setup Vscode for debbuging Eigen - visual-studio-code

Question

I am using the Eigen library (https://eigen.tuxfamily.org/dox/GettingStarted.html) for some computations.
The program that I am running is:
#include <iostream>
#include <Eigen/Dense>
using Eigen::MatrixXd;
int main()
{
MatrixXd m(2,2);
m(0,0) = 3;
m(1,0) = 2.5;
m(0,1) = -1;
m(1,1) = m(1,0) + m(0,1);
std::cout << m << std::endl;
}
In their documentation by recommend compiling with:
g++ -I /path/to/eigen/ my_program.cpp -o my_program
If I run this, it compiles and runs... But now I would like to able to debug through the code.
The .json files generated I am using are:
tasks.json
{
"tasks": [
{
"type": "cppbuild",
"label": "C/C++: g++ build active file",
"command": "/usr/bin/g++",
"args": [
"-I",
"${eigen}",
"${file}",
"-o",
"${fileDirname}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}"
],
"options": {
"cwd": "${fileDirname}"
},
"problemMatcher": [
"$gcc"
],
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
},
"detail": "Task generated by Debugger."
}
],
"version": "2.0.0"
}
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": "g++ - Build and debug active file",
"type": "cppdbg",
"request": "launch",
"program": "${fileDirname}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}",
"args": [],
"stopAtEntry": false,
"cwd": "${fileDirname}",
"environment": [],
"externalConsole": false,
"MIMode": "gdb",
"setupCommands": [
{
"description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
"text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
"ignoreFailures": true
}
],
"preLaunchTask": "C/C++: g++ build active file",
"miDebuggerPath": "/usr/bin/gdb"
}
]
}
and
c_cpp_properties.json
{
"configurations": [
{
"name": "Linux",
"includePath": [
"${workspaceFolder}/**",
"/home/pc/eigen/"
],
"defines": [],
"compilerPath": "/usr/bin/gcc",
"cStandard": "c11",
"cppStandard": "c++11",
"intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64"
}
],
"version": 4
}
This configuration just runs the code but does not stick the debugger to it.
Would really appreciate the help!

Answer 1

Ok, so this worked for me:
1º Download Eigen:
https://eigen.tuxfamily.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
2º Create a symbolic link to the eigen folder
sudo ln -s location/of/Eigen/Folder /usr/local/include/
3º Can compile code with:
g++ my_program.cpp -o my_program
4º To "better debug" Eigen use the custom python printer for gdb
https://gitlab.com/libeigen/eigen/-/blob/master/debug/gdb/printers.py
a) Create a hidden file called gdbinit
touch ~/.gdbinit
b) Place the following code in it:
python
import sys
sys.path.insert(0, '/path/to/eigen/printer/directory') #In my case it was /home/pc/eigen/debug/gdb
from printers import register_eigen_printers
register_eigen_printers (None)
end
Note: VScode worked straight out of the box (F5 and debug mode was on!)