Break/Pause Into Source Code

by Visual Micro 5. May 2012 17:59

2015 - The following is old documentation. In many ways it does still apply but the debug features are better described in our Documentation section

The example below shows both automated and manual arduino source debugging features. The "old style" manual debug of arduino is shown in the code. Some of the automated features are shown in the "When Breakpoint hit" dialog

Individual points in your Arduino source code can be configured to break/pause or simply trace/continue without pause. The configuration settings change depending on the type of break or trace point. When a break/pause is hit Visual Studio will automatically open and select the line of arduino source that contains the current break point.

Most points can be configured to either continue or break/pause using the breakpoint message window as shown below.

Untick the "Continue Execution" checkbox to force a pause. Behind the dialog in the example we can see that the Arduino is paused on a breakpoint. Pressing F5, clicking any of the Visual Studio "Start>debug" commands or sending any serial data will re-start the Arduino program.


IMPORTANT WARNINGS! It is only right that we make the following statements very clearly...

Before enabling Arduino debug "break/pause" you must carefully consider what will happen if the Arduino suddenly stops on a breakpoint. Will your flying machine drop out of the sky and injure someone or be damaged. Will a robot crash? Will a motor be stuck on full power? Will a device stop responding and cause a critical problem? This is entirely your responsibility, if you are in any doubt then ask questions on the forum but please do not use this feature until there is no doubt! The same applies to the ability for the Arduino to pause at startup.

All arduino debug pause features provided in Visual Studio can not be relied upon in sensitive or dangerous siutations. This is because of the use of the serial port for the debug "continue" command. In the current version any data transmitted over the debug serial port will cause the Arduino to continue program execution which might be unexpected in many cases such as electrical interference and stray serial data.

Debug break/pause should only be used with breakpoints that will be hit every so often otherwise you will spend your time hitting F5 (continue) lots and lots of times :) If you mistakenly set a break condition that happens to often you will find that you can untick the "connect" checkbox on the serial window to stop the serial comms. This will, ineffect, stop the debug session but bear in mind that the Arduino will still be in debug mode.

Because the Arduino can be in debug mode and might be paused while Visual Studio is not in debug mode it is suggested that you either upload a "release" version when you finish debugging. This will ensure the Arduino is always in a known state. 

It is strongly recommended that you switch on the DTR setting on the serial window or in the Visual Micro options. The DTR setting will ensure that the Arduino is reset whenever  the serial window connects and/or debugging starts. Without the DTR setting it possible to start debuging when the Arduino is already paused on a beakpoint which will be confusing for most users.

Debug Break/Pause is enabled by selecting the project in the Solution Exporer and viewing the properties window (not right mouse click properties, the Property Window). Set Enable Break/Pause to True. Each time Break/Pause is enabled for a project a warning is displayed.