Microsoft 9GD00001 manual Solving Problems with VS Debugger, The Debug History window

166Microsoft Visual Studio 2010: A Beginner’s Guide

Figure 6-15 The Debug History window

IntelliTrace could be useful if you stepped over a statement that changed the value of a variable and needed to go back to see what the variable value was before you stepped. Figure 6-15 shows this scenario, where the highlighted event, Breakpoint hit: Main, allows you to view Locals or Call Stack. The important distinction is that the values shown are for the point in time when that event occurred, not the current time, which can be very valuable information. Another important application of IntelliTrace is to inspect IntelliTrace log files that were produced by another developer or the new Microsoft Test and Lab tool that records a tester’s testing session.

You can configure IntelliTrace options by selecting Tools Options IntelliTrace. IntelliTrace will create a log file that exists as long as VS is running. When VS stops, the log file is deleted, so it’s important that you copy this file before shutting down VS. The location of the log file is on the Advanced branch of IntelliTrace in Tools Options.

If you receive a log file from another developer, you can load it by selecting File Open Open New. Then you can view debugging history to view the state of the application during each event of the session.

Solving Problems with VS Debugger

Previously, you’ve seen how the VS tools work and gathered a few tips on debugging. This section builds upon what you’ve learned and steps you through a couple of real-world scenarios that demonstrate how to use the VS debugger to solve problems: finding and