The DataSet Watch
During the process of debugging there are times when you need to know about the values of particular variables. To check them out, you can use watches, immediate window or quick watch. They are good for primitive data types. You can also test the values of complex types (like DataSet) but it requires typing some code.
To solve this problem, Microsoft is going to introduce the concept of Debugger Visualizer. [check out my post about them]
But what about Visual Studio 2003?
Mohammed Barqawi has written a small utility (small code wise, but really big functionality wise) which can assist a person in inspecting the contents of a dataset during the process of debugging. But it has some limitations like when your dataset contains multiple tables, the tab strip creates problems.
What we (me and ejaz boy) has done, is to redraw the GUI of the tool so that it can become more productive.
You can download the code from >here and if you are just interested in installing and running the plug-in, >here is the setup. Just download the setup and install it. Then in Microsoft Visual Studio 2003, click on Tools -> Add-in Manager check the DS Watch.
During the process of debugging select the DataSet variable and right click on it and then choose DataSet Watch. You will be presented with your DataSet in graphical way.
Please remember one limitation, the DataSet watch cannot show the Version of the row as it is based upon regenerated DataSet.
Here are some screen shots, have fun.
Comments are more then welcome.
About it being life saver, frankly speaking, it has practically saved many hours!
About copy rights/credits: Mohammed Barqawi is the man who created it, we modified a bit and yes, the Microsoft's MSN butterfly. Its cute, I have used it as application icon :)
Fahad Khalil
Sharptools also provide such functionality. But the difference between this and Sharptools is the footprint of the plugin. This is very small utility which is loaded very quickly. Sharptools makes the debugging of a large project very slow. I have experienced both on my machine. This one is far much better - performance wise.