Debug Pane 

The Debug pane is a tool that can be used to debug errors in the math section of a transaction.  This tool allows you to walk through execution steps in sequence and view all math variables and their associated values at each step.  Debugging not only walks through the transaction’s configuration but automatically opens any called functions and steps through all of its math variables and displays values according to what was passed in from the transaction configuration.  

 

Before You Debug

Before you can use the debug feature you must make sure remote debugging is set-up in the Rules Palette.

 

Steps to Check Remote Debugging in Rules Palette  

  1. Right-click on the environment connection you are working with.

  2. Select Properties.  The Properties Window will open.

  3. Scroll down until you see Debug Web Service URL.

  4. Click the button to the right of the field.  An Environment Properties window will open for the Debug Web Service.  The URL should be listed.  

 

Note:  If the URL is not visible then you need to contact your System Administrator.  The Web Service information needs to be added though the Web Application Utility.  

 

Note:  If a new company was added and the security scripts were not run, then all policies associated with that company will not have access to the Web Services.  You will need to re-load the security scripts to gain access to the debugger.

 

Start a Debug Session

To start a debug session, make sure the transaction is checked-in.  Then go into the OIPA application and apply the transaction to an active policy.  The transaction should remain in a pending status.  Go back to the Rules Palette and set the debug parameters from the Debug pane.  The EventList window will allow you to step through the math variables and the ContextList window will allow you to view the current state of each variable throughout the debug session.

 

All translation, compilation and runtime errors must first be fixed in order to use the Debug pane. You can debug when the transaction is checked-in or checked-out; however, you must check-out the transaction in order to fix any configuration issues.

 

 

Debug Pane of a transaction

 

Steps to Start a Debug Session

  1. Double-click on the transaction's XML file.

  2. Open the Debug pane.

  3. Select a policy from the policy drop-down box.  The transaction must be a pending activity attached to an active policy.

  
Note: If you try to debug a transaction without selecting a policy, you will get a sad server.

 

  1. Select the ActivityDate if the activity is applied more than once on the policy.

  2. Select the SystemDate if necessary.

  3. Click Debug.  If the initiation of the debug session was successful, you will receive a success message.  Click OK.

 

Step Through a Debug Session

  1. Initiate a debug session using the steps above.

  2. Click Run or Fast Forward to execute each step to the end of the math or to the next breakpoint.

OR

  1. Click Step Forward to move forward one step in the math.

 

You can also use Rewind to return to the beginning of the debug session or Step Backward to go back one step in the debug session.  The Variable Indicator will allow you to step to an instruction, either forward or backward as the previous selection dictates.

 

ContextList Window

Use the ContextList Window to view the state of the math variable at each step in the debug session.  If the value does not fully display in the column, click the ellipsis (...) button to see the full details.

 

EventWindow

In the EventWindow you will notice blue blue button and green green button next to the math variable execution steps.  The blue button indicates the math variable is part of the transaction.  The green button indicates the math variable is part of a called function.  You can double-click on either button to be brought to the math variable in the transaction or function configuration.
 

Note:  The remote debugger does not debug Function rules separately, only as called within a transaction.

 

Breakpoints

Another debugging feature is the ability to set-up breakpoint(s) in the configuration. Breakpoints are places in the code where execution is stopped for debugging purposes.  In the Rules Palette, you can select as many breakpoints as you like by checking the BP checkbox.  After you select your breakpoints, use the play button  play button in EventList window to step through configuration.  

 

Important:  Breakpoints can be set for a loop that then displays math variables and associated values for each iteration of the loop. Use the play button  play button to step through each iteration of a loop.

 

 

To clear all the breakpoints, select the Clear All  Clear All button button.