View dataframe while debugging in VS Code

Question

I'm trying to explore switching from PyCharm to VS Code. I can't find a way right now to view my pandas DataFrames in a tabular format while debugging.

When I right click on a df object, there is no option to view.

I have the python extension downloaded. Am I missing something?

Answer 1

Microsoft VSCode team finally made this feature available with latest update of the product. More details could be found in official blog

It works like a charm and is very intuitive. In short:

1. Set up a break point (by clicking at the left most point of code area, before line number)
2. Start debugging (Run menu at top have Start Debugging option)
3. When debugger stops at the debug point, find the required dataframe inside VARIABLES panel. (VARIABLES panel is inside Run and Debug area)
4. Right click on dataframe and select option View Value in Data Viewer. TADA :)

Answer 2

So it looks like this isn't a thing right now in VS Code.

If anyone wants to show their support for the development of this feature, I found this open issue here: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-python/issues/7063

Answer 3

You can now print the DataFrame in the DEBUG CONSOLE:

From the Github issue mentioned in @Christina Zhou's answer.

Answer 4

My solution for viewing DataFrames in a tabular format while debugging is to simply copy and paste them into an Excel spreadsheet using

df.to_clipboard()

from the debug console. Even some of my colleagues running PyCharm are using this technique, since it gives you way more flexibility to inspect your data.