microsoft / microsoft/MIEngine

Natvis Parity: Missing `,na[⋯]` Specifiers

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Dominant language
C#
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1d 6h
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

The following simple example serves as a minimal test case. It should work in VS and fail in VSCode.

The type:

template< class T, int n >
struct NatvisTestType final
{
	T arr[n];
};

The Natvis:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AutoVisualizer xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/vstudio/debugger/natvis/2010">
	<Type Name="NatvisTestType&lt;*,*&gt;">
		<DisplayString>{($T1*)arr,na$T2}</DisplayString>
		<Expand HideRawView="true">
			<ExpandedItem>arr</ExpandedItem>
		</Expand>
	</Type>
</AutoVisualizer>

On VSCode "cppdbg", the debugger will say "-var-create: unable to create variable object". Adding "logging": { "engineLogging": true } to the configuration in "launch.json", will show in the debug console that it attempted to do the following:

1: (814) ->(gdb)
1: (814) 1125: elapsed time 3
1: (814) <-1126-var-create  - * "(float*)((test).arr),na$T2"
1: (818) ->1126^error,msg="-var-create: unable to create variable object"

This obviously can't work. The syntax is not right, and $T2 didn't even get substituted in properly!

See also related issue (https://github.com/microsoft/MIEngine/issues/1369) for the length itself. One also observes in this example that HideRawView is disrespected (https://github.com/microsoft/MIEngine/issues/1458).

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the NatvisTestType example with the VSCode cppdbg configuration and engineLogging enabled in launch.json; inspect the generated -var-create expression. Compare the expected ,na length/specifier behavior and template substitution with the VS behavior, then verify that the Natvis display expression is accepted and works.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp, vscode
Domain
devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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