Vscode-cpptools: Pretty printing not working with MinGW even though being enabled

[VcelistMC]

Type: Debugger

Describe the bug

• OS and Version: Windows 10
• VS Code Version: 1.45.0
• C/C++ Extension Version: 0.28.0
• Other extensions you installed (and if the issue persists after disabling them): Code Runner
• Can't view the contents of strings, lists or vectors while debugging even though pretty printing is enabled in my launch.json file
  To Reproduce

launch.json

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": 
    [

        {
            "name": "Python: Current File",
            "type": "python",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${file}",
            "console": "integratedTerminal"
        },

        {
            "name": "C++ Launch (GDB)",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "targetArchitecture": "x86",
            "program": "${workspaceRoot}\\C++\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
            "miDebuggerPath": "C:\\MinGW\\bin\\gdb.exe",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "externalConsole": true,
            "preLaunchTask": "MyBuild",
            "setupCommands": 
            [

                { 
                    "text": "-enable-pretty-printing", 
                    "description": "enable pretty printing", 
                    "ignoreFailures": true 
                }
            ]
        },

        {
            "name": "Build and debug",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": true, //set to true to see output in cmd instead
            "MIMode": "gdb",
            "miDebuggerPath": "C:\\MinGW\\bin\\gdb.exe",
            "setupCommands": 
            [
                {
                    "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                    "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                }
            ],
            "preLaunchTask": "g++.exe build active file",
            "logging": { "engineLogging": true, "trace": true, "traceResponse": true }
            },

            {
            "name": "Build and run",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": true, //set to true to see output in cmd instead
            "MIMode": "gdb",
            "miDebuggerPath": "C:\\MinGW\\bin\\gdb.exe",
            "setupCommands": 
            [
                {
                    "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                    "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                }
            ],
            "preLaunchTask": "g++ build & run active file"
            }
    ]
}

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

expand the variable names in the "locals" window
Note, pretty printing doesn't work with any of the above debug configurations for C++

this is what I'm seeing while debugging

[WardenGnaw]

Does the GDB you are using have python installed?

You can check by running -exec python print sys.version in the debug console.

[VcelistMC]

It told me Python scripting is not supported for this copy of GDB, but I'm confused, why do I need python to debug c++ code? The guide I followed didn't mention anything about python. Can you elaborate please? and can you provide me with a python supported GDB?

[WardenGnaw]

GDB utilizes python in order to pretty print variables.

Source

You will need to use a GDB with python enabled.

[WardenGnaw]

Did you obtain MinGW from this documentation?

[Pe6oProgramista]

Hello, I have the same problem but my GDB has python enabled and yes I installed MinGW from this tutorial.

• g++ version - 8.1.0
• gdb version - 8.1

[RashimNarayanTiku]

I had the exact same problem. After hours of searching for answer I re-downloaded _mingw-w64_ from sourceforge, and IT FINALLY WORKED...

[Chris-Dickerson]

I installed mingw from the online installer via sourceforge and I can get a version response now:

-exec python print sys.version
2.7.9 (default, May 12 2018, 10:00:46)
[GCC 8.1.0]

gcc.exe (x86_64-posix-seh-rev0, Built by MinGW-W64 project) 8.1.0
GNU gdb (GDB) 8.1

But C++ objects are still displayed as {...}

pretty-printer-info.txt

[Chris-Dickerson]

DataPacket d;

In the debugger, I tried to print 'd':

-exec print d $1 = {Id = 192 '�'Python Exception <type 'exceptions.ValueError'> Cannot find type std::__cxx11::list<unsigned char, std::allocator<unsigned char> >::_Node: , PacketData = empty std::__cxx11::list, Index = 0 '\000', Length = 0, segment = pHeader0, VoltageData = {voltage = 0, {byte1 = 0 '\000', byte0 = 0 '\000'}}}

std::__cxx11::list -- listed in the installed gdb printers.

[Chris-Dickerson]

Today, a class will show up once, starting debug a second time -- the class is no longer available. Restarting the IDE it reacts the same way.

Version: 1.49.0-insider (user setup)
Commit: 8c9b4015feb0297d99c8051c35e85d208ffe83e3
Date: 2020-09-03T06:00:27.719Z
Electron: 9.2.1
Chrome: 83.0.4103.122
Node.js: 12.14.1
V8: 8.3.110.13-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19041

[LeaTex]

As @RashimNarayanTiku said, change MinGW to MinGW-w64 (from online installer) and now it's working.

Looks like old school MinGW (32 bits) is not good for VSCode and 64 bits environments.