Profound Logic Ships Visual Debugger for RPG and Web Applications

Updated: March 1, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Profound Logic gave RPG developers another reason to use its RPGsp (RPG Smart Pages) development tool last week when it announced Visual Debugger, a new product for debugging the RPG and HTML code that make up iSeries Web applications. Among the features in Visual Debugger is the capability to pause live applications to hunt for bugs, and even to roll back the clock and view the events leading up to the error.

The difficulty of traditional debugging tools prevents iSeries developers from taking advantage of all the benefits application testing can provide, according to Alex Roytman, chief technical officer of Profound Logic. "The typical iSeries developer today uses a debugger only as a last resort," he says. "It takes too many steps to get going, especially for Web applications."

Profound Logic hopes to reverse this pattern with its new Visual Debugger, a new component included with RPGsp version 5.3, or available on a stand-alone basis. Visual Debugger, the company says, makes it easy to begin the debugging process, evaluate variables, and track down problems in iSeries applications--including traditional RPG applications, as well as iSeries Web applications that blend RPG and HTML, such as those developed with RPGsp.

Getting started with Visual Debugger is easier than traditional debuggers, requiring just a few minutes to install and a single mouse-click to start, the company says. One of the advantages of Visual Debugger's design is it doesn't require a debug server to operate, and is "job transparent," which means users won't have to manually search for the correct Apache Web Server job. Instead, the job is automatically found by the debugger, for any running instance of the application, when you start the debugger, the company says.

"You can start debugging and fix your problem faster than it takes to launch a traditional debugger," Roytman says of the RPGsp Visual Debugger.

Visual Debugger brings an array of features to the debugging process, and a variety of ways to view variables. To evaluate variables, developers simply hover their mouse over any scalar variable in the editor, where its value will display as a tool tip. Alternatively, variables can be evaluated by pressing a function key. The product mimics the functionality of green-screen debugger (STRDBG) function keys, which makes it an easy transition for those familiar with STRDBG.

The Evaluate Window and the Variables Snapshot Window screens also provide useful features. The Evaluate Window allows developers to display the contents of entire data structures, arrays, or complex expressions, while the Variables Snapshot Window shows all program variables and their values in a tree structure that enables developers to drill down into individual elements and subfields. Each time the developer takes a step through the application, the Variables Snapshot Window is refreshed with the new values, the company says.

The Visual Debugger allows developers to stop programs in mid stride to analyze their misbehavior, or even go back to find out what went wrong. Profound Logic calls this latter capability its "Back In Time" feature, and it claims this is a first for iSeries debugging.

The new Visual Debugger is a feature in RPGsp version 5.3, which is shipping now and ranges in price from about $4,000 to $25,000. The product can also be used with Profound Logic's RPG editor, RPG-Alive GUI. Profound Logic is also selling Visual Debugger on a stand-alone basis. In this case, the tool would cost from $1,000 to $5,000 to license. For more information, visit www.profoundlogic.com.