Managing conditional breakpoints

A conditional expression can be applied to a line breakpoint such that the breakpoint suspends execution of a thread in one of these cases:

A conditional expression can contain arbitrary Java code and may contain more than one statement, allowing breakpoint conditions to implement features like tracing. For example, a condition can execute a print statement and then return a hard coded value to never suspend ("System.out.println(...); return false;").

To set a condition on a breakpoint:

  1. Find the breakpoint to which an enabling condition is to be applied (in the Breakpoints View or in the editor marker bar).
  2. From the breakpoint's pop-up menu, select Breakpoint Properties....  The Breakpoint properties dialog will open.
  3. In the properties dialog, check the Enable Condition checkbox. 
  4. In the Condition field enter the expression for the breakpoint condition.
  5. Do one of the following:
  6. Select OK to close the dialog and commit the changes. While the breakpoint is enabled, thread execution suspends before that line of code is executed if the breakpoint condition evaluates to true

A conditional breakpoint has a question mark overlay on the breakpoint icon.

Related concepts
Java perspectives
Java editor

Related tasks
Adding breakpoints
Applying hit counts
Catching Java exceptions
Removing breakpoints
Setting method breakpoints
Stepping through the execution of a program

Related reference
Breakpoints view