Create custom views of data in the Visual Studio debugger (C#, Visual Basic, C++)

Applies to: Visual Studio Visual Studio for Mac

The Visual Studio debugger provides many tools for inspecting and modifying the state of your program. Most of these tools function only in break mode.

Create custom views of data in variable windows and DataTips

Many of the debugger windows, such as the Autos and Watch windows, allow you to inspect variables. You can customize how C++ types, managed objects, and your own types are shown in the debugger variable windows and in DataTips. For more information, see Create custom views of C++ objects and Create custom views of managed objects.

Create custom visualizers

Visualizers enable you to view the contents of an object or variable in a meaningful way. In the Visual Studio debugger, a visualizer refers to the different windows that you can open using the magnifying glass icon. For example, the HTML visualizer shows how an HTML string would be interpreted and displayed in a browser. You can access visualizers from DataTips, the Watch window, the Autos window, and the Locals window. The QuickWatch dialog box also provides a visualizer. For more information, see Create custom visualizers.

See also

• First look at the debugger
• Command window
• Debugger security