How can a running program know if it's in the IDE

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A

active

In VB6 I used to check the app file and if it was VB6 I knew I was in the
IDE.

I suppose I could figure out how to do the same on dotnet but I wonder if
there isn't a better way to determine if a program is running in the IDE or
as standalone. Is there?

Cal
 
Try this:

--------------------------

System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached

--------------------------

It should return true when the debugger is attached (when running in the Vis
Studio IDE).

Hope this helps,

Trev.
 
* " active said:
In VB6 I used to check the app file and if it was VB6 I knew I was in the
IDE.

I suppose I could figure out how to do the same on dotnet but I wonder if
there isn't a better way to determine if a program is running in the IDE or
as standalone. Is there?

Mhm... You can find out if a debugger is attached using
'System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached', in order to determine if you
are running in debug mode, you can use '#If Debug Then...' (maybe you
will have to check a checkbox in the IDE settings to define the 'DEBUG'
constant).
 
I'm not sure I understand your note. I want to know if I'm in the Ide or
running outside the Ide.

Thanks
Cal
 
active said:
Right, so it didn't solve the problem.

Which problem? You can not find out if it is running "in the IDE" because
VB.NET applications are not interpreted anymore. So, compared to VB6, the
application runs *never* in the IDE because it is a separate process. You
can only determine if a debugger is attached.
 
That's bad news. Do you think I could determine if the IDE was running at
the same time as a separate process? It would be very unlikely that the
program would be running while VS was also doing something else.

Not the best of worlds but better that nothing.

Would that be difficult to do (or impossible)?

thanks
Cal
 
active said:
That's bad news. Do you think I could determine if the IDE was
running at the same time as a separate process? It would be very
unlikely that the program would be running while VS was also doing
something else.

Not the best of worlds but better that nothing.

Would that be difficult to do (or impossible)?


System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcesses


I don't know how it could help you if you know that devenv.exe is running.
What are you trying to accomplish?
 
I use a different set of files when developing than when running for real.
I've automated the process of which files get used so I won't inadvertly
destroy real data.
It would be very unlikely that I'd be running VS and the app (I'd like 100%
but seems I can't have it)
I checked out the GetProcesses and will use that unless you have a better
idea

Thanks for the help
Cal

PS I guess I stopped reading when I got to the GetProcesses suggestion and
missed the question at the bottom of your note the first time I read it.
 
active said:
I use a different set of files when developing than when running for
real.

Why not use a different configuration or conditional compilation?
I've automated the process of which files get used so I won't
inadvertly destroy real data.

Is this the answer to my question above? :)
It would be very unlikely that I'd be running VS and the app (I'd
like 100% but seems I can't have it)
I checked out the GetProcesses and will use that unless you have a
better idea

You could set command line arguments in the project properties. Only
whenever you start the app from the IDE, the special command line args are
passed. In the app, evalute the command line.
 
* " active said:
I use a different set of files when developing than when running for real.

In the project properties you can change the command line arguments for
the application (when running in the IDE) in the configuration options.
Maybe you can use that to pass some information to the program which
allows it to make a dustinction between IDE and running outside the IDE.
 
Armin Zingler said:
snip


You could set command line arguments in the project properties. Only
whenever you start the app from the IDE, the special command line args are
passed. In the app, evalute the command line.

That the best idea yet - so much cleaner that what I was suggesting.
Thanks
 
Herfried K. Wagner said:
real.

In the project properties you can change the command line arguments for
the application (when running in the IDE) in the configuration options.
Maybe you can use that to pass some information to the program which
allows it to make a dustinction between IDE and running outside the IDE.

That the way I'll do it
Thanks
 
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