How do I enable Visual Studio 2010 to break when a first chance exception happens?

visual-studio-2010 debugging first-chance-exception
Junior Mayhé picture Junior Mayhé · Nov 21, 2011 · Viewed 24.1k times · Source

I was reading Stack Overflow question How can I set Visual Studio to show a stack trace for first chance exceptions? regarding debugging first chance exceptions on Visual Studio 2010, and I am not able to find this option.

How can I enable Visual Studio 2010 to break exactly when a first chance exception happens?

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Answer

fduff picture fduff · Nov 21, 2011

You may want to check the Debug menu in Visual Studio 2010. In there you will find the Exception submenu, in where you can select which type of exception you want Visual Studio to stop.

Setting the debugger to break when an exception is thrown

The debugger can break execution at the point where an exception is thrown, giving you a chance to examine the exception before a handler is invoked.

In the Exception Settings window, expand the node for a category of exceptions (for example, Common Language Runtime Exceptions, meaning .NET exceptions), and select the check box for a specific exception within that category (for example System.AccessViolationException). You can also select an entire category of exceptions.

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If you check a given exception, debugger execution will break wherever the exception is thrown, regardless of whether it is handled or unhandled. At this point the exception is called a first chance exception.

See How to: Break When an Exception is Thrown for more info.

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