Stepping through and debugging code in Unit tests

I have not been able to debug or step through unit test.

Here is my sample test code...

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
using DomainModel.Entities;
using DomainModel.Abstract;
using WebUI.Controllers;

namespace Tests
{
    [TestClass]
    public class PeopleControllerTests
    {

        static IPeopleRepository MockPeopleRepository(params Person[] people)
        {
            var mockPeopleRepos = new Moq.Mock<IPeopleRepository>();
            mockPeopleRepos.Setup(x => x.People).Returns(people.AsQueryable());
            return mockPeopleRepos.Object;
        }
        
        [TestMethod]

        public void Count_Of_People()
        {
            IPeopleRepository repository = MockPeopleRepository(
                new Person { Age = 31, Gender = "Male", Name = "Tom" },
                new Person { Age = 25, Gender = "Female", Name = "Sally" },
                new Person { Age = 18, Gender = "Female", Name = "John" }
                );

            PeopleController controller = new PeopleController(repository);
            var people = controller.List().ViewData.Model;
            var peoplelist = people as IList<Person>;
            Assert.AreEqual(3, peoplelist.Count);
        }

    }
}

When using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting, go to 'Test' in the main menu of VS 2010, click submenu 'Debug' -> 'tests in current context'.

Right-clicking on the test-code and selecting 'run tests' will never start the debugger, not even when mode = debug.

It's far simpler in Visual Studio 2013. In Test Explorer, select the tests you wish to debug, right-click, and choose debug selected tests.

Yes you can, thank you :)

To actually break on them you need to run your unit tests in Debug mode though.

Another solution...

You need to run and attach the debugger.

Set this line at the first line executed in your test (maybe in the test class constructor):

System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch();

Then when the debug window is open, chose Visual Studio.

If you were running NUnit, that was so easy:

1. Run NUnit and open your desired assembly in it.
2. Open Visual Studio → Debug → Attach to Process...
3. Select the process of NUnit
4. Put a breakpoint in each line you want.
5. Go back to NUnit and run tests
6. You will see that execution stops at breakpoints

Maybe simply debugging tests and setting breakpoints works in some kinds of unit tests, but it doesn't if you debug, e.g., a Web service.

To debug a Web service (break inside a Unit test) you have to insert this code:

System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Break();

This will show a popup saying the application stopped working and you can choose to debug it.

More here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms243172.aspx#DebuggingOnCassini

Two simple steps to debug a unit test in Visual Studio:

1. Set a breakpoint in the unit test that you want to debug
2. Right click anywhere within the unit test and select "Debug Tests" from the context menu

Stepping through the unit test is very similar to how we step through any other code in Visual Studio.

• Step Over - F10
• Step Into - F11
• Step Out = Shift + F11

You can also debug the unit test from the test explorer window

1. First locate the unit test that you want to debug
2. Double clicking on a unit test will open that unit test
3. Set a break point in the unit test
4. In the test explorer, right click on that unit test and select "Debug selected tests from the context menu"

To debug all the tests Click Test - Debug - All Tests The execution will then pause at all the break points in all the unit tests

One thing to keep in mind is that, the break points with in the unit tests will be ignored, if you select run tests instead of debug tests in visual studio.

One option is to install TestDriven.net which makes it easier to run unit tests on any of the major unit testing .NET frameworks (NUnit, xUnit, Visual Studio tools, etc.).

Once installed, you can right click on a function and choose Test With → debugger.