Swift debugging in Xcode - I can't look in to my dictionary contents

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Created Nov ’16

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If I put a simple dictionary such as this in a new Xcode project:

var myDictionary:[String: String] = [
            "a": "line 1",
            "b": "line 2"]

I would expect to be able to look browse the contents of the dictionary when I'm debugging in Xcode. However all Xcode tells me is:

myDictionary [String : String] 0 key/value pairs

For Arrays and object you normally have the foldable tree structure to look in to the contents. The closest I can see to this right now in Xcode for a dictionary is a "Print Description" option when I right click that spits the entire contents of the dictionary in the console but this isn't exactly what I need

I'm not certain if this was happening before I switched to Xcode 8 or not. I had only been using swift for a short while before switching to Xcode 8. I think it is likely that it wasn't happening before the switch because it's likely i would have noticed it then

Is there any settings I can change so that I can see the contents of this dictionary in my debugger?

Answered by Scifo in 194749022

I've solved this myself now (for the most part). It only happens when I debug using the iPhone 5 in the simulator. If I even move up to iPhone 5s the debugger works as I would expect.

This still leaves a bug where you can't debug properly on an iPhone 5 but this is not an issue for me. It is maybe something Apple would need to look at themselves though

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Answer 1

ahltorp OP

Nov ’16

This works for me in Xcode 8. Where do you declare this variable (top level, local variable in a function, instance variable, etc)? Where is the breakpoint where you are observing the variable relative to the declaration (same instance, same file, in the instance's init, before or after the declaration)?

I can provoke the behaviour you are seeing by breaking before the declaration, but then it is not supposed to have a value, not even be visible, but for some reason Xcode shows it anyway. Is that what you are seeing?

0

Answer 2

Scifo OP

Nov ’16

No thanks for trying but this isn't what I'm seeing. It happens any time I try to look at any dictionary in my project even when I know the dictionary I'm attempting to look at should have been populated long before.

For testing purposes I created a brand new project and added this simple dictionary into my initial delegate in the first function then put the break point on the 'true' after I have written this dictionary. The result was the same

I don't think the problem is therefore related to either how I'm debugging or my actual project, if I were to hazard a guess I would think there is an Xcode config affecting me.

I also use Jetbrains AppCode as well as Xcode and I get the exact same problem there as well. It does not show me the contents of my dictionaries

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Answer 3

Scifo OP

Nov ’16

Accepted Answer

I've solved this myself now (for the most part). It only happens when I debug using the iPhone 5 in the simulator. If I even move up to iPhone 5s the debugger works as I would expect.

This still leaves a bug where you can't debug properly on an iPhone 5 but this is not an issue for me. It is maybe something Apple would need to look at themselves though

0