Viewing variables in the EGL debugger

This topic shows you how to view variables in your program while your are debugging your programs.

Prerequisites

Variables and breakpoints

When you are debugging a program, you will probably have the debugger stop or pause at certain points in your program (see Using breakpoints in the EGL debugger for more information on using breakpoints to make the debugger pause while debugging your program). Whenever a program is paused, you can view the current values of the variables in the program.

Displaying and changing values

You typically use the Variable view to monitor the changing values of your variables. To display their values, do one of the following:
  • Click the Options button at the top of the view (the triangle), and then click Layout and either Horizontal View or Vertical View. Also on the Options menu, choose Detail pane. The Variables view will split into two panes, one showing the current value of the variable.
  • Click the Options button at the top of the view (the triangle), then click Layout > Show Columns. If you do not see the Value column, choose Layout > Show Columns > Value.

To change a value, right-click the value and choose the appropriate option from the popup menu. The wording of the option varies depending on the context.

For more information, see "Buttons in the Variables view" in this topic.

Buttons in the Variables view

In the Variables view, expand the parts in the navigator to see the variables that are associated with them. The Variables view provides the following buttons:
Show Type Names
This toggle displays or hides the types on which the variables are based. This button is not available if you chose to show columns. In that case, you can request a column that shows the variable type.
Show Logical Structure
Collapse All
This hides all the variable names and shows only the parts in the current program.
[Options]
Click this downward pointing triangle icon to display a list of further options:
Layout
The following layout options are available for the Variables view:
Vertical View Orientation
The detail pane is displayed below the variables.
Horizontal View Orientation
The detail pane is displayed to the right of the variables.
Variables View Only
This option closes the detail pane.
Show Columns
This option reformats the view in table form
Select Columns
This option is only available if you select Show Columns. The following columns are available:
Name
The name of the variable.
Declared Type
The original type of the variable.
Value
The current value of the variable. Click this cell to enter a new value for the variable, or right-click and choose Change Value to display a window where you can change the value.
Actual Type
The actual type will differ from the declared type only when the variable was originally ANY type and took on another type through assignment.
Show All Jython Variables
This option does not apply to EGL.
Detail pane
This option opens a separate pane in the Variables view to display the details of a highlighted variable. You can type a value for the variable in this pane, highlight that value, right-click, and select Assign Value to assign the value to the variable.

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