Visual Studio 2008: how to pause the running program to see a variable value?

I have started a long loop, and i dont want to start it over (been running 3 hours now, i calculated it to run only 1 hour instead), and i am afraid that my program is working incorrectly because its taking so long. I was too stupid to actually output any state values for myself (i didnt think it would take 3 d开发者_如何学Goamn hours).

So, is there some way to spy one specific variable value while the program was launched from visual studio in "Release" mode?

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What you want to do is attach to the running process

• Load the solution which represents the project
• Tools -> Attach to Process
• Select the running process and hit attach
• Hit the Pause Button on the IDE to stop the process or set a break point

At this point you will be broken in the debugger and able to inspect the running program

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Attach the debugger to the running program. Set a breakpoint. Bask in the glory.

Of course, this all assumes you built PDBs. If you didn't, you're pretty much out of luck.

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If the program was launched from Visual Studio it is possible that it already has a debugger (Visual Studio) attached to the process.

Visual Studio will have VCR/DVD looking buttons on the toolbar for Go, Stop, Pause, etc. Press the Stop button, or go into the Debug menu and choose Break All.