How to show variables in full binary form during debugging in Qt Creator

[Ronhald]

I am debugging a C++ program using Qt creator and I want that variables in the Locals section should be displayed in full binary form instead of the four or so digits that are currently shown. I mean, as we can see in the screenshot below, the variables i and j are shown as 1100 and 0 respectively but I want them to be shown in their full 16 bit or 32 bit form(depending on what size short has on the system/compiler).

So how can i show i and j to be in their full 16/32 bit binary representation instead of this trimmed down version that is currently shown.

Basically, i should be shown as 0000000000001100 if int is 16 bits and as 00000000000000000000000000001100 if int is 32 bits.

[JonB]

@Ronhald
You mean have it write out 00001100 instead of 1100, so with leading zeroes? Since it does not do that now, and would not do that for e.g. a different base like decimal, I very much doubt you can do that.

[Ronhald]

@JonB Yes, i want that i should be shown as 0000000000001100 if i is 16 bits and more 16 leading zeros if i is 32 bits. Just like visual studio allows it here. Same things goes for j also. It should also be shown in full binary form. Maybe there can be a option to expand/toggle between short and full binary form.

[Ronhald]

Here is the bug report(feature request): https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTCREATORBUG-28305

[ChrisW67]

It is probably possible: Using Debugging Helpers

[Ronhald]

@ChrisW67 I looked into Debugging Helpers but I couldn't find any way to do what I want. Can you perhaps show(assuming it is possible) how it can be done.

[ChrisW67]

@Ronhald What platform and tool chain are you using? This drives the debugger involved

[Ronhald]

@ChrisW67 I am using the following:

Qt Creator 4.13.0
Qt 5.15.0 (GCC 5.3.1 20160406 (Red Hat 5.3.1-6), 64 bit)
Ubuntu 18.04 Linux/X11

[Ronhald]

@ChrisW67 Can you show how is this possible using debugging helpers? I provided the platform and other details in my last comment.

[ChrisW67]

@Ronhald OK, I've been digging around in this. Unfortunately, the debug helpers seem to focused on providing a more human-friendly depiction of complex structures. For basic integers the displayed data is actually formatted by Qt Creator's C++ code using QString::number(). This suppresses leading zeros.

It may be possible to customise the Qt Creator source to take into consideration the sizeof(IntType) to generate a string of appropriate length.