diff --git a/include/openPMD/backend/Attribute.hpp b/include/openPMD/backend/Attribute.hpp
index 25e0a3972d..28bfd8b083 100644
--- a/include/openPMD/backend/Attribute.hpp
+++ b/include/openPMD/backend/Attribute.hpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include <complex>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <iterator>
+#include <sstream>
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <string>
 #include <type_traits>
@@ -225,3 +226,40 @@ template <typename U> U Attribute::get() const
 }
 
 } // namespace openPMD
+
+namespace std
+{
+inline string to_string(openPMD::Attribute const &attr)
+{
+    return std::visit(
+        [](auto const &val) {
+            using Val_t = remove_cv_t<remove_reference_t<decltype(val)> >;
+
+            std::stringstream os;
+            if constexpr (
+                openPMD::auxiliary::IsVector_v<Val_t> ||
+                openPMD::auxiliary::IsArray_v<Val_t>)
+            {
+                if (val.empty())
+                {
+                    os << "[]";
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    os << "[" << val[0];
+                    for (size_t i = 1; i < val.size(); ++i)
+                    {
+                        os << ", " << val[i];
+                    }
+                    os << "]";
+                }
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                os << val;
+            }
+            return os.str();
+        },
+        attr.getResource());
+}
+} // namespace std
diff --git a/src/binding/python/Attributable.cpp b/src/binding/python/Attributable.cpp
index 69708fc948..16d7519c65 100644
--- a/src/binding/python/Attributable.cpp
+++ b/src/binding/python/Attributable.cpp
@@ -462,6 +462,9 @@ void init_Attributable(py::module &m)
             "get_attribute",
             [](Attributable &attr, std::string const &key) {
                 auto v = attr.getAttribute(key);
+                std::cout << "Attribute '" << key << "' has type: " << v.dtype
+                          << std::endl
+                          << " and value: " << std::to_string(v) << std::endl;
                 return v.getResource();
                 // TODO instead of returning lists, return all arrays (ndim > 0)
                 // as numpy arrays?
diff --git a/src/binding/python/PatchRecordComponent.cpp b/src/binding/python/PatchRecordComponent.cpp
index cecd57b252..7d47445e6a 100644
--- a/src/binding/python/PatchRecordComponent.cpp
+++ b/src/binding/python/PatchRecordComponent.cpp
@@ -104,8 +104,14 @@ void init_PatchRecordComponent(py::module &m)
                 py::ssize_t numElements = 1;
                 if (buf.ndim > 0)
                 {
+                    std::cout << "Buffer has dimensionality: " << buf.ndim
+                              << std::endl;
                     for (auto d = 0; d < buf.ndim; ++d)
+                    {
+                        std::cout << "Extent of dimensionality " << d << ": "
+                                  << buf.shape.at(d) << std::endl;
                         numElements *= buf.shape.at(d);
+                    }
                 }
 
                 // Numpy: Handling of arrays and scalars
@@ -177,7 +183,8 @@ void init_PatchRecordComponent(py::module &m)
                 {
                     throw std::runtime_error(
                         "store: "
-                        "Only scalar values supported!");
+                        "Only scalar values supported! (found " +
+                        std::to_string(numElements) + "values)");
                 }
             },
             py::arg("idx"),
diff --git a/src/binding/python/RecordComponent.cpp b/src/binding/python/RecordComponent.cpp
index 23de7da58c..2ae7185e17 100644
--- a/src/binding/python/RecordComponent.cpp
+++ b/src/binding/python/RecordComponent.cpp
@@ -775,8 +775,14 @@ void init_RecordComponent(py::module &m)
                 py::ssize_t numElements = 1;
                 if (buf.ndim > 0)
                 {
+                    std::cout << "Buffer has dimensionality: " << buf.ndim
+                              << std::endl;
                     for (auto d = 0; d < buf.ndim; ++d)
+                    {
+                        std::cout << "Extent of dimensionality " << d << ": "
+                                  << buf.shape.at(d) << std::endl;
                         numElements *= buf.shape.at(d);
+                    }
                 }
 
                 // Numpy: Handling of arrays and scalars
@@ -867,7 +873,8 @@ void init_RecordComponent(py::module &m)
                 {
                     throw std::runtime_error(
                         "make_constant: "
-                        "Only scalar values supported!");
+                        "Only scalar values supported! (found " +
+                        std::to_string(numElements) + "values)");
                 }
             },
             py::arg("value"))