Save state of object in IntelliJ debug?

Question

Does anyone know whether it is possible to save the state of an object while debugging?

I would like to compare the state of an object in two different execution cycles.

Bonus Question: Anyone with experience in writing IntelliJ plugins? Does the IntelliJ SDK allow to access debug values in debug mode? Read them out of IntelliJ cache and write them to disk?

I came across question, I'm developing plugin (I'm a rookie) that accesses the selected node in debugger, just to let you know, yes you can access debug data from the debug node. All you need is to write your own `DebugAction` and register it in plugin.xml — Nikola Despotoski, Aug 26 '16 at 12:16

score 29 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 01 '16 at 17:44

29

As a very simple solution you can use the Fully Expand Tree Node action for objects in Variables or Watches views. This action is bound to Numpad * key (*) by default and opens the whole object tree. Then you select all the elements of opened object tree with shift and copy them to clipboard.

answered Apr 01 '16 at 17:44

Andrew Terekhine

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You can also use ctrl/cmd-A to select all variables and then copy them. – Maarten Jan 12 '17 at 07:41

maaw · Answer 2 · 2019-12-14T12:51:24.550

13

To expand on Josep's answer, your best bet is to import Google's Gson library into your project and run:

Gson gson = new Gson();
gson.toJson(yourObject);

Then copy the value from the result.

Here's an example on IntelliJ IDEA:

edited Dec 14 '19 at 12:51

answered Dec 14 '19 at 12:31

maaw

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Gson().toJson(repos); – Sharan Dec 21 '20 at 05:44

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 06 '19 at 09:33

7

My best workaround to save an object state is to use the Evaluate tool when I have the object in the desired state and using Gson library convert it to a JSON, then at the test setup I copy the JSON as a String and convert it to a Java object again. May be a bit rude but for really large and complex objects it can save you a lot of time.

answered Nov 06 '19 at 09:33

Josep Oriol Soler

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Definitely better than copying to plain text. I wish this was an option within the debugger. – maaw Dec 14 '19 at 12:02

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 23 '17 at 10:42

4

In IntelliJ 2016, you have an option to "View Text" when you right click on a variable in "Variables" window while debugging

answered Apr 23 '17 at 10:42

Anton Skovorodko

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this works really good if you select all the values/objects ! – jmojico Jun 04 '19 at 14:31

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 15 '20 at 18:08

1

If you are OK with saving each and every object (you cannot select which objects are saved) then there is a plugin for this: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/14974-breakpoint-exporter-importer-with-variable-information

answered Sep 15 '20 at 18:08

Csa77

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Sourabh Garg · Answer 6 · 2020-07-24T06:23:20.273

0

Add below sample code and it will show the data in json form:

ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
  try {
    String sample = mapper.writeValueAsString(Your object);
    System.out.println(sample);
  } catch (JsonProcessingException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
  }

edited Jul 24 '20 at 06:23

answered Jul 23 '20 at 17:59

Sourabh Garg

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3

Save state of object in IntelliJ debug?

6 Answers6