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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debugger Feature Request
Dominant language
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:

image

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

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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

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

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