US 2013/0086555 A1 · STEP GRANULARITY SELECTION IN A SOFTWARE DEBUGGER

Abstract

A debugger allows a programmer to select the granularity of a line step function. Using a debugger step statement, the programmer can specify line step, statement step, or automatic selection. When the user specifies line step in the debugger statement, the debugger functions in true line step mode, where a line of source code is executed for each step. When the user specifies statement step in the debugger statement, the debugger functions in statement step mode, where a statement is executed for each step. When the user specifies automatic selection in the debugger statement, the program is analyzed, and a decision regarding whether to use line step or statement step is made based on the characteristics of the program and based on user-specified selection criteria. In this manner the function of the debugger when line stepping can vary according to the programmer's needs.

Claims12

Dependent claims

An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;
a memory coupled to the at least one processor;
a program residing in the memory;
a debugger residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor, the debugger debugging the program, the debugger comprising:
a step mechanism for stepping through the program while debugging the program, the step mechanism comprising a granularity selection mechanism that allows a user to specify line step mode, statement step mode, and automatic selection of step mode according to at least one selection criterion.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Step granularity selection in a software debugger

Life of this patent

Step granularity selection in a software debugger

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims12