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I'm trying to debug the execution of a T4 template in Visual Studio 2008.
All the information I'm finding on debugging T4 templates in Visual Studio 2008 say that you can set a breakpoint (red dot) in the template as if it were a regular code file. I have the Clarius T4 code highlighter installed, so my T4 template is colored, but I can't set a breakpoint. When I click in the margin nothing happens.
I've tried Debugger.Break(), and it launches a new instance of VS.NET, but it can't load the code from my template. I get a dialog that says "There is no source code available for the current location." This happens if I have the same project loaded in the another instance of if I spin up a new instance.
What gives?
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To debug a design-time text template, save the text template file, and then choose Debug T4 Template on the shortcut menu of the file in Solution Explorer. To debug a run-time text template, simply debug the application to which it belongs.
To set a breakpoint in source code, click in the far left margin next to a line of code. You can also select the line and press F9, select Debug > Toggle Breakpoint, or right-click and select Breakpoint > Insert breakpoint. The breakpoint appears as a red dot in the left margin.
t4 is basically a tool built into VS for doing text transformation, typically for doing code generation. Transform All T4 Templates searches your solution for *. tt files and executes them to create other text, again typically source code, files.
Set the following:
<#@ template debug="true" hostSpecific="true" #>
<#@ import namespace="System.Diagnostics" #>
Then in your template
Debugger.Launch();
VS will kick off the JIT debugger in a new instance of VS 2010
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In Visual Studio 2013:
No attaching a second instance of Visual Studio needed.
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