debug visualizer of C++ custom types for Visual Studio - c++

Question

I am working with a library with some awkward types. When debugging in Visual Studio, I would like to display them in a readable form. I found some really useful articles about how to edit autoexp.dat file.
http://www.idigitalhouse.com/Blog/?p=83
or
http://mariusbancila.ro/blog/2007/04/06/tweaking-autoexpdat-for-custom-types-in-vs2005/
Suppose I have a String class:
class String {
//...
private:
char *_cbuf;
}
then I can add the visualizer easily because _cbuf is a member variable. I just write
String{
preview (
[$c._cbuf]
)
}
at the beginning of [Visualizer] section in autoexp.dat file and it works.
But suppose that I want to display a more complex type which does not have any useful member variables but it has very useful methods. E.g.:
class Date {
//...
String asString() const;
private:
long _someReallyStrangeAndUnusefulDateRepresentation;
}
And I want to display the string rather than the unuseful long. How to do that? Writing
Date{
preview (
[$c.asString()]
)
}
in autoexp.dat does not work.

Answer 1

OK, after some research it seems it is generally possible but not directly by just editing of autoexp.dat.
First solution is to use EEAddIn.dll as described here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8fwk67y3%28v=VS.90%29.aspx
another solution might be using inlined function as in Lucien Murray-Pitts' comment down on this page: http://www.virtualdub.org/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=120 which is inspired by boost debug visualizers.
However I have not yet tried any of these.