DebuggerDisplay attribute does not work as expected!

Answer 1

Well, I just tested it and it works with my simple program. I also thought I had a possible explanation, but testing shows that it wasn't what I thought (info below code).

First, here's the code that works:

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Program p = new Program();
            Console.Out.WriteLine(p.Name); // breakpoint here
        }

        private String _Name = String.Empty;
        [DebuggerDisplay("Name: {_Name}")]
        public String Name
        {
            get { return _Name; }
            set { _Name = value; }
        }

        private IList<String> _Names = new List<String>();
        [DebuggerDisplay("Names: {_Names.Count}")]
        public IList<String> Names
        {
            get { return _Names; }
            set { _Names = value; }
        }
    }
}

What I thought was that the collection class that you retrieve from FetchChildrenFromDB method had its own DebuggerDisplay attribute attached to it, and it took priority. But that's not it. I implemented a dummy IList class with that attribute attached to it, and the one attached to the property still took priority.

Answer 2

I think, it could be due to brackets "(Frozen)".
Change it to "Frozen", if it is text.

BTW, what is "Frozen"? Is it a simple text or an existing property?
EDIT: This is what I guessed based on the example code on MSDN & Lasse's code.

Answer 3

If you are seeing in your watch window something along the lines of:

[+]  ObjectName    | { namespace.object}

Ensure that "Tools->Options->Debugging->General->Show raw structure of objects in variables windows" is NOT checked.

Once I cleared this, my DebuggerDisplay attributes displayed correctly (including showing all the "WTF"'s and "Huh"'s I'd added...)

Answer 4

You should put the DebuggerDisplayAttribute on the class and not on the property, because m_children is an instance field and cannot be evaluated in the property context.

The property display is always evaluated as is, because there is no debugger proxy for it.