Visual Debugger for MSBuild Projects

New Post: What is a strange restriction?

djryan — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:47:40 GMT

Looks like there was expected to be a new version out on the 29th of July, but it hasn't arrived yet.

Commented Issue: Updated version shows : "Application Expired" message

ivan_sysanin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:06:35 GMT

The updated version, (as well as the older version) shows the "Application Expired" notice. Unable to use the application.
Comments: ** Comment from web user: ivan_sysanin **

For what reason that was made?

New Post: What is a strange restriction?

ivan_sysanin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:04:45 GMT

            if (DateTime.Now > new DateTime(0x7d8, 7, 0x1d)) // 2008 July 29
            {
                new ApplicationExpiredForm().ShowDialog();
            }
Of course I've found it just on the next day. When you can publish new release?

UPDATED RELEASE: v1.0 (alpha) (Dec 01, 2007)

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:25:08 GMT

Getting started

Head over to http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdasto see screen shots
Click on the MSBuildDebugger.application on the release page
Open your project project
Use the following command & shortcut keys

Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
F5 - Run the project under debugger
F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets

v1 (alpha) Release Feature Set

Project system

Open project
Open files
Ctrl.F support in editor
F1 opens up help

Environment

View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild

Stepping

F11
F5
Break Execution
Current point of execution shown in yellow
Setp into Imported projects

Break Points

BP Window
double click take you to location
BP highlighted in red
F9
F5 breaks on BP
Delete break points

Call stack

view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
BP set on project
Debugger steps on project
double click take you to the stack frame

Output window

Trace of what is going on
Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)

State View

RO properties view
RO items view

Verification

Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
Debug OOB VS Projects
Debug DevDi* projects
Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)

Known Issues in v1

Not a very jazzy UI
Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
Cannot close project or files once they are opened
Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

UPDATED RELEASE: v1.0 (alpha) (Dec 01, 2007)

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:24:25 GMT

Getting started

Head over to http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdasto see screen shots
Click on the MSBuildDebugger.application on the release page
Open your project project
Use the following command & shortcut keys

Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
F5 - Run the project under debugger
F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets

v1 (alpha) Release Feature Set

Project system

Open project
Open files
Ctrl.F support in editor
F1 opens up help

Environment

View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild

Stepping

F11
F5
Break Execution
Current point of execution shown in yellow
Setp into Imported projects

Break Points

BP Window
double click take you to location
BP highlighted in red
F9
F5 breaks on BP
Delete break points

Call stack

view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
BP set on project
Debugger steps on project
double click take you to the stack frame

Output window

Trace of what is going on
Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)

State View

RO properties view
RO items view

Verification

Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
Debug OOB VS Projects
Debug DevDi* projects
Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)

Known Issues in v1

Not a very jazzy UI
Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
Cannot close project or files once they are opened
Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

Created Issue: Updated version shows : "Application Expired" message

thephoenics — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:22:36 GMT

The updated version, (as well as the older version) shows the "Application Expired" notice. Unable to use the application.

NEW POST: Build fails in Visual Debugger but runs on the command line?

boflynn — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:37:28 GMT

Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.InternalLoggerException: The build was aborted because of an unexpected logger failure. ---> System.Xml.XmlException: Data at the root level is invalid. Line 2, position 1.
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String arg)
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseRootLevelWhitespace()
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseDocumentContent()
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
   at System.Xml.XmlTextReader.Read()
   at MSBuildDebugger.PDB.PopulateSymbolInformation() in D:\dd\personal\src\misc\msbdbg\v1.0\MSBuildDebugger\PDB.cs:line 48
   at MSBuildDebugger.PDB.Create(String executablePath) in D:\dd\personal\src\misc\msbdbg\v1.0\MSBuildDebugger\PDB.cs:line 36
   at MSBuildDebugger.SymbolStore.LoadSymbols(String executablePath) in D:\dd\personal\src\misc\msbdbg\v1.0\MSBuildDebugger\SymbolStore.cs:line 42
   at MSBuildDebugger.DebugEngine.eventSource_ProjectStarted(Object sender, ProjectStartedEventArgs e) in D:\dd\personal\src\misc\msbdbg\v1.0\MSBuildDebugger\DebugEngine.cs:line 46
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.EventSource.RaiseProjectStartedEvent(Object sender, ProjectStartedEventArgs e)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.InternalLoggerException.Throw(Exception innerException, BuildEventArgs e, String messageResourceName, Boolean initializationException, String[] messageArgs)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.EventSource.RaiseProjectStartedEvent(Object sender, ProjectStartedEventArgs e)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.EventSource.RaiseStronglyTypedEvent(BuildEventArgs e)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.EngineLoggingServicesInProc.ProcessBuildEvent(BuildEventArgs buildEventArgs)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.EngineLoggingServices.PostLoggingEvent(BuildEventArgs e)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.EngineLoggingServices.LogProjectStarted(Int32 projectId, BuildEventContext parentBuildEventContext, BuildEventContext projectBuildEventContext, String projectFile, String targetNames, IEnumerable properties, IEnumerable items)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Project.InitializeForBuildingTargets(BuildRequest buildRequest)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Project.BuildInternal(BuildRequest buildRequest)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.BuildProjectInternalInitial(BuildRequest buildRequest, Project project)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.BuildProjectInternal(BuildRequest buildRequest, ProjectBuildState buildContext, TaskExecutionContext taskExecutionContext, Boolean initialCall)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.BuildProjectFileInternal(BuildRequest buildRequest)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.EngineBuildLoop(BuildRequest terminatingBuildRequest)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TaskExecutionModule.BuildProjectFile(Int32 handleId, String[] projectFileNames, String[] targetNames, IDictionary[] globalPropertiesPerProject, IDictionary[] targetOutputsPerProject, EngineLoggingServices loggingServices, String[] toolsVersions, Boolean useResultsCache, Boolean unloadProjectsOnCompletion, BuildEventContext taskContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.EngineProxy.BuildProjectFile(String projectFileName, String[] targetNames, IDictionary globalProperties, IDictionary targetOutputs, String toolsVersion)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.EngineProxy.BuildProjectFile(String projectFileName, String[] targetNames, IDictionary globalProperties, IDictionary targetOutputs)
   at Microsoft.Build.Tasks.MSBuild.ExecuteTargets(ITaskItem project, Hashtable propertiesTable, ArrayList targetLists, Boolean stopOnFirstFailure, Boolean rebaseOutputs, IBuildEngine buildEngine, TaskLoggingHelper log, ArrayList targetOutputs)
   at Microsoft.Build.Tasks.MSBuild.Execute()
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TaskEngine.ExecuteInstantiatedTask(EngineProxy engineProxy, ItemBucket bucket, TaskExecutionMode howToExecuteTask, ITask task, Boolean& taskResult)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TaskEngine.ExecuteBucket(EngineProxy engineProxy, ItemBucket bucket, Int32 bucketNumber, TaskExecutionMode howToExecuteTask)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TaskEngine.ExecuteTask(TaskExecutionMode howToExecuteTask, Lookup lookup)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TaskExecutionState.TaskEngineExecuteTask(TaskEngine taskEngine, TaskExecutionMode howTaskShouldBeExecuted, Lookup lookup)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TaskExecutionState.ExecuteTask()
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TaskExecutionModule.ExecuteTask(TaskExecutionState taskState)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TargetExecutionWrapper.SubmitNonIntrinsicTask(XmlElement taskNode, ITaskHost hostObject, ProjectBuildState buildContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TargetExecutionWrapper.ExecuteCurrentTask(ProjectBuildState buildContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TargetExecutionWrapper.ContinueRunningTasks(ProjectBuildState buildContext, TaskExecutionContext taskExecutionContext, Boolean startingFirstTask)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TargetExecutionWrapper.ExecuteDependentTarget(ProjectBuildState buildContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TargetExecutionWrapper.ContinueBuildingDependencies(ProjectBuildState buildContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.TargetExecutionWrapper.ContinueBuild(ProjectBuildState buildContext, TaskExecutionContext taskExecutionContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Project.ExecuteNextActionForProjectContext(ProjectBuildState buildContext, Boolean initialCall)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Project.CalculateNextActionForProjectContext(ProjectBuildState buildContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Project.ContinueBuild(ProjectBuildState buildContext, TaskExecutionContext taskExecutionContext)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Project.BuildInternal(BuildRequest buildRequest)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.BuildProjectInternalInitial(BuildRequest buildRequest, Project project)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.BuildProjectInternal(BuildRequest buildRequest, ProjectBuildState buildContext, TaskExecutionContext taskExecutionContext, Boolean initialCall)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.EngineBuildLoop(BuildRequest terminatingBuildRequest)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.PostProjectEvaluationRequests(Project project, String[] projectFiles, String[][] targetNames, BuildPropertyGroup[] globalPropertiesPerProject, IDictionary[] targetOutputsPerProject, BuildSettings buildFlags, String[] toolVersions)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Engine.BuildProject(Project project, String[] targetNames, IDictionary targetOutputs, BuildSettings buildFlags)
   at Microsoft.Build.BuildEngine.Project.Build(String targetName)
   at MSBuildDebugger.UI.MainWindow.DebugThreadProc(Object targetToDebug) in D:\dd\personal\src\misc\msbdbg\v1.0\MSBuildDebugger\UI\MainWindow.cs:line 75
=============== ERROR ===============

UPDATED RELEASE: v1.0 (alpha) (Dec 01, 2007)

Mon, 19 May 2008 15:51:00 GMT

*Getting started*
# Head over to [url:http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdas]to see screen shots
# Click on the MSBuildDebugger.application on the release page
# Open your project project
# Use the following command & shortcut keys
## Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
## Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
## F5 - Run the project under debugger
## F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
## F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets
*v1 (alpha) Release Feature Set*
* Project system
** Open project
** Open files
** Ctrl.F support in editor
** F1 opens up help
* Environment
** View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
** Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild
* Stepping
** F11
** F5
** Break Execution
** Current point of execution shown in yellow
** Setp into Imported projects
* Break Points
** BP Window
** double click take you to location
** BP highlighted in red
** F9
** F5 breaks on BP
** Delete break points
* Call stack
** view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
** BP set on project
** Debugger steps on project
** double click take you to the stack frame
* Output window
** Trace of what is going on
** Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)
* State View
** RO properties view
** RO items view
* Verification
** Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
** Debug OOB VS Projects
** Debug DevDi* projects
** Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)
*Known Issues in v1*
* Not a very jazzy UI
* Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
* F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
* Cannot close project or files once they are opened
* Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
* Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

UPDATED WIKI: Home

parthad — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:18:32 GMT

Project Description
A fully featured visual debugger for MSBuild projects.

Supports stepping into task, targets and imported projects, running arbitrary MSBuild projects under debugger and breaking at arbitrary points, setting break points, viewing call stacks and read only views of Items and Properties in break mode.
Works well with CallTarget, MSBuild tasks and task/target batching.

Tested on on out-of-box VS2008 projects and the (super-complex) Microsoft Developer Division MSBuild based builds.

Getting started

Head over to http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdasto see screen shots
Download the v1.alpha release & place MSBuildDebugger.exe and MSBuildDebugger.exe.config on your machine
Launch the MSBuildDebugger.exe and open a project
Use the following command & shortcut keys

Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
F5 - Run the project under debugger
F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets

Release Notes

Study the v1 feature set, v1 known issues and proposed v2 feature list in the sections below
For now play with the binaries and send me feedback at p a r t h a d @ m i c r o s o f t . c o m. Tell me about:

What features you want to see in v1
Bugs: hangs, crashes and irritations
Whether you think this is usefull or not

Source code will be released for community contribution/development with final v1 release (very soon)

v1 Release feature set

Project system

Open project
Open files
Ctrl.F support in editor
F1 opens up help

Environment

View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild

Stepping

F11
F5
Break Execution
Current point of execution shown in yellow
Setp into Imported projects

Break Points

BP Window
double click take you to location
BP highlighted in red
F9
F5 breaks on BP
Delete break points

Call stack

view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
BP set on project
Debugger steps on project
double click take you to the stack frame

Output window

Trace of what is going on
Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)

State View

RO properties view
RO items view

Verification

Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
Debug OOB VS Projects
Debug DevDi* projects
Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)

Known Issues in v1

Not a very jazzy UI
Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
Cannot close project or files once they are opened
Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

vNext wish list

Fix known issues
Jazzy WPF based shell (simillar to graphical PowerShell v2.0)

Make UI consistent with VS Debugger

Re-org and rewrite some selected parts of the code
Command Line version of the debugger
Visual Studio integration
Data break points
Properties and Items View improvements (make it RW, highlight changed ones, etc.)
Enable multiproc support- perf
Analyzer (Imported projects and Executable nodes views)

UPDATED RELEASE: v1.0 (alpha) (Dec 01, 2007)

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:21:57 GMT

UPDATED RELEASE: v1.0 (alpha) (Dec 01, 2007)

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:44:24 GMT

*Getting started*
# Head over to [url:http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdas]to see screen shots
# Click on the MSBuildDebugger.application on the release page
# Open your project project
# Use the following command & shortcut keys
## Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
## Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
## F5 - Run the project under debugger
## F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
## F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets
# *(For DevDiv developers only)* You need to do the following to run inside DevDiv Razzle
## Run MSBuildDebugger.application
## When the app comes up, locate it in your temp folder using procexp (that is where the ClickOnce runtime copies it to befor launching the executable)
## Copy over the contents of that folder into %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%
## Copy contents of %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\msbuild.exe.config to %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\MSBuildDebugger.exe.config
## Copy RTM version of System.Core.dll into %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%
## Start Razzle and execute %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\MSBuildDebugger.exe
*v1 (alpha) Release Feature Set*
* Project system
** Open project
** Open files
** Ctrl.F support in editor
** F1 opens up help
* Environment
** View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
** Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild
* Stepping
** F11
** F5
** Break Execution
** Current point of execution shown in yellow
** Setp into Imported projects
* Break Points
** BP Window
** double click take you to location
** BP highlighted in red
** F9
** F5 breaks on BP
** Delete break points
* Call stack
** view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
** BP set on project
** Debugger steps on project
** double click take you to the stack frame
* Output window
** Trace of what is going on
** Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)
* State View
** RO properties view
** RO items view
* Verification
** Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
** Debug OOB VS Projects
** Debug DevDi* projects
** Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)
*Known Issues in v1*
* Not a very jazzy UI
* Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
* F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
* Cannot close project or files once they are opened
* Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
* Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

UPDATED RELEASE: v1.0 (alpha) (Dec 01, 2007)

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:43:23 GMT

*Getting started*
# Head over to [url:http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdas]to see screen shots
# Click on the MSBuildDebugger.application on the release page
# Open your project project
# Use the following command & shortcut keys
## Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
## Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
## F5 - Run the project under debugger
## F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
## F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets
# *(For DevDiv developers only)* You need to do the following to run inside DevDiv Razzle
## Run MSBuildDebugger.application
## When the app comes up, locate it in your temp folder using procexp (that is where the ClickOnce runtime copies it to befor launching the executable)
## Copy over the contents of that folder into %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%
## Copy contents of %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\msbuild.exe.config to %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\MSBuildDebugger.exe.config
## Copy RTM version of System.Core.dll into %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%
## Start Razzle and execute %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\MSBuildDebugger.exe
*v1 (alpha) Release Feature Set*
* Project system
** Open project
** Open files
** Ctrl.F support in editor
** F1 opens up help
* Environment
** View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
** Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild
* Stepping
** F11
** F5
** Break Execution
** Current point of execution shown in yellow
** Setp into Imported projects
* Break Points
** BP Window
** double click take you to location
** BP highlighted in red
** F9
** F5 breaks on BP
** Delete break points
* Call stack
** view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
** BP set on project
** Debugger steps on project
** double click take you to the stack frame
* Output window
** Trace of what is going on
** Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)
* State View
** RO properties view
** RO items view
* Verification
** Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
** Debug OOB VS Projects
** Debug DevDi* projects
** Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)
*Known Issues in v1*
* Not a very jazzy UI
* Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
* F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
* Cannot close project or files once they are opened
* Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
* Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

CREATED ISSUE: Allow see the parameters of a task

mabadia — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:15:49 GMT

For debugging purposes, it will be great to be able to see how the parameters of a task are evaluated before the task is executed.

CREATED ISSUE: Syntax Highlighting

mabadia — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:20:05 GMT

It is difficult to read the files without having syntax highlighting

CREATED ISSUE: Specify custom properties when running a target

mabadia — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:18:19 GMT

I miss the option to pass properties to the project like when you use msbuild with /p:PropertyName=propertyValue

CREATED ISSUE: Let the users add new properties and new items

mabadia — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:16:37 GMT

It would be cool to let the users the option to add new properties and items as well as be able to edit the existing ones

UPDATED WIKI: Home

parthad — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:22:21 GMT

Head over to http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdasto see screen shots
Download the v1.alpha release & place MSBuildDebugger.exe and MSBuildDebugger.exe.config on your machine
Launch the MSBuildDebugger.exe and open a project
Use the following command & shortcut keys

Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
F5 - Run the project under debugger
F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets

(For DevDiv developers only) You need to do the following to run inside DevDiv Razzle

Run MSBuildDebugger.application
When the app comes up, locate it in your temp folder using procexp (that is where the ClickOnce runtime copies it to befor launching the executable)
Copy over the contents of that folder into %COMPLUSInstallRoot%\%COMPLUSInstallVersion%
Copy contents of %COMPLUSInstallRoot%\%COMPLUSInstallVersion%\msbuild.exe.config to %COMPLUSInstallRoot%\%COMPLUSInstallVersion%\MSBuildDebugger.exe.config
Copy RTM version of System.Core.dll into %COMPLUSInstallRoot%\%COMPLUSInstallVersion%
Start Razzle and execute %COMPLUSInstallRoot%\%COMPLUSInstallVersion%\MSBuildDebugger.exe

Release Notes

Study the v1 feature set, v1 known issues and proposed v2 feature list in the sections below
For now play with the binaries and send me feedback at p a r t h a d @ m i c r o s o f t . c o m. Tell me about:

What features you want to see in v1
Bugs: hangs, crashes and irritations
Whether you think this is usefull or not

Source code will be released for community contribution/development with final v1 release (very soon)

v1 Release feature set

Project system

Open project
Open files
Ctrl.F support in editor
F1 opens up help

Environment

View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild

Stepping

F11
F5
Break Execution
Current point of execution shown in yellow
Setp into Imported projects

Break Points

BP Window
double click take you to location
BP highlighted in red
F9
F5 breaks on BP
Delete break points

Call stack

view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
BP set on project
Debugger steps on project
double click take you to the stack frame

Output window

Trace of what is going on
Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)

State View

RO properties view
RO items view

Verification

Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
Debug OOB VS Projects
Debug DevDi* projects
Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)

Known Issues in v1

Not a very jazzy UI
Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
Cannot close project or files once they are opened
Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

vNext wish list

Fix known issues
Jazzy WPF based shell (simillar to graphical PowerShell v2.0)

Make UI consistent with VS Debugger

Re-org and rewrite some selected parts of the code
Command Line version of the debugger
Visual Studio integration
Data break points
Properties and Items View improvements (make it RW, highlight changed ones, etc.)
Enable multiproc support- perf
Analyzer (Imported projects and Executable nodes views)

UPDATED RELEASE: v1.0 (alpha) (Dec 01, 2007)

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:20:24 GMT

*Getting started*
# Head over to [url:http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdas]to see screen shots
# Click on the MSBuildDebugger.application on the release page
# Open your project project
# Use the following command & shortcut keys
## Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
## Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
## F5 - Run the project under debugger
## F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
## F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets
# *(For DevDiv developers only)* You need to do the following to run inside DevDiv Razzle
## Run MSBuildDebugger.application
## When the app comes up, locate it in your temp folder using procexp (that is where the ClickOnce runtime copies it to befor launching the executable)
## Copy over the contents of that folder into %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%
## Copy contents of %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\msbuild.exe.config to %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\MSBuildDebugger.exe.config
## Copy RTM version of System.Core.dll into %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%
## Start Razzle and execute %COMPLUS_InstallRoot%\%COMPLUS_InstallVersion%\MSBuildDebugger.exe
*v1 (alpha) Release Feature Set*
* Project system
** Open project
** Open files
** Ctrl.F support in editor
** F1 opens up help
* Environment
** View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
** Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild
* Stepping
** F11
** F5
** Break Execution
** Current point of execution shown in yellow
** Setp into Imported projects
* Break Points
** BP Window
** double click take you to location
** BP highlighted in red
** F9
** F5 breaks on BP
** Delete break points
* Call stack
** view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
** BP set on project
** Debugger steps on project
** double click take you to the stack frame
* Output window
** Trace of what is going on
** Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)
* State View
** RO properties view
** RO items view
* Verification
** Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
** Debug OOB VS Projects
** Debug DevDi* projects
** Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)
*Known Issues in v1*
* Not a very jazzy UI
* Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
* F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
* Cannot close project or files once they are opened
* Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
* Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

UPDATED RELEASE: v1.0 (alpha) (Dec 01, 2007)

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:10:51 GMT

*Getting started*
# Head over to [url:http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdas]to see screen shots
# Download the v1.alpha release & place MSBuildDebugger.exe and MSBuildDebugger.exe.config on your machine
# Launch the MSBuildDebugger.exe and open a project
# Use the following command & shortcut keys
## Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
## Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
## F5 - Run the project under debugger
## F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
## F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets

*v1 (alpha) Release Feature Set*
* Project system
** Open project
** Open files
** Ctrl.F support in editor
** F1 opens up help
* Environment
** View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
** Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild
* Stepping
** F11
** F5
** Break Execution
** Current point of execution shown in yellow
** Setp into Imported projects
* Break Points
** BP Window
** double click take you to location
** BP highlighted in red
** F9
** F5 breaks on BP
** Delete break points
* Call stack
** view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
** BP set on project
** Debugger steps on project
** double click take you to the stack frame
* Output window
** Trace of what is going on
** Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)
* State View
** RO properties view
** RO items view
* Verification
** Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
** Debug OOB VS Projects
** Debug DevDi* projects
** Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)
*Known Issues in v1*
* Not a very jazzy UI
* Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
* F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
* Cannot close project or files once they are opened
* Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
* Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

UPDATED WIKI: Home

parthad — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 11:21:56 GMT

Head over to http://blogs.msdn.com/parthopdasto see screen shots
Download the v1.alpha release & place MSBuildDebugger.exe and MSBuildDebugger.exe.config on your machine
Launch the MSBuildDebugger.exe and open a project
Use the following command & shortcut keys

Ctrl.Shift.O - Open a project to debug
Ctrl.O - Open an imported project or targets files to set break point
F5 - Run the project under debugger
F11 - Step into tasks, targets and imported projects
F9 - Set break points on tasks and targets

Release Notes

Study the v1 feature set, v1 known issues and proposed v2 feature list in the sections below
For now play with the binaries and send me feedback at p a r t h a d @ m i c r o s o f t . c o m. Tell me about:

What features you want to see in v1
Bugs: hangs, crashes and irritations
Whether you think this is usefull or not

Source code will be released for community contribution/development with final v1 release (very soon)

v1 Release feature set

Project system

Open project
Open files
Ctrl.F support in editor
F1 opens up help

Environment

View the environment variables passed to MSBuild
Reset the environment variable passed to msbuild

Stepping

F11
F5
Break Execution
Current point of execution shown in yellow
Setp into Imported projects

Break Points

BP Window
double click take you to location
BP highlighted in red
F9
F5 breaks on BP
Delete break points

Call stack

view current call stack, usefull for CallTarget and MSBuild tasks
BP set on project
Debugger steps on project
double click take you to the stack frame

Output window

Trace of what is going on
Debugger messages (e.g. bp hit)

State View

RO properties view
RO items view

Verification

Can handle CallTarget, MSBuild, task & target batching
Debug OOB VS Projects
Debug DevDi* projects
Requires only .NET Framework 3.5 RTM (no VS2008 requried)

Known Issues in v1

Not a very jazzy UI
Stepping is done twice for empty XML nodes
F10 and Shift-F11 not supported yet
Cannot close project or files once they are opened
Random F9 behavior in remote corner cases
Random F11 behavior in remote corner cases

vNext wish list

Fix known issues
Jazzy WPF based shell (simillar to graphical PowerShell v2.0)

Make UI consistent with VS Debugger

Re-org and rewrite some selected parts of the code
Command Line version of the debugger
Visual Studio integration
Data break points
Properties and Items View improvements (make it RW, highlight changed ones, etc.)
Enable multiproc support- perf
Analyzer (Imported projects and Executable nodes views)