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debuggingvisual-studio-2017release

VS2017 code changes not affecting .exe file

So I have a problem facing VS code changes.

Whatever changes I have applied to my solution and built, it is working fine and I can see those changes being applied when I debug. But the same changes aren't applying to the .exe file.

I have tried release build as well, Same with that. It Debugs the release build fine but doesn't apply those changes to the .exe file.

Solution

  • It Debugs the release build fine but doesn't apply those changes to .exe file.

    When you debug the project, VS debug engine will try to fetch the output project.exe and project.pdb for debugging. So if the debugging works well(those changes being applied), the output project.exe should also work without any issues(changes applied).

    See this(for C++, similar situation with C#, VB):

    enter image description here

    This error message comes when VS debug engine can't find the output .exe, that's why I say if the changes are applied during debugging, it actually indicates the changes have been applied to your .exe file.

    Let me name the project which outputs the .exe ProjectA, other projects in your solution are B,C,D. Here are two directions you can check:

    If the code changes you mean is in Project A:

    1. Right click project A in Solution Explorer=>Properties, check the value of your Output Directory(C++) or Output path in build tab(C#), it represents where the output .exe will actually exist, and VS debug engine will fetch the .exe in this path.

    So make sure you tested the .exe in this path instead of old versions from other locations.

    If the code changes you mean is in B,C,D, and A depends on B,C,D:

    1. In most of the time VS will help copy the assemblies from B,C,D into A's bin folder, but I'm not sure if something's wrong with your environment which breaks this. You should make sure all the assemblies in your bin folder are updated.

    I think this issue comes from your project instead of IDE(create a new simple project to check if the issue occurs in it). And in which way did you check if the changes are applied? Make sure you use the same way no matter checking during debugging or checking the .exe.

    Updated:

    According to Sandesh, this issue could be resolved by a clean(clean old versions completely) rebuild.