CODEWITHSUNDEEP
multithreadingvisual-studiodebuggingvisual-studio-2012breakpoints
crazy novice
crazy novice

Reputation: 1817

Is it possible to have other threads continue to run when one thread freeze due to breakpoint

my understanding about debugging process and debuggers is that when a breakpoint gets hit, all other threads gets frozen. However one of my colleague said that this option is configurable meaning that somewhere in Visual Studio options you can configure that other threads (where there is no breakpoint) continue to work as normal although the thread with breakpoint get frozen. I couldn't find any such settings in visual studio plus my colleague does not remember where he saw that setting although he seem pretty confident that this option exists.

Can someone confirm if its even possible to have other threads running while one thread gets frozen due to breakpoint? Also if there is such a setting, please let me know where to find it.

Upvotes: 11

Views: 1859

Answers (3)

ethan.xy
ethan.xy

Reputation: 23

I'm not familiar with VS, but I know gdb support non-stop mode since version 7.10, so I think it is possible to do like this with VS. Here is the summary: "For some multi-threaded targets, GDB supports an optional mode of operation in which you can examine stopped program threads in the debugger while other threads continue to execute freely. This minimizes intrusion when debugging live systems, such as programs where some threads have real-time constraints or must continue to respond to external events. This is referred to as non-stop mode." You can search 'non-stop gdb' for more details.

Upvotes: 1

Hans Passant
Hans Passant

Reputation: 941635

The debugger always freezes all threads when a breakpoint hits. You have however do have control over what happens to threads when you press F5 to continue execution. You can use the Freeze toolbar button available in the Debug + Windows + Threads debugger window to prevent a thread from continuing when you press F5. Use the Thaw button to re-enable it.

Upvotes: 10

theDarse
theDarse

Reputation: 737

I don't know if this is possible but frankly if it is, it shouldn't be. Yes it is theoretically possible to break one thread while the others keep running, but keep in mind that with this there is the potential that one of the running threads will try to interact with the frozen thread. this causes all kinds of problems with your current frozen thread. I suspect the debugger was designed with this in mind, so there isn't a setting that allows this. If someone else knows differently please let me know because i find myself curious as well

Upvotes: -2

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