What are the Mystery Names in My Visual Studio Debugger?

In-depth understanding of "magic names" in the Visual Studio debugger

The Visual Studio debugger uses specific naming conventions for certain types, methods, fields, and local variables to facilitate efficient debugging. These "magic names" are generated by the C# compiler but are not clearly documented.

If you encounter these special names in the debugger, you may wonder about their purpose and underlying convention. This article aims to clarify these "magic names" based on the information available in the C# source code.

Temporary variables generated by the compiler

Temporary variables assigned by the compiler have names in the format CS$X$Y, where:

• X represents a "temporary type" whose values ​​indicate different scenarios (e.g. short-lived temporary variables, return values, etc.).
• Y is a sequence number indicating the order in which temporary variables are allocated.

Anonymous methods and closure types

The compiler generates unique names for anonymous method closure classes. They usually follow the DisplayClass pattern, indicating their role in local variables enclosing their parent method.

Backup fields for automatic attributes

The "magic name" of a backup field for an automatic property starts with BackingField, followed by a unique suffix. This convention helps identify them during debugging.

Other “magic names”

In addition to the above, there are other special naming conventions for:

• Iterator state and value (state, current)
• Promoted "this" and local variables (this, local) in iterators
• Fixed buffer structure (FixedBuffer)
• AnonymousType (AnonymousType)

Magic Name Generation Mode

The pattern for generating "magic names" can be summarized as:

<code>P<n>C__SI</n></code>

Among them:

• P (empty or CS$): delegate and display class instances for caching
• N: The original name associated with the object (if any)
• C: Character ('1' to 's') indicating the "magic name" category
• S: descriptive suffix (e.g., current, state)
• I (optional): a unique number used to distinguish multiple instances

Conclusion

These "magic names" play a vital role in the VS debugger providing informative and efficient debugging capabilities. Although they may not be immediately obvious, understanding their conventions can help you navigate and analyze your code more efficiently during debugging sessions.

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