When navigating within complex data, Data Tips are not practical when moving the mouse slightly can hide information, or close the window.
The Locals panel is handy for seeing the status of the variables in the current method. However, if you are interested in only one variable or parameter, it gets complicated finding your way around. Also, if you leave the file in which the Tooltip has been pinned, the information is lost.
The Watch panel keeps the variables you’re interested in all in one place. Here, you can type the name of a variable or go down into the properties or the embedded fields.
The same auto-complete as in the editor is available to easily find the fields you’re interested in:
This also allows you to compare the values of several variables or properties by displaying them one below the other:
Or, open a modal box by right-clicking QuickWatch (Shift + F9):
Let's recap!
This chapter closes the list of the various ways of seeing data using the Visual Studio debugger. Now it’s time to see how to modify it without re-compiling the code! 😁
