Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.

Run the Debugger

Enterprise Architect provides a number of ways to start and control a debug session. There is the main Debugger control Alt+8, which is always best displayed, as it is where all debug output is captured. There is also the Analyzer main menu and the Analyzer Toolbars.

Access Analyzer | Debug | Debug Run (F6)

Analyzer Toolbars - Debugging

Debug Window Toolbar ALT+8

Using the Debug window

Action

Detail

See also

Start the Debugger

When an Analyzer script has been configured to support debugging, you can start the debugger in these ways:

  • Click on the button
  • Press F6, or
  • Select the 'Analyzer | Debug | Debug Run' menu option

You can also launch the debugger for any script through its context menu in the 'Analyzer Script Window', or press Shift+F12

If you have no Analyzer Script, it is still possible to debug a running application by attaching to that process directly:

  • Click on the (Attach) button and choose the debugging platform manually

Before Starting Debug Another Process Analyzer Script Editor

Pause/Resume Debugging

To pause a debugging session, or to resume the session after pausing, click on the button.

Stop the Debugger

To stop debugging, either:

  • Click on the (Stop) button
  • Press Ctrl+Alt+F6, or
  • Select the 'Analyzer | Debug | Debug Stop' menu option

The debugger normally ends when the current debug process terminates; however, some applications and services (such as Java Virtual Machine) might require the debugger to be manually stopped.

Breakpoint and Marker Management

Step Over Lines of Code

To step over the next line of code:

  • Click on the (Step Over) button
  • Press Alt+F6, or
  • Select the 'Analyzer | Debug | Step Over' menu option

Step Into Function Calls

To step into a function call:

  • Click on the (Step In) button
  • Press Shift+F6, or
  • Select the 'Analyzer | Debug | Step In' menu option

If no source is available for the target function then the debugger returns immediately to the caller.

Step Out Of Functions

To step out of a function:

  • Click on the (Step Out) button
  • Press Ctrl+F6, or
  • Select the 'Analyzer | Debug | Step Out' menu option

If the debugger steps out into a function with no source code, it will continue to step out until a point is found that has source code.

Show Execution Point

To return to the source file and line of code that the debugger is currently executing, click on the (Show Execution Point) button.

The appropriate line is highlighted, with a pink arrow in the left margin of the screen.

Output

During a debug session, messages display in the Debug window detailing:

  • Startup of session
  • Termination of session
  • Exceptions
  • Errors
  • Trace messages, such as those output using Java System.out or .NET System.Diagnostics.Debug

If you double-click on a debug message, either:

  • A pop-up displays with more complete message text, or
  • If there has been a memory leak, the file is displayed at the point at which the error occurred

Save Output (and Clear Output)

You can save the entire contents of the Debug output to an external .txt file, or you can save selected lines from the output to the Enterprise Architect clipboard.

To save all of the output to file, click on the (Save output to file) button.

To save selected lines to the clipboard, right-click on the selection and select the 'Copy Selected to Clipboard' option.

When you have saved the output or otherwise do not want to display it any more, right-click on the current output and select the 'Clear Results' option.

Switch to Profiler

If you are running a debug session on code, you can stop the debug session and immediately switch to a Profiling session. To switch from the debugger to the Profiler, click on the ' | Switch to Profiler' option. The Profiler attaches to the currently-running process.

This facility is not available for the Java debuggers.

Getting Started

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