Debug javascript generated by webresource.axd
Ran across this the other day and thought someone else may find it useful. Javascript for the ASP.Net 2.0 controls is typically generated by a request to webresource.axd. For example when you add a menu control, you see the following in the page:
<script src="https://blogs.msdn.com/myapp/WebResource.axd?d=oTrMXXyr9lkT4MbMovPbCw2&t=632681794331014707" mce_src="https://blogs.msdn.com/myapp/WebResource.axd?d=oTrMXXyr9lkT4MbMovPbCw2&t=632681794331014707" type="text/javascript"></script>
If you browse the above URL, you get a .js file as output. If you wanted to debug this script (or other .js files) at runtime, you can use the Script Explorer included with Visual Studio 2005.
- Ensure IE is setup for debugging (Internet Options | Advanced tab). After you enable debugging in IE, you must restart the browser.
- Attach the debugger to the browser. You can do this by pressing F5 in Visual Studio 2005 or by using Attach to Process on the Debug menu.
- From the Debug menu, select Windows, then Script Explorer (keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+N). The page and script files open in the browser are displayed.
- Double-click the page to open the HTML output of the page
- Double-click the script file
- Set breakpoints and perform an action to trigger the script
To debug inline script, you can either move the script to a .js file, use stop commands, or set a function breakpoint.
If Script Explorer is missing for you, you can use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Alt+N), or add it to the IDE. Here's how to add in the Script Explorer to a toolbar or menu:
- Tools menu, select Customize
- Command Tab
- Select Debug on the left, find Script Explorer on the right
- Drag Script Explorer to a toolbar or menu