By default, the erload:System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert method works only in debug builds. Use the erload:System.Diagnostics.Trace.Assert method if you want to do assertions in release builds. For more information, see Assertions in Managed Code.

Typically, the Debug.Assert(bool) method is used to identify logic errors during program development. Debug.Assert(bool) evaluates the condition. If the result is false, it sends a failure message to the Debug.Listeners collection. You can customize this behavior by adding a System.Diagnostics.TraceListener to, or removing one from, the Debug.Listeners collection.

When the application runs in user interface mode, it displays a message box that shows the call stack with file and line numbers. The message box contains three buttons: Abort, Retry, and Ignore. Clicking the Abort button terminates the application. Clicking Retry sends you to the code in the debugger if your application is running in a debugger, or offers to open a debugger if it is not. Clicking Ignore continues with the next instruction in the code.

You can change the behavior of the System.Diagnostics.DefaultTraceListener in the configuration file that corresponds to the name of your application. In this file, you can enable and disable the assert message box or set the DefaultTraceListener.LogFileName property. The configuration file should be formatted as follows:

<configuration>
  <system.diagnostics>
    <assert assertuienabled="true" logfilename="c:\\myFile.log" />
  </system.diagnostics>
</configuration>