When I'm debugging or even coding, it would be really uesful to examine third party assemblies but I can only see their metadata.
Given that tools like reflector can decompile assemblies, is there someway or some tool which would allow visual studio to do the same thing?
If I happen to have access to the PDB files for an assemblies, would placing them into my applications bin folder allow me to examine the assemblies content through visual studio?
You can load the pdbs through the call stack.
Just right click on a function that you want to load the pdb for, then go to 'Load Symbols'. Browse for the correct pdb, and press OK. After that, it should be able to provide information for the calls in that pdb.
Try .NET reflector Pro here.
I believe it's also available in their free version.
If you have PDB's for a DLL you can certainly examine the DLL while debugging. Make sure that you have "Just My Code Disabled" and you should be good to go
Tools -> Options -> Debugging -> Uncheck "Just my Code"
There is one caveat though, the Visual Studio debugger will not decompile the assembly. It will read source file information from the PDB, if available, and suggest a location to look for the source file. If you do not have access to the source fie you will be forced to look at the machine disassembly (not decompiled IL) while debugging.