1*debugger.txt* For Vim version 8.0. Last change: 2017 Nov 21 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{Vi does not have any of these features} 14 15============================================================================== 161. Debugger Features *debugger-features* 17 18The following features are available for an integration with a debugger or 19an Integrated Programming Environment (IPE) or Integrated Development 20Environment (IDE): 21 22 Alternate Command Input |alt-input| 23 Debug Signs |debug-signs| 24 Debug Source Highlight |debug-highlight| 25 Message Footer |gui-footer| 26 Balloon Evaluation |balloon-eval| 27 28These features were added specifically for use in the Motif version of gvim. 29However, the |alt-input| and |debug-highlight| were written to be usable in 30both vim and gvim. Some of the other features could be used in the non-GUI 31vim with slight modifications. However, I did not do this nor did I test the 32reliability of building for vim or non Motif GUI versions. 33 34 351.1 Alternate Command Input *alt-input* 36 37For Vim to work with a debugger there must be at least an input connection 38with a debugger or external tool. In many cases there will also be an output 39connection but this isn't absolutely necessary. 40 41The purpose of the input connection is to let the external debugger send 42commands to Vim. The commands sent by the debugger should give the debugger 43enough control to display the current debug environment and state. 44 45The current implementation is based on the X Toolkit dispatch loop and the 46XtAddInput() function call. 47 48 491.2 Debug Signs *debug-signs* 50 51Many debuggers mark specific lines by placing a small sign or color highlight 52on the line. The |:sign| command lets the debugger set this graphic mark. Some 53examples where this feature would be used would be a debugger showing an arrow 54representing the Program Counter (PC) of the program being debugged. Another 55example would be a small stop sign for a line with a breakpoint. These visible 56highlights let the user keep track of certain parts of the state of the 57debugger. 58 59This feature can be used with more than debuggers, too. An IPE can use a sign 60to highlight build errors, searched text, or other things. The sign feature 61can also work together with the |debug-highlight| to ensure the mark is 62highly visible. 63 64Debug signs are defined and placed using the |:sign| command. 65 66 671.3 Debug Source Highlight *debug-highlight* 68 69This feature allows a line to have a predominant highlight. The highlight is 70intended to make a specific line stand out. The highlight could be made to 71work for both vim and gvim, whereas the debug sign is, in most cases, limited 72to gvim. The one exception to this is Sun Microsystem's dtterm. The dtterm 73from Sun has a "sign gutter" for showing signs. 74 75 761.4 Message Footer *gui-footer* 77 78The message footer can be used to display messages from a debugger or IPE. It 79can also be used to display menu and toolbar tips. The footer area is at the 80bottom of the GUI window, below the line used to display colon commands. 81 82The display of the footer is controlled by the 'guioptions' letter 'F'. 83 84 851.5 Balloon Evaluation *balloon-eval* 86 87This feature allows a debugger, or other external tool, to display dynamic 88information based on where the mouse is pointing. The purpose of this feature 89was to allow Sun's Visual WorkShop debugger to display expression evaluations. 90However, the feature was implemented in as general a manner as possible and 91could be used for displaying other information as well. 92 93The Balloon Evaluation has some settable parameters too. For Motif the font 94list and colors can be set via X resources (XmNballoonEvalFontList, 95XmNballoonEvalBackground, and XmNballoonEvalForeground). 96The 'balloondelay' option sets the delay before an attempt is made to show a 97balloon. 98The 'ballooneval' and/or the 'balloonevalterm' option needs to be set to 99switch it on. 100 101Balloon evaluation is only available in the GUI when compiled with the 102|+balloon_eval| feature. For the terminal the |+balloon_eval_term| feature 103matters. 104 105The Balloon evaluation functions are also used to show a tooltip for the 106toolbar. The 'ballooneval' option does not need to be set for this. But the 107other settings apply. 108 109Another way to use the balloon is with the 'balloonexpr' option. This is 110completely user definable. 111 112============================================================================== 1132. Vim Compile Options *debugger-compilation* 114 115The debugger features were added explicitly for use with Sun's Visual 116WorkShop Integrated Programming Environment (ipe). However, they were done 117in as generic a manner as possible so that integration with other debuggers 118could also use some or all of the tools used with Sun's ipe. 119 120The following compile time preprocessor variables control the features: 121 122 Alternate Command Input ALT_X_INPUT 123 Debug Glyphs FEAT_SIGNS 124 Debug Highlights FEAT_SIGNS 125 Message Footer FEAT_FOOTER 126 Balloon Evaluation FEAT_BEVAL 127 128The first integration with a full IPE/IDE was with Sun Visual WorkShop. To 129compile a gvim which interfaces with VWS set the following flag, which sets 130all the above flags: 131 132 Sun Visual WorkShop FEAT_SUN_WORKSHOP 133 134============================================================================== 1353. Integrated Debuggers *debugger-integration* 136 137One fully integrated debugger/IPE/IDE is Sun's Visual WorkShop Integrated 138Programming Environment. 139 140For Sun NetBeans support see |netbeans|. 141 142 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: 143