C++ DebugMate

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A Visual Studio Code extension for visualizing 1/2/3D data structures during C++ debugging.

Inspired by Image Watch for Visual Studio.

🚀 Try It Now!

📂 Example Project: test_cpp/

Complete demo with ALL supported types! Build and debug to see C++ DebugMate in action.

⚠️ Dependencies Required to Build the Demo:

OpenCV (Required): brew install opencv / apt install libopencv-dev

PCL (Optional, for 3D demos): brew install pcl / apt install libpcl-dev
# macOS / Linux
cd test_cpp && ./build.sh && code .

# Windows PowerShell
cd test_cpp; .\build.ps1; code .

⚡ Supported Types (Quick Reference)

Category	Type	Viewer
Image (2D & 3D)	`cv::Mat`, `cv::Mat_<T>`	🖼️ Image Viewer
	`cv::Matx` (`Matx33f`, `Matx44d`, etc.)	🖼️ Image Viewer
	`std::array<std::array<T, cols>, rows>`	🖼️ Image Viewer
	`T[rows][cols]` (C-style 2D array)	🖼️ Image Viewer
	`T[H][W][C]` (C-style 3D array, C=1,3,4)	🖼️ Image Viewer
	`std::array<...<T, C>, W>, H>`	🖼️ Image Viewer
Point Cloud (3D)	`pcl::PointCloud<T>` (XYZ, RGB, Normal, etc.)	✨ 3D Viewer
	`std::vector<cv::Point3f / cv::Point3d>`	✨ 3D Viewer
	`std::array<cv::Point3f / cv::Point3d, N>`	✨ 3D Viewer
Plot (1D)	`std::vector<T>`, `std::array<T, N>`	📈 Plot Viewer
	`T[N]` (C-style 1D array), `std::set<T>`	📈 Plot Viewer
	`cv::Mat` (1×N or N×1, single channel)	📈 Plot Viewer
Pointers	`cv::Mat*`, `pcl::PointCloud<T>::Ptr`	Auto-deref
	`std::shared_ptr<T>`, `std::unique_ptr<T>`	Auto-deref

Numeric types: int, float, double, uchar, short, long, int8_t, uint8_t, int16_t, uint16_t, int32_t, uint32_t, int64_t, uint64_t, etc.

Image depth: CV_8U, CV_8S, CV_16U, CV_16S, CV_32S, CV_32F, CV_64F

Pointer & Smart Pointer Support: Raw pointers (cv::Mat*) and smart pointers (std::shared_ptr<cv::Mat>, std::unique_ptr<std::vector<float>>, boost::shared_ptr) are natively supported. The extension automatically unpacks the smart pointer and visualizes the underlying 1D/2D/3D data. Pointers and their pointees pointing to the same memory will share a single visualization tab to save space.

🎯 Features

Feature	Description
📈 1D Plot	Line/Scatter/Histogram plotting, custom X-axis, box-zoom, pan, export to PNG/CSV
🖼️ 2D Image	Multi-channel visualization, auto-normalization, colormaps, high-ratio zoom, pixel inspection
✨ 3D Point Cloud	Supports `pcl::PointCloud` and OpenCV points! Three.js powered, color by RGB/Intensity/XYZ, adjustable point sizes, export to PLY & PCD
🔗 View Sync	Pair multiple variables together for synchronized zoom / pan / rotation
🔍 Auto Detection	The sidebar panel auto-detects all visualizable variables within scope context
🔄 Auto Refresh	Webviews automatically update in real-time as you step through the code

🔧 Debugger Support

Compiler	Extension	1D Data	cv::Mat	Point Cloud	Notes
MSVC	C/C++ (cppvsdbg)	✅	✅	✅	Windows
GCC	C/C++ (cppdbg)	✅	✅	✅	Windows MinGW
Clang+MSVC	CodeLLDB	⚠️	✅	❌	LLDB can't parse MSVC STL
Clang	CodeLLDB	✅	✅	✅	macOS

📖 Usage

Option 1: C++ DebugMate Panel (Recommended)

Start a C++ debug session
Open "Run and Debug" sidebar
Find C++ DebugMate section
Click variable name to view

Option 2: Context Menu

Right-click a variable → "View by C++ DebugMate"

📷 Screenshots

1D Plot

2D Image

3D Point Cloud

Variables Panel

🎮 Controls

Image Viewer

Action	Control
Zoom	Scroll wheel
Pan	Drag
Reset	Click "Reset"
Export	Save PNG / TIFF

3D Point Cloud Viewer

Action	Control
Rotate	Left-click Drag
Pan	Right-click Drag
Zoom	Scroll wheel
Color	Extracted RGB/Intensity, or X/Y/Z heatmaps
Export	Save to ASCII/Binary PLY & PCD

Plot Viewer

Action	Control
Zoom	Rectangle select or scroll
Pan	Drag
Mode	Line / Scatter / Histogram
Export	Save PNG / CSV

📦 Installation

From VSIX

Download .vsix file
Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X) → ... → "Install from VSIX..."

From Source

git clone https://github.com/dull-bird/cv_debug_mate_cpp
cd cv_debug_mate_cpp
npm install
npm run compile
# Press F5 to run

📋 Requirements

VS Code 1.93.0+
C++ debugger: C/C++ Extension or CodeLLDB

🙏 Acknowledgments

Inspired by Image Watch for Visual Studio.

📄 License

MIT

🤝 Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome!

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