Use of the Debugger ?

[David Burgun]

Hi,

One of the really good things about using a Message Based Schedular  
is that you can build debug/trace into the Schedular and thereby  
trace specific message and/or objects. This has cut my debugging time  
in half! For instance:

You have 10 objects that receive a message "MSGX" and do something,  
somewhere in the chain something goes wrong. I can put a trace "MSGX"  
and watch the messages being processed, you can then see which of the  
10 objects is causing the problem.

All the Best
Dave

On 27 Apr 2006, at 11:32, Francis Nugent Dixon wrote:

> Hi from Paris,
>
> To continue after Jaqueline's and Richard's comments.
>
> Interesting subject. Maybe we could ask other people
> if they use the debugger ?
>
>> Richard Gaskin wrote:
>>
>> My first reaction is to pick my jaw up off the floor. How
>> can you not use the debugger much? I *live* in the
>> debugger!  Who can program without a debugger?
>> You are making more work for yourself, I think.
>
> I used HC every day for more than 10 years, and now
> I use Revolution every day. I never used HC debugging,
> and I haven't even thought about Revolution debugging !
> I don't even know how it works.
>
> I write my programs in bed (light switched off, no paper
> and pencil), just do it in my head ! The next day, I code
> in my scripts using (now) a very rigid naming convention
> for fields, globals, locals, etc. And I'm up and running
> in no time. I still draw little flow diagrams for sections
> of my coding that may be complicated - that saves a
> lot of hassle.  Old habits die hard !
>
> One thing I have found very useful. I declare globals
> for every local, during testing, and then comment out
> the global definitions after testing. They will be available
> in the future, if I make any major mods to my scripts.
>
> I use the "do" command often, but in the form :
>
>          put xxxxxxxxxxxx into DoIt  -- DoIt is a global
>         do DoIt
>
> Then I can see if I blew it !
>
> I have a header card on my stacks (which I build
> from pre-prepared models). I have displayglobals,
> displayfields and displaybuttons functions available
> in all my stacks, to see what I have defined. I often
> code "exit xxx" in my scripts during testing, and comment
> them out as I go. My only gripe is that the Variable Watcher
> doesn't update in real-time. You have to close it and
> open it again, each time. But then, I am just about to
> create a button to do this ........... !
>
> I keep all my functions and standard handlers in a
> separate stack, and copy them into my new stacks
> as required. Of course, they are clearly documented
> with version numbers and dates, so I know what
> changes/improvements I made, and when.  I generate
> quite a few scripts (like Export and Import), and move them
> into my new stacks, etc, etc.   .......
>
> Debugger ? Could it be useful for untidy minds ?
> Revolution is SO EASY to code, that it may offer
> fertiliser for sloppy coding ......
>
> And I was always against using the computer to find
> my errors!
>
> OK - just to be sure, I will invest in some time to
> use debugger, just to see if it saves me more time.
>
> I, for one, DON'T write perfect coding.
>
> - Francis
>
> "Nothing should ever be done for the first time !"
>
>
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