While the primary intention of this pretty printing implementation is to provide what Qt Creator needs, it can be used in a plain commandline GDB session, too. With python sys.path.insert(1, '/share/qtcreator/debugger/') python from gdbbridge import * in .gdbinit there is a new "GDB command", called "pp". With code like int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { QString ss = "Hello"; QApplication app(argc, argv); app.setObjectName(ss); // break here } the "pp" command can be used as follows: (gdb) pp app app = [ = {"Hello"} staticMetaObject = = {""} [parent] = = {"0x0"} [children] = = {"<3 items>"} [properties] = "<>0 items>" [methods] = "<6 items>" [signals] = "<1 items>" ], = {"Hello"} (gdb) pp app [properties],[children] app = [ = {"Hello"} staticMetaObject = = {""} [parent] = = {"0x0"} [children] = [ = {""} = {""} = {"fusion"} ], = {"<3 items>"} [properties] = [ windowIcon = = {""} cursorFlashTime = = {"1000"} doubleClickInterval = = {"400"} keyboardInputInterval = = {"400"} wheelScrollLines = = {"3"} globalStrut = = {"(0, 0)"} startDragTime = = {"500"} startDragDistance = = {"10"} styleSheet = = {""} autoSipEnabled = = {"true"} ],"<10 items>" [methods] = "<6 items>" [signals] = "<1 items>" ], = {"Hello"} (gdb) pp ss ss = = {"Hello"}