Ant Debugger Module
This is the home page for the NetBeans Ant Debugger module.
What Does It Do?
Most current programming languages and tools contain a debugger as
a standard support tool. NetBeans Ant Debugger helps users to find and
fix bugs in their Ant scripts. But it is a very useful tool for beginner
users of the Ant framework too. It helps you to understand scripts you are
not familiar with, and its great for learning the Ant lanuage. A user can see
how Ant targets and tasks are executed and structured, and which part of
code is called from which place. You can see when ant properties are
defined and put breakpoints on property definition. You can step
through scripts, watch properties, skip targets and put breakpoints on
interestiong places.
Features of the NetBeans 4.1 version of the module include:
- Breakpoints: You can put
breakpoint in your ant script. The Ant Debugger will stop execution of the ant
script on that line and show current values of all properties. It shows
the sequence of invoked ant targets (in Call Stack View) too.
-
Tooltip Evaluation: Just
put the mouse cursor on a property in the Editor and see its value in
a tooltip.
-
Watches and Watch Breakpoints:
You can create a watch for a property and see its value in the Watches
View. The Ant Debugger automatically stops execution of the Ant script at
the place this property is defined.
- Step Into, Over and Out:
Powerful Ant Debugger engine allows you to step over or out from
unimportant targets. So, you can quickly walk through ant scripts
you are not familiar with, and see what they are doing.
- Execution History: Output
Window shows links to all lines visited while stepping through the ant
script.
- Call Stack: Call Stack
view shows the sequence of ant targets leading to the current execution point.
You can doubleclick on call stack lines to see their position in the script.
How Do I Start It?
- Select a build file in Projects View, Files View or in
Favourites View.
- Right click on that file and select the Debug Target you would like
to start debugging for.
- The Ant Debugger will start script execution and stop on the first
line of code.
Questions? Suggestions?
Please send a message to
nbdev@netbeans.org
if you have questions about the module, suggestions for how to improve
it, or if you want to help.
You can browse the source code online (see left hand navigation bar); you
can also
browse bugs reported against the module, or file new ones.
