How to visualize the value of a pointer while debugging in Delphi?

Question

So, I have a variable buffPtr: TPointer It has a size of 16 and contains a series of numbers, mostly starting with 0, say something like 013854351387365. I'm sure it contains values, because the application does what it does fine.

I want to see this value while I'm debugging.

If I add "PAnsiChar(buffPtr)^" to the watches I only see the first byte.

Answer 1

Just type in the watch expression PAnsiChar(buffPtr)^,16 or PByte(buffPtr)^,16 if you want the ordinal/byte values.

The trick here is to add the number of pattern repeat after a comma, like ,16.

It is IMHO more convenient than changing the Watch Properties, and it works with the F7 evaluation command of the IDE.