How to echo command line arguments when debugging in VSCode?

Question

I am debugging my code using a launch.json file. I have a long list of command line arguments:

            "args": [
                "-i", "inputfile",
                "-o", "outputfile",
                "--option", "do_stuff",
                "--very-long-option", "do_some_serious_stuff",
                ...
            ]

It works well. But now I would like to run the same program with the same arguments using command prompt:

my_prog -i inputfile -o outputfile --option do_stuff --very-long-option do_some_serious_stuff ...

I can generate this command line manually by editing the data taken from the launch.json file, but it's time-consuming and error-prone. How can I make VSCode print this command line for me each time I debug my program?

I tried adding the following to my tasks.json file:

        {
            "label": "echo_cmd_line",
            "command": "echo",
            "args": ["args are", "${args}"],
            "type": "shell"
        },

and the following to my launch.json file:

        "preLaunchTask": "echo_cmd_line",

but it outputs just args are. Not sure I can access arguments in this way.

How can I make it work?

donPablo · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-11 05:14:24Z

1

perhaps adding something like this -- thanks to https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/201785

--in launch.json

"preLaunchTask": "echo_cmd_line",
"preLaunchTaskInputs": {
  "LaunchArgs": "${args}"
}

--in tasks.json

"args": ["args are", "${LaunchArgs}"],

answered Sep 11, 2024 at 5:14

donPablo

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1 Comment

anatolyg Over a year ago

Just to make it clear, the method described in this answer doesn't work. This answer is only useful because it contains the link to the relevant issue.

anatolyg · Accepted Answer · 2024-09-11 08:16:47Z

0

This currently seems to be impossible.

As noted by this answer, this feature was requested 7 years ago but not implemented yet, so probably not deemed important enough.

answered Sep 11, 2024 at 8:16

anatolyg

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