microsoft / microsoft/vscode-cpptools
Have a way to access the [Raw View] of a large array without having to scroll all the way through all elements
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- TypeScript
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Description
Feature Request
In the debugger panel, I needed to check the raw contents of a container data structure.
Problem: that data structure is displayed with a Natvis formatter, and contained thousands of elements, and in that case, the automatically-generated [Raw View] is pushed all the way down at the end of all the elements, forcing me to scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More], scroll, click [More]... until I can eventually reach it:
Could we have a way to access this raw view without having to do that?
I don't want to remove the formatter entirely, because I don't need to do that for every instance of these data structures, and I don't want to restart the whole debugging session just to continue investigating. Besides, that problem also occurs for standard containers and I don't think I can remove formatting on them.
Could it be moved before the list of items? Or made accessible with a right-click menu that temporarily turns off formatting?
Alternatively, displaying large arrays could be changed to use a paging system instead of all these [More] expansions, as I also had the issue that accessing a specific range far into the array was painful too. In this case there would be less clicking and scrolling to do.
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 tracing the debugger panel’s handling of Natvis-formatted large containers and the generated [Raw View] entry. Compare the requested alternatives—placing Raw View earlier, a temporary formatting action, or paging—and define completion as accessing raw contents and distant array ranges without repeated [More] expansion; the issue names no file or test.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- typescript
- Domain
- devtools
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100