USING THE G-POST DEBUGGER
At the top of the G-Post Debugger are non-editable fields showing the specified CAD/CAM system, the current directory, the source file, and the gpost file. This data was passed in from CimPro. On the left hand side of the Debugger are the command buttons. These include all the functions necessary to operate the Debugger application. The center section shows the four files - CL file, FIL file, LST file, and Punch file. The default arrangement for these windows is "tiled", but they can also be "cascaded". In addition, each window can be minimized or maximized or enlarged as desired. At the bottom of the Debugger application are two list boxes where the user can view the values of currently set "watch" variables, and also view the current record numbers.
When the Debugger is launched from CimPro, it is automatically "setup and ready to go. The CL file and FIL file are displayed and the available LST file information is displayed. After some processing work, the Reset button will become enabled. Clicking on this button will return the Debugger back to the beginning.
Break points (commands keywords, sequence numbers, or specific record numbers) can be set via the dialog that is displayed when clicking on the Set Break Points... button. For more information on setting break points, go to the "Break Points" section.
Watch points (user variables or commons variables) can be set via the dialog that is displayed when clicking on the Set Watches... button. For more information on setting watch variables, go to the "Watch Points" section.
To begin processing, there are three options:
Go button
Step button
Skip button
The "Go" button starts the processing. If you do not have any Break Points or Watch Variables set, a message box will be displayed asking if you are sure you want to proceed. If you proceed, processing will run to the end of the source file. If you have set certain break points or watch variables, processing will stop at these points in the CL or FIL files. To continue after processing has stopped at one of these points, simply click the Go button again.
To "Step" through a certain number of input / FIL records, specify the desired number of records in the field adjacent to the Step button. Then click the Step button to begin processing. Processing will stop after the specified number of records has been processed. Click the Step button again to process the next "x" amount of records.
To "Skip" through a certain amount of input / FIL records, specify the desired number of records in the field adjacent to the Skip button. Then click the Skip button to begin processing. The Debugger will skip the specified number of records and stop at that point. The number of records to skip will return to "0" after processing stops.
When processing stops because it reached a break point (or watch variable), that break point, whether it be a record number or command keyword will be highlighted in the appropriate file display (for CL files, key words will be blue and record numbers will be red. For FIL files, keywords will be blue and record numbers will be pink).. For CL Record break points, the CL Record Lbl at the bottom of the file will change color to red.
To stop the current debugging process, click the Stop button. You will be asked if you really do want to stop or not. If so, then processing stops and you can either close the Debugger application or click the Reset button to start over. If you click Reset , your break point and watch points will be saved. If you close the Debugger and re-start it, your break points and watch points will be lost.
To view data or set data, see the "Get Data" and "Set Data" sections respectively.
When the G-Post encounters an error in the FIL file (like an undefined variable or bad POSTF() function etc), it will return control back to UI with the pointer set to the offending line. At this stage, you need to Stop the debug process and correct the error (via editing the FIL file) and restart the process by clicking the Restart button.