Will if RELEASE work like if DEBUG does in C

Question

In all the examples I ve seen of the  if compiler directive  they use  DEBUG    Can I use  RELEASE  in the same way to exclude code that I don t want to run when compiled in debug mode  The code I want to surround with this block sends out a bunch of emails  and I don t want to accidentally send those out when testing

User · Answer

Whilst M4N s answer   if   DEBUG   makes most sense  another option could be to use the preprocessor to amend other flag s values  e g  bool isRelease   true   if DEBUG     isRelease   false   endif  Or better  rather than referring to whether we re in release or debug mode  use flags that define the expected behavior and set them based on the mode  bool sendEmails   true   if DEBUG     sendEmails   false   endif  This is different to using preprocessor flags  in that the flags are still there in production  so you incur the overhead of if  sendEmails      send mails     each time that code s called  rather than the code existing in release but not existing in debug  but this can be advantageous  e g  in your tests you may want to call your SendEmails   method but on a mock  whilst running in debug to get additional output

User · Answer

RELEASE is not defined  but you can use    if   DEBUG         endif

User · Answer

On my VS install  VS 2008   if RELEASE does not work  However you could just use  if  DEBUG  Example    if  DEBUG SendTediousEmail    endif

User · Answer

Nope    While in debug configuration there is a DEBUG defined constant  automatically defined by Visual Studio  while there is no such constant defined for release mode  Check your project settings under build   Selecting  Define DEBUG constant  under Project -  Build is like including  define DEBUG at the beginning of every file    If you want to define a RELEASE constant for the release configuration go to    Project Properties -  Build Select Release Mode in the Conditional compilation symbols textbox enter  RELEASE

User · Answer

why not just   if RELEASE  undef DEBUG  endif

User · Answer

You can use  if  DEBUG  for this purposes

User · Answer

No  it won t  unless you do some work   The important part here is what DEBUG really is  and it s a kind of constant defined that the compiler can check against   If you check the project properties  under the Build tab  you ll find three things    A text box labelled  Conditional compilation symbols  A check box labelled  Define DEBUG constant  A check box labelled  Define TRACE constant    There is no such checkbox  nor constant symbol pre-defined that has the name RELEASE   However  you can easily add that name to the text box labelled Conditional compilation symbols  but make sure you set the project configuration to Release-mode before doing so  as these settings are per configuration   So basically  unless you add that to the text box   if RELEASE won t produce any code under any configuration

User · Answer

I know this is an old question  but it might be worth mentioning that you can create your own configurations outside of DEBUG and RELEASE  such as TEST or UAT    If then on the Build tab of the project properties page you then set the  Conditional compilation symbols  to TEST  for instance  you can then use a construct such as    if  DEBUG    TEST         Code that will not be executed in RELEASE or UAT  endif   You can use this construct for specific reason such as different clients if you have the need  or even entire Web Methods for instance  We have also used this in the past where some commands have caused issues on specific hardware  so we have a configuration for an app when deployed to hardware X

User · Answer

why not just   if RELEASE  undef DEBUG  endif

User · Answer

No  it won t  unless you do some work   The important part here is what DEBUG really is  and it s a kind of constant defined that the compiler can check against   If you check the project properties  under the Build tab  you ll find three things    A text box labelled  Conditional compilation symbols  A check box labelled  Define DEBUG constant  A check box labelled  Define TRACE constant    There is no such checkbox  nor constant symbol pre-defined that has the name RELEASE   However  you can easily add that name to the text box labelled Conditional compilation symbols  but make sure you set the project configuration to Release-mode before doing so  as these settings are per configuration   So basically  unless you add that to the text box   if RELEASE won t produce any code under any configuration

User · Answer

On my VS install  VS 2008   if RELEASE does not work  However you could just use  if  DEBUG  Example    if  DEBUG SendTediousEmail    endif

User · Answer

RELEASE is not defined  but you can use    if   DEBUG         endif

User · Answer

You can create you own conditional compile-time symbols  any name you like   Go to the  project Build dialog   located in the project properties box  menu option  Project-  projectname  Properties     You can also define them  at the top of the C  code file   Like    define RELEASE    or  undef RELEASE   you can use the symbol in a  if statement    if RELEASE    code      elif        code      endif     or   if  RELEASE    code      endif

User · Answer

why not just   if RELEASE  undef DEBUG  endif

User · Answer

No  it won t  unless you do some work   The important part here is what DEBUG really is  and it s a kind of constant defined that the compiler can check against   If you check the project properties  under the Build tab  you ll find three things    A text box labelled  Conditional compilation symbols  A check box labelled  Define DEBUG constant  A check box labelled  Define TRACE constant    There is no such checkbox  nor constant symbol pre-defined that has the name RELEASE   However  you can easily add that name to the text box labelled Conditional compilation symbols  but make sure you set the project configuration to Release-mode before doing so  as these settings are per configuration   So basically  unless you add that to the text box   if RELEASE won t produce any code under any configuration

User · Answer

Nope    While in debug configuration there is a DEBUG defined constant  automatically defined by Visual Studio  while there is no such constant defined for release mode  Check your project settings under build   Selecting  Define DEBUG constant  under Project -  Build is like including  define DEBUG at the beginning of every file    If you want to define a RELEASE constant for the release configuration go to    Project Properties -  Build Select Release Mode in the Conditional compilation symbols textbox enter  RELEASE

User · Answer

Whilst M4N s answer   if   DEBUG   makes most sense  another option could be to use the preprocessor to amend other flag s values  e g  bool isRelease   true   if DEBUG     isRelease   false   endif  Or better  rather than referring to whether we re in release or debug mode  use flags that define the expected behavior and set them based on the mode  bool sendEmails   true   if DEBUG     sendEmails   false   endif  This is different to using preprocessor flags  in that the flags are still there in production  so you incur the overhead of if  sendEmails      send mails     each time that code s called  rather than the code existing in release but not existing in debug  but this can be advantageous  e g  in your tests you may want to call your SendEmails   method but on a mock  whilst running in debug to get additional output

User · Answer

On my VS install  VS 2008   if RELEASE does not work  However you could just use  if  DEBUG  Example    if  DEBUG SendTediousEmail    endif

User · Answer

I ve never seen that before   but I have seen    if  DEBUG    FALSE    and   if   DEBUG    That work for ya

User · Answer

No  it won t  unless you do some work   The important part here is what DEBUG really is  and it s a kind of constant defined that the compiler can check against   If you check the project properties  under the Build tab  you ll find three things    A text box labelled  Conditional compilation symbols  A check box labelled  Define DEBUG constant  A check box labelled  Define TRACE constant    There is no such checkbox  nor constant symbol pre-defined that has the name RELEASE   However  you can easily add that name to the text box labelled Conditional compilation symbols  but make sure you set the project configuration to Release-mode before doing so  as these settings are per configuration   So basically  unless you add that to the text box   if RELEASE won t produce any code under any configuration

User · Answer

I ve never seen that before   but I have seen    if  DEBUG    FALSE    and   if   DEBUG    That work for ya

User · Answer

RELEASE is not defined  but you can use    if   DEBUG         endif

User · Answer

I ve never seen that before   but I have seen    if  DEBUG    FALSE    and   if   DEBUG    That work for ya

User · Answer

Nope    While in debug configuration there is a DEBUG defined constant  automatically defined by Visual Studio  while there is no such constant defined for release mode  Check your project settings under build   Selecting  Define DEBUG constant  under Project -  Build is like including  define DEBUG at the beginning of every file    If you want to define a RELEASE constant for the release configuration go to    Project Properties -  Build Select Release Mode in the Conditional compilation symbols textbox enter  RELEASE

User · Answer

Pop Catalin  got it right  Controlling the definition based on the type of build provides a great deal of flexibility  For example  you can have a  DEBUG    DEMO   and  RELEASE  configuration all in the same solution  That prevents the need for duplicate programming with two different solutions   So yes  if RELEASE or  if  RELEASE  works the same as  if DEBUG when the RELEASE Conditional compilation symbol is defined   The following is taken from  Pop Catalin  post  If you want to define a RELEASE constant for the release configuration go to        Project Properties -  Build       Select Release Mode       in the Conditional compilation symbols textbox enter  RELEASE

User · Answer

RELEASE is not defined  but you can use    if   DEBUG         endif

User · Answer

You can create you own conditional compile-time symbols  any name you like   Go to the  project Build dialog   located in the project properties box  menu option  Project-  projectname  Properties     You can also define them  at the top of the C  code file   Like    define RELEASE    or  undef RELEASE   you can use the symbol in a  if statement    if RELEASE    code      elif        code      endif     or   if  RELEASE    code      endif

User · Answer

I ve never seen that before   but I have seen    if  DEBUG    FALSE    and   if   DEBUG    That work for ya

User · Answer

why not just   if RELEASE  undef DEBUG  endif

User · Answer

You can use  if  DEBUG  for this purposes

User · Answer

I know this is an old question  but it might be worth mentioning that you can create your own configurations outside of DEBUG and RELEASE  such as TEST or UAT    If then on the Build tab of the project properties page you then set the  Conditional compilation symbols  to TEST  for instance  you can then use a construct such as    if  DEBUG    TEST         Code that will not be executed in RELEASE or UAT  endif   You can use this construct for specific reason such as different clients if you have the need  or even entire Web Methods for instance  We have also used this in the past where some commands have caused issues on specific hardware  so we have a configuration for an app when deployed to hardware X

User · Answer

On my VS install  VS 2008   if RELEASE does not work  However you could just use  if  DEBUG  Example    if  DEBUG SendTediousEmail    endif

User · Answer

Pop Catalin  got it right  Controlling the definition based on the type of build provides a great deal of flexibility  For example  you can have a  DEBUG    DEMO   and  RELEASE  configuration all in the same solution  That prevents the need for duplicate programming with two different solutions   So yes  if RELEASE or  if  RELEASE  works the same as  if DEBUG when the RELEASE Conditional compilation symbol is defined   The following is taken from  Pop Catalin  post  If you want to define a RELEASE constant for the release configuration go to        Project Properties -  Build       Select Release Mode       in the Conditional compilation symbols textbox enter  RELEASE

User · Answer

Nope    While in debug configuration there is a DEBUG defined constant  automatically defined by Visual Studio  while there is no such constant defined for release mode  Check your project settings under build   Selecting  Define DEBUG constant  under Project -  Build is like including  define DEBUG at the beginning of every file    If you want to define a RELEASE constant for the release configuration go to    Project Properties -  Build Select Release Mode in the Conditional compilation symbols textbox enter  RELEASE

[c#] Will #if RELEASE work like #if DEBUG does in C#?

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