Debugging templates

CodeSmith Generator templates are compiled .NET code, so you can step through them with the Just-In-Time debugger just like any other .NET code.

Debugging a template

1. Set the Debug attribute of the CodeTemplate directive to True, so that debug symbols are included when the template is compiled:

   <%@ CodeTemplate Language="C#" TargetLanguage="C#" Debug="True" %>
   

2. Where you want execution to stop, call System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch() and then System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break():

   System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch();
   System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();
   

   If you use the short names Debugger.Launch() and Debugger.Break() in a code-behind file, import the System.Diagnostics namespace.

3. Generate the template. When it reaches the breakpoint, the Visual Studio Just-In-Time Debugger dialog asks which debugger to use. Choose one and click Yes.

You can now debug the template as you would any .NET project: inspect locals, view the call stack and step through the code.

If Generator stops responding after debugging

If Generator stops responding when you finish debugging, change the Just-In-Time debugger's DbgJITDebugLaunchSetting registry value to 2 under this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework

On 64-bit Windows, also set DbgJITDebugLaunchSetting to 2 under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework

With this setting, the debugger dialog appears as soon as your code hits a breakpoint, and control returns to Generator when you continue running the template from the debugger.

Troubleshooting

• If you have trouble debugging, run both Generator and Visual Studio as an administrator.
• If Visual Studio says "There is no source code available for the current location", make Source Code (Text) Editor the default editor for .cst files in Visual Studio.

More debugging tools

Page	What you learn
Outputting trace and debug information	Write diagnostic messages to the Output window with Trace and Debug.
Viewing the compiled template source code	See the C# or VB code that Generator compiles from your template.