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AutoIt Project Suggestion, Interactive Debugging Interface


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Hello,

To make debugging and fixing of bugs and issues in AutoIt scripts easier, it is a very great idea to add a mode to the AutoIt3.exe Tool that makes one able to step on every lines of code and check contents of variables by their names at one given pause in the execution of the script, or whatever AutoIt native way of handling the script execution such as stack views.

 

The idea;

Place breakpoint on code line, simple and conditional breakpoint that will get triggered only if the specified conditions are met

 

I would see an interface being done with a named pipe/socket, and the interactive debugging being made with an external tool that would connect to the unique pipe corresponding to one AutoIt3.exe instance.

The tool could be third party, but we need an interface to work with.

 

Thank you

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21 minutes ago, mLipok said:

Debugging applications in such ways is what I have been doing and other people too, homever this way of debugging scripts is very unconfortable when working with big and complex scripts, the issue is not to solve the error, the issue is to find the error, interactive debugging will help a lot in finding an error and provide an overview of it to make the solving easier, the way this page is describing requires one to; while working on an AutoIt program, constantly write code to output every variables contents at every given time and conditions in the script; that is; to achive something such as interactive debugging, there is still the part of stepping inside of code that is missing.

As an example, the way Microsoft does to the .NET Executables, and same thing with C/C++ in Visual Studio, stepping in while being able to view variables content and exact line of code that is executing.

And back to the point of the methods described by the page you're linking, there is a big difference with the possibilities you have when making it internal of the AutoIt system, then with a script written in AutoIt itself.

 

Some quick example to confirm this point;

What if I wanted to skip execution of a line and start execution somewhere else; such as changing the EIP(as an AutoIt equivalent) register?

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