How to avoid watch list variable to collapse on value change in Visual studio?

Question

I would like to avoid that the watch window collapse my list variable content on value change during the process of my application in debug mode. I don't know if i'm really clear, see pictures below:

Collapsed:

Expended:

I would like to see the content of my list and let the content of my list expanded even if a string of my list change. Is there a way to lock the watch window?

Answer 1

As @JasonH mentioned, list will stay expanded while variable references same object and watch will show modified element in red color. List will collapse when you assign new reference to a variable. I am not aware of any option to change this behavior.

As an alternative, you can pin items in a list you are interested in. Or you can pin all items. In this you will get list expanded event if reference changes. But It will be available only in this concrete tab. Here is an example and picture of each step:

var ints = new [] {"1", "2", "3", "4"};
ints[1] = "3";
ints = new[] { "1" };