Previously this could be done by unchecking "Enable Edit and Continue" under (Project) Properties | Web | Debuggers. This checkbox is not there in Visual Studio 2015 Update 2. The same checkbox including four sub-options can be found in Options | Debugging | General, but unchecking this no longer resolves the issue.
Same problem here.
My workaround for now is to add "Detach all" shortcut on the toolbar instead of the "stop" button.
The feature you're looking for is Start without debugging (menu: Debug -> Start Without Debugging or shortcut Ctrl+F5).
If you need to debug this process at any time you can use Attach to Process (menu: Debug -> Attach to Process... or shortcut CTRL+ALT+P). If you stop debugging on the attached process VS won't kill it.
PS. For me the bug you're referring to is a great enhancement (killing the debug process with stop debug command). Sometimes when issexpress hang (on SignalR for instance) and VS couldn't run a new debug session. It forced me to kill the process manually.
Not a fantastic answer, but a workaround.
Select your Web App in Solution Explorer, then press F4 to see the properties pane. In there, ensure 'Always Start When Debugging' is set to true.
If you have another IIS Express Web App in the same solution, do the same for that.
If you don't have another IIS Express Web App then create a minimal .Net web app without any code using the File New templates and set 'Always Start When Debugging' to true for that too.
Here is the trick, right click on the Web App project in Solution Explorer that you don't want to leave running (the one in step 2 or 3) and select 'Set as StartUp Project'.
Run your solution as usual, you'll get both of your Web Apps running. When you exit, it only detaches and halts the startup project which leaves your main app running.
Obviously a bug if they can leave the other Web App running. But at least this workaround will make debugging a little easier.
This bug have been Fixed in Update 3
Maybe this is not the answer to the OP question, but I use the "view in browser" option to achieve this.
Sometimes I get the message that the breakpoint will not be hit, and no symbols will be loaded.
The red icon in vs.net changes color, and the debug mode just doesn't work.
what is the reason for this?
You may be running your project in Release mode. If so, then switch to Debug mode
From Visual studio debugging issue with files of the same name by Philip Carney
Do each bullet in the link below ONE AT A TIME, but repeat my steps below with each one you try.
Stop debugging (press red square icon) in Visual Studio
Clean Solution
Build Solution
Tools > Attach to Process (or start with debugging)
Start the program that you're attaching to, and run it such that your code will get hit
If attaching to nunit.exe, then open NUnit and run a test so your breakpoint will be hit
If attaching to w3wp.exe (IIS site), then open your site in the browser and go to the page that will hit your breakpoint
for manage code only - theres a good answer for this problem on the following site:
http://geekswithblogs.net/dbutscher/archive/2007/06/26/113472.aspx
for native + managed code - in the startup solution properties-> Debug tab
make sure that "enable unmanaged code debugging" check box is checked
After trying several suggested fixes for this I did the following to get it working.
Right Clicked my Project in the Solution Explorer and selected "Properties".
Went to the "Web" section and made sure "Start Action" was set to "Current Page".
Spent 3 1/2 hours on that... I'm going to go get a drink now.
I resolved this problem by selecting Automatic:Native Code for the "Attach to" field in "Attach To Process" form
Next to the "Debug/Release" dropdown list, there is another one with "Any CPU/Configuration Manager...". Click "Configuration Manager...", and you will see some of your projects might be in Release mode. Change all of them to Debug.
This can happen if the symbol fiels are different from the assembly (remote debugging), or when there is no "direct path", so the assembly hasent been load, but might be loaded using reflection and loading of the required assembly at run time.
This can also happen if the debugger is not attached to the process for whatever reason. If it's the case, you can always go to Debug - Attach to Process... and choose the right process. Your breakpoints should return to normal once VS determines it can hit them.
What does it say when you hover the mouse over the disabled breakpoint? It will usually tell you the problem. My favorite is the old 'source code is out of date', especially when I'm debugging a DLL. Another favorite is when the file you're looking at isn't the one you're debugging (a copy in another folder?). If it's a case where you can breakpoint a caller routine, but not the callee, stepping into the callee will force VS to open the 'proper' source file and you'll be able to set breakpoints. Confusing, I usually swear at VS at this point, it seems to help.
I had the same problem. Which I know is normally if the build versions are different, and something isn't matching up. I cleaned my project, rebuilt it, and then deployed and that got everything back in-sync.
I do not like to play with knives but the only thing that worked for me involved editing the .csproj file itself. So, unload the project file, edit it by cutting and pasting the three asp.net files so that they are together in the ItemGroup. However, sometimes it is necessary to go further as explained here: http://carnotaurus.tumblr.com/post/4130422114/visual-studio-debugging-issue-with-files-of-the-same - Also, I give a list of other proposed solutions that did not work for me. I hope it helps.
I have tested with both deployed application and service, what I have found out that If the deployed code is different than a code in visual studio then breakpoint will not hit. Even small changes will affect and the breakpoint will not hit. So, It is better to debug the same version which is there on vs code and also in deploy application or service.
To fix this I had to re-create the virtual directory. I'm using Asp.Net 4.7 Framework and IIS Express. Went to Web project > property page > Web tab > clicked the "Create Virtual Directory" button next to Project Url textbox.
I forgot I had clicked this button in my "Main" branch, but then had switched to my "Sprint" branch. It kept running the "Main" code until I clicked "Create Virtual Directory" on my "Sprint" branch.
For me it was giving this because I haven't started the relevant project at start of application , it worked after I added project run on start
In my solution there are eight different projects. Most of the time the startup project is project A but some times I need to run other projects to check things and to do that I must set other project as the startup project every time.
I want to know if there is any other way to run a project in the solution without setting it as the startup project? This will save me lots of time!
You can also bind this command to keyboard shortcut:
Tools->Options->Environment->Keyboard
Search for "Startnewinstance"
This way you can achieve desired with 0 clicks :)
It doesn't take a lot of time, just Right click the project and select "Set as startup project". 2 clicks.
If you want though you can use another method, right click the project, go to "Debug" and click on "Start new instance". 3 clicks!
Right click on the project, there is an entry on the context menu to run the project in the debugger. Its right underneath the command to "Set as StartUp project".
Debug > Start New Instance
This answer I'm quoting from https://stackoverflow.com/a/20336060/130614 may help:
The options for startup projects can be found by right-clicking on the solution and selecting "Set Startup Projects". The options are pretty straightforward:
Current selection
Single startup project
Multiple startup projects
Shift+F10 then press A key is a little faster than scrolling down.
Even if I create a clean WinForms project, Edit and Continue doesn't work and gives me the error:
Changes are not allowed when the debugger has been attached to an already running process or the code being debugged was optimized at build or run time.
Edit and Continue option is checked in Tools → Options → Debugging.
Optimization is not enabled.
Seems like there is no any managed profiler set up.
I am running in Debug mode
I am running on x64 CPU and Windows XP 32-bit, but setting platform target to x86 rather than AnyCpu doesn't help.
Repairing Visual Studio installation doesn't help.
I also found this article on MSDN website:
Unsupported Scenarios
Edit and Continue is not available in the following debugging scenarios:
Debugging on Windows 98.
Mixed-mode (native/managed) debugging.
SQL debugging.
Debugging a Dr. Watson dump.
Editing code after an unhandled exception, when the "Unwind the call stack on unhandled exceptions" option is not selected.
Debugging an embedded runtime application.
Debugging an application with Attach to rather than running the application with Start from the Debug menu.
Debugging optimized code.
Debugging managed code when the target is a 64-bit application. If you want to use Edit and Continue, you must set the target to x86. (Project Properties, Compile tab, Advanced Compiler setting.).
Debugging an old version of your code after a new version failed to build due to build errors.
But I can answer "No" to every item in this list.
It worked before, but several days ago it stopped working, and I don't know what could be the reason.
Other Applicable Solutions:
Below is an incomplete, unordered list of possible solutions to try if you* are trying to fix Edit & Continue quickly.
Make sure you are in Debug Mode
Make sure you're not launching a mixed mode process
Try to set the CPU target to x86 rather than AnyCPU (on x64 machines)
Uncheck the Optimize Code checkbox for Debug Mode in Project Properties->Debug
Uncheck the Optimize Code checkbox in Project Properties->Build
Uncheck Enable Optimizations in Advanced Compiler Settings
(ASP.NET) Check nightcoder's answer if it is the case
(ASP.NET) Check this answer (by matrixugly) if it is the case
(ASP.NET) Ensure you have Edit and Continue enabled on the Web tab (vs2010)
(ASP.NET) Go to Properties > Web > Servers, and make sure that Enable and continue is checked under Use Visual Studio Development Server.
(ASP.NET WebAPI) Make sure you've stopped in the Controller's method using a breakpoint, before trying to edit it.
(vs2017) Go to Tools > Options > Debugging and uncheck (deselect) 'Edit and Continue'. This is actually the opposite of the 'conventional' advice (see some other points in this post). It does not allow you to actually make changes in your running program (i.e. it does not hot-swap the code changes that you make) - it simply allows you to edit your code (i.e. it prevents that annoying message and "locking" your editor).
Go to Tools > Options > Debugging > General and make sure Require source files to exactly match the original version is unchecked.
Check Enable Windows debug heap allocator (Native only) [VS Community 2017]
Are you using Microsoft Fakes? It inhibits Edit & Continue.
Kill all the *.vshost.exe instances by selecting End Process Tree in the Task Manager. VS will regenerate a correct instance.
Remove all the breakpoints with Debug->Delete All Breakpoints
Enable and Continue exists in both the Tools > Options > Debugging menu and also in the Project Settings. Be sure to check both places. edit & Continue is not supported with the extended Intellitrace setting.
Be sure Debug Info in Project Properties > Build > Advanced > Output > Debug Info is set to Full
Some plugin may be interfering. Check by disabling/uninstalling and then trying again the other solutions.
If you're not paying enough attention, the error you get while trying to fix this may change to something else that is easier to diagnose. E.g. A method containing a lambda expression cannot support edit and continue.
Make sure the System variable COR_ENABLE_PROFILING is not set to 1. Some profilers set this when installing and leave it like that after uninstalling. Open a command prompt and type set to quickly check it your system is affected, if so remove the variable or set it to 0:
In Windows 8 and above, search for System (Control Panel).
Click the Advanced system settings link.
Click Environment Variables.
Remove COR_ENABLE_PROFILING
Be aware of unsupported scenarios (as reported in the question) and that unsupported edits.
* by 'you', I mean the visitor of the page who is hammering his head on a keyboard to find The solution.
Feel free to edit this answer to add your workaround if not listed here!
If you're debugging an ASP.NET application, go to properties > web > Servers, and make sure that "enable and continue" is checked under Use Visual Studio Development Server.
I finally got to solve the problem: UNINSTALL Gallio
Gallio seems to have quite some many rough edges and it's better to not use MbUnit 3.0 but use the MbUnit 2.0 framework but use the gallio runner, that you are running without installing from the installer (which also installed a visual studio plugin).
Incidentally, I had the issue even after "disabling" he Gallio plugin. Only the uninstall solved the problem.
PS. Edited by nightcoder:
In my case disabling TypeMock Isolator (mocking framework) finally helped! Edit & Continue now works!!!
Here is the answer from TypeMock support:
After looking further into the edit
and continue issue, and conversing
about it with Microsoft, we reached
the conclusion it cannot be resolved
for Isolator. Isolator implements a
CLR profiler, and according to our
research, once a CLR profiler is
enabled and attached, edit and
continue is automatically disabled.
I'm sorry to say this is no longer
considered a bug, but rather a
limitation of Isolator.
I had the same problem. I even re-installed VS 2008 but the problem did not go away. However, when I deleted all the break points then it started to work.
Debug->Delete All Breakpoints
I think it was happening because I had deleted an aspx page that had break points in its code, and then I created another page with the same name. This probably confused the VS 2008.
"Edit and Continue", when enabled, will only allow you to edit code when it is in break-mode: e.g. by having the execution paused by an exception or by hitting a breakpoint.
This implies you can't edit the code when the execution isn't paused! When it comes to debugging (ASP.NET) web projects, this is very unintuitive, as you would often want to make changes between requests. At this time, the code your (probably) debugging isn't running, but it isn't paused either!
To solve this, you can click "Break all" (or press Ctrl+Alt+Break). Alternatively, set a breakpoint somewhere (e.g. in your Page_Load event), then reload the page so the execution pauses when it hits the breakpoint, and now you can edit code. Even code in .cs files.
Couple of things to check
Make sure your compile is set to Debug vs. Release
Make sure you're not launching a mixed mode process
If on a 64 bit machine Make sure to set the CPU target to x86 rather than AnyCPU
EDIT
I don't believe this should matter but make sure that the hosting process is enabled for the target platform. Probably won't help.
If it repros for new projects then it might be something even more subtle. I would try the following.
Backup HKCU:\Software\Wow6432Node\VisualStudio\9.0 (maybe just rename it)
Delete the same key
Try the repro again
None of the above solutions worked for me(running on a 64x machine).
Finally I clicked on 'advanced compiler settings' and UNCHECKED 'enable optimizations' and I can now step through code and edit while debugging.
For me, for a reason that I don't understand, the setting "Generate debug info" in the "Advanced Compiler Settings" was set to "pdb-only" instead of "Full".
By default, this parameter is always set to "Full" but a mysterious poltergeist has changed this parameter on last night. :)
P.S. I'm in Visual Basic .Net with Visual Studio 2010
If your concern is with an ASP.NET app, ensure you have edit and continue enabled on the web tab (vs2010). There was also a separate setting for ASP.NET debugging in earlier versions.
Regards,
Adam.
I found that even though under project properties build & debug tab are set to Debug and all the other setting are correct I still get the message, however after digging some more
under the Build menu select Configurations Manager... and make sure Debug is selected in two places there as well. go figure...how many different places do they need to set debug?????? even though you set Project - Configuration to Debug then under Build - Manager it is not changed so you have change the same setting there as well Project Configuration - seems like a microsoft issue again.......
This problem is due to Intellitrace setting
If Intellitrace is enabled make sure Intellitrace event only is checked
Otherwise this will not allow edit and continue..
If you will click on Intellitrace options you will see the warnings.
Following shooting helped me using VS2010:
go to Tools, Options, Debugging, General and make sure "Require source files to exactly match the original version" is unchecked.
That happens when the debugger hasn't hit a breakpoint or you haven't hit Break All (pause). It couldn't be that simple could it?
The error says a possible cause is: "the code being debugged was optimized at build or run time". Go to Project Properties->Debug and uncheck the Optimize Code box for Debug mode.
I had this problem in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and the solution is easy. when you run your project please set in "Debug" mode not "Release". The another people solution can be useful.
If I create a new project, edits while debugging do not work. If I create a new website, edits while debugging work as expected.
I ran into this today - turns out that having Debug Info set to pdb-only (or none, I'd imagine) will prevent Edit and Continue from working.
Make sure your Debug Info is set to "full" first!
Project Properties > Build > Advanced > Output > Debug Info
In my case just reseting to default debugger settings and setting IntelliTrace-> only intellytrace events helps
Some things that seemed to help using VS2010:
go to Tools, Options, Debugging, General and make sure "Require source files to exactly match the original version" is unchecked.
multiple .vshost.exe instances can be left over from e.g. detaching the VS debugger from a stopped process. This will interfere with breakpoints and compiles as well. Use Task Manager, Processes tab to kill all instances of .vshost.exe by right-clicking each instance and selecting End Process Tree. VS will create a new instance.
I removed a dataset from my project because I didn't use it. After that I could modify the program when debugging.
I did all the changes mentioned in every other answer and none worked. What did I learn? Enable and Continue exists in both the Tools > Options > Debugging menu and also in the Project settings. After I checked both, Enable and Continue worked for me.
Seems illogic, but only way was disabling edit and continue from VS 2017 options... Then AspNet edit and continue began to work...
what worked for me was unchecking "Use Managed Compatibility Mode" under
Tools -> Options -> Debugging
TBN: checking or unchecking "Require source file to exactly match the original version" seems not influences the E&C
Hope this can help.
Enable edit and Continue only work run IIS Express.
Don't work in Local ISS or External Host.
I'm adding my answer because the thing that solved it for me isn't clearly mentioned yet. Actually what helped me was this article:
http://www.rubencanton.com/blog/2012/02/how-to-fix-error-changes-are-not-allowed-while-code-is-running-in-net.html
and here is a short description of the solution:
Stop running your app.
Go to Tools > Options > Debugging > Edit and Continue
Disable “Enable Edit and Continue”
Note how counter-intuitive this is: I had to disable (uncheck) "Enable Edit and Continue".
This will then allow you to change code in your editor without getting that message "Changes are not allowed while code is running".
Note however that the code changes you make will NOT be reflected in your running program - for that you need to stop and restart your program (off the top of my head I think that template/ASPX changes do get reflected, but not VB/C# changes, i.e. "code behind" code).
I install the stackify, when i enable this on icon tray, it stop my debugging with edit, so i found
Close the visual studio , in my case its vs2017
Go to icon tray and right click on stackify icon and disable .NET Profiler
Open Visual studio run application again in debug mode with debugger and it allow me edit while debugging
I had this annoying issue since I upgraded my VS 2019 to 16.4.3 and caused me a lot of headache.
Finally I solved the problem this way:
1. Stop Debugging
2. Select the solution from "Solution Explorer"
3. In the Properties window change the "Active config" Property From "Release|Any CPU" To "Debug|Any CPU"
4. In Debug > Options > General Check the Edit and Continue checkbox
That worked for me, and hope it works for you too.
embed interop types visual studio should be set to false
I had this happen in a linked class file. The rest of the project allowed E&C, but I got the same error editing the linked file. Solution was to break linked file into it's own project and reference the project.
I faced the same problem. My problem was that I could modify a file, but not another (both are in same project). Later I found that the file I couldn't modify was also part of another project. That another project (Unit Test) wasn't loaded, and intelligent VS debugger shows the error that assembly for this given file was not loaded, and changes aren't allowed. How weird!
Hence, I had to unload the unit-test project and continue the EnC debugging.
I have a solution with about 20 projects (that use Devexpress controls) in and when I do a normal solution build (ctrl-shift-B) it says everything is completed sucessfully when in actualy fact it has done nothing. To get it to build i have to right click on the solution and use the batch build option.
I've tried deleting the solution and regetting from TFS and i've even gone as far as reinstalling VS!
Anyone got any clues as to what is going wrong?
Sorry should have added that also tried to build from the main menus aswell.
I've had similar issues. It's a long shot, but right-click your solution and go to Properties -> Configuration Properties. Check to make sure all of your projects have the "Build" option checked.
Perhaps Ctrl+Shift+B has been assigned to one of the "check-to-see-if-it-is-needed-before-building" type of functions?
Check in the keyboard setting:
Right-click the toolbar
Select Customize in the popup menu
Click the Keyboard button in the lower right corner of the dialog
In the new dialog, in the "Press shortcut keys", a bit to the right and below the center, hit Ctrl+Shift+B
Verify that it is bound to Build.BuildSolution
at least that is what it is bound to for me. I notice there is an action named Build.RebuildSolution as well, you should experiment.