How do I make Visual Studio pause after executing a console application in debug mode?

Try to run the application with the Ctrl + F5 combination.

Boost test offers the following usage recommendations for Visual Studio that would enable you to run the unit tests automatically at the end of compilation and capture the output into the build window.

The nice side effect of this trick is it enable you to treat test failures as compilation errors. "...you could jump through these errors using usual keyboard shortcuts/mouse clicks you use for compilation error analysis..."

Set a breakpoint on the last line of code.

You say you don't want to use the system("pause") hack. Why not?

If it's because you don't want the program to prompt when it's not being debugged, there's a way around that. This works for me:

void pause () {
    system ("pause");
}

int main (int argc, char ** argv) {
    // If "launched", then don't let the console close at the end until
    // the user has seen the report.
    // (See the MSDN ConGUI sample code)
    //
    do {
        HANDLE hConsoleOutput = ::GetStdHandle (STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
        if (INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE == hConsoleOutput)
            break;
        CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO csbi;
        if (0 == ::GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo (hConsoleOutput, &csbi))
            break;
        if (0 != csbi.dwCursorPosition.X)
            break;
        if (0 != csbi.dwCursorPosition.Y)
            break;
        if (csbi.dwSize.X <= 0)
            break;
        if (csbi.dwSize.Y <= 0)
            break;
        atexit (pause);
    } while (0);

I just paste this code into each new console application I'm writing. If the program is being run from a command window, the cursor position won't be <0,0>, and it won't call atexit(). If it has been launched from you debugger (any debugger) the console cursor position will be <0,0> and the atexit() call will be executed.

I got the idea from a sample program that used to be in the MSDN library, but I think it's been deleted.

NOTE: The Microsoft Visual Studio implementation of the system() routine requires the COMSPEC environment variable to identify the command line interpreter. If this environment variable gets messed up -- for example, if you've got a problem in the Visual Studio project's debugging properties so that the environment variables aren't properly passed down when the program is launched -- then it will just fail silently.

It would actually be more effort, but you could just build in VS.Net, run it from the regular command line (cmd.exe), and then attach to the process after it starts running. This is probably not the solution you are looking for however.

I would use a "wait"-command for a specific time (milliseconds) of your own choice. The application executes until the line you want to inspect and then continues after the time expired.

Include the <time.h> header:

clock_t wait;

wait = clock();
while (clock() <= (wait + 5000)) // Wait for 5 seconds and then continue
    ;
wait = 0;

Just use a logging library, like log4net, and have it log to a file appender.

You could also setup your executable as an external tool, and mark the tool for Use output window. That way the output of the tool will be visible within Visual Studio itself, not a separate window.

I start the app with F11 and get a breakpoint somewhere in unit_test_main.ipp (can be assembly code). I use shift-f11 (Step out) to run the unit test and get the next assembly instruction in the CRT (normally in mainCRTStartup()). I use F9 to set a breakpoint at that instruction.

On the next invocation, I can start the app with F5 and the app will break after running the tests, therefore giving me a chance to peek at the console window

Prompt for user input.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIGhjrWLWBo

shows how to do this for C++. For Node.js, this is taken right from the docs (and it works):

'use strict';

console.log('Hello world');

const readline = require('readline');
const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout
});

rl.question('Press enter to continue...', (answer) => {
    rl.close(); /* discard the answer */
});