The Debugger Window

The Debugger window provides different views of what is going on inside your program. You define which views are displayed by using the toggle buttons in the View toolbar at the top of the Debugger window. The set of views that is available is dependent upon the debugger that you are using.

If you are using the Java 2 debugger, the Debugger window includes a Filter toolbar. This toolbar enables you to control how data is shown in the views of the Debugger window.

Most Debug views show information related to the current session. When you change the current session, the view may be updated to show the information for that session.

At the bottom of the Debugger window are tabs to switch to the Filesystems view and to the Projects view in the Explorer. These features make it easy for you to locate files or to start an additional debugging session.

View Toolbar

The following table describes the toggle buttons in the View toolbar.

Toolbar Button Name Description
of View
the Sessions button Sessions Lists the debugging sessions currently running in the IDE.
the Threads button Threads Lists the thread groups in the current session.
Call Stack icon Call Stack Lists the sequence of calls made during execution of the current thread.
the Local Variables button Local Variables Lists the local variables that are within the current call.
the All-in-One button All in One Provides session, threads, calls, and local variables in a single view. This view is specific to the Java 2 debugger.
the Watches button Watches Lists all variables and expressions that you elected to watch while debugging your program.
the Class button Classes Displays the hierarchy of all classes that have been loaded by the process being debugged. This view is specific to the Java 2 debugger.
the Breakpoints button Breakpoints Lists the breakpoints in the current project.
the Properties button Properties Displays the property sheet for the currently selected item in the Debugger window.

Filter Toolbar

The following table describes the buttons in the filter toolbar. This toolbar is specific to the Java 2 debugger.

Toolbar Button Description
Public ModifierSwitches the display of public members.
Protected ModifierSwitches the display of protected members.
Private ModifierSwitches the display of private members.
Package ModifierSwitches the display of package members.
Static ModifierSwitches the display of static members.
Inherited ModifierDefines the grouping of inherited members. If this setting is off, inherited members are grouped by superclass.

Debug Views

In the debug views, information is organized into lists. Each list item represents a single object. Each column represents a property of the object. Data displayed in blue underlined text is linked to the source code.

Each debug view displays a variety of icons to relay information about the object. For example, the Breakpoint view uses a small red square to indicate a breakpoint set on a line. Some views also include a turner control in the left column. Clicking this control expands and collapses the object.

Some properties in the list are editable, such as the value of a variable. If you select a property and the property has a white background, then you can edit the property. A selected property with a gray background cannot be edited.

You can size a column to fit its contents by dragging the column border. You can move a column by dragging the column header. Clicking Change Visible Column icon opens a dialog box that provides a list of all possible columns that may be shown. Using this dialog box, you may choose to show or hide a column of information.

Each view also includes a contextual menu. Most items in this menu apply to the selected object. One item, List Options, opens a submenu with commands for operating on the list, including which column the list is sorted on and whether the objects in the list are sorted in ascending or descending order. Clicking the column header is another way to switch the sort order between ascending and descending order.


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