A way to pretty print a C# object

Question

I have a text box and I want to display a C# object in it in a human-readable way, just for debugging reasons. I don't want to use external libraries if possible. How do I do this?

What do you mean by display a C# object? Display its full name, its properties or what? — Erick Petrucelli, Jun 10 '11 at 16:23

Richard · Answer 1 · 2020-11-09T14:25:26.923

If you use Json then I would suggest using Newtonsofts Json library and then you can output the entire object in Json notation and it will format it with spacing and line breaks. we have used this to display complex objects easily for debug purposes:

var jsonString = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(
           complexObject, Formatting.Indented,
           new JsonConverter[] {new StringEnumConverter()});

here I have also used the String Enum converter in order to display Enums as their string representation rather than as an integer.

The library is available through NuGet as Json.Net or Newtonsoft Json

Or you can get it here:

https://www.newtonsoft.com/json

Great answer and the example works but calling the object to be serialized `property` is kinda misleading. Or maybe I'm missing something? — z33k, Oct 14 '20 at 11:20

score 32 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:31

If it is just for debugging purposes, use the DebuggerDisplayAttribute.

Using this attribute will change what the object looks like in the Value section of the watch window (or ont he mouse-over during debugging)

usage:

[DebuggerDisplay("Name = {FirstName} {LastName}")]
public class Person {
  public string FirstName { get; set; }
  public string LastName { get; set; }

}

score 24 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:24

24

Serialize it to JSON. It can be done in the ToString() method like others suggested, but I don't think that is appropriate if you are going to use that for debugging only.

answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:24

Ilia G

10,043
2
40
59

3

I actually like this idea better than a roll-your-own ToString(). a JSON serialization will show every public field and its value in a much "lighter" format than XML, without touching ToString which may be used elsewhere. Here's a simple ToJSON extension method: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/10/01/tip-trick-building-a-tojson-extension-method-using-net-3-5.aspx – KeithS Jun 10 '11 at 16:30
a quick and dirty example would be useful here, especially since this might be needed the most by newcomers of the language! – Redoman Mar 04 '16 at 06:59
9

Newtonsoft's `JsonConvert` can has formatting options as well `Debug.WriteLine(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myObject, Formatting.Indented))` – jreancsu Mar 12 '18 at 19:06
I use pretty printed objects in unit test assertions. It is a quick way ( cut'n'paste ) to assert that all fields are present and have a certain value. Huge speedup in unit test production. – Fred Haslam Jun 11 '21 at 05:55

score 7 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 13 '21 at 22:58

7

This worked very sweet for me:

string SerilizedText = "";
RootClass myclass= new Root RootClass ();
SerilizedText = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(myclass,Newtonsoft.Json.Formatting.Indented) ;

edited Dec 13 '21 at 22:58

Ben Anderson

7,003
4
40
40

answered Sep 27 '18 at 10:33

maria

71
1
3

score 6 · Answer 5 · edited Sep 05 '19 at 13:34

6

An easy and simple way is to override the ToString method.

Here's a link: How to override ToString

edited Sep 05 '19 at 13:34

Saulo Silva

1,219
1
20
37

answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:23

Gustavo Mori

8,319
3
38
52

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 19 '11 at 20:31

i also used Json for a while; but now I created a PrettyPrint-Minimod. You can add it via Nuget (it is a Sourcecode distribution). Find out what a Minimod is here.

It nicely prints object graphs and has some magic for enumerables and dictionaries. It also tries to figure out proper line-breaks.

I'll be blogging about it soon - but just go ahead and try it :-)

score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:22

3

Simply override ToString() on your type and provide your own, formatted string for debug display.

answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:22

Ed S.

122,712
22
185
265

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 22 '14 at 19:23

2

Install-Package ServiceStack.Text
obj.Dump();

If you don't want to use external libs, write your own Dump() extension method.

answered Dec 22 '14 at 19:23

some_engineer

1,844
1
19
26

obj.ToDump() lets VS find the right package to help with your using include – BozoJoe Jun 24 '16 at 00:14

score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:26

2

I use this quite a bit to populate list boxes with custom objects:

public override string ToString()
{
    return String.Format("{0}:{1}:{2}", Property1, Property2, Property3);
}

answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:26

Jon

150
3

score 0 · Answer 10 · edited May 23 '16 at 21:03

0

Override the .ToString() method.

edited May 23 '16 at 21:03

Undo

25,519
37
106
129

answered Jun 10 '11 at 16:22

Jay

6,224
4
20
23

Avoid code only solutions. Explain with a link/description as the OP could be an inexperienced programmer – Matthew Swallow Aug 31 '22 at 12:45

A way to pretty print a C# object

10 Answers10

Linked

Related