { Dll });
This brings up the NUnit gui. I can then run the specific test i'm interested in.
I had the same problem. Although your original approach (without the need for a try...catch block) works for most exception types, ArgumentNullException doesn't work. I fixed it like this:
[Test]
public void InstanciatingWithNullParameterThrowsException()
{
bool isArgumentNullExceptionThrown = false;
try
{
new CachedStreamingEnumerable<int>(null);
}
catch (ArgumentNullException)
{
isArgumentNullExceptionThrown = true;
}
Assert.That(isArgumentNullExceptionThrown);
}
It's not as elegant, but it does seem to work.

C# rethrow an exception: how to get the exception stack in the IDE?

There has been discussion here before about the correct way to rethrow an exception. This question, instead, is about how to get useful behavior from Visual Studio when using rethrow.
Consider this code:
static void foo() {
throw new Exception("boo!");
}
static void Main(string[] args) {
try {
foo();
} catch (Exception x) {
// do some stuff
throw;
}
}
The exception that comes out has the correct stack trace, showing foo() as the source of the exception. However, the GUI Call Stack window only shows Main, whereas I was expecting it to show the exception's call stack, all the way to foo.
When there is no rethrow, I can use the GUI to very quickly navigate the call stack to see what call caused the exception and how we got there.
With the rethrow I'd like to be able to do the same thing. Instead, the call stack that the GUI shows is of no use to me. I have to copy the exception details to the clipboard, paste it to Notepad, and then manually navigate to whichever function of the call stack I'm interested in.
By the way, I get the same behavior if I add [MethodImpl(MethodImplOptions.NoInlining | MethodImplOptions.NoOptimization)] or if I change the catch to just catch (Exception).
My question is: given that the code I have uses rethrow, can someone suggest a convenient way to navigate the call stack associated with the exception? I'm using Visual Studio 2010.
The debugger breaks at the throw in Main because that exception is unhandled. By default, the debugger will only break on unhandled exceptions. Once you've stopped at Main, the call stack for the original exception from foo is present in the exception, but all of the other context has been lost (e.g. locals, stack/memory state).
It sounds like you want the debugger to break on the throw in foo, so you should tell the debugger to break on first-chance exceptions:
Debug ยป Exceptions... (Ctrl+Alt+E)
Check "Thrown" for the exception types you care about (in this case, Commange Language Runtime Exceptions)
Click OK
Start debugging
In this case, the debugger will break immediately when foo throws an exception. Now, you can examine the stack, locals, etc., in the context of the original exception. If you continue execution (F5), the debugger will break again on the rethrow in Main.
Taking another approach, if you're running VS2010 Ultimate, you can also use IntelliTrace to "debug backwards" to see parameters, threads, and variables at the time of the exception. See this MSDN article for details. (Full disclosure: I work on a team closely related to IntelliTrace).
If you use ReSharper, you can copy exception stacktrace to clipboard, then choose in the menu: ReSharper > Tools > Browse Stack Trace (Ctrl+E,T). It will show stacktrace with clickable locations, so you'll be able to quickly navigate.
(source: jetbrains.com)
This feature is also very useful while digging through logs from users (if stacktraces of exceptions are logged).
Not that you should re-throw but here's a blog post about how to preserve the stack trace, essentially it boils down to this:
private static void PreserveStackTrace(Exception exception)
{
MethodInfo preserveStackTrace = typeof(Exception).GetMethod("InternalPreserveStackTrace",
BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
preserveStackTrace.Invoke(exception, null);
}
...
catch (Exception ex)
{
// do something
// ...
PreserveStackTrace(ex);
throw;
}
Mike Stall has given a great and simple solution to your problem:
Mark the methods where you rethrow the exception with the attribute [DebuggerNonUserCode]
The IDE will consider this is not your code and will not break the debugger in such place, and instead will look further in the stack, showing the next rethrow or the initial exception place.
(if the next rethrow is also annoying, mark it as [DebuggerNonUserCode] as well, etc...)

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