How to view ViewBag content while debugging in Visual Studio?

Question

A very basic question: how can I easily view the contents of a ViewBag while debugging ASP.NET MVC controllers in Visual Studio?

As a workaround, I use temporary variables:

string tmp = ViewBag.MyData;

So, the problem is that viewing ViewBag.MyData directly is difficult, tmp is easy.

Answer 1

To view the contents of ViewBag when debugging:

• At a breakpoint...
• Open (Debug menu / QuickWatch) and type in ViewBag.
• Click the arrows at the left-hand-side for ViewBag, then for Dynamic.
• The contents of ViewBag will be displayed.

Answer 2

You can easily add ViewBag to Watcher. Then expand Dynamic View to see all properties.

Answer 3

I would suggest using "View Models", for example:

ViewModel

public class HomeViewModel {
    public string Text { get; set;}
}

Controller

public ActionResult Index() {
    var viewModel = new HomeViewModel {
         Text = "My Text"
    };

    return View(viewModel);
}

View

@model MyApplication.ViewModels.HomeViewModel

This is my text: @Model.Text

Answer 4

I may be missing the point here - But can you not simply put a break-point on the ViewBag property you want to view?

Click your ViewBag.MyData and hit F9. When debugging, once the break-point is hit, hover your mouse over the ViewBag to see its contents.

Answer 5

You can view ViewData instead. Each key in ViewData dictionary is a same property of ViewBag

What's the difference between ViewData and ViewBag?