CollectionSpy 0.0.1

CollectionSpy 🕵️‍♂️

CollectionSpy allows you to "trap" and debug hidden modifications in your C# lists and dictionaries.

It provides a specialized TrapList<T> and TrapDictionary<TKey, TValue> that act as drop-in replacements for standard collections, enabling you to inject Breakpoints, Stack Traces, or Logs when specific data conditions are met (e.g., "Who added a null ID to this list?").

🚀 Why CollectionSpy?

Debugging legacy code or complex state management can be a nightmare when you don't know who modified a collection.

• Standard ObservableCollection is too verbose for debugging (requires event handlers).
• Conditional Breakpoints in IDEs are slow and can't be shared with the team.
• AOP Frameworks are overkill for simple debugging tasks.

CollectionSpy solves this with a fluent, declarative API.

📦 Installation

dotnet add package CollectionSpy

⚡ Quick Start

1. Spy on a List

Replace new List<User>() with new TrapList<User>(). It is fully compatible with IList<T>.

using Debugging.Traps;

var users = new TrapList<User>();

// 1. Break execution when a user with null name is added
users.OnAdd()
     .When(u => u.Name == null)
     .Do(TrapActions.Break());

// 2. Log a warning when a specific ID is removed
users.OnRemove()
     .When(u => u.Id == 999)
     .Do(TrapActions.Log("WARNING: Admin user 999 was removed!"));

// 3. Print Stack Trace when the list is cleared
users.OnClear()
     .Do(TrapActions.DumpStackTrace("List Cleared By"));

2. Spy on a Dictionary

Replace new Dictionary<K, V>() with new TrapDictionary<K, V>().

var config = new TrapDictionary<string, string>();

// Alert if a secure setting is downgraded to HTTP
config.OnUpdate()
      .When((key, value) => key == "ApiUrl" && value.StartsWith("http:"))
      .Do(TrapActions.Log("SECURITY ALERT: API URL set to insecure HTTP!"));

// Filter by Key only
config.OnAdd()
      .WhenKey(k => k.Length > 50)
      .Do(() => Console.WriteLine("Performance Warning: Huge key added."));

🛡️ Performance & Production Safety

CollectionSpy is designed to be safe.

1. Zero-Overhead in Release (Default): The library includes a global switch TrapManager.Enabled.

   • DEBUG builds: Enabled by default.
   • RELEASE builds: Disabled by default. When disabled, the interception logic returns immediately (fast-fail), imposing negligible performance overhead.

2. Global Toggle: You can manually control it in your startup logic:

   // Force enable in production for emergency diagnostics
   TrapManager.Enabled = true; 
   

3. Thread Safety: Trap configuration is thread-safe. Execution logic snapshots rules to prevent concurrency issues during enumeration.

📝 License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Maintained by angleyanalbedo