Inspecting variables

The Variables view shows information about the variables in the currently selected stack frame:

Variables view

At the bottom of the view, the Detail pane shows the value of the selected variable.

Note: If you happen to have multiple variables of the same name, the one most in scope is evaluated.

When the execution stops, the changed values are highlighted in yellow (by default). Like the other debug-related views, the Variables view doesn't try to keep up with the execution of a running program; it updates the display only when execution stops.

You can decide whether or not to show the variable type (e.g. int) by clicking the Show Type Names toggle button.

Icon: Show Type Names

The Show Type Names button is unavailable when columns are visible.

You can also control whether or not the IDE tracks all your program's variables. See the Debugger tab section in the Launch Configurations Reference chapter.

Note:

Tracking all the variables can reduce your program's performance.

By default, global variables aren't shown in the Variables view. To add global variables to the view:

To inspect global variables:

In the Variables view, click the Add Global Variables button.
Select one or more symbols in the Global Variables dialog.
Click OK to add the selected global variables to the Variables view.