<type>documentation</type>
<domain>intro</domain>
<id>tutorial-debugging</id>
<title>Tutorial: Debugging</title>
<date>$Date$</date>
<product>all</product>

The ``example1.py`` program you have just created connects to ``python.org`` via HTTP,
reads and parses the Python-related news feed in RDF format, and then prints the most
recent five items as text and HTML. Don't worry if you are working offline. The script has
canned data it will use when it cannot connect to ``python.org``.

To start debugging, set a breakpoint on the line that reads ``return 5`` in the
``GetItemCount`` function. This can be done by clicking on the line and selecting the
|break-set| ``Break`` toolbar item, or by clicking on the left-most margin to the left of
the line. The breakpoint should appear as a filled red circle:

.. image:: breakpoint.png
  :width: 674
  :height: 84

.. |break-set| image:: icon:wingide-break-set
  :class: inline-image

~~~if WINGPRO or WINGPER:
Next start the debugger with |continue| ``Debug`` in the toolbar or the ``Start/Continue``
item in the ``Debug`` menu. Wing will show the ``Debug Properties`` dialog with the
properties that will be used during the debug run. Just ignore this for now, uncheck the
``Show this dialog before each run`` checkbox at the bottom, and press ``OK``.

.. |continue| image:: icon:wingide-debug-continue
  :class: inline-image
~~~
~~~if WEBSITE:
Note: In Wing 101, the toolbar icon to start debugging is instead a bug icon, and the
green arrow is used to evaluate the current file in the ``Python Shell``.
~~~

~~~if WING101:
Next start the debugger with |continue| ``Debug`` in the toolbar or ``Start/Continue`` in
the ``Debug`` menu.

.. |continue| image:: icon:wingide-debug-101-continue
  :class: inline-image
~~~

Wing will run to the breakpoint and stop, placing a red indicator on the line. Notice that
the toolbar changes to include additional debug tools, as shown below:

.. image:: debug-tools.png
  :width: 771
  :height: 62

Your display may vary depending on the size of your screen, or if you have altered the
toolbar's configuration. Wing displays tooltips explaining what the items do when you
hover the mouse over them.

Now you can inspect the program state at that point with the `Stack Data
<script:show_panel#panel_type="debug-data">`__ tool and by going up and down the stack
with |up-stack| ``Up Stack`` and |down-stack| ``Down Stack`` in the toolbar or from the
``Debug`` menu. The stack can also be viewed as a list using the `Call Stack
<script:show_panel#panel_type="debug-stack">`__ tool:

.. image:: stack-data.png
  :width: 711
  :height: 523

.. |up-stack| image:: icon:wingide-up-stack
  :class: inline-image
.. |down-stack| image:: icon:wingide-down-stack
  :class: inline-image
  
Notice that the debug status indicator in the lower left of Wing's main window changes
color depending on the state of the debug process. Hover the mouse over the indicator to
see detailed status in a tooltip.

Next, try stepping out to the enclosing call to ``ReadPythonNews``. In this particular
context, you can achieve this in a single click with the |step-out| ``Step Out`` in the
toolbar or ``Debug`` menu. Two clicks on |step-over| ``Step Over`` also work.
``ReadPythonNews`` is a good function to step through in order to try out the basic
debugger features described above.

.. |step-out| image:: icon:wingide-step-out
  :class: inline-image

.. |step-over| image:: icon:wingide-step-over
  :class: inline-image

Try stepping or running to a breakpoint on the last line of this function, which reads
``return news[:count]``. In this context, right-clicking on ``news`` under ``locals`` in
``Stack Data`` allows viewing the value in textual form or as an array.  The latter loads
data incrementally for only the visible portion of the value, which is useful with
``numpy`` arrays, pandas ``DataFrames``, ``sqlite`` query results, and other larger data
sets.

Data can also be viewed in tooltips on the editor by hovering the mouse over a value.
Try this with ``count`` to see the value ``5``.
~~~if WINGPRO:
In Wing Pro, pressing ``Shift-Space`` displays tooltips for all values visible in the
editor, if they are defined in the current stack frame. The last line of
``ReadPythonNews`` is also a good place to try that.
~~~

Finally, try |step-over| ``Step Over`` to reach the return event in ``ReadPythonNews``,
which is indicated by a change from the solid debug line marker to an underline. Notice
that hovering the mouse over ``return`` in the editor displays the value that is being
returned from the function. Similarly, ``<return value>`` is added to the ``locals`` shown
in the ``Stack Data`` tool.
