DebuggerDisplayAttribute Class (System.Diagnostics)

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.NET Framework Class Library
DebuggerDisplayAttribute Class

Determines how a class or field is displayed in the debugger variable windows.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
  System.Attribute
    System.Diagnostics.DebuggerDisplayAttribute

Namespace:  System.Diagnostics
Assembly:  mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
Syntax

Visual Basic
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Assembly Or AttributeTargets.Class Or AttributeTargets.Struct Or AttributeTargets.Enum Or AttributeTargets.Property Or AttributeTargets.Field Or AttributeTargets.Delegate, AllowMultiple := True)> _
Public NotInheritable Class DebuggerDisplayAttribute _
	Inherits Attribute
C#
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Assembly|AttributeTargets.Class|AttributeTargets.Struct|AttributeTargets.Enum|AttributeTargets.Property|AttributeTargets.Field|AttributeTargets.Delegate, AllowMultiple = true)]
public sealed class DebuggerDisplayAttribute : Attribute
Visual C++
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets::Assembly|AttributeTargets::Class|AttributeTargets::Struct|AttributeTargets::Enum|AttributeTargets::Property|AttributeTargets::Field|AttributeTargets::Delegate, AllowMultiple = true)]
public ref class DebuggerDisplayAttribute sealed : public Attribute
F#
[<Sealed>]
[<ComVisibleAttribute(true)>]
[<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Assembly|AttributeTargets.Class|AttributeTargets.Struct|AttributeTargets.Enum|AttributeTargets.Property|AttributeTargets.Field|AttributeTargets.Delegate, AllowMultiple = true)>]
type DebuggerDisplayAttribute =  
    class
        inherit Attribute
    end

The DebuggerDisplayAttribute type exposes the following members.

Constructors

  Name Description
Public method DebuggerDisplayAttribute Initializes a new instance of the DebuggerDisplayAttribute class.
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Properties

  Name Description
Public property Name Gets or sets the name to display in the debugger variable windows.
Public property Target Gets or sets the type of the attribute's target.
Public property TargetTypeName Gets or sets the type name of the attribute's target.
Public property Type Gets or sets the string to display in the type column of the debugger variable windows.
Public property TypeId When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Public property Value Gets the string to display in the value column of the debugger variable windows.
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Methods

  Name Description
Public method Equals Infrastructure. Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Protected method Finalize Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method GetHashCode Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Public method GetType Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method IsDefaultAttribute When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Public method Match When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Protected method MemberwiseClone Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Public method ToString Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
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Explicit Interface Implementations

  Name Description
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetIDsOfNames Maps a set of names to a corresponding set of dispatch identifiers. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetTypeInfo Retrieves the type information for an object, which can be used to get the type information for an interface. (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.GetTypeInfoCount Retrieves the number of type information interfaces that an object provides (either 0 or 1). (Inherited from Attribute.)
Explicit interface implemetation Private method _Attribute.Invoke Provides access to properties and methods exposed by an object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
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Remarks

The DebuggerDisplayAttribute constructor has a single argument: a string to be displayed in the value column for instances of the type. This string can contain braces ({ and }). The text within a pair of braces is evaluated as the name of a field, property, or method. For example, the following C# code causes "Count = 4" to be displayed when the plus sign (+) is selected to expand the debugger display for an instance of MyHashtable.

[DebuggerDisplay("Count = {count}")]
class MyHashtable
{
    public int count = 4;
}

For information about using this attribute in Visual Studio, see Using DebuggerDisplay Attribute.

Examples

View the following example in Visual Studio to see the results of applying the DebuggerDisplayAttribute.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.Collections
Imports System.Diagnostics
Imports System.Reflection



Class DebugViewTest
    ' The following constant will appear in the debug window for DebugViewTest.
    Const TabString As String = "    "
    ' The following DebuggerBrowsableAttribute prevents the property following it
    ' from appearing in the debug window for the class.
    <DebuggerBrowsable(DebuggerBrowsableState.Never)> _
    Public Shared y As String = "Test String"

    Shared Sub Main() 
        Dim myHashTable As New MyHashtable()
        myHashTable.Add("one", 1)
        myHashTable.Add("two", 2)
        Console.WriteLine(myHashTable.ToString())
        Console.WriteLine("In Main.")

    End Sub 'Main 
End Class 'DebugViewTest
<DebuggerDisplay("{value}", Name := "{key}")>  _
Friend Class KeyValuePairs
    Private dictionary As IDictionary
    Private key As Object
    Private value As Object


    Public Sub New(ByVal dictionary As IDictionary, ByVal key As Object, ByVal value As Object) 
        Me.value = value
        Me.key = key
        Me.dictionary = dictionary

    End Sub 'New
End Class 'KeyValuePairs
<DebuggerDisplay("Count = {Count}"), DebuggerTypeProxy(GetType(MyHashtable.HashtableDebugView))> _
Class MyHashtable
    Inherits Hashtable
    Private Const TestString As String = "This should not appear in the debug window."

    Friend Class HashtableDebugView
        Private hashtable As Hashtable
        Public Shared TestString As String = "This should appear in the debug window."

        Public Sub New(ByVal hashtable As Hashtable)
            Me.hashtable = hashtable
        End Sub 'New

        <DebuggerBrowsable(DebuggerBrowsableState.RootHidden)> _
        ReadOnly Property Keys as KeyValuePairs()
            Get
                Dim nkeys(hashtable.Count) as KeyValuePairs

                Dim i as Integer = 0
                For Each key As Object In hashtable.Keys
                    nkeys(i) = New KeyValuePairs(hashtable, key, hashtable(key))
                    i = i + 1
                Next
                Return nkeys
            End Get
        End Property

    End Class 'HashtableDebugView
End Class 'MyHashtable


C#

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Reflection;

class DebugViewTest
{
    // The following constant will appear in the debug window for DebugViewTest.
    const string TabString = "    ";
    // The following DebuggerBrowsableAttribute prevents the property following it
    // from appearing in the debug window for the class.
    [DebuggerBrowsable(DebuggerBrowsableState.Never)]
    public static string y = "Test String";

    static void Main()
    {
        MyHashtable myHashTable = new MyHashtable();
        myHashTable.Add("one", 1);
        myHashTable.Add("two", 2);
        Console.WriteLine(myHashTable.ToString());
        Console.WriteLine("In Main.");
    }
}
[DebuggerDisplay("{value}", Name = "{key}")]
internal class KeyValuePairs
{
    private IDictionary dictionary;
    private object key;
    private object value;

    public KeyValuePairs(IDictionary dictionary, object key, object value)
    {
        this.value = value;
        this.key = key;
        this.dictionary = dictionary;
    }
}
[DebuggerDisplay("Count = {Count}")]
[DebuggerTypeProxy(typeof(HashtableDebugView))]
class MyHashtable : Hashtable
{
    private const string TestString = "This should not appear in the debug window.";

    internal class HashtableDebugView
    {
        private Hashtable hashtable;
        public const string TestString = "This should appear in the debug window.";
        public HashtableDebugView(Hashtable hashtable)
        {
            this.hashtable = hashtable;
        }

        [DebuggerBrowsable(DebuggerBrowsableState.RootHidden)]
        public KeyValuePairs[] Keys
        {
            get
            {
                KeyValuePairs[] keys = new KeyValuePairs[hashtable.Count];

                int i = 0;
                foreach(object key in hashtable.Keys)
                {
                    keys[i] = new KeyValuePairs(hashtable, key, hashtable[key]);
                    i++;
                }
                return keys;
            }
        }
    }
}


Visual C++


using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::Diagnostics;
using namespace System::Reflection;

ref class HashtableDebugView;

[DebuggerDisplay("{value}", Name = "{key}")]
ref class KeyValuePairs
{
private:
    IDictionary^ dictionary;
    Object^ key;
    Object^ value;

public:
    KeyValuePairs(IDictionary^ dictionary, Object^ key, Object^ value)
    {
        this->value = value;
        this->key = key;
        this->dictionary = dictionary;
    }
};

[DebuggerDisplay("Count = {Count}")]
[DebuggerTypeProxy(HashtableDebugView::typeid)]
ref class MyHashtable : Hashtable
{
private:
    static const String^ TestString = "This should not appear in the debug window.";

internal:
    ref class HashtableDebugView
    {
    private:
        Hashtable^ hashtable;
    public:
        static const String^ TestString = "This should appear in the debug window.";
        HashtableDebugView(Hashtable^ hashtable)
        {
            this->hashtable = hashtable;
        }

        [DebuggerBrowsable(DebuggerBrowsableState::RootHidden)]
        property array<KeyValuePairs^>^ Keys
        {
            array<KeyValuePairs^>^ get()
            {
                array<KeyValuePairs^>^ keys = gcnew array<KeyValuePairs^>(hashtable->Count);

                IEnumerator^ ie = hashtable->Keys->GetEnumerator();
                int i = 0;
                Object^ key;
                while (ie->MoveNext())
                {
                    key = ie->Current;
                    keys[i] = gcnew KeyValuePairs(hashtable, key, hashtable[key]);
                    i++;
                }
                return keys;
            }
        }
    };
};

public ref class DebugViewTest
{
private:
    // The following constant will appear in the debug window for DebugViewTest.
    static const String^ TabString = "    ";
public:
    // The following DebuggerBrowsableAttribute prevents the property following it
    // from appearing in the debug window for the class.
    [DebuggerBrowsable(DebuggerBrowsableState::Never)]
    static String^ y = "Test String";

    static void Main()
    {
        MyHashtable^ myHashTable = gcnew MyHashtable();
        myHashTable->Add("one", 1);
        myHashTable->Add("two", 2);
        Console::WriteLine(myHashTable->ToString());
        Console::WriteLine("In Main.");
    }
};

int main()
{
    DebugViewTest::Main();
}


Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1
Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.
See Also

Reference