1*debugger.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2019 May 05 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Gordon Prieur 5 6 7Debugger Support Features *debugger-support* 8 91. Debugger Features |debugger-features| 102. Vim Compile Options |debugger-compilation| 113. Integrated Debuggers |debugger-integration| 12 13 14============================================================================== 151. Debugger Features *debugger-features* 16 17The following features are available for an integration with a debugger or 18an Integrated Programming Environment (IPE) or Integrated Development 19Environment (IDE): 20 21 Alternate Command Input |alt-input| 22 Debug Signs |debug-signs| 23 Debug Source Highlight |debug-highlight| 24 Message Footer |gui-footer| 25 Balloon Evaluation |balloon-eval| 26 27These features were added specifically for use in the Motif version of gvim. 28However, the |alt-input| and |debug-highlight| were written to be usable in 29both vim and gvim. Some of the other features could be used in the non-GUI 30vim with slight modifications. However, I did not do this nor did I test the 31reliability of building for vim or non Motif GUI versions. 32 33 341.1 Alternate Command Input *alt-input* 35 36For Vim to work with a debugger there must be at least an input connection 37with a debugger or external tool. In many cases there will also be an output 38connection but this isn't absolutely necessary. 39 40The purpose of the input connection is to let the external debugger send 41commands to Vim. The commands sent by the debugger should give the debugger 42enough control to display the current debug environment and state. 43 44The current implementation is based on the X Toolkit dispatch loop and the 45XtAddInput() function call. 46 47 481.2 Debug Signs *debug-signs* 49 50Many debuggers mark specific lines by placing a small sign or color highlight 51on the line. The |:sign| command lets the debugger set this graphic mark. Some 52examples where this feature would be used would be a debugger showing an arrow 53representing the Program Counter (PC) of the program being debugged. Another 54example would be a small stop sign for a line with a breakpoint. These visible 55highlights let the user keep track of certain parts of the state of the 56debugger. 57 58This feature can be used with more than debuggers, too. An IPE can use a sign 59to highlight build errors, searched text, or other things. The sign feature 60can also work together with the |debug-highlight| to ensure the mark is 61highly visible. 62 63Debug signs are defined and placed using the |:sign| command. 64 65 661.3 Debug Source Highlight *debug-highlight* 67 68This feature allows a line to have a predominant highlight. The highlight is 69intended to make a specific line stand out. The highlight could be made to 70work for both vim and gvim, whereas the debug sign is, in most cases, limited 71to gvim. The one exception to this is Sun Microsystem's dtterm. The dtterm 72from Sun has a "sign gutter" for showing signs. 73 74 751.4 Message Footer *gui-footer* 76 77The message footer can be used to display messages from a debugger or IPE. It 78can also be used to display menu and toolbar tips. The footer area is at the 79bottom of the GUI window, below the line used to display colon commands. 80 81The display of the footer is controlled by the 'guioptions' letter 'F'. 82 83 841.5 Balloon Evaluation *balloon-eval* 85 86This feature allows a debugger, or other external tool, to display dynamic 87information based on where the mouse is pointing. The purpose of this feature 88was to allow Sun's Visual WorkShop debugger to display expression evaluations. 89However, the feature was implemented in as general a manner as possible and 90could be used for displaying other information as well. 91 92The Balloon Evaluation has some settable parameters too. For Motif the font 93list and colors can be set via X resources (XmNballoonEvalFontList, 94XmNballoonEvalBackground, and XmNballoonEvalForeground). 95The 'balloondelay' option sets the delay before an attempt is made to show a 96balloon. 97The 'ballooneval' and/or the 'balloonevalterm' option needs to be set to 98switch it on. 99 100Balloon evaluation is only available in the GUI when compiled with the 101|+balloon_eval| feature. For the terminal the |+balloon_eval_term| feature 102matters. 103 104The Balloon evaluation functions are also used to show a tooltip for the 105toolbar. The 'ballooneval' option does not need to be set for this. But the 106other settings apply. 107 108Another way to use the balloon is with the 'balloonexpr' option. This is 109completely user definable. 110 111============================================================================== 1122. Vim Compile Options *debugger-compilation* 113 114The debugger features were added explicitly for use with Sun's Visual 115WorkShop Integrated Programming Environment (ipe). However, they were done 116in as generic a manner as possible so that integration with other debuggers 117could also use some or all of the tools used with Sun's ipe. 118 119The following compile time preprocessor variables control the features: 120 121 Alternate Command Input ALT_X_INPUT 122 Debug Glyphs FEAT_SIGNS 123 Debug Highlights FEAT_SIGNS 124 Message Footer FEAT_FOOTER 125 Balloon Evaluation FEAT_BEVAL 126 127The first integration with a full IPE/IDE was with Sun Visual WorkShop. To 128compile a gvim which interfaces with VWS set the following flag, which sets 129all the above flags: 130 131 Sun Visual WorkShop FEAT_SUN_WORKSHOP 132 133============================================================================== 1343. Integrated Debuggers *debugger-integration* 135 136One fully integrated debugger/IPE/IDE is Sun's Visual WorkShop Integrated 137Programming Environment. 138 139For Sun NetBeans support see |netbeans|. 140 141 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: 142