Debugging

[cwbuck]

Is there some sort of method for debugging IBM i programs and stepping through in VS Code? Thanks!

[worksofliam]

@cwbuck An age-old question. No. There is not. IBM will not share any details on the remote debugger and we have no idea what their plans are with that. No one from IBM is able to offer any public insight. I am aware that someone was working on a debugging, not specifically for VS Code, but one we could utilize. I am not sure of the status of that.

This discussion makes me very frustrated because there isn't much I can do on my own here.

[worksofliam]

Yes! A debugger for ILE applications (COBOL, RPGLE, C, etc) is coming. I have not got a concrete timeline for you, but I can tell you I have used it and it is working good from Code for IBM i.

[rcronin]

That is amazing news! Thanks Liam

[beckhamrryyaann]

Great news!

[rainierio]

Awesome, can't wait to try

[andreas-prouza]

You made my day! Thank you so much! 🥲

[rcronin]

@worksofliam - any update on this front now that the TR has been released?

[worksofliam]

TR has been released but PTF not yet available. Even when the PTF becomes available, it won't be available in VS Code right away. We're aiming to make it usable inside of VS Code some time in January.

[rcronin]

@worksofliam - just grabbed the new debugging feature today. First off, congrats on integrating this huge feature! This is very impressive. I know this is the initial release. What enhancements do you have in store for debugging? Will there be the ability to debug an active job at some point?

[worksofliam]

Hi! Thanks you. I am happy with it so far and the people working on it are happy to see that you are happy too.

Yes, the next major thing is adding the ability to debug a different job. You'll likely see a job selector in which then you'll be able to debug programs in that job.

[chrjorgensen]

@worksofliam Is the debug feature complete or still under development? Should we report any errors encountered, like the ones I get when trying to debug:

EQAVS1007E dkncbm05 on port 8005 could not be connected.
Message received: self signed certificate

?

[worksofliam]

@chrjorgensen did you get this issue after using the walkthrough to setup the certs?

Also, are you using an ip address or hostname to connect to the system?

Share those details in a new issue please :)

[chrjorgensen]

@worksofliam Issue #1053 has been created.

[m-tyler]

With the debugging extension active, I have a small issue when doing source merge actions. Where would I create an issue for this? Here or someplace else?

The issue is when I am using the merge function to remove lines on the right side that has been removed from the left side, the breakpoint marker is set.

Disabling the debug extension, the above does not happen.

[chrjorgensen]

@m-tyler You can't have two processes using the same TCP/IP port, so one of your applications - GoAnywhere and Debug Service - has to yield...

For GoAnywhere, have you GA administrator change the port.
For the Debug Service, follow the instructions here: https://codefori.github.io/docs/#/pages/developing/debug/debug?id=debug-service-ports

[m-tyler]

Thanks for the assistance, but The GA tool port usage will not be changed just to get debugging from VS Code to work. There are other options for debugging at this time that don't require GA tool to be modified, STRDBG or RDi debugging.

[worksofliam]

@mkwan01 Is there any public docs on changing the port? I know there is an environment file where we can change it. Is that documented somewhere?

[m-tyler]

There is in the document link referenced by @chrjorgensen. I changed those values and the next step is to restart the debug server but I need to do that after hours or early morning before I know if it works. Its taken a bit of time to make certain what the ports are being used by the GoAnywhere tool and what other ports could be used instead.

[mkwan01]

@worksofliam Please see the answer for question "How can I change the port numbers for the debug service" from the link below:
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/merlin/1.0?topic=environment-debugging

[NorskieRider]

The debugger is pretty slick ;-) Thanks - Code for IBM i is getting closer to replacing RDi in our org!

When debugging c it displays the variable and it's pointer, like this:

argv: SPP:FD32B06598002E80

Using strdbg interactively we dereference the pointer and cast/display in a specific formats, like this:

eval *argv[2]:s 100

or

eval *argv[2]:x 100

Is there something equivalent in Code for IBM i's debugger?

[mkwan01]

You can add the expression "*argv[2]" to the Watch view. It will do the same thing as the eval command in strdbg.

[NorskieRider]

Very nice - thank you! There seems to be some differences as it relates to dereferencing pointers, but I'll play with it.