using the pdb debugger

Intro

We need a way to debug our python development. Currently our python runs from the alfred command line, so we should be able to fire up a debugger that puts break points on that process.

pdb

we are using pdb (see this PR). see reference for pdb. This is kind of the poor man's CLI debugger, we cannot use the remote debugging of pycharm since it's only available in the enterprise edition.

how to use pdb

• instead of putting a breakpoint using GUI, the following text functions as a "break point":

 rpdb.set_trace()

so for example:

def get_projects_and_hours():
    service, spreadsheetId = credentials.get_service_and_spreadsheetId()
    sheetTitle, colNum = get_sheet_title_and_column(service, spreadsheetId)
    projectCells = 'B16:H19'
    initialProjectCellIndex = 16
    rangeName = "%s!%s" % (sheetTitle, projectCells)
    result = service.spreadsheets().values().get(
        spreadsheetId=spreadsheetId, range=rangeName, majorDimension='COLUMNS').execute()

    rpdb.set_trace()

    return colNum, sheetTitle, result.get('values',[])[0], result.get('values',[])[colNum+1]

• run logger by hitting the hot key (currently ⌥⌘L)
• you'll see the alfred window showing up

- open a terminal window and run the command `nc 127.0.0.1 4444` (‼️️ **note: as soon as click any part of the screen, the alfred window will disappear.. which is a problem with our current implementation, we should fix it)