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Out of the box, at least, Visual Studio does not allow editing code during a debugging session when a visualizer is open. The visualizer window is on top and clicking anywhere else in Visual Studio is not allowed.

Is there a setting, extension or other means, that allow editing code while a visualizer is open?

Heki
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1 Answers1

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You're probably looking for Edit and Continue.

See the Visual Studio article How to: Enable and disable Edit and Continue (C#, VB, C++).

Enable this option is done before debugging, as follows.

  1. If you're in a debugging session, stop debugging (Debug > Stop Debugging or Shift+F5).

  2. In Tools > Options > (or Debug > Options) > Debugging > General, select Enable Edit and Continue and Hot Reload in the right pane.

    Note

    If IntelliTrace is enabled and you collect both IntelliTrace events and call information, Edit and Continue is disabled. For more information, see IntelliTrace.

  3. For C++ code, make sure Enable Edit and Continue and Hot Reload is selected, and set the other options:

    • Apply changes on continue (Native only)

      If selected, Visual Studio automatically compiles and applies code changes when you continue debugging from a break state. Otherwise, you can choose to apply changes using Debug > Apply Code Changes.

    • Warn about stale code (Native only)

      If selected, gives warnings about stale code.

  4. Select OK.

harrymc
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  • Thank you for the answer, but it does not solve my problem. Edit and comtinue is enabled and it works like a charm. The trouble is that often I would like to visualize the contents of a list, for example, and see that while I make changes to my code. However, I can only interact with the visualizer. The rest of Visual Studio is entirely locked down until I close the visualizer. – Heki Aug 17 '23 at 06:53