PowerShell / PowerShell/vscode-powershell

Small enhancements to temporary debugger console

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Area-Configuration Area-Debugging Issue-Enhancement
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Description

I appreciate the temporary debugger console option (powershell.debugging.createTemporaryIntegratedConsole). But it suffers from some small usability issues.

(1.) It is configured in settings as a global option rather than per launch config when actually it configures launch config behaviour. This means if we need to turn it on and off (for example to avoid continual re-attach with C# debugger) it's not very convenient.

(2.) There is no ability to perform a second round of debugging in the temporary debugger console without re-creating the process which hampers further investigation of an issue.

I would like to suggest the temporary debugger console option become two launch config options:
(a.) "console selection": allows launching debug session using separate debugger console rather than normal integrated console (and in such case doesn't re-create debugger console if already present)
(b.) "force new console": re-creates console before starting debug session (could apply regardless of console selection)

These two options would allow much more flexibility with launch configs and allow having a stable process for C# debugger attachment when using the debugger console.

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by tracing the powershell.debugging.createTemporaryIntegratedConsole setting and the launch configuration handling that controls the temporary debugger console. Compare the current behavior with the proposed console selection and force new console options, including repeated debugging and stable C# debugger attachment, then define tests for each behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
powershell, vscode
Domain
developer-experience, devtools
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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