How to run another process at debug mode?

Question

I am writing a windows service. This service runs another process I've developed through Process class methods, but I want to run this process on debug mode also, using breakpoints, for instance.

How can I do this?

Answer 1

From the main menu "Debug->Attach Process".

Answer 2

As well as the "attach process" mode, I've sometimes found it's handy to have an executable that you can run directly from Visual Studio (or just as a console app). I can't remember whether there were any difficulties in doing so, but I don't think there were... you just need to provide a normal entry point as well as the service entry point.

Answer 3

When debugging a service, DebugBreak() is very nice. You can even debug the startup of the service, which can be very hard to time if you try to attach the process.

In C#

#if DEBUG
  System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();
#endif

In C++

#if DEBUG
  System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();
#endif

Also see the question: how can I use debugbreak() in C#.