VSCode on Windows: gdb doesn't break on 'throw' but breaks on regular exceptions

Question

While debugging my code, gdb catches regular exceptions (such as dividing by zero) but not custom ones, thrown with throw.

I'd expect vscode to jump where the exception is thrown, so i can investigate. Instead, the exception causes the application to terminate and the debugger to close.

I tested it with some dummy code:

compiled with: g++ -g main.cpp -o test.exe

#include <stdexcept>
#include <iostream>

void test()
{
    throw std::invalid_argument( "received negative value" );
}

int main(int argc, char const *argv[]) {
    std::cin.get();

    // int c = 1 / 0;
    test();

    std::cout << "v";

    std::cin.get();
    return 0;
}

The output:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::invalid_argument'
  what():  received negative value

This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information.

---

My environment:

• Windows 7 64bit
• VSCode 1.40.2
• MinGW

launch.json

        {
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "Launch Program",
            "program": "${workspaceRoot}/test.exe",
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "miDebuggerPath": "C:/MinGW/bin/gdb.exe",
            "MIMode": "gdb",
            "preLaunchTask": "Compile",
            "externalConsole": true
        }

Answer 1

For more info about catch see https://sourceware.org/gdb/onlinedocs/gdb/Set-Catchpoints.html#Set-Catchpoints

add to launch.json:

{
    ...
    "setupCommands": [
        /*{
            "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
            "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
            "ignoreFailures": true
        },*/
        {
            "description": "Enable break on all exceptions",
            "text": "catch throw",
            "ignoreFailures": true
        }
    ],
    ...
}