Can I run fsx files from within Visual Studio without setting up a project?
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9337016
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30-04-2021 - |
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I want to use F# for some very basic tasks for which I previously used batch files. I can associate fsx files with fsi.exe and run it just by double clicking them. That's great so far.
However, sometimes I might want to dive into the code deeper and debug things. When I open the fsx file within Visual Studio I can't run it and I also can't select the lines and use "Send to interactive", though.
It seems to me as if those commands only work if you set up a full F# project. That seems to be cumbersome (as an batch file replacement). I wonder which is the right approach? I want to have my cake and eat it! I want a simple file that I can change quickly but I also want the ability to use the analyze things with Visual Studio on demand.
UPDATE I just figured out you can open the interactive console at "View\Other Windows\F# Interactive" and after that you do have the "Send to Interactive" command.
I'm still lacking the ability to run the code and set breakpoints, though..
Solution
As you already discovered, you don't need to create project to use the F# Interactive console.
I believe that features like debugging are a lot less important when you use F# for interactive development (or scripting), because you can quite easily evaluate code step-by-step to analyze its behaviour just by sending individual commands to FSI. So I don't feel the need for debugging in F# Interactive very often.
Although this isn't really a supported feature, you can debug code in a script file when using just F# Interactive. The trick is to attach the debugger to the fsi.exe process that's running behind the F# Interactive.
Just go to "Debug" -> "Attach to Process" and then select "fsi.exe". Then you should be able to place brakepoints in the fsx script file and the code running in F# Interactive will break. As I said, this is not really supported, but it generally works well for code in functions. I don't find this as useful often, but it may be useful now and then.
