Debugging a Windows Phone Game

Discusses issues that apply to debugging Windows Phone games on your retail console.

The following features are unavailable when debugging a Windows Phone game with XNA Game Studio:

Feature Description
Interop Debugging Debug both managed and native code simultaneously.
Assembly Debugging Debug only your assemblies and not system assemblies.
Edit and Continue Edit the binary content of your game without interrupting your debugging session.
Exception Interrupting Stop unhandled exceptions before they unwind so the user can make changes and retry the operation.
Debugger Visualizers Display a more informative view of a specific data type, such as XML data.
Exception Assistant Support The additional features provided by Exception Assistant are unavailable when debugging Windows Phone games. Information on exceptions is provided by the standard Exceptions dialog box within XNA Game Studio.
Debugging a Running Process Attach the debugger to a process that is currently executing.

To debug a game

Debugging a Windows Phone game is similar to the process for deploying your game, with one exception.

  • On the Debug menu, click Start Debugging instead of Deploy Solution. Alternatively, press F5.

    Your game will begin executing immediately after it is successfully deployed to the emulator or device.

To run game without debugging

  • Click Start Without Debugging on the Debug menu.

See Also

Developing Windows Phone Games