Visual Studio Breakpoint Macro to modify a value?

Question

I'm debugging an application (C++), and I've found a point in the code where I want to change a value (via the debugger). So right now, I've got a breakpoint set, whereupon I do:

• Debugger reaches breakpoint
• I modify the variable I want to change
• I hit F5 to continue running
• lather, rinse, repeat

It's hitting this breakpoint a lot, so I would like to automate this. I would like to set the Breakpoint to run a macro, and continue execution.

However, I have no experience writing VisualStudio macros, so I don't know the commands for modifying a variable of the executing program. I've looked around, but haven't found anything helpful online so far.

Answer 1

I found how to do this with a macro. Initially, I tried using Ctrl-Shift-R to record a macro of keystrokes, but it stopped recording when I did Ctrl-Alt-Q. But I was able to edit the macro to get it to work. So here's what I did, in case anyone else wants to do something similar.

• Tools -> Macros -> Macro Explorer

• Right Click -> New macro

  Public Module RecordingModule
      Sub setvalue()
          DTE.Debugger.ExecuteStatement("variable_name=0")
      End Sub
  End Module
  

This macro will execute the assignment statement, setting my variable (in this case, making it a NULL pointer).

• Right Click on a BreakPoint -> When Hit...
• Check "Run a macro"
• Select Macros.MyMacros.RecordingModule.setvalue
• Check "Continue execution"
• Click OK

Then, I was able to run my program, automatically adjusting a pointer to NULL as it went. This was very useful for testing, and did not require recompiling.