Attach to process in VS2010 express using a web site. Is it possible?

Question

I have read this article but it applies to web projects with a .csproj... What about a 'web site'?

http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/forum/showthread.php?t=15671

People at work here tell me to just response.write my way to debug the web sites but I really miss the attach to process that is in the professional edition of vs2010.. or maybe I have to get used to response.write debugging?

(Reason I am not debugging is ektron 8.0 does not compile is vs2010.. so I must attach to process.. or use vs2008)

Answer 1

It isn't available for VS2100 Express. Check the link. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/c6wf8e4z(v=vs.100).aspx

Answer 2

An option for websites hosted on another application (Like IIS) is to use the property pages.

Right Click on Project/Website in Solution Explorer->Property Pages->Start Options

1. Launch VS2010 Express (or VS2012 Express) as Administrator
2. Set "Start Action" radio-button to "Don't open a page. Wait for a request from an external application."
3. Set "Server" radio-button to "Use Custom Server"
4. Set the "Base URL" textbox to your site url.
5. Verify the Debuggers: ASP.NET option is checked.
6. Hit F5 to launch the debugger, then request the page in the browser.

Then, linking to the website is as easy as pressing the play-debug button and navigating to your url.

NB: This was tested in VS Express for Web 2012 (ver. 11.0.50727.1) on a Web Site project.

Answer 3

Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition supports Attach to process but it is available only in Expert Settings.
Go to Tools->Settings->Expert Settings.
After this change, you should see Attach to Process button in Debug menu.