Copying variable contents to clipboard while debugging in Visual Studio Code

Question

I'm debugging in Visual Studio Code and I have a JSON object that I would like to copy as text to the clipboard.

Is this possible inside of Visual Studio Code?

Answer 1

I found two ways to do that, both of which are a bit hacky (in my eyes).

Use console.log

I think there will be a limit to the size of the string that this can output, but it was satisfactory for my requirements.

1. In the debug console, write console.log(JSON.stringify(yourJsonObject))
2. Copy the resulting output from the debug console. That can be a bit tedious for long strings, but a combination of mouse and keyboard (ctrl-shift-end) worked ok for me.

Use a watch (limited to 10'000 characters)

This method only works up to a limited size of the resulting json string (it looks like 10'000 characters).

1. Set a breakpoint in a reasonable location where your variable is in scope and start your app.
2. Go to the debug view, add a watch for a temporary variable, e.g. tmpJson
3. Get your breakpoint to hit.
4. In the debug console, write var tmpJson = JSON.stringify(yourJsonObject)
5. This will now have populated the watched variable tmpJson with the string representation of your json object
6. In the debug view, right click on the watched variable, click copy.

If the string is too long, it cuts it off with a message like the following: ...,"typeName":"rouParallel","toolAssembly":{"id":"ASKA800201","description":"CeonoglodaloD50R6z5","c... (length: 80365)"

But it would work for smaller objects. Maybe this helps some people. It would be great to have this properly built-in with vscode.

Answer 2

There is an open issue regarding this: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-java-debug/issues/624

Workaround :

1. Go to the VARIABLES panel and right click to show contextual menu on a variable
2. select Set Value
3. Ctrl+C

(tested on Java, not JavaScript)

Answer 3

I have an easy workaround to copy anything you want:

1. In the debug console, write JSON.stringify(yourJsonObject)
2. Copy the string without the double quotes " around the string

3. Open a browser, such as Chrome, open the inspecting tool, go on the console and write:

   copy(JSON.parse("PASTE_THE_STRING_HERE"));

4. The object is now copy on your keyboard !

Answer 4

Tested in python debugger

• Add the variable to Watch, but converted to string

  str(myvar)

• Right-click on the value of the watch, and select Copy Value

• Now you should get the full value, even for very long values

  • This answer suggests a 10,000 char limit and uses JSON.stringify(myvar) instead of just str(). On char limit, see also this comment below.

(var name blurred out):

Answer 5

If you are debugging Python:

In the DEBUG CONSOLE type, for example:

import json
from pprint import pprint as pp
pp(json.dumps(outDetailsDict))

OUTPUT IS LIKE
{"": {"stn_ix": 43, "stn_name": "Historic Folsom Station (WB)", "name": "", },
...

Answer 6

The fastest way I found to do that on Visual Studio Code was

1. Adding a breakpoint where is located the object to copy
2. Right click on object and choose "Add to Watch"
3. From Watch sidebar, choose option "Copy Value" and it's all! ?

Answer 7

If you're in debug mode, you can copy any variable by writing copy() in the debug terminal.

This works with nested objects and also removes truncation and copies the complete value.

Tip: you can right click a variable, and click Copy as Expression and then paste that in the copy-function.

Answer 8

While the question presumably deals with JavaScript (JSON) based technologies, many people have posted Python-related posts in this thread. So I'll post a more specific answer for Python, although the reasoning can be extended with some tweaks to JavaScript-based technologies. ?

Helper strategies for debugging with VSCode

Copying variable FULL VALUE (not truncated) to clipboard while debugging even for very long values and other additional strategies.

1 APPROACH: Access the "Run and Debug" screen and look for the "WATCH" area and double click inside it. Add something like str(<MY_VAR>) which should be the variable you want to find the value of during the debug process;

2 APPROACH: Access the "DEBUG CONSOLE" tab and in the footer (symbol ">") copy and paste the code below or another one of your choice...

def print_py_obj(py_obj, print_id="print_py_obj"):
    """Prints a Python object with its string, type, dir, dict, etc...

    Args:
        py_obj (Any): Any Python object;
        print_id (Optional[str]): Some identifier.
    """

    print(" " + str(print_id) + \
        " DEBUG >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>")
    print(" 0 STR >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>")
    print(str(py_obj))
    print(" 0 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<")
    print(" 1 TYPE >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>")
    print(type(py_obj))
    print(" 1 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<")
    print(" 2 DIR >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>")
    print(str(dir(py_obj)))
    print(" 2 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<")
    print(" 3 DICT >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>")
    try:
        print(vars(py_obj))
    except Exception:
        pass
    print(" 3 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<")
    print(" " + str(print_id) + \
        " DEBUG <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<")

print_py_obj(profit, "<MY_VAR_OPTIONAL_IDENTIFIER>")

NOTE: We may have a 10,000 character limitation for both approaches.

Thanks! ???