How do I start a program with arguments when debug

Question

I want to debug a program in Visual Studio 2008. The problem is that it exits if it doesn't get arguments. This is from the main method:

if (args == null || args.Length != 2 || args[0].ToUpper().Trim() != "RM") 
{
    Console.WriteLine("RM must be executed by the RSM.");
    Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit program...");
    Console.Read();
    Environment.Exit(-1);
}

I don't want to comment it out and and then back in when compiling. How can I start the program with arguments when debugging? It is set as the StartUp Project.

Answer 1

My suggestion would be to use Unit Tests.

In your application do the following switches in Program.cs:

#if DEBUG
    public class Program
#else
    class Program
#endif

and the same for static Main(string[] args).

Or alternatively use Friend Assemblies by adding

[assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("TestAssembly")]

to your AssemblyInfo.cs.

Then create a unit test project and a test that looks a bit like so:

[TestClass]
public class TestApplication
{
    [TestMethod]
    public void TestMyArgument()
    {
        using (var sw = new StringWriter())
        {
            Console.SetOut(sw); // this makes any Console.Writes etc go to sw

            Program.Main(new[] { "argument" });

            var result = sw.ToString();

            Assert.AreEqual("expected", result);
        }
    }
}

This way you can, in an automated way, test multiple inputs of arguments without having to edit your code or change a menu setting every time you want to check something different.

Answer 2

Go to Project-><Projectname> Properties. Then click on the Debug tab, and fill in your arguments in the textbox called Command line arguments.

Answer 3

I would suggest using the directives like the following:

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
#if DEBUG
            args = new[] { "A" };
#endif

            Console.WriteLine(args[0]);
        }

Good luck!