Using Monitors

Monitors are useful for stopping program execution at specific statements, for tracing program execution, for watching variables for a change in value, and for intercepting program events. The debugger provides these types of monitors:

A breakpoint stops execution at a specified source code statement, then reports the current target program location. Execution is resumed only when you enter another program execution command, such as go or step.
A watchpoint monitors a selected variable or address range and reports the value of the variable or address range only when that value changes. You can specify whether a watchpoint is in effect at every source statement, at every instruction, or only at routine entry or exit points.
A trace suspends execution, reports the current program location, then continues executing the target program. You can specify whether a trace is in effect at every source statement, at every instruction, or only at routine entry or exit points.
An intercept monitors selected programming events such as the reception of signals from the operating system, the loading or removal of an image from a program's address space, and the termination of the program. The Intercepts dialog box (invoked from Execution:Signals/Intercepts) contains a list of the available intercepts and their current status.

The debugger provides several general commands that allow you to view and modify monitors as a group. These include:

list monitors
delete monitors
suspend monitors
activate monitors

For more information on these commands and their options, see the debugger's online command reference.

In addition, the debugger provides commands, menus, and dialog boxes for controlling each type of monitor. The following sections describe how to set, view, and modify breakpoints, traces, watchpoints, and intercepts.

Using Monitors

Technical documentation

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