var_dump adaption for C#

var_dump.cs

// http://ruuddottech.blogspot.com/2009/07/php-vardump-method-for-c.html
    public string var_dump(object obj, int recursion = 0)
    {
        StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();

        // Protect the method against endless recursion
        if (null == obj)
        {
            result.Append("<i>NULL</i>");
        }
        else if (recursion < 5)
        {
            // Determine object type
            Type t = obj.GetType();

            // Get array with properties for this object
            PropertyInfo[] properties = t.GetProperties();

            foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties)
            {
                try
                {
                    // Get the property value
                    object value = property.GetValue(obj, null);

                    // Create indenting string to put in front of properties of a deeper level
                    // We'll need this when we display the property name and value
                    string indent = String.Empty;
                    string spaces = "|   ";
                    string trail = "|...";

                    if (recursion > 0)
                    {
                        indent = new StringBuilder(trail).Insert(0, spaces, recursion - 1).ToString();
                    }

                    if (value != null)
                    {
                        // If the value is a string, add quotation marks
                        string displayValue = value.ToString();
                        if (value is string) displayValue = String.Concat('"', displayValue, '"');

                        // Add property name and value to return string
                        result.AppendFormat("{0}{1} = {2}\n", indent, property.Name, displayValue);

                        try
                        {
                            if (!(value is ICollection))
                            {
                                // Call var_dump() again to list child properties
                                // This throws an exception if the current property value
                                // is of an unsupported type (eg. it has not properties)
                                result.Append(var_dump(value, recursion + 1));
                            }
                            else
                            {
                                // 2009-07-29: added support for collections
                                // The value is a collection (eg. it's an arraylist or generic list)
                                // so loop through its elements and dump their properties
                                int elementCount = 0;
                                foreach (object element in ((ICollection)value))
                                {
                                    string elementName = String.Format("{0}[{1}]", property.Name, elementCount);
                                    indent = new StringBuilder(trail).Insert(0, spaces, recursion).ToString();

                                    // Display the collection element name and type
                                    result.AppendFormat("{0}{1} = {2}\n", indent, elementName, element.ToString());

                                    // Display the child properties
                                    result.Append(var_dump(element, recursion + 2));
                                    elementCount++;
                                }

                                result.Append(var_dump(value, recursion + 1));
                            }
                        }
                        catch { }
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        // Add empty (null) property to return string
                        result.AppendFormat("{0}{1} = {2}\n", indent, property.Name, "null");
                    }
                }
                catch
                {
                    // Some properties will throw an exception on property.GetValue()
                    // I don't know exactly why this happens, so for now i will ignore them...
                }
            }
        }

        result.Insert(0, "<pre>");
        result.Append("</pre>");



        return result.ToString();
    } // var_dump()