Question

I am finding myself working with ObservableCollection quite a bit. I’ve looked around, but I can’t seem to find an ObservableCollection Debug Visualizer.

Does such a thing exist?

Answer 1

1. Here’s a commercial tool for $50… Mole 2010

2. You could override the .ToString() for the class that you are wrapping with ObservableCollection.

3. Otherwise, you can tweak what the visualizer shows you with the DebuggerDisplayAttribute.

   [DebuggerDisplay("Employee ( {FullName} )")]
   public class Employee
   {
       ...
   }
   

4. And if that’s not enough, you can write your own visualizer. There are tons of articles out there for that.

   a. MSDN Magazine: DataTips, Visualizers and Viewers Make Debugging .NET Code a Breeze

   b. MSDN Library: How to: Write a Visualizer

   c. MSDN Forums: How do I implement a custom debug visualizer?

   d. Code Project: A Generic List and Dictionary Debugger Visualizer for VS.NET

   e. Code Project: Create a Debugger Visualizer in 10 Lines of Code