microsoft / microsoft/vscode-cpptools
NATVIS errors/warnings are not reported in cppvsdbg debugger output
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- Dominant language
- TypeScript
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Description
Environment
- OS and version: Windows 10 Pro 22H2
- VS Code: 1.74.2
- C/C++ extension: 1.13.8
Bug Summary and Steps to Reproduce
Bug Summary:
Visual Studio provides a set of options to change NATVIS logging output, shown below:

These messages are important to identify errors in either parsing the NATVIS XML file itself, or parsing individual expressions within a given object reflected by the visualizer.
Steps to reproduce:
- Create either a malformed NATVIS file, or annotate a type with a malformed expression
- Observe that the entire NATVIS file is silently dropped by the debugger without any error or indications
Debugger Configurations
This occurs with the default launch configuration and a specified `visualizerFile` configuration key set.
Debugger Logs
No relevant logs were produced with the engine and trace logging enabled.
Other Extensions
No response
Additional Information
No response
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the malformed NATVIS file or expression with the cppvsdbg debugger, then compare the missing messages with Visual Studio's NATVIS logging behavior. Check the engine and trace logging output paths mentioned in the issue; done means NATVIS parsing and expression errors or warnings are reported instead of the file being silently dropped.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- cpp, typescript
- Domain
- devtools
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100