NetCOBOL V11.0 NetCOBOL Studio User's Guide

7.2.3 Watch view

The "Watch" view is used to perform debugging operations for data items. This view enables the user to add and delete data items, and change their values.

7.2.3.1 Context menus of the Watch view

The following table lists the context menu items used in the "Watch" view.

Menu item	Button	Description
Add Data Item...		Displays the Add Data Item dialog box used to add data items to the "Watch" view.
Change Value	-	Displays the Set Value dialog box used to change the values of the selected data items.
Change Hex Value	-	Displays the Set Value dialog box used to change the values of the selected data items, where the values are specified in hexadecimal format.
Suspend by Value Change	-	Specifies whether to halt execution of the program when the values of the selected data items are changed.
Remove		Deletes the selected data item from the "Watch" view.
Remove All		Deletes all the data items from the "Watch" view.
Show Data Type	-	Specifies whether to display data types in the "Watch" view.

7.2.3.2 Adding data items to the Watch view

Data items can be added to the "Watch" view by selecting Add Data Item from the context menu or toolbar.

1. Select "Add Data Item" from the context menu or toolbar. The "Add Data Item" dialog box appears.

2. Specify information such as data item names, a program name, and whether to halt execution when values are changed, and add the data items to the "Watch" view.

3. To add data items defined in methods of a class, specify "class-name:method-name" as the program name. A data item can be added to the "Watch" view by double-clicking the data item in the COBOL editor and then selecting "Add to Watch View" from the context menu.

   Table 7.1 Add Data Item dialog box

   item	Description
   Data name	When adding data items for monitoring to the "Watch" view, specify identifier name as data name. One of the following is the identifier name. Identifier Condition-name Index Name Special Register Symbolic-constant Named Literal Function For details, refer to "D.1 Identifier Name".
   Program name	Specify the program name. For details, "D.2 Program name".
   Suspend by Value Change	If this item is checked, when the value of the data changes, the program execution is stopped.

Note

Data items can be added to the "Watch" view during debugging. First, start debugging of the program. Then, when execution of the program is halted, such as at a breakpoint, add data items to the "Watch" view.

7.2.3.3 Display formats of the values in the Watch view

Hexadecimal format or ASCII character format can be used as the data display format of the "Watch" view, or both formats can be used for data display as an added format.

To add or change a display format:

1. Select "Window" > "Preferences" from the menu bar. The "Preferences" dialog box appears.

2. Select "COBOL" > "Debug" in the left pane.

3. Select a display format from "Watch" view display options in the right pane, and then click the" OK" or" Apply" button.