VS Code wants `ceedlingExplorer.debugConfiguration` as a string

[parmi93]

VS Code’s IntelliSense expects the value of the "ceedlingExplorer.debugConfiguration" setting to be a string; note that this configuration works correctly and allows me to debug the tests.

my_project.code-workspace:

[Daimonion1980]

You missed a sqaure bracket in line 2 of your launch configuration

"ceedlingExplorer.debugConfiguration":  [  
  {
      "name": "Ceedling Test Explorer Debug",
      "type": "cppdbg",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/test/out/${command:ceedlingExplorer.debugTestExecutable}",
      "args": [],
      "stopAtEntry": false,
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "environment": [],
      "externalConsole": false,
      "MIMode": "gdb",
      "miDebuggerPath": "C:/MinGW/bin/gdb.exe",
      "setupCommands": [
          {
              "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
              "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
              "ignoreFailures": true
          }
      ]
  }
]

and of yourse you have to close this square bracket behind the configuration.

[parmi93]

I tried to put the square brackets and now I'm getting this error when I try to launch the debugger

[Daimonion1980]

Please read the manual howto create a Debug configuration: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/debugtest/debugging-configuration

It has to be in .vscode/launch.json

When having this file, the debugconfiguration from the readme can be used to set it up.
In settings.json you can then connect the ceedling explorer to this config:

    "ceedlingExplorer.projects": [
        {
            "path": ".",
            "debugLaunchConfig": "Ceedling Test Explorer Debug"
        }
    ]

[parmi93]

It took me a while, but in the end I figured out how to configure VS Code:
.vscode/launch.json:

{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Ceedling Test Explorer Debug",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/test/out/${command:ceedlingExplorer.debugTestExecutable}",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": false,
            "MIMode": "gdb",
            "setupCommands": [
                {
                    "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                    "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Note that I removed the line with the debugger path
"miDebuggerPath": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gdb.exe"
and debugging still works. I assume that the Ceedling Test Explorer extension uses the gdb command by default, thus finding the debugger in the system PATH. I removed the miDebuggerPath parameter because some of my colleagues use Linux while others use Windows, and removing the path allows everyone to debug tests without having to modify launch.json.

Finally, as specified in the Ceedling Test Explorer documentation
(https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=numaru.vscode-ceedling-test-adapter#debugging), you need to add the name of the Debug Configuration to the CeedlingExplorer.debugConfiguration setting.
my_project.code-workspace:

{
	"settings": {
		"ceedlingExplorer.debugConfiguration": "Ceedling Test Explorer Debug"
	}
}

Alternatively, you can add the same configuration to the .vscode/settings.json file:

{
    "ceedlingExplorer.debugConfiguration": "Ceedling Test Explorer Debug"
}

In any case, the following JSON does not work:

"ceedlingExplorer.projects": [
    {
        "path": ".",
        "debugLaunchConfig": "Ceedling Test Explorer Debug"
    }
]

Tip: the documentation could be made clearer by adding examples like the ones I included in this post.

[Daimonion1980]

You linked the old testexplorer from numaru. The resulting product from this repo is https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=throw-the-switch.vscode-ceedling

It is stated in the last paragraph of the readme file. https://github.com/ThrowTheSwitch/vscode-ceedling?tab=readme-ov-file#acknowledgments

[parmi93]

You are right I was using the old testexplorer (which by the way is working).
I installed the new Ceedling Visual Studio Code Extension and configured the launch.json and my_project.code-workspace file correctly, but now every time I try to debug a test I'm getting the following error:

launch.json:

{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
       {
            "name": "Ceedling Test Explorer Debug",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/test/out/${command:ceedlingExplorer.debugTestExecutable}",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": false,
            "MIMode": "gdb",
            "miDebuggerPath": "C:/MinGW/bin/gdb.exe",
            "setupCommands": [
                {
                    "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                    "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                }
            ]
        } 
    ]
}

ceedling_test.code-workspace:

{
	"folders": [
		{
			"path": "."
		}
	],
	"settings": {
		"ceedlingExplorer.projects": [
			{
				"path": ".",
				"debugLaunchConfig": "Ceedling Test Explorer Debug"
			}
		]
	}
}

I created a small project from scratch that reproduce this problem, could you please try to run it on your machine and see if you getting the same error?
ceedling_test.zip

Note: Open it as a workspace by opening the ceedling_test.code-workspace with VS Code.

[Daimonion1980]

There you go: #2

But you are right. Numarus Test Explorer was also updated for ceedling 1.0.1 and maybe it's better to use this one, until this is fixed here.

[parmi93]

It looks like that this is a bug of this new Ceedling Test Explorer extension...