Step through code in a referenced solution

Question

Usually when I want to debug a nuget package I download the source code and add the .csproj file to my solution and add a project reference instead of using the nuget package. This lets me step through the code and see what is going on with my live project.

I have a nuget package I want to debug but it is very large. I downloaded the source code and the solution has around 20 projects in it. I tried just adding a few of them but ended up with lots of dependency issues.

Is there a way I can tell visual studio that the source code for the nuget package exists on my HD so I can step through it without having to add 20 projects to my current solution? Or perhaps some way to add a reference to the entire solution?

My goal here is to be able to set breakpoints so when the third party compiled code executes I can step through it and see what is going on. What is best way to do this?

Answer 1

Assuming the application is .NET 4.7.2. You could try dnSpy which allows you to debug & edit a built executable/dll.

GitHub Page: https://github.com/0xd4d/dnSpy

Latest Release:https://github.com/0xd4d/dnSpy/releases/download/v5.0.0/dnSpy.zip

Once downloaded

• Start up dnSpy.exe for 64-bit or dnSpy-x86.exe for 32-bit applications.
• Use File->Open to locate your exe's and dll files.
• Apply your breakpoints within dnSpy.
• Hit start as you would in Visual Studio