Visual Studio 2017 Step IntoSpecific in System.Web.Mvc.dll not working - is it possible to do or not - please help

Question

User-1851576699 posted

I've been trying to Step Into Specific code in System.Web.Mvc.dll. The method I've been trying to step into is the extension method Html.DropDownListFor<>();

I've done almost all I know to do at this point. What else can I try next?

"Enable Just My Code" is turned OFF and "Enable .NET Framework Source Stepping" is turned ON:

The "Modules" window shows the PDB symbol file has been loaded and it's not optimized:

System.Web.Mvc.dll System.Web.Mvc.dll C:\Users\Guest7\AppData\Local\Temp\Temporary ASP.NET Files\vs\bc62ee6e\cf4f98f3\assembly\dl3\e0da666a\0089091e_d93ad001\System.Web.Mvc.dll No N/A Symbols loaded. C:\Users\Guest7\AppData\Local\Temp\SymbolCache\MicrosoftPublicSymbols\System.Web.Mvc.pdb\5878be5bda9d485c84ca1f292e2ad75e1\System.Web.Mvc.pdb 24 5.02.30128.0 1/28/2015 5:08 AM 0C780000-0C80E000 [9724] iisexpress.exe [2] /LM/W3SVC/2/ROOT-1-131611064932061001

**EDIT**: I haven't used the Step-Into-Specific feature in a long time and I have another idea about what might be wrong. Maybe actually having the source code for System.Web.Mvc.dll would help? In other words, do I have to download the actual source code for "System.Web.Mvc.dll" somewhere off the Internet and add it to my project first? I was just assuming that all that was handled behind the scenes for me based upon the fact that it happens for some common .DLLs on-the-fly. I do realize that some of those source files are generated using the .DLL in reverse by way of some tricks but none the less, they seem to work.

Answer 1

User753101303 posted

Hi,

So you want to step into the .NET Framework code ? It's been a long time since I tried.

Ah I'm afraid it could be that MVC is NOT part of https://referencesource.microsoft.com/ What are you trying to do by doing that? You could maybe have a look at https://aspnetwebstack.codeplex.com/SourceControl/latest#src/System.Web.Mvc/Html/SelectExtensions.cs 

Answer 2

User-1851576699 posted

I've already seen that portion of code you make reference too. But now I'm starting to see I may need to take a different and easier path to accomplish my goal. Why try to break-in through a set of doors that are already unlocked?

If the entire aspnetwebstack is there for the taking, why am I trying to see how it works by going through a broken window on the side of the house?

What I need to do is download the entire aspnetwebstack, extract the System.Web.Mvc contents to a folder and, add it to a project in Visual Studio and build it myself. Is this not the true path to victory in this scenario?

EDIT I am trying to add the entire System.Web.Mvc source folder and all it's sub folders in one step by adding existing item to the project. It seems you can't add "existing" folders to a project.