Why does the condition for a breakpoint failed to execute?

c# debugging visual-studio-2013 conditional-breakpoint
mbx picture mbx · Mar 28, 2014 · Viewed 8.7k times · Source

I want to temporarily disable a breakpoint for a short time, so I set a conditional breakpoint with the following condition:

(global::System.DateTime.Now<new global::System.DateTime(2014,03,28,11,0,0))

When this breakpoint is hit a dialog pops up, saying

The condition for a breakpoint failed to execute. The condition was 
'(global::System.DateTime.Now<new
global::System.DateTime(2014,03,28,11,0,0))'. The error returned was
'The runtime has refused to evaluate the expression at this time.'. Click
OK to stop at this breakpoint.

Why has the runtime refused to evaluate the expression?

What can I do to get the desired behavior without modifying the debugged source code?

Answer

thewhiteambit picture thewhiteambit · May 28, 2015

From VS2012 on, you have to switch to the Managed Compatibility Mode, to use conditional breakpoints. Why (sorry, no more why from MS since that link is broken.. I added link to archive.org) and how is described here:

switching-to-managed-compatibility-mode-in-visual-studio-2013

old Microsoft link, now dead

the original Microsoft article on archive.org

Related questions

Visual studio long compilation when replacing int with double

My copy of VS2013 Ultimate compiles this code for 60+ seconds: class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { double dichotomy = Dichotomy( d => { try { int size = (int) d; byte[] b = new byte[size]; return -b.Length; } catch (Exception) { return 0; } }, 0, int.MaxValue, 1); …

Read More
How do I remedy "The breakpoint will not currently be hit. No symbols have been loaded for this document." warning?

A C# desktop application on the express edition worked, but then it didn't work 5 seconds later. I tried the following: Ensure debug configuration, debug flag, and full debug information are set on all assemblies. Delete all bin and obj folders …

Read More
Writing to output window of Visual Studio

I am trying to write a message to the output window for debugging purposes. I searched for a function like Java's system.out.println(""). I tried Debug.Write, Console.Write, and Trace.Write. It does not give an error, but …

Read More