CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++visual-studiodebuggingexceptionunhandled-exception
omatai
omatai

Reputation: 3728

Is it possible to continue debugging past an unhandled exception in Visual Studio?

A variety of other questions hint that it is possible to continue debugging past an "Exception Unhandled" popup like this:

Exception Unhandled popup

This is the popup from Visual Studio 2019, but VS 2015 gives similar behaviour. In both cases, for all combos of Win32/x64 and Debug/Release I have tried, the debugger refuses to go past the point that throws the unhandled exception - the same popup pops up again on each attempt to continue. I would like to push past this point and continue into the code I have set up via SetUnhandledExceptionFilter(). Is that possible?

This strongly upvoted answer suggests that it might be, via an option under Tools -> Options then Debugging -> General regarding unwinding the stack... but a comment on the answer suggests the option may have disappeared from VS2017. I found the option in VS 2015, but it does not have the desired effect. Is the accepted answer to that question therefore correct despite fewer votes - that continuing to debug past an unhandled exception is not possible by design?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1001

Answers (1)

omatai
omatai

Reputation: 3728

Yes - it's possible. If you get to that pop up repeatedly, and the exception settings are such that the exception is NOT intercepted by the debugger (and therefore passed to the application's own exception handling), then it could be that your "unhandled" exception handling has already run, or does not exist in the form you think it does. Double-check where you have set breakpoints and make sure they are ones that stand to be hit.

Note also that if you have something like this to catch SEH exceptions (such as integer divide by zero):

__try
{
    // set up and run the application
}
__except( RecordUnhandledException( GetExceptionInfo() ) )
{
}

... then the debugger can hide RecordUnhandledException() from you. That is, if you set a breakpoint on the line where the exception is (deliberately) thrown, and try to step into it, the debugger may step straight back to that point by executing the handling code in a single step that makes it invisible to you. However, if it produces other output, you should be able to see that output. If not, it may take an explicit breakpoint within RecordUnhandledException() to reveal that it exists and step through its logic.

Upvotes: 1

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